The Tour is a shared tour. There is a minimum of two registered people for the Tour to the opened. And we set a maximum of 12 participants. The average number of participants in the tours is between 4 and 8 people. Sometimes the tours have only 2 people and become private tours. In extremely high season (the last week of December and the first week of January) we may accept an extra couple if they cannot take the tour on any other day.
If your party if a large party, and you request the tour with enough anticipation, you may be able to secure a Private Tour for your group.
In the Summertime (between early December and early March), the Tour is generally offered Sundays thru Fridays, from 9 AM to 3 PM. It is not offered on Shabbat.
During the rest of the year (between early March and early December), the Tour is generally offered Tuesdays thru Fridays and Sundays, from 9 AM to 3 PM. It is not offered on Shabbat and on Mondays.
The tour is a 6-hour tour, formally beginning at 9:00 AM and ending at 3:00 PM.
But we always ask people to please allow for an extra-hour, until 4 PM, just in case we need it (which we generally do!)
Unfortunately, because the tours are generally shared tours and they have a set order and structure, we do not generally offer shorter tours. Because of the character of the tour, people generally feel that the tour flies and sometimes they don´t want it to end but wish it lasted longer!
Yes, pick up time from your place (hotel, apartment or cruise-ship terminal at the port) will be some time between 8:30 AM and 9:00 AM, depending on the location of your place. At the end of the Tour, we bring you back to your place. If location and time allow, at the end of the Tour we can drop you off at the place of your next activity.
The Tour is done partly walking and partly with transportation.
When we are in Plaza de Mayo, we walk around the Plaza and around one of its adjacent blocks, we sit in benches and/or stand for short periods of time. Of course, we always try to attend to people´s physical needs during the Tour. If you have particular physical or health needs you need to be attended to during the Tour, please advise us before the Tour.
When we are in the Jewish neighborhood of Once, we generally walk a couple of blocks, between the Kosher deli and the synagogue, and sometimes between the synagogue and the AMIA, depending on the flow of the Tour.
Generally (when there are 4 or more people registered for the Tour) we have an air-conditioned van with a private driver.
If there are only two or three people in the Tour, we manage with taxis to move around neighborhoods.
The first part of the Tour of Jewish Buenos Aires is done in Plaza de Mayo, which is often part of general city tours as well. However, the general city tours generally spend little time in Plaza de Mayo and only give you a very general overview of it. What we learn in Plaza de Mayo in the Tour of Jewish Buenos Aires is a major and essential part of our tour –some people say it is the “soul” of the tour !– and we cover the Plaza in very great depth and in a very unique way, from a Jewish perspective, that is not done in any of the general city tours. If you are doing a private tour of the city on your own, our recommendation is for you to tell the guide of the general city tour NOT to cover Plaza de Mayo, as we cover it in depth on our tour! Still, again, if you do cover Plaza de Mayo in a general tour, do not worry about duplication.
The Tour is primarily geared to adults, and one should always take it into account that the tours are generally shared with other adults. Many times, teenagers have participated in the Tour, and they have enjoyed it tremendously. And sometimes, even younger children have participated and enjoyed the Tour very much as well. We leave it always up to the parents to decide if they think the Tour will be good for their kids.
No, there is no need to bring along a passport with you.
No, there is no special clothing requirement in the tour. But we do recommend for you to pay special attention to wearing clothing suitable for the weather of the particular day of the Tour. In the summer time to cover your head from the sun and in the winter to wear warm clothes because of the cold.
The price of the Tour covers the guide fee, the cost of transportation and tzedakah for the synagogue we will visit. Lunch is paid separately at the Kosher deli. The price of lunch is generally around USD $ 15 per person. The Kosher deli does not accept credit cards. It does accept Argentine pesos or US Dollars.
We accept the following forms of payment:
When people reserve their place for the Tour before August for the coming season, we generally require a fully-refundable prepayment through credit card or Paypal. The prepayment is fully refundable for any reason you may not be able to do the Tour. The refund is done through a check sent to your mailing address.
Otherwise, you can choose to do either a prepayment through credit card or Paypal, or to pay at the time of the Tour, either in cash (US Dollars or ARG Pesos) or with a credit card (VISA or MasterCard).
Yes, of course, we can talk on the phone, through WhatsApp or through Skype.
These are the most famous and best Kosher places in town:
For a more extended list of Kosher places, please check:
https://www.totallyjewishtravel.com/kosherrestaurants-TJ5232-Buenos_Aires_City_Argentina-Kosher_Eateries.html
For a great article on Jewish food in Buenos Aires, check here:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/the-best-jewish-food-in-buenos-aires/?utm_content=bufferc3dd3&utm_medium=social&utm_source=thenosher&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR1-5-7LoARnbP6XiQzqNlENJWY-ZwRTGmbWkovN2_1sq8u0gytn8ZXxoaw
There are many synagogues in BA, but our recommendation would be to choose among the following ones, based on your religious preferences and the place where you are staying:
Many people who come to Argentina have far relatives who came to Argentina at the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th centuries. Some people and institutions work on Jewish genealogy in Argentina and they may be able, for a fee, to help you locate your relatives here. Here are some leads you can follow:
Asociación de Genealogía Judía en Argentina (AGJA) – in Spanish:
http://www.agja.org.ar/
The Online Center for Jewish Genealogy in Argentina:
http://www.jewishgenealogy.com.ar/
Jewish Gen (Jewish Genealogical Research in Argentina):
https://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/argentina.html
Vital Records:
http://www.vitalrecords.com.ar/?page_id=42
The contact information for Andrés Rodenstein is:
VitalRecords.com.ar
Buenos Aires – Argentina
Phone +5411 4978 3581
info@vitalrecords.com.ar
If you know a little Spanish, you may want to start trying to see if you can locate the name of the person in the Argentine White Pages: http://www.paginasblancas.com.ar/. You may be surprised to find the name and their telephone number faster than what you thought it would take!