Active Buenos Aires

Day 1: Arrive in Buenos Aires and discover the city by bike

Landing at the international EZE airport your Swoop guide will meet you and accompany you by private vehicle to your centrally located hotel for checking in and a little time to yourself. The drive usually takes 30-40 minutes. 

Buenos Aires is blessed with a mostly flat topography and some seriously beautiful landscaped parks. The city is intersected by wide avenues, has ample cycle lanes, and with the most impressive examples of its neoclassical mansions located in the northern part of the city, you're in the perfect setting for some urban cycling. Join your private guide this afternoon, for a tour of approximately 4 hours by bicycle. You will experience the highlights of the northern districts of this wonderful city. At a relaxed pace, you’ll take in the most significant buildings and monuments, such as the university's law school, fine arts museum, impressive embassy buildings and the iconic flower monument Floralis Generica. Your guide will recount some of the city’s quirky history; insights only a local can tell you about. No visit to this part of the city would be complete without a stop-off at the beautiful Recoleta cemetery, where you’ll see Evita’s infamous grave and many other exquisite resting places of the characters that shaped a nation. 

You’ll be forgiven for thinking you are in Madrid or maybe Paris: this was the part of the city stylised to represent these elegant European capitals at the beginning of the 20th century. You might choose to take a pit-stop at one of the elegant historical cafes, or pop into one of the many great ice-cream parlours found here.  

Your bike tour itinerary will be modified depending on your hotel's location. The suggested route is based on staying in a hotel in either the Palermo or Recoleta districts.

Returning to your hotel, the evening is free for you to enjoy at your own pace, perhaps relaxing or savouring one of the city’s famous steaks in one of the many eateries near your hotel. Your Swoop guide will be able to make great recommendations. 

Excursion: 4 hour cycle tour of northern Buenos Aires with private guide

Accommodation: Swoop suggested 4* boutique hotel, Palermo neighbourhood

Day 2: Bike and kayak exploration of the Tigre Delta

Enjoy mixing different modes of transport as you take a full day to explore the narrow canals of the Tigre Delta, one of the world's major but lesser known river delta systems. 

Start by bike, joining your guide to cycle to one of the nearby train stations. You’ll ride the local transport with your bicycle for approximately 30 minutes, heading north, out of the city and into the most affluent suburban districts. After leaving the train you’ll ride your bike once more for another hour admiring the immense modern mansions, and quaint tree-lined streets that are so characteristic of this area, before arriving at the last municipality of this immense urban sprawl. 

Tigre port is the gateway to the immense delta system of the Paraná river that combines with the Uruguay river to form the vast estuary of the Rio de la Plata, which locals proudly declare as the widest river in the world. Swapping bikes for kayaks, and having received safety instructions from your guide, take to the small canals which form the first section of the delta. In total, the delta stretches some 300km upstream, today you’ll paddle for about 1.5 hours, exploring the intricate canals nearest to the town of Tigre. It’s fascinating to see how locals live on the tiny islands here, in stilted houses, buying their daily groceries from supermarket boats. You might be able to spot some of the birdlife which inhabits this aquatic ecosystem such as tiny kingfishers or inquisitive cormorants. 

Lunch is taken on one of the islands, at a small BBQ restaurant where a choice of plates are offered. The rustic setting is perfect: you'll be under the trees and by the river, with the sound of the birds all around. After lunch, and maybe a small siesta in the shade, return by kayak to Tigre. Here you’ll say goodbye to Buenos Aires’ garden-suburb and take the local train back to the heart of the city. As you reflect on today’s activity, the skyline gets more imposing, and you’ll wonder how such a vast aquatic and green haven can exist so close to such an immense city. You've had a special experience in a place visited by few tourists, and even less from the unique perspective of a kayak. 

Return to your hotel by bike and say goodbye to your guide. The evening is free for you to enjoy Buenos Aires on your own, maybe grabbing a pizza or juicy steak at the many great restaurants the city has to offer. 

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch - including soft drink

Excursion: Full-day at the Tigre delta by bike and kayak with private guide

Accommodation: Swoop suggested 4* boutique hotel, Palermo neighbourhood

Day 3: Transfer to Jorge Newbery domestic airport

This morning you will be transferred (approx 15 minutes, by private vehicle) to the Jorge Newbery (AEP) domestic airport in time for your flight south. 

Meals: Breakfast