Tigre Buenos Aires is a town an hour outside of the city, built onto the delta of the Rio de la Plata in the network of wetlands and waterways. It is centered around a large fruit market, which has grown to be a commercial market where all the tourism funnels through.
The town is named after the jaguars that used to roam the area (because the settlers thought that every big cat was a tiger). Today, people live on this delta both full time and come for weekend getaways from the city. There are no cars to get around the delta area and all transportation is done by boat. Boats are used as taxis, school buses, grocery stores, water delivery, trash pickup, and even ice cream boats in the summer.
Tigre is an easy getaway from the busy city life and could be a great day or half-day trip for anyone visiting Buenos Aires to explore the delta. And you can even consider spending the night within the delta to truly appreciate the unique and simple way of life here.
How to Get to Tigre Buenos Aires
Tigre is an easy train ride away from Buenos Aires. There are two trains that go there from the city, the Mitre line and the Tren de la Costa. For both of these trains, you can use your sube card from public transportation in Buenos Aires to pay for the train in both directions.
First, let’s talk about the Mitre line. It leaves from the Retiro station in Buenos Aires. There are a few stops within the city of Buenos Aires so you can find the nearest station and get on the train from there. Google Maps can accurately direct you to the appropriate bus and train stop to get to Tigre. For this train, you will tap your sube card to get into the train station and tap it again to leave so it can appropriately charge your card.
The Tren de la Costa is a train that runs along the coast of Buenos Aires and has some beautiful views of the suburban areas as you leave Buenos Aires. To get to this train line, you have to take the Mitre train (the one we talked about above) to the San Isidro stop. There, you can walk through the small town and, just 10 minutes away, is the train station for the Tren de la Costa. (There are a number of places to grab a bite to eat between the two train stops, making it a great place to grab lunch before continuing on to Tigre Buenos Aires.) On this train, you will tap your sube card directly on the train to pay for the ride.
Taking a Tour From Buenos Aires
There are companies that provide full and half day tours from Buenos Aires, making the navigation to the delta region and exploration of Tigre Buenos Aires much easier and more streamlined. We believe that doing this day trip without a tour is completely possible for any traveler but understand that you may want an easier option. Click the link above to look into various tour options. Just make sure that the tour has a river boat tour on a lancha to give yourself the best experience possible. Below, we continue to explain how to visit the Tigre delta without a designated tour.
A Lancha Boat Tour in Tigre
Once you arrive in Tigre Buenos Aires, you will want to do a boat tour of the delta. If you arrive on the Mitre train line, you will likely be approached by sellers of boat tours as you walk to the Puerto de Frutos, where the boats depart from. Do not purchase your boat tickets from these vendors. They will be overpriced. Look for the boat stands directly on the water and purchase the tickets directly from the boat docks for the best price.
There are a few different types of boats that provide tours of the delta and take you to see the unique aspects of this part of Argentina. The boats range from large catamarans, medium modern speed boats, to smaller wooden lanchas. The lanchas are the most traditional boats of the region. Because they are traditional to the region and designed to navigate the water system here, they are smaller in size than the other tour boats and can fit in some of the smaller rivers within the delta. If you want to get into some of these smaller areas of delta life, then search for a tour with these lanchas.
The boat tour on the lancha includes a historical guide who will give you background about the area. Many tours are Spanish-only but there are some providers that have tours in other languages. However, even without being able to understand the language, a relaxing ride on the delta is worth it and you can often understand the context of the area that you are visiting. Tours range from one to two hours long but a one hour tour is a great introduction to the delta life if you do not have extended time to be able to explore the delta life in Tigre Buenos Aires.
Other Things To Do In Tigre Buenos Aires
Below are a few of the other things to do in Tigre Buenos Aires before heading back to the city. You can also consider spending the evening in a home on the delta to integrate yourself even further into the culture and unique way of life here.
- Museo de Arte Tigre – not only is this an art museum, it’s also an interesting architectural building. You will see it on the Delta river tour. To visit it, you can walk or take a water taxi to explore it
- Parque de la Costa – a theme park right on the coast
- Stay at a short term rental on the delta and take advantage of delta-life. You can find some of these options via Airbnb
