I LOVED the tours my family took through the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. The owner of the company, Alan, was incredibly responsive to our late requests for tours... not only did he promptly respond to my email inquiries, but also utilized WhatsApp to help me figure out the tour for the next day. He definitely went above and beyond in customer service, and we were so grateful.

We did two half-day walking tours (it's great they let you split them up like that... it gives you more time to explore!) We did the San Telmo/La Boca tour and the Historic City Center tour, since we were staying near the Recoleta Cemetery and had explored it on our own. (Side note: I highly recommend the La Boca tour as it's far enough out that you might not get there otherwise, and it has a very unique history with a fun vibe). Our tour guide, Richard, was incredibly knowledgeable and really helped tailor the tour to our interests. At the end of the first day he led us to this amazing little wine bar where we did a tasting (at our own cost), and we loved the wine so much we brought home 6 bottles!

Later in our trip we also booked a full day tour to Colonia de Sacramento in Uruguay. Oliver leads these trips, and he was very helpful ushering us through the customs process and getting our ferry tickets for us (something that proved to be impossible to do online, without an Argentine credit card). He had a lot of insight into the history of this UNESCO World Heritage site.... that said, I found the city to be rather dull and uninspiring. The buildings from the 1600's were not very impressive and the old town is pretty small. I may be jaded because I travel often, but it really didn't wow me. On top of the underwhelming town, we had a horribly rainy and cold day. One thing I wished Oliver would have done is adjusted his tour to the weather.... yes he can't control it, but when freezing rain is pouring down, maybe decrease the 'free time' portion of the trip to get back to the ferry earlier to wait in a dry area. We missed the whole mate experience (something the entire family had been looking forward to), because we got to the ferry late and then had to all sit separately. Meanwhile, we spent 2 soggy hours trying to avoid the rain in unheated and very small museums. Since we paid a high price to have a private custom tour, I expected a bit more adjustment to the circumstances, as unexpected as they were. Not to mention we didn't get one of the experiences advertised as included in the (steep!) price.

Summary: DEFINITELY do the tours in Buenos Aires, and ask for Richard if you can! :) Only pay the very high price to go to Colonia in Uruguay if you really, really want to see Uruguay and you can't speak Spanish to get ferry tickets on your own.

We had three full days in BA. It was my first visit and, while my partner had been many times on business, it was his first opportunity to be a tourist. I chose Buenos Tours because I was looking for a way to get a good overview of the City the first day, leaving us time to visit favorite places or new neighborhoods on our remaining days. Ceri was our guide and we could not have had a more perfect person to take us around. Walking around with him was like seeing the City with a good friend who loves his town and wants to show you its special places. We used to live in New York and what he did for us was like something I would do for friends visiting NYC for the first time. From what I understand, each tour is planned to match your interest, so if you go, give them as much information as you can when filling out their questionnaire. Ours were history, architecture and the daily life of the place (plus good food and wine). Turns out these were major interests of Ceri’s too. The day was casual and relaxed. We started early on a Sunday morning in St Telmo as the weekly street fair was setting up. During the course of the day he pointed out buildings with intricate details we most certainly would have missed, took us into regular shops and even to an historic pharmacy because we needed to get a medication refilled. Our walk included the major attractions (i.e., Casa Rosada, the Cathedral, La Recoleta Cemetery) and just interesting stuff. We had a great time and learned and saw so much more than we would have in one day on our own with a guidebook. I understand why Buenos Tours is so highly recommended and I enthusiastically add my voice to the collective praise. It is more expensive than many other tours but I thought it was a great value. We covered a lot of ground, had some good food and conversation, and left feeling as though we had a friend in BA.

We did two half-day tours of BA with Richard, and found it to be entertaining and informative. We learned so much more about the culture, customs, and history of BA than we would have wondering on our own. Richard had a plan, but was willing to customize to our interests and needs. We truly enjoyed both days, especially winding down the walking tour in the San Telmo neighborhood with a wine tasting. The tours were both great values and we highly recommend them.

Later in our week we went with Oliver for a day trip to Colonia, again the trip planning and attention to detail was excellent. Oliver shared the significant history of this colonial Uruguay village, and arranged for a lovely traditional meal. The inclement weather interfered some (not, obviously Oliver's fault), and that caused some glitches that meant we didn't get the mate lesson and tasting we had been looking forward to, but other than that, it was an interesting tour. This tour is a bit more expensive with the additional travel involved on the ferry, so I would recommend it only to folks truly interested in this UNESCO world heritage site. The museums which you tour on your own were largely in Spanish, so while they were a great way to avoid the rain, they didn't offer much of interest to those of us who couldn't read Spanish.