Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Restaurant servers
Tip 10%; 15% for fine restaurants with great service.
Spas
Tip 15%.
Taxi drivers
No tip unless they help with luggage; many people round up to nearest peso.
Tour guides
Tip 10% to 15%.
Traveler's Checks
Traveler's checks are very impractical in Argentina, and even in BA it's very hard to change them. Only the
fancier hotels and a few banks and
cambios
will take them, and they'll charge a very hefty commission.
Stores will
not
change them.
Outside BA it's almost impossible to change traveler's checks. If you do decide to bring some, get them
in US dollars.
OPENING HOURS
There are always exceptions, but the following are general opening hours:
Banks
8am to 3pm or 4pm Monday to Friday; some open till 1am Saturday.
Bars
8pm or 9pm to between 4am and 6am nightly (downtown, some open and close earlier).
Cafes
6am to midnight or much later; open daily.
Clubs
1am to 2am to between 6am and 8am Friday and Saturday.
Office business hours
8am to 5pm.
Post offices
8am to 6pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 1pm Saturday.
Restaurants
Noon to 3:30pm, 8pm-midnight or 1am (later on weekends).
Shops
9am or 10am to 8pm or 9pm Monday to Saturday.
Post
The more-or-less reliable
Correo Argentino
(
www.correoargentino.com.ar
)
is the government postal ser-
vice, with numerous branches scattered throughout BA. Essential overseas mail should be sent
certificado
(registered). For international parcels weighing over 2kg, take a copy of your passport and go to the Correo
Internacional near the Retiro bus station. Check the website for all prices.
If a package is being sent to you, expect to wait awhile for it to turn up within the system (or to receive
notice of its arrival). Unless you have a permanent address, your parcel will likely end up at the Correo In-
ternacional. To collect the package you'll have to wait - first to get it and then to have it checked by cus-
toms. There might also be a small holding fee, charged per day. Don't expect any valuables to make it
through.
