Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
163
very visible portion of the city's population. During the 1976-to-1982 Dirty War, many
of its left-leaning students w ere targeted b y the militar y dictatorship and disappear ed.
Today the school adds a y oung, casual vibe to the city.
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE
You can r each La P lata by car, bus, or train. The highway, simply
known as the
Autopista,
that begins at the southern end of Avenida 9 de Julio in Buenos
Aires connects the capital to La Plata. By car, the trip takes 45 minutes to an hour. Buses
between Buenos Aires and La P lata leave the capital fr om
Retiro
and arriv e at the
La
Plata Terminal de Omnibus
at the intersections of Diagonal 74 and avenidas 4 and 42
(
&
221/421-0992
). The main company ser ving La P lata is
Costera Metropolitana,
which also owns
Chevallier
(
&
0800/222-6565
). The ride can last fr om 1 to 2 hours,
depending on traffic or whether the bus is a local or an Autopista express. Buses generally
run about every 10 minutes, and tickets ar e roughly $5 (£3.40) round-trip. A train also
connects La P lata with B uenos Air es fr om
Constitución,
in the southern par t of the
capital, with
Estación La Plata
at the intersection of avenidas 1 and 44. Ticket prices are
similar to bus fares. Trains run about every 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the day, and
take about an hour and 20 minutes. However, the trains connecting La Plata and Buenos
Aires have a high pickpocketing rate, and I don't recommend them for visitors. In Buenos
Aires, call
&
11/1959-0800
for train tickets; in La P lata, call
&
221/423-2575.
VISITOR INFORMATION
There ar e two
Centros de I nformación Turística
in La
Plata. One is in the Terminal de Omnibus, at the intersections of Diagonal 74 and aveni-
das 4 and 42, open daily 9am to 5pm (
&
221/427-3198
). The main center, open only
on weekdays from 9am to 5pm, is in a building called the
Palacio Campodónico,
at the
intersection of Diagonal 79 and avenidas 5 and 56 (
&
221/422-9764
). You can also visit
www.laplata.gov.ar for more information about the city.
GETTING AROUND
La P lata is a r elatively compact city , and most of what y ou'll
want to see will be about a 15-minute walk from either the train or bus station. However,
you may want to take a taxi to a fe w points in the suburbs, including the
República de
los N iños
amusement par k. Cabs ar e easy to find at the bus and train stations and
all over town, but if you need to call one, try the 24-hour company
Remises Horizonte
(
&
221/453-2800
). La P lata's str eets ar e number ed accor ding to a grid pattern with
overlaying diagonals. Depending on the map or the person with whom you are speaking,
the streets are either
calles
or
avenidas,
and the terms are used interchangeably, which can
become confusing. The saving grace is that no street number is used twice for streets and
avenues (as in 8th S t. and E ighth Ave. in M anhattan). Portions of
Calle 8
are now a
pedestrianized shopping street—a good place to stop for ice cr eam or a drink at any of
the numerous cafes in the vicinity.
6
WHAT TO SEE & DO
The city 's most imposing building, the
Catedral de la I nmaculada Concepción,
at
avenidas 14, 51, and 52 (
&
221/427-3504
), hovers over the
Plaza Moreno
in the cen-
ter of the city. It was built in a medieval Gothic style more along the lines of a nor thern
European church than a Spanish colonial one. It is free for visits, but y ou'll have to pay
to get a little closer to heav en at the lookout to wer in one of the spir es, known as the
Torre de Jesús
(Jesus Tower);
it costs about $2 (£1.35) to climb . Across the plaza, the
architecture of the
Palacio Municipal
warrants a look, at Avenida 12, between avenidas
51 and 53. The
City Park
(Paseo del B osque),
on the edge of the center of to wn, is
