What is Buenos Aires Like? (To Live, Travel and Work)

/ Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is a huge city and the second biggest in South America. The city has many cafés, restaurants, and parks. Many people work in downtown Buenos Aires and live in the sprawling suburbs outside the center. 

Buenos Aires seems to attract extreme opinions, some people love it and some people hate it. Personally, I don’t understand these opinions as Buenos Aires isn’t very different from other big cities. 

In my opinion, Buenos Aires is a great place to live if you earn a salary from outside Argentina, but it can be a tough place to live if you earn money in the local currency.  

Here is my list of pros and cons: 

ProsCons
💰 Great exchange rate for people earning in dollars or Euros 💵 Economic problems such as very high inflation.
🌳 Beautiful parks, buildings✈️ A little isolated, expensive to fly to/from Europe
☕Good coffee and food🚗 Long distances between places
🤗 Friendly people⏳Can be complicated to get things done(go to the hospital, get money, etc)
🎨 Plenty of Culture(Live music, museums, etc)⛱️ No beach 

What is Buenos Aires like to live in?

Buenos Aires is a good place to live if you like eating, drinking and earning money from the United States. There are plenty of things to do in Buenos Aires and you can make friends with the local people. 

People speak Spanish in Buenos Aires and the local dialect can take some time to get used to. I used to be more familiar with Spanish from Spain but now I love the way Argentine people speak. 

The rhythm of the Spanish here is more similar to Italian as many people have Italian ancestry.

What is Buenos Aires like to travel to?

Buenos Aires is a great place to travel to for a vacation. There is so much to do in the city and it is the gateway to all of the other things to do in Argentina. 

For example, if you want to see a glacier(Perito Moreno) up close then you will first need to travel to Buenos Aires and from there get another flight to El Calafate.

Getting to Buenos Aires can be a bit difficult if you are not close to main cities like New York, Miami, and Hueston in the U.S.A and Barcelona, Madrid, and London in Europe. 

What is Buenos Aires like to work in?

Buenos Aires can be a difficult place to work in if you get a job in the local economy. If you are working remotely you can find a nice co-working near where you are staying and that can be a very pleasant experience.

I am currently working in Selina Coworking in Palermo and it is a great place to meet like-minded people from all around the world.  

What are the downsides of Buenos Aires?

Every destination has good things and bad things about it and Buenos Aires is no different. 

Inflation is a big problem in Argentina and prices are usually going up so it can be difficult to understand how money works in Argentina. 

Another downside is the long distances between things to do. Argentina is a big country so you might need to take a long-distance bus or fly to different cities. I have found flights to be quite expensive compared to short-haul flights in Europe.

Another downside about Buenos Aires is that there is no beach close to the city. You can find some nice beaches in La Costa but it is not possible to just pop down to the beach like in Barcelona or Rio de Janeiro. 

Read all about beaches in Buenos Aires and how to get there here!

Are the people friendly in Buenos Aires?

People are generally very friendly in Buenos Aires. The local people are interested in foreigners and want to practice their English but some of them may be shy about making mistakes.

In my opinion, Argentinian people are definitely not shy when they are speaking in Spanish as most people are very talkative. For this reason, it is definitely worth learning Spanish so you can really understand what is going on. 

Final thoughts

Buenos Aires is a great city to visit or spend a few months in. It is a great place to work remotely as you will enjoy great food at the fraction of the cost you pay at home. 

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