Whilst of modern construction and dynamic activity, it has managed to preserve old traditions and charming corners. The atmosphere, the individual personality of each of its neighbourhoods (barrios), the cordiality of its people and the wide selection of its cultural and commercial opportunities, fascinates one.

Buenos Aires, close to the splendid countryside surrounding it, is the great cosmopolitan doorway to South America. The Capital Federal, bounded by the Río de la Plata and its tributary the Riachuelo, plus the ring roads of Av. General Paz and Av. 27 de Febrero, consists of 47 distinct barrios, some of them very small and others quite large. These barrios have clearly defined limits, but informal boundaries are rarely congruent and often contradictory -the line between Palermo and Recoleta, for instance, is often indistinct, while Av. Cordoba boundary between Balvanera and Recoleta/Barrio Norte so rigidly demarcates two very distinct parts of the city that every porteño (as inhabitants of the port capital are known) who crosses the street recognizes the division. Porteños use the term microcentro for the area north of Av. de Mayo and east of Av. 9 de Julio, a sector that includes the Florida and Lavalle peatonales (pedestrian malls), Plaza San Martin and the important commercial and entertainment areas along Avs. Corrientes, Cordoba and Santa Fe. In fact, this also comprises parts of the barrio of Retiro and the area popularly known as Congreso, which overlaps the barrio of Balvanera. Barrio Norte, for that matter, is not a formal barrio but rather a neighborhood that comprises mostly residential parts of Recoleta and Retiro.

The major divisions are the microcentro and Av. de Mayo, Congreso and Corrientes, San Telmo and Constitución, La Boca, Retiro, Recoleta and Barrio Norte, and Palermo and Belgrano (including the 'Costanera', which provides access to the Rio de la Plata). The capital's traditional focus of activity is the Plaza de Mayo, opposite the Casa Rosada presidential palace. Both the Catedral Metropolitana (cathedral) and portions of the original Cabildo (colonial town council) are also here, at the east end of Av. de Mayo. Street names change, and street numbers rise, on each side of Av. de Mayo, while numbers on east-west streets rise from zero near the waterfront. The broad Av. 9 de Julio forms a second north-south axis, simultaneously encompassing Cerrito and Carlos Pellegrini north of Av. de Mayo, and Lima and Bernardo de Irigoyen south of Av de Mayo. It runs from Plaza Constitución in San Telmo to Av. del Libertador in Recoleta, which continues to the city's exclusive northern suburbs and their spacious parks.

How to Get to Buenos Aires
TRANSFER EZEIZA AIRPORT-BUENOS AIRES DOWN-TOWN

All the airlines that fly to Argentina arrive at the Ezeiza (Ministro Pistarini) International Airport of Buenos Aires, 35 km from the Federal Capital and connected to it by the Teniente General Ricchieri motorway. Remember that on leaving the country a tax has to be paid.

SUGGESTIONS

Send an e-mail to your hotel with information about your arrival (date, flight number and time of arrival) and they will send a car to take you safely to the hotel.

Send an e-mail to Mr. Andrew Downes (our recommended travel agency Caminos) at adownes@caminosturismo.com.ar or ats@caminosturismo.com.ar (subject of email: 'transfer airport-hotel (XIIIth Congress)') the same information and they will send a person with a chart with your name printed when you come out from the Customs and will drive you safely to the hotel.

BOTH OPTIONS ARE RELIABLE AND THE COST WILL BE APROX. USD 18.- (it depends on the exchange rate)

In case you want to share a bus with other people you can contact the transfer company MANUEL TIENDA LEON in a stand at the airport (the cost is approx. USD 5.-) and they will take you downtown by bus (they offer a 24hours-service) and they will leave you at their headquarters in the city. From there you should take a radio taxi to the Hotel (more or less 10' and the cost should be aprox. USD 1.-). If you want to contact Tienda León their e-mail is: traslado_hoteles@tiendaleon.com.ar.

Once you are living in Buenos Aires, we suggest you always to take a radio taxi (by phone or ask in the front desk of your hotel: Premium 4374 6667, Blue Way 4777-8888, Onda Verde 4867-0000).
Entry Formalities
Please review the list of VISA requirements.

Climate
Buenos Aires' climate is humid, with an annual rainfall of 900 mm spread fairly evenly throughout the year. The changeable spring, hot summer and mild autumn resemble their counterparts in New York City, but the proximity of the South Atlantic moderates winter temperatures in a city where the relatively low latitude of 34: 37' S is more comparable to Northern Hemisphere locations like Los Angeles and Atlanta, or Cape Town. Frosts are exceedingly rare -the lowest temperature ever recorded is -5.4:C, while snow has only fallen once this century, in 1918. (Since the XIIIth Congress will be held in the month of July, do consider that it will be wintertime).

The warmest temperature ever recorded was 43.3:C, but much lower temperatures can seem oppressive when humidity is high. Occasional pamperos (cold fronts out of the southwest) can cause the ambient temperature to fall dramatically. From the other direction, the occasional sudestada (southeasterly) combines with high tides and heavy runoff in the estuary of the Río de la Plata to flood low-lying areas like La Boca.