Absolutely, yes!

 

I want to say, first and foremost, please educate yourself on Argentina before you arrive. There seems to be a misconception that Argentina is an unsafe country to visit, but this could not be further from the truth. Argentina is incredibly safe and the locals are incredibly friendly. As of the date of this posting (and of the date of our travel), Argentina was listed as "Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions" by the United States Department of State. To give you a comparison, France currently holds a "Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution" rating by the DoS. Both are safe countries, but one is more frequented by tourists and idealized to be safer than the other.

 

There is life on the streets at all times of night, particularly in Buenos Aires. Jarren and I were both happily surprised at how late life goes on here. Most restaurants don't open for dinner until after 8 PM, and it wasn't uncommon to see young girls walking with their friends in the dark, couples pushing strollers down the street at 10 PM, or someone walking their dog over to a very full dog park at midnight. In my experience, you are safe here every second of every day. However, I do want to caution you to be mindful of your phones. Pickpocketing and snatch and grabs are reportedly a problem here, and we were warned by locals more than once to make sure you don't use your phone on the street, or if you have to, pull over and use it, then put it away and be mindful of it until you've reached your destination. Nothing bad happened to us, but I wouldn't be properly preparing you if I didn't share this with you. Exercise good judgement as you would anywhere and you will be perfectly fine.

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If you are an intermediate Spanish speaker like Jarren and I, Argentina is the perfect place to get practice and learn. Of all the Spanish speaking countries I've been to, Argentines are the best conversationalists. They speak slowly, clearly, and annunciate well. My Spanish started off a bit shaky when we first arrived, but Jarren and I were almost exclusively speaking to each other in Spanish by the time we were ready to head back home to the States. No, that is not an exaggeration, we got so much good practice in Argentina that we were really just mindlessly conversing in Spanish instead of English without even realizing it. If you're looking to immerse yourself and learn, Argentina truly is a must.

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With this note on Spanish, I must also caution anyone who doesn't speak Spanish that English can be hit or miss here. Jarren and I both found it surprising how hard it was to find people who speak English in Buenos Aires, as it is a major city receiving countless tourists on a daily basis. If you are traveling here, it's best to be accompanied by a translator app like Google Translate and learn some introductory Spanish phrases if you're completely unfamiliar with the language. Don't say I didn't, say I didn't warn ya (that one's for my fellow Swifties).

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Apart from language, Argentina is absolutely stunning. Buenos Aires, in the opinion of many, is reminiscent of Paris or any other European city. The streets are full of life and very well taken care of. It goes without saying that Argentine Patagonia is breathtaking and truly a mesmerizing place to be.

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The food, the culture, the scenery, there's just no end to the list of positives I could give you about visiting Argentina. There are no negatives. Don't speak Spanish? You'll make it work. Not in the budget? You can make that work, too. Whatever your reason, if Argentina is on your list, you simply must give yourself the opportunity to experience it.