Time Out Buenos Aires (Time Out Guides)

Rating:
Summary: Buenos Aires, dias, tardes and noches
Review: I find myself still reading this fascinating guide even after my return. The In Context section, which includes the chapters: History, Architecture, Literary Buenos Aires and Tango is well written and full of information. My favorite quote from this section is, "By the time you're reading this, Buenos Aires could be in the grip of an economic crisis, or the good times might just be rolling again." Ahem.
The hotel, museum, monument and restaurant information was useful and truthful. The maps are clearly notated and easy to read, but if they could find a way to show the topography, the hills wouldn't have been such a suprise.
I'll definitely take a Time Out guide on my next adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Most up-to-date and hippest on the local scene
Review: I packed this guide along with the Lonely Planet Buenos Aires guide on a recent trip (year end 2001-2002) after a ten-plus year absence. The city is quite different from what I remember, and this Time Out guide is much better than the Lonely Planet guide at pinpointing the recent changes.

I used both because they cater to the younger, more budget-oriented and culturally hip set, and though I am no longer so young and certainly don't need to be budget-oriented, I want the most culturally attuned guides possible because that is the one thing that has increased along with age and resources. Generally I respect Lonely Planet's country and city guides for providing that sort of info (places to stay, eat at, visit, shop, etc.), but this time I was let down. I have also used Time Out city guides many times before and they are usually reliable on good places to check out, especially if you are into good food, bars and cafes, the party scene, the architectural and culture aspects, and daytrips from your main destination. The Buenos Aires version of this series is an excellent example.

I was in Argentina during a critical and turbulent moment, with world-newsworthy events happening every day I was there, so one would expect a number of disjunctions between travel guide description and on-the-scene street reality, and there were certainly some (mainly in the form of places that are supposed to be packed and lively being much less so due to the general economic problems affecting the locals). I went to a number of restaurants and bars and cafes and clubs highlighted by the guide, and stayed at some of the hotels most recommended. All were wonderful, and from my discussions with many locals (including those I would consider to be the most informed about these things, journalists of all ages), the places that they recommended meshed well with the places in the guide. I stayed at Hotel Castelar, then NH Jousten. I dined/drank at places such as Abril San Telmo, Milion, Divino, El Federal. I highly recommend a visit to the El Ateneo bookstore (a converted theatre), an English-language tour of the opera house teatro Colon, a walk along the financially-doomed waterfront development Puerto Madero, the bars and cafes in Palermo Viejo and San Telmo, a quiet walk around some of the leafy residential areas such as Belgrano, a visit to MALBA, the fabulously airy and glassy new modern art temple. And for a bit of touristy stuff, check out a tango dance show. Never mind that most of the younger (i.e. under age 45) locals appears not to be interested in tango (it's an old thing for them); it's the (generally older, but if you can't enjoy it at age 25 your mind's too old)) foreigner's gain of a wonderful art form.

I cannot say the same for MOST of the places recommended by the Lonely Planet guide. Granted, BA is a large city and there are tons of alternatives, but I hit practically every interesting neighborhood and could've come up with better choices than LP's guide on almost every street, whereas Time Out definitely pointed me to the creme.

I caution those who are going to visit BA post January 2002: the economic conditions are deterioating, so prices will undoubtedly be quite different, though probably favoring the dollar-carrying traveler. The infrastructure is great, so you'll be getting near-first-world experience for low prices. Of course, inflation may be on the horizon ... I would suggest going online and reading some of the local papers online to get a sense of the situation.

I do have a minor quibble with the guide -- the maps. This is one area where LP really excels, in combining on one map information about places to stay, eat, visit, etc. The Time Out maps are just maps, with no annotations, so one has to constantly flip back and forth. My suggestion: spend a little extra on the book's production and come up with more pages of such annotated maps.

Rating:
Summary: Most up-to-date and hippest on the local scene
Review: I packed this guide along with the Lonely Planet Buenos Aires guide on a recent trip (year end 2001-2002) after a ten-plus year absence. The city is quite different from what I remember, and this Time Out guide is much better than the Lonely Planet guide at pinpointing the recent changes.

I used both because they cater to the younger, more budget-oriented and culturally hip set, and though I am no longer so young and certainly don't need to be budget-oriented, I want the most culturally attuned guides possible because that is the one thing that has increased along with age and resources. Generally I respect Lonely Planet's country and city guides for providing that sort of info (places to stay, eat at, visit, shop, etc.), but this time I was let down. I have also used Time Out city guides many times before and they are usually reliable on good places to check out, especially if you are into good food, bars and cafes, the party scene, the architectural and culture aspects, and daytrips from your main destination. The Buenos Aires version of this series is an excellent example.

I was in Argentina during a critical and turbulent moment, with world-newsworthy events happening every day I was there, so one would expect a number of disjunctions between travel guide description and on-the-scene street reality, and there were certainly some (mainly in the form of places that are supposed to be packed and lively being much less so due to the general economic problems affecting the locals). I went to a number of restaurants and bars and cafes and clubs highlighted by the guide, and stayed at some of the hotels most recommended. All were wonderful, and from my discussions with many locals (including those I would consider to be the most informed about these things, journalists of all ages), the places that they recommended meshed well with the places in the guide. I stayed at Hotel Castelar, then NH Jousten. I dined/drank at places such as Abril San Telmo, Milion, Divino, El Federal. I highly recommend a visit to the El Ateneo bookstore (a converted theatre), an English-language tour of the opera house teatro Colon, a walk along the financially-doomed waterfront development Puerto Madero, the bars and cafes in Palermo Viejo and San Telmo, a quiet walk around some of the leafy residential areas such as Belgrano, a visit to MALBA, the fabulously airy and glassy new modern art temple. And for a bit of touristy stuff, check out a tango dance show. Never mind that most of the younger (i.e. under age 45) locals appears not to be interested in tango (it's an old thing for them); it's the (generally older, but if you can't enjoy it at age 25 your mind's too old)) foreigner's gain of a wonderful art form.

I cannot say the same for MOST of the places recommended by the Lonely Planet guide. Granted, BA is a large city and there are tons of alternatives, but I hit practically every interesting neighborhood and could've come up with better choices than LP's guide on almost every street, whereas Time Out definitely pointed me to the creme.

I caution those who are going to visit BA post January 2002: the economic conditions are deterioating, so prices will undoubtedly be quite different, though probably favoring the dollar-carrying traveler. The infrastructure is great, so you'll be getting near-first-world experience for low prices. Of course, inflation may be on the horizon ... I would suggest going online and reading some of the local papers online to get a sense of the situation.

I do have a minor quibble with the guide -- the maps. This is one area where LP really excels, in combining on one map information about places to stay, eat, visit, etc. The Time Out maps are just maps, with no annotations, so one has to constantly flip back and forth. My suggestion: spend a little extra on the book's production and come up with more pages of such annotated maps.

Rating:
Summary: Romein, you`re right....
Review: that the (recent) Timeout guide rocks, but comparing it to the OLD Lonely Planet 2nd edition (with San Telmo on the cover) is unfair. Check out the NEW third edition, with Congreso on the cover...it just came out. It`s much more updated than the old one (obviously), but it`s also more of a fun read. Given the massive number of changes in Buenos Aires, it needs to be given a fair chance. Unfortunately for both Lonely Planet and Timeout, ultra-recent changes in the BA scene has prices in the books reflected badly, along with some other things. Such is life.