So you have booked your trip to Buenos Aires, but you are wondering about how to get around the city. This guide is to help you understand public transportation and the best means of getting around.
First, I’d like to mention that Buenos Aires, while large, is a very walkable city full of parks, sidewalks, restaurants, cafes and activities on every street corner. So while you can take the bus or subway know that walking the city is very common as well. It is more of pedestrian city than say Santiago which has great transportation but is very heavily car focused similar to the United States.
In order to take public transportation in Buenos Aires you will need to purchase a Sube card. This is the card you will use for the subway (known as the Subte) and the bus (known as the colectivo). You can purchase a SUBE card at little store venders known as Kioscos. Here is one example
Hello 24! Drugstores - Azcuénaga 1079, C1127 Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
You also should be able to be a SUBE card in the Subte. Just go to the attendant at the station booth.
The same way you can purchase a SUBE card at some kioscos and in the Subte you can also charge your SUBE card. Just be sure to carry pesos with you as you cannot always use your card. Check out my guide Best Places to Get Pesos in Buenos Aires (Updated for 2025) for more details.
To get a SUBE card you can say:
To charge your SUBE card you can say:
By far the best and most updated guide for navigating Buenos Aires will be Google Maps. Simply enter where you want to go and it will tell you what línea de coletivo o Subte to take. You also can filter to only routes with the colectivo or Subte.
The Subte will be one of the best ways to get around as it is consistently reliable. Just be sure to avoid rush hour when people are coming and going from work during the week. Generally that is 7AM-10AM and 5PM-8PM. You’ll notice the city gets pretty quiet briefly in the evening as everyone is home generally preparing to go out late in the evening. Buenos Aires is a nocturnal city and popular dinner times are between 9-11pm.
Once you have your SUBE card taking the Subte just requires scanning it at the entrance to get in. The Subte line you’ll likely use is the D Line (the color green) which connects to the most popular destinations in the city like Plaza De Mayo, the Obelisco, Plaza Italia, Palermo, Chinatown, and more. The D line sits at a diagonal and goes through the middle of the city so at the start feel free to say on that line until you are comfortable getting around.
When looking at the maps in the Subte you’ll know which direction to get based on the color. When you see color (green in this case) know that those are the stops the Subte car still is heading towards. The faded out section are the stops that the Subte car already has been to.
For the D Line going to Catedral means you are going toward Plaza De Mayo and the city center and going to Congreso De Tocumán means you are going towards Palermo, Belgrano, & Nuñez which are barrios (neighborhoods) going away from the city center.
When you exit the Subte you do not need to scan your card again. You’ll only need to scan your card at the entrance.
When taking the colectivo (bus) you’ll need to specify where you are going so that the driver can enter the number of stops and the correct fare rate. Just know when you get on the colectivo be sure to say something to the driver like “Hasta Plaza Italia” or “Hasta Pueyrredón”. That means you’d like to be on the bus UNTIL (Hasta) a certain street or location.
If you don’t know the street you generally can say the generally area you are going to like the Alto Palermo mall or the Obelisco.
You also can say the number of stops you’d like to take like cuatro paradas, por favor (4 stops, please) if you don’t know the street as well.
You pay only when you are getting on at the front of the bus. When you get off the bus you get off any of the back bus doors. The front door is intended for people getting on the bus.
Popular buses to take in the city center are 39, 12, 108 & 59. Sometimes buses like the 39 have different routes which you can see on the bottom front-left of the bus. So if you go to tell the driver where you want to go and they say they don’t go that way that is why. All you need to do is hop off and wait a bit longer for another bus with the same number to come your way.
Taking a taxi is pretty universal and would be the same as taking a taxi in New York by putting your hand out. Taxi’s are marked in yellow and are easily to pinpoint. The prices are pretty affordable. You say where you want to go and then the fare counter will start in the top right corner of the car. It will start of at around a $1 equivalent of pesos more or less and then will increment over time and distance. The majority of drivers will take the fastest route to your destination, but occasionally you may have a driver that takes the long way to make more money. That happens everywhere but if you have your Google Map out you can see if that is happening. 99% of the time you are fine.
Tipping is not required but you can just round up to make it easier on you and the driver when paying in pesos or offer a tip if you are feeling generous. You can say “Quedate con el vuelto” (keep the change).
You can use Uber, Cabify, or DiDi and they all work the same. Download all of them if you want to compare the rates.
There are bikes throughout the city called Macro bici. Download the Macro bici app and pay the fare an extranjero (foreigner). Be sure to check the tire pressure before pulling a bike out of the stall.
Buenos Aires transportation is very good downtown and once you use it a couple of times you’ll see how easy it is.
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