DAY TRIPS · PARANÁ DELTA · 2026
Thirty kilometres north of the city the streets turn into rivers. Getting there is easy; choosing how is the part people get wrong.
Tigre sits about 30 kilometres north of downtown Buenos Aires, where the Paraná finishes its two thousand kilometre run and breaks into a delta of islands, channels and houses on stilts. There are no roads out there. Boats do the work that cars do everywhere else: the grocery boat, the school boat, the ambulance boat.
Getting to the town of Tigre takes between forty minutes and two hours depending on how you go, and the four options are genuinely different experiences rather than four prices for the same thing. This guide is about getting there and getting onto the water. If what you want is what to do once you are in the delta, we wrote about a day in the delta separately.
How far is Tigre from Buenos Aires?
About 30 kilometres from the city centre, straight north along the river.
By car, on the Acceso Norte, that is 40 to 55 minutes in ordinary morning traffic and longer if you leave during the weekday peak. Every other option is built on top of that same geography, so the differences below are about comfort and scenery, not distance.
The four ways to get there
1. Private car or transfer. Door to door from your hotel, 40 to 55 minutes, and the only option that lets you stop in San Isidro on the way, which is worth doing: a cobbled colonial centre and a neo-Gothic cathedral, twenty minutes short of Tigre. It also means your bags stay in the car while you are on a boat.
2. The Mitre line train from Retiro. The cheapest and, for a lot of people, the right answer. It runs from Retiro station straight to Tigre, and the trip takes around 50 minutes. Frequency is every 15 to 18 minutes Monday to Friday, and every 25 minutes on weekends and holidays, which is the number that matters because most visitors go on a weekend. You need a loaded SUBE card to get through the turnstiles; you cannot pay cash.
3. The Tren de la Costa. The scenic route, and a different train from the one above. You take the Mitre line to Mitre station, cross the pedestrian bridge to Avenida Maipú station in Vicente López, and pick up the coastal train there to Delta station in Tigre. It runs every 20 to 30 minutes and threads along the riverbank past San Isidro and San Fernando. Budget 80 to 90 minutes door to door with the change. It was out of service for most of a month in May 2026 for drainage works and is running normally again, but it is the one service worth confirming the morning you travel.
4. The catamaran from Puerto Madero. The slowest and the most memorable: you leave the city by water and arrive by water. Sturla runs it daily at 10:00 from Cecilia Grierson 400, at the corner of Juana Manso, and the crossing takes one hour and fifty minutes, with commentary in English. You pass the city skyline, Aeroparque, the northern suburbs and the San Isidro cliffs before the channels close in. Sailings depend on wind and river conditions.
Want the day without the timetable? We drive you from your hotel, wait while you are on the water, and stop in San Isidro on the way back. Book a private Tigre day trip.
Getting onto the water once you arrive
Reaching the town is half the trip. The delta itself starts at the passenger terminal.
→ ESTACIÓN FLUVIAL DOMINGO FAUSTINO SARMIENTO, MITRE 305, TIGRE
From there you have two choices. The lanchas colectivas, wooden commuter launches, run scheduled routes into the islands carrying residents, deliveries and whoever else buys a ticket at the booths inside the terminal. They are the local bus service and they are the honest way to see how the delta works. The alternative is a private launch, or booking lunch at an island restaurant that sends its own boat for you, which costs more and goes at your pace.
What to see on land
→ PASEO VICTORICA, TIGRE
A riverside promenade along the Luján, lined with the rowing clubs that British, French and Italian immigrant communities founded here at the turn of the twentieth century. Several are still active, and on a Saturday morning you will see eights going past.
→ MUSEO DE ARTE TIGRE, PASEO VICTORICA 972, TIGRE
The former Tigre Club, a Belle Époque social palace on the water, now holding a serious collection of nineteenth and twentieth century Argentine figurative painting. Open Wednesday to Friday 13:00 to 18:00, and Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 12:00 to 18:00. Closed Monday and Tuesday, with the ticket office shutting at 17:30. Check this before building a Monday around it.
→ PUERTO DE FRUTOS, SARMIENTO 160, TIGRE
Once the dock where fruit and timber came out of the islands, now a market of wicker furniture, baskets, preserves and woodwork. Open every day, 9:00 to 19:00. Loud and full on weekends, calm on a weekday morning.
The four options compared
| How you go | Time | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private transfer | 40 to 55 min | Highest | Families, tight schedules, a stop in San Isidro |
| Mitre train from Retiro | About 50 min | Lowest, SUBE card required | Independent travellers, weekdays |
| Tren de la Costa | 80 to 90 min with the change | Low to moderate | Scenery, if you have the morning |
| Catamaran from Puerto Madero | 1 h 50 | Moderate to high | Arriving by water, once |
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does the train from Retiro to Tigre take?
Around 50 minutes on the Mitre line. Trains leave every 15 to 18 minutes Monday to Friday and every 25 minutes at weekends and on holidays. You need a SUBE card.
Where do the boats to the islands leave from?
From the Estación Fluvial at Mitre 305 in Tigre, a short walk from the train station. Tickets for the lanchas colectivas are sold at booths inside the terminal.
Is Tigre worth a full day from Buenos Aires?
Yes, if you get on the water. The town itself is pleasant but the delta is the reason to come, and a boat trip into the channels plus lunch takes the day comfortably.
Can you go to Tigre and San Isidro on the same day?
Easily by car, since San Isidro sits on the way and its historic centre is a twenty minute stop. By train it means getting off and back on, which works but costs you an hour.
One hour, another country
The thing that surprises people is how fast it happens. Fifty minutes after leaving Retiro the concrete stops, and what replaces it is brown water, willows, and houses built a metre off the ground because the river decides. Whatever way you choose to get there, leave time to sit on a deck and watch a grocery boat go past.
Reserve your private Tigre excursion. Message us on WhatsApp at +54 9 11 2404-0448 or book online for a private car to Tigre and San Isidro.