Subtes, A Great Way to Get Around

The subway (or metro) in Buenos Aires is known as "subte" (subterraneo, which means underground). Taking the subte is a fast, cheap and reliable way to get around Buenos Aires. Though many of the main city sights are within walking distance of the centre, there a couple of places for you will need to use public transport. Subte is my favourite means of transportation in the city, and the main lines are always getting extended. There are five main lines (A, B, C, D, and E), and they fan out from downtown, so crossing the city outside of downtown may involve getting to almost the end of one line and switching to another spoke. They are, however, very fast and a trip between Palermo and downtown will take you about 20 minutes on average. Trains run every 4 to 5 minutes, so if you miss one there won’t be a long wait (in some cases I’ve let them go if they are too full, knowing another one will be out soon). They can be hot in the summer, and they are definitely crowded at rush hour (between 7:30 and 9 in the mornings, and between 6 and 7:30 in the evenings). Watch your pockets at those times as you would do in any major city. The most useful lines as a tourist would be the A line which has the old wooden cars dating back to 1913 which takes you between the Casa Rosada (Plaza de Mayo station) and the National Congress (Congreso station); and the D line, which in part traces along Avenida Santa Fe. You can take it at the Casa Rosada again (Plaza de Mayo station) towards the shopping centre Alto Palermo (Bulnes station) and onwards to the Botanical Gardens (Plaza Italia station). Subways are very inexpensive, running at about 90 cents of a peso (about 25 cents US), definitely a great deal as well. For more info and maps go to

http://www.subte.com.ar/

http://www.metrovias.com.ar/