What an incredible city. During the summer and "el exodo" when seemingly all of Buenos Aires heads to this laid back beach town, it's easily on my list of places that I must return to. So to share a few bits of wisdom and street smarts I picked up, here is my first entry on Travelingbug. Hopefully with this, you’ll save a ton of time figuring things out and make the most of your trip.
So we
arrived on Dec. 30th after a very comfortable bus ride from Buenos Aires. To
buy tickets, you can do this online and print out the pdf tickets on Plataforma
10 http://www.plataforma10.com/ which I did before even arriving in Argentina.
Since practically all the hotels near Playa Grande were booked, we ended up staying at the City Hotel on Diagonal Alberdi. It was a decent place, clean and
really friendly staff. But it’s more of
a family place and about a 20 minute walk or 5 minute cab 
ride
from Playa Grande
which is pretty much where you want to stay. We were next to the Peotonal San Martin. This is
a tourist spot full of little shops, restaurants, and tons of ice cream
parlors. Interesting to see, but again, more of a family spot. If you are
looking to party, you want to be on Calle Alem. This is where many bars, pubs
and lounges can be found. The place is packed at night with all the people from
around Argentina on holiday. The nights typically start here, then move on to the
boliches, or discos around 1-3am. MDP has no shortage of these. You’ll need to
catch a cab
and go to Sobremonte.
It’s a massive club with several rooms of different house and hip hop. There
are se
veral others around the same area. I’m sure all are just as good. There are other events like guest DJs at the
beach clubs south of Playa Grande. Such places as Waikiki, La Caseta, etc. are
names to know and the places to be during peak season. We went to Divino (club) at La Caseta for Satoshi Tomiie (an internationally
famous house DJ). It was an amazing night with tons of energy, beautiful women
and a party that lasted until about 7am when “el amanecer” came. Just thinking
about it makes me want to hop on a plane.
If you’re there over New Year’s, make sure you make advanced arrangements for dinner. In Argentina, people tend to celebrate the New Year at home or with family. Around 1am Calle Alem is unbelievably packed. Next entry will be the agony and ecstasy of New Year’s Eve in Mar del Plata.
A few notes to make your trip smoother:
- One absolute rule: book your hotel, hostel room or apartment rental in Mar del Plata as soon as possible. People start booking as early as a year in advance. It’s crazy.
- Buses:
1. Take the “Suite” class of bus if possible. These have fewer riders because they cost 10 pesos more. The seats recline fully so you can actually sleep. This is huge on a 5 hour bus ride with literally no scenery other than cattle and flat farm lands. We took Rapido Argentino.
2. Tip the baggage handler a couple pesos.
3. Bring water and an empanada, or something else to eat. The food they give you is pretty terrible. Especially after you’ve been eating incredible food in Buenos.
- The casino is fun but pay odds are pretty bad and just being in there is like smoking a few packs an hour.
- Eat as much ice cream and steak as you can.
