It is normal to feel a bit dizzy when you start planning your trip to one of the largest cities in South America.
Especially, if your plan is biking in Buenos Aires.
Even if you are an everyday bike rider in your hometown, unless you are visiting Copenhagen, there are several questions that arise when you travel to some new place.
One of the most frequent doubts is: will it be possible to move around Buenos Aires by bike?
So, in order to help you and make you feel more secure with the idea of cycling in Buenos Aires, we have prepared this special guide with useful info to make the exploration of the city on two wheels easier for you.
Besides, this is a downloadable guide, so you can keep this info in your drive and read it whenever you want, without wifi connection.
Is Buenos Aires a bike-friendly city?
Given the increasing number of bike paths and the growing awareness of locals, Buenos Aires is becoming a very friendly city for biking.
Nevertheless, there are a few points to consider when moving around Buenos Aires:
Protected bike lanes
Since 2009, 195 km (121 miles) of protected bike lanes have been built in Buenos Aires. They are generally on the left side of the street and they are two-way.
Buenos Aires’ protected bike lanes are far from perfect, but if you want to move around the city by bike, they are the most secure way to go.
✅ Pros
- Being exclusive lanes for bikes, they are well protected from the rest of vehicular traffic by means of a physical separation.
- The bicycle network has expanded so much that practically any tourist point in the city can be reached by bike.
- They strengthen the cycling community. Bicycle commuting on the bike lanes allows to meet other cyclists along the way and strengthen the biking community bond.
❌ Cons
- They can be a little bit narrow sometimes. And it is possible to find obstacles on the way, such as containers or vehicles parked on the lanes.
- Often, they are poorly maintained or not well built from the beginning.
💡 Tips
- Prepare your route in advance.
- With this application, you can set the point where you want to go, and the app shows the best way to get there by any means of transportation, including bicycles.
The latest app version detects the language of the phone and automatically configures it in Spanish or in English. Also, your favorite routes can be saved and seen without Internet access.
- If you don’t want to download the app, you can always use Cómo Llego website.
Biking in regular roads
When there is no protected bike lane available, you may need to take a regular road in order to get to your destination. That’s ok, but we recommend:
- In those cases, drive your bike on the right side of the road.
- And be careful with buses, which approach the sidewalk for passengers getting on and off.
- Also, you should be aware of parked vehicles and leave 1,5 meter (4.92 feet) between your bike and the car in case the door gets opened when you are passing by.
- Some important avenues have preferential lanes for bicycles, and bike lanes are on the left. These avenues are: Corrientes, Rivadavia, Belgrano, and Independencia. But vehicules do not respect these preferential lanes, and use them as parking areas.
- So, we recommend not to take these busy avenues for biking, unless on a weekend or holiday.
Is it safe to bike in Buenos Aires?
You can bike in Buenos Aires with confidence. Locals are biking more and more everyday around the city.
So if locals do it, why not travellers?
Nevertheless, there are some tips to consider for a quiet and carefree bike ride.
🚓 Prevent robberies or insecurity events
We don’t want to you feel scared of riding a bike, by no means. We just want you to be careful when choosing the route and time of the day to get on a bike. In Buenos Aires, we have insecurity issues. So, in order to prevent robberies or any other nasty incidents, try to follow these advice:
- Before getting on your bike, check out if there’s any dangerous area in your biking route at any Tourist Assistance Center.
- Avoid biking alone in parks or non-residential areas, especially on the evening and night hours.
- Don’t carry all your valuables or documents with you. Try to move around with a copy of your passport.
- Leave your bike secure with a padlock or in a parking lot. For around U$S 0,50.- you can leave your bike for an hour and for U$D 1.- the whole day.
🚥 Be cautious and drive your bike carefully
- Try to ride on the protected bike lanes.
- Even when biking on a protected bike lane, look in both directions at corners. Being a city that has recently incorporated the bicycle as a means of transport, Buenos Aires still have some vehicules unaware of the presence of protected bike lanes.
- Always use a helmet and do not listen to music when riding.
- Use your bell. It will be useful for absent-minded pedestrians (there are a lot of them).
- Make yourself visible. Use lights or colorful clothes if you ride at night.
- Never cross a street with red light. Even if locals do it, do not follow them, for it is not a good practice.
Benefits of riding a bike in Buenos Aires
Fortunately, there is growing awareness about the fact that using bicycles is good for people, communities and the environment.
That’s why, in order to promote its use, some restaurants and coffee shops try to give discounts or other benefits to their biking customers.
😎 Some cool options to make a stop and have a snack
- Almacén Purista: a very nice and cozy vegetarian/vegan café located in Villa Crespo neighbourhood. They offer a bicycle rack to their customers and a free coffee for bikers with a minimum consumption of $50.- pesos per person.
- Fifí Almacén: located in front of Gorriti street protected bike lane in Palermo. This modern café with a vegetarian and organic menu has a bicycle rack and offers 10% discount to cyclists.
- Croque Madame: beautiful french style café and restaurant situated in the entrance and garden of the National Museum of Decorative Arts in Recoleta. You can park your bike there and enjoy this quiet and beautiful spot in the city.
- Ninina Bakery: at Malba Museum. They offer a bicycle rack and 10% discount to cyclists. In front of the museum, there is an ecobici station where you can take or return your free bike.
- Museo Evita Restaurant: another nice option if you are biking around the neighborhood or visiting Evita’s museum. The restaurant is bike friendly, so you can park your bike there and chill at its beautiful garden.
- Tea Connection: They offer a variety of locations in Buenos Aires. In all of them, you can leave your bike at their racks and have a free refill on any beverage you consume.
Where I can get a bike in Buenos Aires?
Ecobici: Free public bicycle sharing system
This is one of the best things Buenos Aires has implemented in the past years.
Thanks to the public bicycle sharing system, EVERYONE can commute by bike for free around the city.
And when we say everyone, we mean LOCALS and TOURIST.
In February 2019 the system was renewed and we no longer have the yellow bicycles but a larger fleet of orange bicycles.
Now we can find more Ecobici’s stations around the city. Bicycles are more comfortable, they have a shifter lever and led lights to ride safer around the city by night.
But Ecobici still doesn’t provide the helmet. If you don’t travel with your own helmet you should consider getting one during your stay in Buenos Aires to ride more safely using the Ecobici free public bicycle sharing system.
So, if you want to use the renewed Ecobici free public bicycle sharing system during your stay in Buenos Aires, these are the steps to follow:
🤔 How to register at Ecobici if I’m a tourist?
- Download the “BA Ecobici por Tembici” app on your cellphone available for iOS and Android.
- You must be aged over 18, and you’ll need your passport and credit card handy to register and prove your identity.
Seems to be some problems on the registration process. In fact, you can see tourist’s bad comments on the ios app. They should being improving the app. So if you have any problems let us know your experience!
🚴 How to use the Ecobici?
- Open the app and check bicycles’ availability at your closest bike station.
- Choose your station on the map and click “DESBLOQUEAR” (UNBLOCK). You’ll be given a code that you need to key in on the number pad next to the bike you want to take.
- Bikes can be borrowed for up to an hour at a time, Monday – Friday, and for two hours on weekends.
- Once your trip is finished, look up for your closest Ecobici station with free bicycle positions available and anchor to one of them. Wait until you see the green light on.
- If you wish to continue using the system for longer, you need to drop off the bike and wait for 5 minutes before taking a second one.
Bike rental
Another option is to rent a bike.
There are a lot of bike shops in Buenos Aires where you can rent a bike. And for sure, you can find a rental shop close to your hotel.
Generally, you can rent a bicycle for an hour, a day or even a week.
Some companies offer the delivery of bikes, others offer a variety of bicycles for you to choose the most comfortable option.
They also give you with the bike a helmet and a padlock.
With the growth of bike lanes in Buenos Aires and the increasing number of locals and visitors biking around the city, hotels started to offer free share bikes to its guests as an additional service.
So, you only need to ask at your hotel if they have this service available.
How to explore Buenos Aires by bike?
Bike tours in Buenos Aires
We love biking tours for several reasons:
- they cover a bigger area than walking tours without polluting the environment;
- they are a secure way to bike since you do it with a group and guided by professionals,
- and they are also fun!
Biking tours are a great option for solo travellers or families travelling with children.
You can decide to do all your exploration around the city with biking tours or choose to do some with a tour and some by yourself.
🤔How to choose the best bike tour for my trip in Buenos Aires?
There are a lot of bike tour options, a lot!
So, how can you choose the best one for your trip among so many interesting offers?
Our first advice is prioritize and do a bike tour around those areas where you will feel safer exploring with a guided tour rather than on your own.
Then, ask yourself what type of experience you are looking for.
Maybe it is a more active and extended tour, like a full day to explore Buenos Aires surrounding and greener areas, or maybe you just want to pedal for a couple of hours, in an easy and more urban kind of tour.
Great areas to explore Buenos Aires by bike
📍Reserva Costanera Sur
An oasis in the city.
This natural reserve is perfect for everyone who wants to enjoy contact with nature and appreciate native flora and fauna. 
It also offers unique views of the city and of the Río de la Plata river.
Open from Tuesday to Sunday: From 8 am to 7 pm during summer and, From 8 am to 6 pm from April to December.
Closed in case of rain or strong winds.
Tip
If you go with the Ecobici, make sure you have enough time to explore the Reserva. Remember you can use the free bikes only for one hour (on weekdays) or two hours (on weekends). So, try to get a new bike at the closest stations to the Reserva in order to have more time for exploring it.
📍Bosques de Palermo
Its official name is Parque 3 de Febrero, but locals usually refer to it as Bosques de Palermo.
It is the most important green public space of the city.
A great area to bike and enjoy a picnic on a warm sunny day.
Some of the park highlights where you can stop with the bike, take some nice pics and enjoy the quiet and beautiful surroundings are: 
1. Rosedal. Amazing garden with around 18.000 roses. Recognized by the World Federation of Rose Societies with the Garden Excellence Award in 2012. There, don’t miss the Patio Andaluz.
2. Planetario. The 1960s-built planetarium, resembling a UFO, is the main center of astronomy open to general public in the city. You can get in, but there are not guided tours in English for the moment, only in Spanish.
3. If you are an art lover, there is a museum within the limits of the park you can also visit. It is called Museo Sívori, and it houses a splendid collection of more than 4000 pieces of Argentinean art from the 20th and 21st centuries, displayed in temporary exhibitions, together with the work of contemporary artists. Opens from Tuesdays to Fridays from 12 pm – 8 pm and on weekends from 10 am to 8 pm, and it has an entrance fee of $30.- pesos.
📍Costanera Norte and Parque de la Memoria
From the local airport Aeroparque Jorge Newbery to Parque de la Memoria, you will ride along the Río de la Plata river coast, with very nice panoramic views.
This area is called Costanera Norte. It runs for 3 km along the bike lane of Avenida Costanera Rafael Obligado. 
You can finish in Parque de la Memoria, a public park created in memory of the victims of state terrorism in Argentina.
The 14-hectare park contains a monument to the victims of the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 until 1983, as well as an information centre about those who disappeared during the military regime.
The park opens Monday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm and on weekends and not working days from 10 am to 7 pm.
If you want to visit the information centre too, it is open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 5 pm and weekends and not working days from 12 pm to 6 pm.
📍Buenos Aires surrounding areas
Porteños usually ride their bikes during the weekends outside the capital city limits.
It is a good plan for locals, and so it is for tourists. The places where porteños usually ride to are the following:
Paseo de la Costa
Located on the riverside in Vicente López, in the province of Buenos Aires. Offers privileged views of the Río de la Plata. The park offers cycle lanes.
San Isidro
A regular plan is keep going from Paseo de la Costa in Vicente López, take Libertador avenue until Paraná street in La Lucila neighborhood and turn right down to the river. There you will find the cycle lane of Tren de La Costa which takes you to San Isidro station.
Tigre
Another option is to take the train from Retiro to Tigre, and ride this beautiful townclose to the river and its popular Delta.
Masa Crítica: the Buenos Aires Critical Mass
If you are a daily cyclist and also a bicycle activist you may have heard about the critical mass.
Here, we have a daytime critical mass, 1st Sunday of every month; and a nocturne critical mass, the 1st full moon of the month.
To join Buenos Aires Critical Mass and share your love for bicycles with porteños, we recommend to check the exact starting time at Facebook.
This is another way to share with locals and make a statement as a traveller, helping local communities to promote the use of bicycles as a means of transportation.
Join the revolution and spread the bike movement! 🚲
Photo Credit:
- [Post Header] Courtesy of Buenos Aires City Tourist Board
- [Banner Biking in regular roads] Idem
- [Banner Is it safe to bike in Buenos Aires?] PH: Estrella Herrera
- [Banner Benefits of riding a bike in Buenos Aires] Infobae
- [David Byrne using the EcoBici] PH: Mariana Sapriza-gv/GCBA
- [Bike Rental] PH:Estrella Herrera
- [Reserva Costanera Sur, Bosques de Palermo and Parque de la Memoria] Courtesy of Buenos Aires City Tourist Board
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