Argentina Currency and Money Guide

The currency is the Argentine peso. That is the last simple sentence on this page.

Why there is no number here

This guide publishes no exchange rate, neither the official one nor the street market figure, because any number printed here would be wrong by the time you read it. Argentina has spent long stretches of recent history with more than one figure in circulation at once, and the gap between them has been wide enough to change what a trip costs.

That is not a reason to be anxious. It is a reason to do one thing before you fly and one thing on the day, rather than to arrive with a number in your head that you read in an article last year. Ask your bank what it will charge you, and compare that against what the machine offers on the day.

You will hear a great deal of confident advice on this subject from other travelers. Treat all of it as perishable, including the parts that were true last month.

Cards

Cards are widely accepted in Buenos Aires, Mendoza, the tourist parts of Patagonia and at hotels and restaurants anywhere used to visitors. Tell your bank you are traveling so a legitimate transaction is not declined, and find out what your card charges for a foreign transaction before you rely on it.

Carry at least two cards, from different issuers, and do not keep them in the same place. That is ordinary travel practice everywhere and it is worth more here than most places, because the alternative to a working card is a queue at a machine.

ATMs and cash

Cash still matters once you leave the cities. Small towns in the northwest, rural Patagonia, market stalls, some taxis and many family run places are cash only or strongly prefer it.

Three practical points. Argentine machines often have a low ceiling on a single withdrawal and charge a fee each time, so several small withdrawals can cost meaningfully more than planning around fewer larger ones. Machines run out, particularly over long weekends and in small places. And carrying small denominations makes ordinary transactions much easier, because change for a large note is a genuine problem for a small vendor.

Use machines inside a bank, a shopping center or an airport during opening hours rather than one on the street at night. That is the same advice everywhere, and it connects directly to the express kidnapping pattern set out in the safety guide: the crime targets what you can withdraw, so what you can withdraw in an hour is the exposure worth thinking about. Know your daily limit.

Changing money

Change money at a bank or a licensed exchange house, keep the receipt, and count it before you leave the counter. Never change money with somebody who approaches you in the street. An unlicensed transaction offers you no recourse at all if the notes are short or false, and identifying a counterfeit note in a currency you do not handle daily is not realistic.

Tipping

Tipping in restaurants is customary and around ten percent is normal. A cubierto charge may appear on a restaurant bill; it is a cover charge for bread and table service and it is not a tip. Rounding up for taxis is usual, and porters and guides are tipped. Cash is easier for this than adding it to a card.

Verify Before You Travel

Everything above about mechanics is stable; everything about value is not. Check with your own bank on its foreign transaction and ATM fees, and check the current position with the United States Department of State country information page for Argentina close to travel.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Argentina safety and security: that terrorist attacks cannot be ruled out, that groups of demonstrators known as piqueteros sometimes block major roads including the routes into and out of Buenos Aires City, the advice to hand over cash and valuables without resistance, express kidnapping and the emptying of accounts at ATMs, the warning for La Boca outside the Caminito tourist area, for downtown Mendoza and for Rosario in Santa Fe, the advice to avoid casual taxis, and drink and food spiking. Accessed 16 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Argentina travel advice: the standing statement that no travel can be guaranteed safe, and the index to the entry, safety and health pages this cluster draws on. Accessed 16 September 2026.