Is Buenos Aires Expensive? What We Actually Spent in 19 Days
Is Buenos Aires expensive? For us, it was good value rather than dirt cheap. We spent A$2,794.89 per person across 19 calendar days, including 18 nights of accommodation, our recorded flight fees, eating out, activities, groceries, transport and shopping. Without shopping, that drops to A$2,335.78 per person.
We tracked 87 separate Buenos Aires transactions, then matched them against our actual Airbnb and flight bookings. So this is not a calculated daily estimate or a list of prices pulled from Google. It is what one of us genuinely spent.
All figures in this guide are in Australian dollars and per person, unless I clearly say otherwise. Dan tracked his allocated half in TravelSpend, so couples following a similar travel style should begin by doubling the per-person figures.
Is Buenos Aires expensive for tourists?
Buenos Aires is no longer the unbelievably cheap destination that older travel stories can make it sound like. But compared with eating and staying in a major Australian city, we still found it very good value, especially for steak, apartments and Uber.
The biggest difference is how you travel. We stayed in apartments, cooked plenty of breakfasts and dinners, worked during the week and then spent more on the experiences we cared about. That included a tango show, a Boca Juniors match, multiple steak restaurants, a gym membership and far more shopping than a short holiday would normally include.
Prices and exchange rates change quickly in Argentina, so use our numbers as a real January 2026 example rather than a promise of what every meal will cost today. At the time, the little trick we used was roughly 100 Argentine pesos to A$1, which made converting prices in our heads unusually easy.
Our total Buenos Aires cost for 19 days
Scroll to see the full table →
| Cost | Per person | For two people | What it covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everyday spending | A$1,992.42 | A$3,984.84 | Food, activities, shopping, local transport, coffee and cash |
| Accommodation | A$612.47 | A$1,224.93 | Two Palermo apartments for 18 nights |
| Recorded flights | A$190.00 | A$380.00 | Rio to Buenos Aires fee and Buenos Aires to El Calafate |
| Complete recorded total | A$2,794.89 | A$5,589.78 | Everything recorded above |
| Total without shopping | A$2,335.78 | A$4,671.56 | A more useful holiday comparison |
The complete total works out to A$147.10 per person per calendar day. Without shopping, it becomes A$122.94 per person per day.
That daily figure includes the arrival and onward flights, so it should not be compared directly with blogs that quote only food, transport and accommodation. For a cleaner destination-only comparison, our everyday spending was A$104.86 per day, or A$80.70 without shopping.
What our Buenos Aires budget actually included
Our everyday total contains all the normal life that disappears from perfect travel budgets: coffee, groceries, gym access, Ubers, ice cream, a haircut and cash withdrawals. It also contains shopping for skincare, hiking clothes, creatine and a Patagonia jacket.
It does not include the separate value of the points used for our Rio to Buenos Aires flight. We booked that flight using a mixture of points and an A$182 fee for both of us. The A$182 is included, but the points do not have a cash value in this calculation.
The total also reflects our slower style of travel. We spent nearly three weeks in the city and built a routine around Palermo rather than treating every day like a sightseeing marathon. If you want to see what filled our time, read our guide to the best things to do in Buenos Aires.
Having an Airbnb kitchen is also how we create a little bit of home normality while travelling full time. We genuinely love cooking, and making our own breakfast or dinner gives us a break from being in holiday mode every day. It does work out cheaper than eating out every night, but the routine matters just as much when you are living the nomad lifestyle rather than taking a short trip.
How much our Buenos Aires accommodation cost
We paid A$1,224.93 for two people across 18 nights, which works out to A$612.47 each or an average of A$68.05 per apartment per night.
We split the stay between Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood:
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| Stay | Nights | Total for two | Per night |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palermo Soho apartment | 7 | A$572.53 | A$81.79 |
| Palermo Hollywood apartment | 11 | A$652.40 | A$59.31 |
The funny part is that the Hollywood apartment was both our favourite and the cheaper one. The owners gave us the most helpful Airbnb welcome we have ever had, including a 30-minute explanation of the city, maps and a handmade neighbourhood book. It made us even more excited about Buenos Aires after we had already been there for a week.
We loved both sides of Palermo, but Hollywood felt slightly livelier for cafés and restaurants. If you are pricing your own trip, check the current accommodation options in Palermo for your exact dates because this will move your budget more than almost anything else. Our Buenos Aires guide also includes both apartments and our saved map.
Our everyday spending by category
The A$1,992.42 everyday total came from 87 transactions between 2 and 19 January. Restaurants were our largest everyday category, followed by shopping and activities.
Scroll to see the full table →
| Category | Per person | Share of everyday spending |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | A$594.72 | 29.8% |
| Shopping | A$459.11 | 23.0% |
| Activities | A$362.24 | 18.2% |
| Groceries | A$262.53 | 13.2% |
| Coffee | A$91.00 | 4.6% |
| Cash and general | A$88.24 | 4.4% |
| Transportation | A$71.96 | 3.6% |
| Drinks | A$62.62 | 3.1% |
How much food cost us in Buenos Aires
We spent A$594.72 per person at restaurants, plus A$262.53 on groceries and A$91 on coffee. Food was a major part of why we loved Buenos Aires, so this was never going to be the category where we behaved perfectly.
Some real examples from our tracker were:
- A$63.33 per person for our first 10 out of 10 steak dinner at Hierro
- A$77.59 per person at La Cabrera
- A$24.23 per person for breakfast at Stain
- A$28.07 per person for Buenos Aires-style pizza
- A$16.87 per person for choripán
- A$26.10 per person for our final-night ice cream
La Cabrera came with so many complimentary sides that I would genuinely order less than you think you need. The steak was beautiful and I rated it 9.5 out of 10, although Hierro still had slightly more flavour for us.
We did not eat out for every meal. The apartments let us make eggs, fruit, avocado toast, vegetables and steak at home. One of our best grocery finds was roughly 820 grams of scotch fillet for about A$27 for both of us. The fresh produce was also far better than we expected.
How much activities cost us
Activities came to A$362.24 per person. The largest entries were the experiences we still talk about:
- Boca Juniors match: A$133.79
- Tango show: A$100
- Gym access: A$80.18
- Cinema: A$35.99
- Drinks inside the Boca stadium: A$9.22
- Centro Cultural Recoleta visit: A$3.06
Our Boca match finished 0-0 and the crowd still never stopped singing. Nico from Stain helped us arrange our tickets and walked us to the gate. It was one of the most electric atmospheres I have ever experienced.
That personal route is not something every visitor can copy. If your dates fall during the season, there is a Boca Juniors matchday experience through GetYourGuide that you can check instead.
We bought show-only tickets for La Ventana rather than dinner. The tango ran from 10 pm until 11:30 pm and was completely worth it. You can compare the current La Ventana ticket options here.
How much transport cost us
We spent A$71.96 per person on transport inside Buenos Aires. Our Uber from Ezeiza was A$19.04 per person, and another cross-city Uber shown in the vlog was roughly A$13 for both of us.
We found Uber incredibly easy. Cars often arrived within a couple of minutes, and it made sense when we wanted to save time moving between neighbourhoods. Buenos Aires also has an extensive bus and subte network. The official Buenos Aires tourism site explains the SUBE card and public transport options if you want to keep this category even lower.
We walked a lot as well, especially around Palermo, San Telmo and Recoleta. Staying in the right neighbourhood can save both money and a surprising amount of travel time.
Shopping changed our headline number
Shopping added A$459.11 per person, or 23% of all our everyday spending. That included hiking clothes for Patagonia, skincare, protein, creatine and a Patagonia jacket.
This is why I do not want to give you only the A$2,794.89 headline and pretend it is a universal Buenos Aires budget. Someone taking a one-week holiday probably will not be buying the same combination of hiking gear and long-term travel supplies.
Removing shopping gives a more useful total of A$2,335.78 per person, including accommodation and the recorded flight amounts. Excluding flights as well, our stay and everyday spending came to A$2,145.78 per person.
What our flights cost
Our arrival flight from Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires was booked using points plus an A$182 fee for two people, so the recorded fee was A$91 each.
The flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate cost A$198 for two, or A$99 each. Together, the two recorded flight amounts added A$190 per person to this trip.
These are not return flights from Australia, and the Rio flight used points, so they should not be treated as a normal international airfare estimate. I have included them because they are part of what this exact stage of our journey cost us.
Cash, cards and the one payment issue we had
We mostly used cards. Our cash and general category was A$88.24 per person, including A$65.97 withdrawn from ATMs and A$22.27 for a haircut.
The only consistent cash requirement we remember was the gym. We did have a strange problem with some light blue and white payment terminals rejecting my ING and CommBank cards, while Dan's Dubai-issued card worked. Other terminals accepted the Australian cards without an issue.
That was our personal experience rather than a rule about every Australian card. I also use Wise as one of my travel cards when we are moving between currencies. Even so, I would still carry a backup card and some pesos instead of relying on one payment method.
How much should you budget for one week in Buenos Aires?
Based on our actual spending style, I would start with about A$800 per person for seven nights, excluding flights and personal shopping.
That estimate uses our average accommodation cost plus our everyday spending without shopping. It gives you room for a mixture of groceries and restaurants, Ubers, coffee and paid experiences. Add more if you want a hotel, several premium steak dinners or multiple tours.
For two people, a practical starting point would therefore be roughly A$1,600 for one week, before flights and shopping. Check current accommodation first, then build the rest of the budget around it.
How we would spend less next time
We would not remove the tango, Boca match or steak dinners. They were some of the reasons we loved the city so much. The easiest savings would be:
- Buy fewer long-term travel supplies and clothes while in the city.
- Keep an apartment kitchen and continue cooking breakfast and some dinners.
- Walk neighbourhood by neighbourhood instead of crossing the city repeatedly.
- Use buses and the subte more often when time allows.
- Choose one premium steak dinner, then use relaxed local options such as Dandy Grill.
- Compare Soho and Hollywood rather than assuming the busier area will cost more.
The goal is not to make Buenos Aires as cheap as physically possible. It is to spend on the parts you will remember and stop leaking money on things you do not care about.
Was Buenos Aires worth what we spent?
Completely. Buenos Aires was one of the rare cities where we found a routine almost immediately. We could work from cafés, cook at home, walk beautiful streets and still have huge travel moments such as tango, football and our Sunday asado with Nico's family.
That asado became one of the best days of our entire world trip. It was not the most expensive thing we did, and it cannot really be reduced to a line in a budget. That is the part spreadsheets never capture.
If you are still deciding whether to go, read our honest take on whether Buenos Aires is worth visiting. If you are already planning, our complete Buenos Aires guide includes our saved map, both apartments and every food stop.
Frequently asked questions
Is Buenos Aires expensive for Australian tourists?
We found Buenos Aires good value compared with major Australian cities, especially for apartments, Uber and high-quality steak. It was not as unbelievably cheap as older travel stories suggest, and premium restaurants or frequent shopping can increase the total quickly.
How much did you spend per day in Buenos Aires?
Our everyday spending was A$104.86 per person per day. Excluding shopping, it was A$80.70. Including accommodation and recorded flight amounts, the complete total was A$147.10 per person per calendar day.
How much was accommodation in Buenos Aires?
We paid A$1,224.93 for two people across 18 nights in Palermo. That averaged A$68.05 per apartment per night, or A$34.03 per person per night.
How much cash do you need in Buenos Aires?
We used cards for almost everything and withdrew A$65.97 per person in cash across the stay. The gym was our main cash requirement. Carry some pesos and a backup card because several payment terminals rejected Ellen's Australian cards.
Can you visit Buenos Aires on a budget?
Yes. Stay in an apartment, cook some meals, walk within each neighbourhood and use public transport. Our own accommodation plus everyday spending excluding shopping and flights worked out to about A$112.94 per person per calendar day.
What was your biggest expense?
Everyday spending was the largest combined cost, followed by accommodation. Within the everyday categories, restaurants were highest at A$594.72 per person, followed by shopping at A$459.11.
Watch our complete Buenos Aires vlog
The spreadsheet shows where the money went. The vlog shows why we would spend it again, including Stain, the Boca match, La Cabrera and the asado that gave us lifelong friends.
Ellen x
