Travel Tips
- Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Immigration - Visitor Visa:
Entry Requirements: Citizens of the United States, Canada, the
United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa require a passport
to enter the country. No visa is required for citizens of these countries
for tourist stays of up to 90 days. For more information concerning longer
stays, employment, or other types of visas, contact the embassies or
consulates in your home country. Usually, a hop by boat into neighboring
Uruguay or crossing into Brazil during an Iguazu Falls excursion will allow
a new 90-day tourist period.
Safety tips for tourist visiting Buenos Aires:
Buenos Aires is a relatively safe
city. General safety recommendations, are the same for in every big city: do
not walk on parks at night, or less crowded streets and avenues, do not
exhibit valuable objects when you are walking along the street, avoid to
show that you are carrying foreign money. Bringing money in your front
pockets is always a good advice, wherever you travel to. Do not wave lots of cash,
keep it discreet. Also, watch for pickpockets
in crowded areas, especially in the buses which are called 'colectivos' and
in the subway--and on the busy pedestrian shopping streets named 'Florida'
and Lavalle'.
When you arrive to Ezeiza
International Airport, do not take any taxi, or rented car offered by a
single person at loud voice.
Other recommendation is, always
take Radio Taxis, you can recognize them easily
by the fact that all have a logo on the top of the cab and a sign on each of
the four doors of the car. Do not take plain cabs (without radio),
radio taxis cost the same, are safer, and there are a lot of radio taxis
companies offering this service. In the streets you can take also radio
taxis without calling them.
What To Do If You Get Sick Away From Home:
Any foreign consulate can
provide a list of area doctors who speak English. If you get sick, consider
asking your hotel concierge to recommend a local doctor -- even his or her
own. You can also try the emergency room at a local hospital. Many hospitals
also have walk-in clinics for emergency cases that are not life-threatening;
you may not get immediate attention, but you won't pay the high price of an
emergency room visit.
The medical facilities and
personnel in Buenos Aires and the other urban areas in Argentina are very
professional. Argentina has a system of socialized medicine, where basic
services are free. Private clinics are inexpensive by Western standards. For
an English-speaking hospital, call Clínica Suisso Argentino (tel.
11/4304-1081). The Hospital Británico (tel. 11/4309-6600),
established over 150 years ago during the British empire's heyday also has
English-speaking doctors. If you worry about getting sick away from home,
you may want to consider medical travel insurance. In most cases,
however, your existing health plan will provide all the coverage you need,
but call to make sure. Be sure to carry your identification card in your
wallet. You should also ask for receipts or notes from the doctors, which
you might need for your claim.
Useful telephone
numbers:
Calling from Buenos
Aires:
Pay phones operate with chip cards or change (5, 10, 25, 50 cents and AR$1).
You can make either short or long distance calls.
Direct International Dial-Up: 00 + country code + area code + number
Calling
Buenos Aires:
The international prefix for Argentina is 54 and for Buenos Aires is 11.
For example, to reach the 4555-5555 in Buenos Aires when calling from abroad, dial:
54-11-4555-5555.
Useful telephone numbers
International operator: 000
National operator: 19
Medical Aid: 107
Information: 110
Official time: 113
Phone Technical Support: 114
Fire Department: 100
Police Department: 11 |
|
