Tigre, a day Side Trip from Buenos Aires

The visit to the Tigre is one of our essentials of Buenos Aires. It is one of those places that we like to go and give us a walk through its streets, rivers, and canals. We take it as a quiet visit, to relax, but you can visit some of its most intense attractions such as the Parque de la Costa or do water sports.

Where’s Tigre?

Tigre is a small town in the province of Buenos Aires, located about 40 kilometers north of the Capital in the Paraná River Delta. Tigre is furrowed by different rivers and many of its places are only accessible by boat.

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Where to sleep?

If you want to stay for a weekend or at least spend a night, check it out to the Booking page that has a good apartment and hotel deals, although I would use this page to search for a hotel or apartment in the Capital, but that’s already up to you, isn’t it?

Things to do in Tigre?

In Tigre there are a few things that attract attention. First are their houses that you can only reach by boat and the area they call the Port of Fruits that has countless shops, it is a kind of market where you can find handicrafts, art, handmade furniture, souvenirs, etc.

If you go on weekends, especially on Sundays it has a lot of life, where most tourism is Argentinian and neighboring countries. You can also go to Parque de la Costa, where you will find many vertigo attractions, if you like try the giant slingshot, the roller coasters also look good, there are also attractions for the whole family, shows, etc.

On our last visit we arrived at about 11 am, we had breakfast in the Havanna café which has some very good sweets, I had breakfast with “alfajores”, hehehe… Then we took a tour of the Port of Frutos and bought the tickets to take a trip along the rivers in Catamaran, the boat lasts about 90 minutes and costs about 10 euros or so.

The Port of Fruits or Fruit Market

This fruit and vegetable market has been running until the last century. Here came the different fruits and vegetables that came from the numerous farms of the delta, were unloaded, and then went to the shops of Buenos Aires. Currently, there are a lot of shops.

A boat tour on the Delta

The Sarmiento river tour begins. Its name comes from a very famous public persona and former president of Argentina. During the tour, you see amazing homes and private clubs only for members. Each with its own pier as they are only accessible from the river.

The river is dull brown because it brings many sediments. The houses are built near the shore because the center of the islands is floodable. There are floating supermarkets, boats that pick up trash, hospital boats, ambulance, taxis…

The inhabitants leave the bag of the super tied and empty on the dock to warn that they want to buy. They have all the essential services except gas and running water, although they extract it from the river for various uses, it is not potable. To drink you have to buy it.

Casa Sarmiento Museum

One of the points of interest, is a replica of one of the ranches that Sarmiento built, this replica is covered with a glass cube, was made in 1996. It is now the Casa Sarmiento Museum and is on the Sarmiento River, Pier 273.

You get to a section of the delta that’s the “three mouths”. It is a tourist area with services and natural tourism activities. It is also a resident population area where each house has its own pier. There are elementary and secondary schools but not universities. Students are picked up by a bus boat and taken to school and left at home for free.

Water Sports in the Tigre

The San Antonio River that flows into the Río de la Plata is the national jet ski and water sports track. We pass through an area where there is a beautiful view of the Delta del Río de la Plata where at the end you see Buenos Aires and on the right San Isidro, another of the towns of Greater Buenos Aires, then we crossed a canal that was dredged more than 100 years ago.

It is a rural area and there are no buildings. Then you reach the city of San Fernando, the sailing capital. It should be noted that along the way the banks are full of reeds that move to the sound of the water and that they use to make furniture and wicker tools. As you advance along the river you leave the continental margin on the left while on the right you leave the delta islands.

On the continental margin you can see water parks and social clubs, shipyards and marinas. You will also see old ships that have placed them on the shore, sunk them and use them as platforms for plants or to sunbathe. The fruit market traditionally sold the horticultural production of Paraná. It occupies three docks. Today it is an outdoor shopping center.

Catamaran or bus boat?

This was the first time I took the catamaran ride, the truth is that the previous times I had climbed on the bus boats and I like them much more. The advantage of going on these boats is that these being smaller can get into the narrower canals and you know another side of the area, not just the tourist side.

It should be noted that it is cheaper, but (this can be good or bad) the return is much longer since you have to make stops for people to come down and up, although if you want to come back sooner, you can get off and get on one that returns to the mainland.

Where to eat?

After the boat ride, it was time to eat, and of course, we’re in Argentina, so we’d been keeping an eye on all the barbecues in the area.

They all look great, they had told us that “Lo de Negri” is the most famous, but when we finished the tour they were all crowded, and with waits of more than half an hour, so we asked the local people and they recommended us to go to “the island”, and we ate very well, barbecue with salad, dessert, pancakes with sweet milk and drinking Quilmes beer, a classic.

How to get to Tigre?

If you feel comfortable driving in Buenos Aires, the car is a good option, it is the one I use. But you can get there by public transport, both train, and buses.

The train is called “Tren de la Costa” and departs from Retiro Station. It lasts about 50 minutes.

The bus is number 60 and departs from Constitución Station, lasts about 90 minutes, check if where you are staying there is a stop of the 60.

By car, you have to go along the Pan American Route to the North Access, Ramal Tigre from Autopista del Sol. If you go on a Sunday, leaving Tigre can be a bit chaotic, because at about 4 or 5 pm everyone leaves and a lot of traffic jams form.

You can also book a tour in Buenos Aires, check out this one from Civitatis, include the boat ride with lunch

What’s your favorite transport?

Prepare your trip to Argentina

• Buenos Aires Part 1
• Must-Visit Places in Buenos Aires
• Iguazu Falls
• Visit to Mar del Plata
• Calafate and Perito Moreno Glacier
• A week in Salta
• Excursions in Buenos Aires
• Best Travel Insurance for your trips

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