Buenos Aires Graffiti Tour

The abundance of street art in Buenos Aires makes the city itself is an ever-evolving art gallery. Wander Argentina has partnered to offer a Buenos Aires Graffiti Tour showcasing some of South America’s best urban art.

This fascinating street art treasure hunt winds visitors through out-of-the-way neighborhoods such as Villa Urquiza and Coghlan to see more than 50 artists’ work, including the city’s largest murals.

What you see

Discover anomalies such as a robot battle on an otherwise quiet corner house; marvel at the four-story mural of a gaucho (cowboy) Napoleon crossing the Alps, and ponder Italian artist, Blu’s building-wide mural of a reclining industrialized baby.

Visitors also see the work of Cof, a street artist who works for Disney and Cartoon Network and paints his own colorful cartoon characters on walls and buildings. The tour also passes by Martín Ron’s pièce de résistance and the city’s largest mural, Tale of the Parrots.

Mecca of Street Art

Led by a bilingual insider to the BA graffiti scene, this budget walking tour is a chance to get great photos and understand the context in which street art thrives in Buenos Aires.

Hear about the international collaborations and local rivalries, discover the social factors that inspire the art, and return home having taken the ultimate pilgrimage in the mecca of South American street art.

Buenos Aires Walking Graffiti Tour

When: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
Starts: 2:40 p.m.
Ends: 5:30 p.m.
Duration: 2.45 Hours

Where to meet: The meet-up point is in the Colegiales neighborhood, in an area accessible by bus, subte and train. Since safety is a priority, participants are given the exact location once they book the tour.

Where it ends: At an art bar in Palermo, close to public transportation. where you can have a beverage or snack and continue to chat with your artist guide and other participants.

Additional tour information:
• Although not strenuous, this is a walking tour, wear comfortable shoes
• Transport costs are provided, but there is no pick-up and drop-off
• Suitable for families
• Please book at least 12 hour in advance

Various private and group tours are also available. To arrange one, get in touch via our contact form below.

Soccer Tour — See a Game Live

Wander Argentina offers exciting, safe and affordable tours to Argentine soccer games.

Tour Includes:

– Transport and accompaniment to the game.
– Tickets to the game (even for games in which only ‘club members’ are normally provided access)
– Expert explanations: bilingual guides explain the ins and outs of the game, translate chants and provide insider details on players and clubs
– Accompanied return from the stadium

Terms of online booking:

– Specific game days and times are usually not decided until a few days before the game. If game time is not confirmed upon booking please be flexible.
– If for some reason you cannot attend the elected game, please inform us as soon as possible. We will work with you to arrange to see another game.
-Price is determined by the cost of the match tickets

Upcoming games

To inquire about upcoming games, check our list of upcoming soccer games and send us a message at the bottom of the page, or go ahead and contact us through our contact form.

La Boca

La Boca, the Buenos Aires’ neighborhood famed for its colorful houses, its tango and its soccer team, is the one spot that makes every visitor’s agenda.

The centerpiece is the cobblestone strip, El Caminito, or little walkway. The one-time railway route is lined with the bright facades that make La Boca postcard perfect. Named for a 1926 tango song, the pedestrian lane features an outdoor fair where artists sell their wares and tango dancers prance along the sidewalk in between photo ops with tourists.

But there’s much more to La Boca than what meets the casual tourist’s eye. Like New York City’s Lower East Side and London’s East End, La Boca was the neighborhood where new immigrants first established themselves when they arrived in Buenos Aires.

The neighborhood may derive its name from its location at ‘La Boca’ (the mouth) of the Riochuelo, as the Mantanza River is usually called. The port-side barrio is an obvious point for boats to come ashore and historians say the Spanish first landed in La Boca as early as 1536.

During their early colonial expansion the colonizers housed African slaves in this area. After Argentina gained independence many of the freed stayed. With the arrival of the industrial revolution La Boca grew into a gritty shipyard area with meat curing plants and tanneries.

Xeneizes, Tango and Lunfardo

Mass settlement in La Boca began in 1830, with an influx of immigrants from Genoa, Italy. Coming from a port city, it was natural for the Genoese to settle along the Buenos Aires waterfront. There were so many Genoese in La Boca at that time that some say the name is a spin-off of the name Boccadasse, a neighborhood in Genoa.

The new arrivals constructed tenements made of scrap metal and painted the shacks with bright leftover marine paint to liven up the one-time wasteland. Soon the Italians were joined by immigrants from Spain, France, England, Ireland, Eastern Europe and Greece and among others. The cross-cultural mix gave birth to tango, although the term wouldn’t be coined until the end of the 1890’s. Factory and port workers would gather to dance in the central halls of the tenements and vie to grab the attention of the few women available at the time.

La Boca also played a fundamental part in the creation of the Argentine slang, lunfardo. The vocabulary grew out of cocoliche, a mix of Italian dialects that immigrants used to communicate with each other. Even the barrio’s famous soccer team, La Boca Juniors are also called Los Xeneizes, derived from the word for ‘Genoese’ in the Italian dialect.

By the turn of the 19th century the area was the second most populated zone in Buenos Aires but the construction of a new port in Puerto Madero meant the shipping industry would move northward. As Argentina entered its golden era, residents moved further inland and La Boca began to decline.

La Boca’s Revival

A revival of El Caminito and La Boca in the 1950’s was lead by artist, Quinquela Martín. The famed La Boca orphan was abandoned at birth, adopted and spent a good portion of his childhood in La Boca. After studying drawing at a La Boca night school, he ended up becoming one of Argentina’s most famous painters and a major neighborhood philanthropist.

After the General Roca railway train line, which ran through here shut down in 1954, Martín set to work to save the barrio. He gathered neighbors to paint the houses bright colors, emulating the early immigrants. The artists began to host theater here utilizing the colorful houses as part of the backdrop.

At the urging of Martín, in 1959 the city government officially declared the street El Caminto an open-air museum. It’s named in honor of Martín’s friend, Juan de Dios Filibrito, a former La Boca resident who co-authored the tango tune of the same name.

Safety in La Boca

As in most places where a popular tourist attraction sits in the middle of an economically disadvantaged neighborhood, La Boca can be dangerous for visitors who stray off the tourist path.

Most just see El Caminito, its the few surrounding streets and La Bombonera the stadium where Diego Maradona became ‘God’ for his fans. For low-profile travelers who want to explore more of the neighborhood, there are many interesting sites here, just don’t carry anything you can’t afford to lose. A nice way to explore a La Boca with relative anonymity is on bicycle or go for strength in numbers and take a tour. If you are headed to La Boca at night to eat in one of its many cantinas or dance tango, the usual advice is to take a taxi to and from your destination.

La Boca Safety Tips:

• Don’t carry anything you can’t afford to lose

• Be careful straying off the tourist path, which includes El Caminito and the few surrounding blocks.

• Don’t ever wear a River Plate shirt to La Boca — that’s the soccer team’s biggest rival and you’d be asking for trouble!

Getting to La Boca:

–Subway: There is no subway to La Boca

–Bus lines:

20, 25, 29, 33, 46, 53, 64, 86, 129, 152, 159, 168, 195

Tours & Bike Rental:

→ Check out the La Boca tours on our curated tour list

⇒ Check out all the La Boca Tours on Get Your Guide

Iguaçu Falls, Panoramic Views in Brazil

Iguazú Falls, spelled Iguassu or Iguaçu in Portuguese, can also be visited from Foz do Iguaçu, located in the state of Paraná in the south of Brazil.

→ Buy online now: Full Day Iguazu Tour from Foz de Iguazu — $84

Iguazu: Getting a Brazilian Visa

If you don’t have a Brazilian visa to enter the country (and you don’t figure out how to sneak over for a bit, as travelers have occasionally been known to do) you will need to get one. Those from the United States, Australia, Canada and most African and Asian nations (excluding South Africa, Malaysia and Singapore) all need visas. Most EU citizens don’t need a visa, but check online before showing up at the border.

The price is high and getting the tourist visa can be a bit of a pain, but many consider the fee worth it for the chance to stroll through Brazil’s national park. Those who didn’t plan well can apply for a visa in Foz de Iguazu before 12 p.m. at the consulate in Puerto Iguazu, but you’ll need 24 hours to process it. Worth noting is that those with an expired Argentina visa will be rejected.

Although there are not as many trails and close encounters with the falls on the Brazil side, the panoramic views are superior. On the Brazilian side of Iguazu there is also the opportunity to get a bird’s eye view of the falls by a helicopter tour, although it is hoped visitors resist the excursion due to the environmental impact.

Just north of the cataracts, on the border of Brazil and Paraguay, is the Itaipu Dam, the largest hydroelectric power plant on the planet. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the US Association of Civil Engineers and is an interesting excursion for those who enjoy educational travel. Check availability for a Itaipu Tour online. Although they aren’t high in the list for many tourists, there are some gem mines in the area to visit as well.

Many tourists opt to stay in Puerto Iguazu on the Argentine side of Iguazú, rather than on the more urban and crime-laden Foz do Iguaçu on the Brazilian side. Nevertheless, because of the over-saturation of accommodations in Foz do Iguaçu there are some good deals to be had.

The most desirable lodging option is the Hotel das Cataratas, a classic colonial-style four-star hotel, unique for being located inside the national park. It is far more tasteful, although a bit more expensive than the old Sheraton Hotel (now, Melia Iguazu) which is the only hotel located inside the Argentina side of the park.

Updated in 2018

Iguazú Falls: The Fury of Nature

When faced with nature’s brute strength and grandeur at Iguazú Falls, it’s easy to understand why mystical stories of love and rage serve to explain this phenomenon of nature.

Local legend maintains that this is the spot where a beautiful woman was sacrificed every year in order to tame a vicious snake that inhabited the waters. One year a brave Guarani man kidnapped the woman in an effort save her life. The snake grew angry and burst, contorting his body and splitting the river to form the waterfalls, forever separating the couple. Another variation maintains that a God cut the Iguazú River in half out of fury when he found out his beautiful bride fled with her mortal lover, causing the couple to fall to their death. The gushing waters represent the eternal heartache of the God.

The name Río Iguazú (Iguazú River) or ‘Great Waters,’ is the name given by the Guaranis who used to roam its banks. The Upper Iguazú drops over 80 meters at the pinnacle of the cataracts, marked by the largest fall, La Garganta del Diablo (The Devil’s Throat), feeds into the Lower Iguazú, collects in a canyon, and then flows into Argentina’s Paraná River. The falls span over 2.7 kilometers of the river’s edge, forming a semi-circle of 275 individual waterfalls with water rushing down at 1,300 m3 per second.

At Iguazú there is a majestic sparkle in the air, as if you’ve stepped into the scene of a Disney-made fairytale. The sun dances off the water pouring over the fault’s edge, casting rainbows throughout the air and dusting the vivid greenery with a diamond-like shimmer. There is a sereneness and elegance about Iguazú Falls that causes jaws to drop and heads to shake in disbelief, leaving no questions about why the UNESCO World Heritage site was named on of the seven natural wonders of the world in 2011.

Upon arrival, the surreal beauty of the jungle and waterfalls are masked by the imposing Visitor Center structure. The price to get through the magic gates is AR$215 for foreigners and AR$80 Argentines or residents with a DNI.

If planning to return for a second day, make sure to get your tickets stamped by park rangers on the way out because admission on day two is discounted.

Several languages can be heard along the trails, a testament to the worldwide reputation of one of Argentina’s top tourist attractions. Get an early start and try to stay ahead of groups of tourists on guided tours who populate the paths. While many do hire tour guides, it is not a necessity and they don’t overwhelm the park. Luckily, there are plenty of courses to walk and passing others is as easy as just picking up pace and scooting by.

Aquatic Tours

Iguazú Jungle provides the aquatic tourism in Argentina’s National Park (Parque Nacional de Iguazú) and offers opportunities to navigate both the upper and lower sections. The Great Adventure Tour ($AR 200-), the most daring and longest offering, includes a tour of the Yacaratiá Trail, introducing you to the subtropical climate that is home to 2,000 species of plants, 450 types of birds, 80 mammals and the countless insects that inhabit the forest. Along this eight km safari ride you may see snakes crossing the trail, capuchin monkeys swinging between trees, huge spiders spinning their webs in the branches and red-breasted toucans perched in the treetops.

The bilingual guide points out the edible trees that line the dirt path and explains how hearts of palm are extracted from the numerous Palmetto trees in the jungle. The 20-minute safari concludes near the water’s edge, where boats wait to traverse the Lower Iguazú River. After a six km cruise showcasing some of the smaller falls, the current picks up and you are thrown into two km of rapids and a close encounter with the mouth of The Devil’s Throat, a drenching beneath the Dos and Tres Mosqueteros, (Musketeer Falls) and San Martín cascades, and a close view of the San Martín Island, a paradise that sits at the heart of the cataracts. The finale leaves passengers soaked yet awed by the feeling of having faced the fury of the falls; the water quells the heat and one cannot resist the urge to gaze upwards to receive a bath by Mother Nature.

Iguazú Jungle tours offers an assortment of aquatic excursions – the Nautical Adventure, which is the same trip as the Great Adventure tour without the safari ride, the Ecological Tour, which traverses the calm waters of the Upper Iguazú, and a variety of packages that combine the different programs.

Walking Trails

Iguazu3 — Coatis, or Brazilian aardvarks are part of the racoon family

Those who prefer to keep their feet on the ground will find plenty of walking trails that provide breathtaking views and the vertigo-inducing sensation of standing on the fault’s edge, where a refreshing mist gives relief from the humidity. Along these walkways are packs of Coatis, or Brazilian aardvarks, that feed on stray berries and pose along the railings for snap-happy tourists.

iguazu4 — Groups of butterflies rest their wings all over the trails

The Lower Circuit takes roughly 1 hour and 15 minutes to traverse, hosting 150 meters of stairs, but the face-to-face encounter with five different falls makes up for the effort it takes to arrive. This is a nice circuit to conquer at the end of the day, once the crowds have dispersed — you may feel as though you are discovering the falls for the first time, especially those such as Dos Hermanas (Two Sisters), tucked away in a quiet crevice complementing the peacefulness of the trail at dusk with their synchronized pitter-patter on the pool below. A diverse mix of walkways and jungle paths make it likely to spot several of the different species of birds resting in treetops, including boomerang-like swifts (the park’s official symbol) parakeets and parrots. Iguanas and lizards also scurry across the trails, but perhaps the most inspired picture comes from the swarms of vibrant butterflies that land on the limbs of passers-by.

The Upper Circuit – This 1200 meter walk, can be complete in roughly 35 minutes, and consists of various lookout points at the peak of several cataracts, starting with Bossetti Fall – named after an explorer who ‘rediscovered’ the falls in the late 1800s – and finishing at the Mbiguá Fall. This course boasts some of the most impressive panoramic views that can be enjoyed from the Argentine side and highlights the vast expanse of the Brazilian border.

All trails throughout the Argentina Park are connected by the Rainforest Ecological Train (Tren Ecológico de la Selva), which facilitates access to each part of the park with three different stops along the way. From Central Station, one can either take the train or walk the Green Trail (Sendero Verde, 20 minutes of a ‘canopied’ walkway through the jungle) to Cataratas Station, which marks the beginning of the Upper Circuit. From here, the train travels deep into the forest, explores different branches of the Upper Iguazú and ends at the Devil’s Throat Station, where the Devil’s Throat Circuit begins.

iguazu5 — The Devil’s Throat, photos by Jenna Frisch

Allow an hour for the popular Devil’s Throat Circuit because unlike the other paths with several vistas, there is only one balcony area to get a good view of the falls.

Once you reach the Devil’s Throat, the railing is the only thing holding you back from certain death, but this unrestricted access liberates the onlooker and makes the crowd disappear into the background. The thunder of the river breaking over the banks here is hypnotic. If the Devil’s Throat Fall is the conductor, the neighboring cascades are the orchestra, keeping perfect rhythm with the main event. Adding to the devilish drama are the swarms of turkey vultures menacingly circling overhead, as if waiting for someone to fall to their demise.

Food in the Park

There are restaurants, which have pizza and other basics, near the entrance of the park, but expect the usual tourist offerings of overpriced, mediocre food. There are also fast food options near Central Station and Devil’s Throat Station, useful for the bathroom facilities and places to sit and relax throughout the day. Packing your own pic-a-nic is a healthier and cheaper option. The ultimate dining experience in the park is the once-a-month full moon tour to the Devil’s Throat, which provides a chance for visitors to see the daytime shimmer replaced with serene silver and blues of the falls at night.

Puerto Iguazú and Other Local Attractions

In addition to being home to Iguazú Falls, Puerto Iguazú hosts the area of Hito Tres Fronteras (Three Borders Milestones), which is the point where the limits of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil come together. Those with an interest in geology could also visit Wanda Mines an hour to the south. Still, with so much magnificence in close proximity you only really need two days to have the full Iguazu experience.

→ Cont. Getting there and Lodging

→ Whether you prefer to travel by bus or airplane, stay in a budget hostel or a fancy hotel, we can design a dream Iguazu trip for you. Contact us.