TRAVEL TIPS

Mail

Correo Argentino, Argentina's postal service, has an office in most neighborhoods; some locutorios also serve as collection points and sell stamps. Mailboxes are two-tone blue, and most are found either inside or directly outside post offices.

Mail delivery is far from dependable: it can take six to 21 days for standard letters and postcards to get to the United States. Regular airmail letters cost 19 pesos for up to 20 grams. If you want to be sure something will arrive, send it by correo certificado (registered mail), which costs 52 pesos for international letters up to 20 grams. Valuable items are best sent with private express services such as DHL, UPS, or FedEx—delivery within one to two days for a 5-kilogram package starts at about 2,000 pesos. A similar package would cost 670 pesos to send with Correo Argentino and would take up to a week to arrive.

The national post-code system is based on a four-digit code. Each province is assigned a letter (the city of Buenos Aires is "C," for instance), which goes before the number code, and each city block is identified by three letters afterward (such as ABD). In practice, however, only very big cities use these complete postal codes (which look like C1234ABC), whereas the rest of Argentina uses the basic number code (1234, for example).

Contacts

Correo Argentino. Av. Córdoba 663, Microcentro, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, C1054ZAB. 11/4891–9191; www.correoargentino.com.ar.

DHL. Av. Córdoba 783, Microcentro, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, C1054AAG. 810/1223–345; www.dhl.com.ar.

Federal Express. 25 de Mayo 386, Microcentro, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, C1002ABH. 810/333–3339; www.fedex.com.

UPS. Pte. Luis Saenz Peña 1351, Constitución, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, C1135ABC. 800/2222-2877; www.ups.com.

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