I usually don’t generalize and always attempt to keep my stereotyping to a minimum. I try to keep an open mind free of judgments and full of peace, love and tie-dyed cloth. This week is different, I haven’t played the Legend album in 5 days and I am ready to generalize, stereotype and more then ever I am ready to judge you. You’re traveling and you want to save money. You’re looking for where you can get some killer steals. Places where your dollar will go far and the intensity of the bang will make the ears of your dead presidents bleed. Look no further my stereotypical traveler friend, this week LandingpadBA brings you “Five things to do for Under Five Dollars”.
La Fabrica De Pizza
When I first heard that there was a place where you could get an entire pizza for $7 pesos I began to have flashbacks of Chucky Cheese, Little Cesar’s or other establishments where Soggy cardboard with half melted Kraft Singles imposter the beautiful offspring of the Neapolitan Cuisine. I could only think that the La Fabrica De Pizza was the Buenos Aires version of one of these infamous pizza disgracing chains. It wasn’t until I actually came home one day and saw one of my roommates eating one that I decided to make the $1.66 investment. “One $7 peso mozzarella pizza please”. Fifteen minutes later I sit down and open the flimsy box. No sign of Kraft singles or swampy cardboard. First bite. Yum. The Fabrica De Pizza is located on Anchorena and Mansilla in the Barrio Norte. I highly recommend eating there before you leave Buenos Aires and I guarantee it will be the best $1.66 USD pizza you have ever had.
The Once
Once (pronounced “On-Say”) is a nickname for the area located around the Once train station in the neighborhood Balvanera. It is famous for goods as cheap as the cardboard boxes they are displayed on. As well as having fame for street vendors selling pirated randomness, there is a surplus of stores as well as wholesale vendors that provide a whole array of cheap merchandise. Since being in Buenos Aires I have frequented Once for random things like soccer jerseys, socks and a pair of Argentina’s famous Ray Bans. My last trip to Once I bought two Frisbees for three dollars. In a city that has more parks then fire hydrants, Frisbees are a must have and provide far more then three dollars of fun. With five dollars Once brings a lot of opportunities, it’s just up to you to find them.
Bosques de Palermo
The bosques de Palermo or forest parks of Palermo offer completely free entertainment and things to do on their own. From relaxing near the ponds to walking through the beautiful gardens you can easily enjoy yourself with out setting free a single greenback.
But if that five dollars is burning a whole in your pocket, I got just the place to spend it. If you go to the mina section of the park (Parque 3 de Febrero) there is a place where you can rent bike for less then $18 pesos an hour. Riding bikes through the bosques with friends is definitely one of my favorite cheap weekend activities. The informal bike rental stalls have bikes of all sizes and colors and only request some sort of identification to hold hostage. Please don’t give them your passport. Use drivers licenses or I am sure they will even take a Library Card.
The Horse Track
Usually Gambling on a budget is super counter-productive and unless you got some sort of Rain Man thing going on I don’t recommend it, but at the racetrack you can gamble your heart away even if you’re unable to memorize a phone book. The horse track has $3 peso minimum bets and horses run every 30 minutes or so usually on Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I don’t know about you but I gladly throw five dollars away to yell bizarre names and where a funny hat for a couple hours.
Bonus*: At the halfway point of the track on Libertador street you can find a restaurant called Kansas. Kansas has a killer happy hour with quality well mixed drinks. Be careful after a few you might get sucked into their scrumptious menu and end up having dinner, this is going to cost you much more than 5 bucks.
The Malba
A great cultural thing to is a visit to the Malba. The Malba is an art museum and dynamic cultural center that offers over 500 hundred works of various mediums from artists from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay and Venezuela. On certain dates the Malba also presents film expeditions as well cultural activities. Usually museums break the five-dollar barrier but on Wednesday you and a guest can tour the entire museum for only $20 pesos. The Malba is located on Avenida Figueroa 3415, quite close to the Recoleta cemetery.
So now all you have to do is ask yourself “would you pay 25 dollars to eat a yummy pizza, have a pair of pirated Ray Bans, ride a bike through one of the most beautiful city parks in Buenos Aires, gamble at a horse race and go to an internationally known museum?” Just remember it costs five bucks to pull money out of an ATM…….
1 Comment for 5 things to do for under $5 in Buenos Aires
I love my pizza and finding good cheap pizza would be amazing. Anyone know of a place in the Palermo area where you can buy a slice or just a small pizza for cheap? I’ve found good places, but not cheap places.