Buenos Aires - Argentina - page 66

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and bus lines from tourist offices and most hotels. (Ask for the QuickGuide Buenos Aires. )
All metro stations are supposed to have maps, but they are rarely in good supply.
BY METRO The subte is the fastest and cheapest way to travel in Buenos Aires. Six lines
connect commercial, tourist, and residential areas in the city Monday through Saturday
from 5am to 11pm, and on S unday and holidays fr om 8am to 11pm. These ar e the
official hours, but because of budget cuts, many lines stop r unning by 10pm. However,
they don't always close the stations after the trains hav e stopped, and y ou could end up
waiting for trains that nev er come, so ask if a train is r unning in the direction you need
during later hours. Service has also been reduced by lengthening the time between trains,
even during busy daytime hours, making for extr emely crowded trains. A ne w line, the
H or Yellow Line, has been partially built along the Jujuy-Puerreydon corridor, and exist-
ing lines hav e also been expanded, though wor k has r ecently stopped on far ther exten-
sions. See the inside back cover of this guide for a map of the system, and be awar e that
new maps given out or posted at stations might not corr ectly reflect subway extensions.
The flat fare is 90 centavos (30¢/15p). Every station has a staffed ticket window. Some
stations have ticket v ending machines, but they 're unreliable. You can also buy a subte
pass for 9 pesos ($3/£2.05), v alid for 10 trips.
Trains get cr owded during r ush hours, and cars ar e not air-conditioned and get
unbearably hot in summer. Free subway maps are available upon request, but stations run
out of them quickly . Always be cautious of pickpockets, including tiny pocket-height
children who can easily be overlooked.
Try to ride the A line at least once; it 's a tourist attraction in itself . The oldest line, it
runs along Avenida de Mayo using some of the original rickety wooden cars. Lima sta-
tion, in par ticular, retains most of the original ornamentation and copies of adv ertise-

ments from the turn of the 20th centur y.
Neither Recoleta nor Puerto Madero has subte access. Most of Puerto Madero, how-
ever, is accessible via the L. N. Alem subte stop on the B line. It's a 5- to 20-minute walk,
depending on which dock y ou're going to . (Puerto Madero is a r enovated port district
that stretches far along the Río de la P lata waterfront downtown.) The D runs through
Barrio Norte, which borders Recoleta, so you can save money on taxis by using this line
and walking the 15 minutes to that ar ea. Visit www.subte.com.ar for maps before head-
ing to Argentina. The interactive site also gives estimated times and transfer information

5

Tips W ebsites for Your Trip

We have included as many useful websites as possible in this section. The Buenos
Aires city government site (www.bue.gov.ar) provides additional tourist informa-
tion, with links to businesses in town and a calendar of events. For tourist maps,
check out www.dediosonline.com . Subway (subte) information is available
through the interactive website www.subte.com.ar , which offers maps, esti-
mated times, and transfer information between stations. A new website with
great self-guided tours of Buenos Aires and shopping tips is www.welcome
argentina.com . If your Spanish is excellent, use the Argentine version of Google,
www.google.com.ar , and click on “Páginas de Argentina” for the latest locally
produced online information on Buenos Aires.