What a great tour! Alan, our guide, was professional yet likeable and friendly. While he's super-knowledgeable about Buenos Aires' history and architecture, the tour never felt like a list of facts, but rather a series of vignettes with reoccurring characters and themes.
We took the full day tour, beginning in La Boca. In one day, we were able to weave our way through San Telmo, Microcentro (downtown), Plaza de Mayo, Retiro, and Recoleta. We went inside famous buildings of all sorts, from churches to government buildings. We had a relaxing coffee break at the famous Cafe Tortoni and a nice empanada and salad lunch in a charming Recoleta restaurant. Our tour finished at the Recoleta Cemetery, where Alan expertly weaved his way through the maze of mausoleums, highlighting the famous (Eva Perón) and the not-so-famous-but-interesting (a domestic servant buried just outside her employers' mausoleum). Having done all of these things, I am both surprised and delighted that the tour never felt hurried.
As a two year resident of Buenos Aires, I experienced the tour in a different way from other tourists. I didn't really need Alan's accurate translations, and I already had been to most of the locations on the tour. But, for me, it was an eye-opening experience. Anyone can get a map and walk around a city. But to really understand what you are seeing, from the cannon balls embedded in a historical church tower to the graffiti painted the day before by some politically active youth, one needs a guide. Moreover, I now finally understand who all those old men on the Argentine currency are.
The private tour format is a huge advantage. During our tour, we saw plenty of other tourists in large groups following lazily behing their guide. The were talking amongst themselves and had little or no connection to the guide. For us it was completely different: an engaging, personal and memorable experience.
