Travel to and from Ezeiza Airport

Arriving in a new and foreign place can often be an overwhelming experience and Buenos Aires is no exception. When your plane lands at Ezeiza airport you need to battle your way through immigration and custom checks (mostly checking that residents are not bringing undeclared electronics – they’re not that worried about visitors) to then emerge, blinking, into the bright lights of arrivals, where you need to arrange your transport into the city, some 25 kilometres distant.

Sorely lacking in any kind of fast mass-transit, most travellers have access to 2 main options, the shuttle bus or a taxi.

Taxis

If you have not booked a pickup and you would like a taxi then there is only one real option – visit the Taxi Ezeiza stand inside the terminal. It’s a set price, currently 250 pesos (around USD45) and you pay at the booth and are assigned a driver who will then take you outside to the car. Full details (and pre-booking is also available), can be found on their site.

Absolutely do not arrange a taxi outside the terminal building. They regularly charge at least double what Taxi Ezeiza charges.

Shuttle Bus

Local company Manuel Tienda Leon offer a regular non-stop shuttle service between Ezeiza and their terminal near the Retiro train station. They have kiosks just past customs selling tickets at 80 pesos per person. If you’re staying downtown they also offer a remis service for which you catch the regular shuttle and are then transferred onwards to your destination in a smaller van.

Local Bus

For the more adventurous you could try the local bus service and catch the number 8 into town. Whilst this might seem a good idea (it costs around 4 pesos per person) there are a couple of things to be aware of. If you don’t have a local transit card you’ll need to pay with coins and at busy times the trip into the city centre can often take more than 2 hours. Given the areas the bus travels through I wouldn’t recommend the 8 at night or if you are travelling with lots of luggage.