Is Buenos Aires safe?

We rate Buenos Aires 5.5/10 for solo travellers (see the TTDI Solo-Safety Index), and theft drives that number, not violence. The thief you're most likely to meet rides pillion on a small motorbike; locals call him a motochorro, and he lifts phones out of hands at the kerb on Avenida Santa Fe, Avenida Corrientes and Calle Gorriti in Palermo Soho, mostly between noon and 8pm in full daylight. Keep the phone off the table edge at sidewalk cafés, and step back from the kerb on Avenida Córdoba before you open Google Maps. On the Subte, Line C between Retiro and Constitución and the Line B platform at Carlos Pellegrini get packed around 8am and 6pm: brakes squeal, damp coats press together, and bags get opened without you feeling it. The peso traded at about 1,511 to the US dollar on 19 October 2026, so a resold iPhone is worth months of a local wage.

The mostaza trick still runs around Plaza de Mayo, Calle Florida and the Retiro bus terminal: someone squirts a sticky, sour-smelling liquid on your back, a helpful stranger offers tissues, and a third person walks off with your daypack. Refuse the help, keep walking, and clean up inside the nearest Farmacity. Taxis hailed on the street outside Retiro and Ezeiza sometimes take a long route or swap your large note for a forged one, so use the official taxi desks in the Ezeiza arrivals hall or book an app ride instead. Since currency controls eased in April 2025, foreign cards get close to the official rate, which means the 'cambio, cambio' touts on Calle Florida now offer you little, and some of them might hand over fake notes.

After dark, Palermo, Recoleta, Belgrano and Villa Crespo stay busy until 2am, parrilla smoke drifting out of doorways and dinner rarely starting before 9.30pm. A woman alone on Calle Honduras at midnight draws less attention than one in Microcentro, which empties once offices close around 7pm. La Boca is where we say no outright: leave the painted tin houses of Caminito and the blocks around La Bombonera before the light goes, and on match days go with a small organised group. We'd cross Constitución station, the edge of Retiro beside Barrio Padre Mugica (Villa 31), and Once after 10pm by app car, never on foot. San Telmo feels relaxed during the Sunday fair on Calle Defensa, but its cobbled side streets are dark and nearly empty by Monday night.

A table for one is normal here. Café Tortoni on Avenida de Mayo and the parrillas along Calle Thames seat solo diners without any fuss. Street harassment, known as piropos, has been a fineable offence in the city since a 2016 law, though shouted comments from car windows still happen on Avenida 9 de Julio near the Obelisco. To meet people, book a morning small-group walking tour of Recoleta Cemetery or a bike tour through Puerto Madero to the Costanera Sur reserve, either of which typically puts you with 6 to 10 others. The colectivo buses run 24 hours, but at 3am the stops on wide avenues feel exposed, so we'd book Uber, Cabify or DiDi instead. If something is stolen, the Tourist Police at Avenida Corrientes 436 have English-speaking officers and will write the report your insurer needs. At 2pm on 19 October it was 14.9°C under partial cloud, jacket weather, so pick one with a zipped inner pocket for your phone.