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Buenos Aires, the cheapest
Study Abroad destination!
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Blessed with an elegant, European-style capital, breathtaking natural wonders, and a vibrant and eclectic culture, Argentina is an ideal destination. When taking into account the favorable exchange rate (presently 3:1 US dollar to AR peso), it is an amazingly affordable place to visit or live. You will find that you can visit the top restaurants in the trendiest parts of town and drop no more than US10 dollars. We think this is one of the biggest draws of staying and studying in Argentina - when you live here, you won't stop yourself from fully enjoying the city because of the cost.
After the collapse of the Argentinian peso from 1:1 to the US Dollar to 3:1, the Argentinian government has been taking great measures to keep the peso greatly undervalued in order to bring back the Argentinian economy - particularly the export economy which benefits greatly by the undervalued peso. Eventually inflationary pressures will force this exchange rate back to a more realistic level. But in the meantime, living and studying in Argentina is an amazing bargain.
Many individuals planning to volunteer, study abroad or learn a language like Spanish, try to decide between studying in Argentina and countries in Europe. By all means go to Europe - but think about delaying that adventure just a bit. The cost of living in Europe (and therefore the cost of enjoying the restaurants, bands, clubs, theaters, cafes etc) is soaring right now, where the Euro is at the highest level relative to the US dollar in history. For the price of eating a can of tuna in your room in a city in Europe, you could have an entire night out on the town in Buenos Aires (OK - maybe that's an exaggeration - but not by much!). The Euro now is unrealistically high compared to the US dollar right now - in part due to diversification on the part on world central banks out of the US dollar and into the Euro. And besides, when you check out the slideshows on the GICArg website, you'll realize 'Europe' is right here in South America after all (well, a decidedly latin version of it anyway).
And if you're coming from Europe to Argentina, well, what can we say, the prices here will be laughable - or at least immensely enjoyable! You will be eating out in a hip restaurant in Palermo Viejo or Las Canitas (with a bottle of wine if you so choose) and anything you desire from the menu - and you will be shaking your head and smiling at the cost of it all. You'll hardly believe that one of the world's least expensive capital cities was, until just a couple years ago, one of the world's most expensive.
But all things are cyclical and eventually the Euro will come back down to a more realistic level and make countries in Europe once again a great place to go for learning a language or studying, interning or volunteering abroad. Likewise, the Argentinian peso will eventually go back up to normal levels. With inflationary clouds on the horizon, the peso will certainly rise - though hopefully we can count on the Argentinian government to keep it devalued for a year or two more!. In the meantime, come now and take a load off your wallet and put a smile on your face.
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News Articles About the Cost of
Living or Travelling in Argentina
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"...A country's tragedy has become a tourist's opportunity, and in between the two is a vastly improved economy for Buenos Aires, the glamorous capital of Argentina. Up until the peso crisis of December 2001, Buenos Aires was regarded as Latin America's most expensive city, if not one of the world's, with prices for some hotels and restaurants rivaling those of New York and Paris. Many on the South American-tourist crawl avoided this sophisticated and beautiful city altogether, staying in the cheaper capitals of the countries that surrounded it. But now that the peso, once on par with the U.S. dollar, has fallen to a third of its former value and stabilized there, tourists from all over the world are flocking to this city, often called the Paris of South America..." (Frommer's Buenos Aires, 2d Edition - read more)
"...The plunge of the peso in 2002 transformed Buenos Aires from one of South America's most expensive cities to one of its most reasonable. Now, with a strong euro deterring Americans from Europe, Argentina is looking like an even more attractive alternative...." (USA Today - read more)
"...But now, just three years after defaulting on the largest debt in modern history, Argentina is a screaming buy. I can attest to the notion that Buenos Aires is a world-class city in a thriving country. In fact, I believe Argentina to be the absolute cheapest country in the Western World..." (Money Week - read more)
"...There is a rumor going around that Buenos Aires either is, or is about to become, the new Prague. By this its boosters mean a city that is rapidly being discovered by a certain segment of the world's young, and not only those backpacking youth interested in finding love and adventure in a context of faded, old world opulence...After coming out on the other side of their respective cataclysms, both cities, giddy with a sense of liberation, have burst into life as centers of culture and commerce. Moreover, just as Prague was delightfully cheap 15 years ago, so now Buenos Aires is consistently ranked as one of the least expensive cities in the world..." (New York Sun - read more)
"...So, yes, I feel guilty as I head along Calle Libertad and upstairs to Bar Danzon - beautiful, designer decor; beautiful, designer clients - and order a large Quilmes beer, handing over the equivalent of 80p. And there's the rub. For tourists, Buenos Aires right now is unbelievably cheap. A full-works meal in a trendy restaurant costs £12. Taxi across town, £2. New shoes, £10..." (The Guardian - read more)
"...Buenos Aires, or BA, as it is known, is once again the winter sun and social playground for those in the know. But where in the past it was only the well-heeled who could afford to party there, these days it is the cheapest capital in South America...Who could resist eating the best three-course meal in the swankiest new restaurant in town for less than £12, including some of the finest Argentinian wines? What could be more exciting than partying till dawn in the coolest bars and clubs with the beautiful portenos (BA residents)?..." (The Independent - read more)
"...Imagine being pleasantly shocked every time you get the bill. The Argentine capital -- a Latin amalgam of Europe's cultural hot spots -- has re-emerged as a global 'It' city...And because B.A. is a Latin American amalgam of the food, fashion and culture of European cities like Milan and Madrid -- not to mention that it's dead cheap, owing to the crash of the Argentine dollar in 2001 -- the city has reemerged in the new millennium as a sizzling international hot spot..." (The Globe & Mail - read more)
"...This Parisian-style city, renowned for tango and steak, has become downright cheap since the devaluation of the peso. A gourmet dinner for two with a bottle of local wine goes for $20. I took my first trip here in 2000, when food, hotels and clothing were more expensive than most fashionable spots in Manhattan. A year later, Argentina's economy collapsed, the peso plunged and this swank city became affordable for Americans. I moved here from Los Angeles three years ago to get a master's degree at a private university. Now, I never want to leave..." (Los Angeles Times - read more)
"...Buenos Aires, Latin America's leading dance destination, has been partying since the 19th century and it shows no signs of winding down. The portenos - Buenos Aires locals - have taken the best of European party culture and added their own sensuous flair. And with the current exchange rate, there is the added attraction that a cool cocktail in the best bar in town will cost you less than £2 a pop. Buenas noches does not mean "good night" here: it's merely a signal that things are about to start..." (The Independent - read more)
"...In Buenos Aires these days, everyone is having problems sleeping,'' said my Argentine friend César as we strolled down a street in Palermo Viejo, the neighborhood of shops, bars and restaurants known locally as the SoHo of Buenos Aires. It was around 3:30 a.m. on a weekend, cool enough for a leather jacket, but the sidewalks were alive with people still reluctant to call it a night, looking for another bar, another sidewalk cafe, in which to linger. I live in New York, where I'm usually in bed by 11. At 11 you'll be lucky to get a reservation in a Buenos Aires restaurant...The flip side of Argentina's economic pain is that the United States dollar goes a long way. Just about everything in Argentina -- from hotel rooms to fine restaurants to local transportation -- costs about two-thirds less than it would in the United States..." (New York Times - read more)
"...At some of the city's hottest restaurants, it is impossible to get a reservation, even a few days in advance, and in response to the influx of foreign visitors, new hotels are opening all over town. While other parts of the world are becoming increasingly expensive, because of the fall of the dollar, Americans visiting Argentina can still capitalize on a very favorable 3-to-1 peso-dollar exchange rate, which Argentina's central bank seems to be committed to maintaining. Before the brutal currency devaluation in 2001, from which the country is still reeling, the Argentine peso was linked to the dollar at a one-to-one ratio..." (New York Times - read more)
"...The current hub for barflies here, with its multitude of bars and restaurants, is the neighborhood of Palermo Viejo. There, the areas known as Palermo Soho (densely populated with boutiques) and Palermo Hollywood (where many television studios are located) are particularly popular...At the current rate of around 3 Argentine pesos to the dollar, beer or wine usually costs about $1.40 or $1.75..." (New York Times - read more)
"...Since Argentina's 2001 financial collapse put a two-thirds-off sign on everything in B.A., the city has become a playground for Europeans and Americans looking to relax or reinvent. Buenos Aires mixes a potent cultural cocktail: low prices, a familiar-but-different (and sexy) vibe, good weather, great food, and the chance to start over..." (New York Magazine - read more)
"...The economy is booming, too: After hitting bottom in 2002, it bounced back in 2004 and 2005, a turnaround that is visible in the sheer number of new apartment towers and clothing stores popping up in the trendy Palermo area. And yet it is still shockingly inexpensive, with first-rate meals rarely costing more than 78 pesos a person, or $25 at 3.14 Argentine pesos to $1....During this recovery, international skepticism about the local economy has meant that the exchange rate has actually improved for American travelers, with the peso recently falling to a three-year low against the dollar. The downside is that there has been a surge in the cost of living in a land as famous for its explosive inflation as for its huge steaks. With the economic boom predicted to continue for 2006, travelers might be advised to visit before inflation makes Argentina no longer the eye-popping bargain it has been since 2002...." (New York Times - read more)
"...With these indications of an improving economy, the city might not be giddily cheap for long. But right now, it is still a bargain. Cappucino is $1. Taxi rides average $3 with tip. A bottle of water costs 30 cents. In general, clothes at boutiques and custom-made articles, innovative in design and impeccable in quality, are about half what they cost in Europe or stateside..." (Boston Globe - read more)
"...It's still bargain season in Argentina, judging from the reports I've received from returning travelers. Despite the country's ongoing economic recovery, good deals abound. The peso continues to trade at three to the dollar (versus a rate of one to the dollar two years ago)....At a good restaurant in Buenos Aires, two large steaks — among the best in the world — with appetizers, sides, desserts and wine costs about $40 for two diners. Subways cost pennies, large cones of Argentina's world-renowned ice cream cost about 40 cents, and coffee or tea are less expensive than bottled water from overseas..." (Los Angeles Times - read more)
"...Like the tango, shopping in Buenos Aires can be a somewhat wicked pleasure. Argentina's economic collapse in 2001 devalued the country's peso considerably against the dollar...And while the crisis, which shows strong signs of abating, has been brutal for residents, visitors are filling hotels and loading suitcases with leather goods and textiles purchased at bargain prices. How does $30 for a cashmere sweater sound? Lengthy cab rides (go with Radio, the town's most dependable taxi company) are about $4 -- the approximate price of a generous steak dinner in a nice restaurant. Treat yourself to long-stem white roses ($10 a dozen) and boxes of fresh chocolates ($5)..." (Washington Post - read more)
"...The financial meltdown emasculated the Argentine economy, but it also made Buenos Aires, the expensive cosmopolitan capital, an attractive and suddenly affordable destination. Now largely recovered from “La Crisis,” the city is being energized by an influx of tourists, expatriates and returning Argentine émigrés, and its glamorous night life and conspicuous consumption have reached a fever pitch..." (New York Times - read more)
"...Drawn by the city’s cheap prices and Paris-like elegance, legions of foreign artists are colonizing Buenos Aires and transforming this sprawling metropolis into a throbbing hothouse of cool. Musicians, designers, artists, writers and filmmakers are sinking their teeth into the city’s transcontinental mix of Latin élan and European polish, and are helping shake the Argentine capital out of its cultural malaise after a humbling economic crisis earlier this decade...“Buenos Aires is a more interesting place to live than Los Angeles, and it’s much, much cheaper. You can’t believe a city this nice is so cheap.”...That wasn’t always the case. For much of the 20th century, Buenos Aires ranked among the world’s most expensive capitals, on par with Paris and New York. Broad boulevards were lined with splendid specimens of French belle époque architecture that evoked the Champs-Élysées, and tree-lined streets were buzzing with late-night cafes and oak-and-brass bars. Then came the financial crisis of late 2001...Overnight, Buenos Aires went from being among the priciest cities to one of the world’s great bargain spots... (New York Times - read more)
"...Mercer's survey covers 144 cities across six continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. It is the world's most comprehensive cost-of-living survey...Asuncion in Paraguay remains the least expensive city globally, in 144th position...Other cheap cities include Buenos Aires...in 142d place..." (Mercer Worldwide Cost of Living 2006 - City Rankings: read more)
Travel & Leisure - World's Best Awards 2007: Top 10 Cities Overall (Travel & Leisure - read more)
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