Like every big city, Buenos Aires has many popular tourist attractions that can be found in every guide book or website you read about it. Many times as tourists, we go to popular tourists sites that are labeled “must sees” only to come away feeling disappointed and misguided. This post is not to say you shouldn’t visit any of the places listed, but rather to analyze if they really are a “must see” destination like so many websites and guide books say they are.
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It’s a puzzle to many Argentinean people. Why do so many people from so-called ‘first world’ countries such as the UK and the USA choose to leave those countries and live in Buenos Aires instead? A lot of Argentines would give their eye teeth to live in a first world country – with the standard of living that entails – so why is there so much traffic in the opposite direction?
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Most people will find that Colonia falls well short of expectations (Read Why You Shouldn’t Go to Colonia). But is it utterly impossible to like? No, not at all. With a suitable readjustment of expectations it’s perfectly possible to pass an enjoyable day trip or overnight stay in this little town on the river AND refresh your tourist visa at the same time.
Without further ado here are three things to like about going to Colonia:
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An excerpt from a facebook wall conversation I had with a friend as I sat in a café in Colonia diddling around with my iPhone….
I forgot my drivers license so I couldn’t rent a motorcycle, so I rented a golf cart. After about an hour here you run out of things to do and the only ferry returning to BsAs today is at 8:30 at night. With that said, the last couple hours my boredom has led me to driving around like an idiot in my golf cart, losing money at a casino, falling asleep in a cafe and now currently ripping Internet off a hotel while I drink a beer as I await my ferry which will be in another 3 hrs. A cute little town, but 12 hrs here is a bit too much.
It’s impossible to live the expat life in Buenos Aires for very long before becoming aware of the existence of Colonia del Sacramento, commonly referred to as simply ‘Colonia.’ That’s mostly because it’s a short boat ride from Buenos Aires that offers the opportunity to renew your three-month tourist visa (it’s across the Río de la Plata in Uruguay).
Colonia is not just a ‘visa run’ destination for perma-tourist expats though. It’s also a popular tourist attraction in its own right. This popularity is not surprising, as its old quarter has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and sources including Lonely Planet heap praise such as “its charms attract visitors from all over the world” upon it.
So there’s no doubt that Colonia has good marketing. But is it actually as interesting or fun a destination as they’d have us believe? Let’s take a look at what you can do in Colonia:
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