Tigre is an island surrounded by the Reconquista, Tigre and Luján Rivers, located 32 kilometres north of the Federal Capital. Its colonisation dates back to the year 1580, when Garay distributed the lands extending between the coast of the nascent City of Buenos Aires and the River Las Conchas, current Reconquista River, as estancias; this is why the zone was called District of Las Conchas.

The Tigre Stream, a modest arm of the former River Las Conchas, began enlarging with successive floods until the great inundation of 1820, which transformed it into the wide canal it currently is.

In the mean time, the old arm of Las Conchas in turn reduced little by little its size until becoming the narrow canal it currently is. In this way, the long-suffering Town of Las Conchas became the isle we nowadays visit.

In 1821 governor Martin Rodriguez delivered relief aid to the Town of Las Conchas to rebuild its pier and modify its church; although, the new port and docks were built on the arm of the Tigre River, and building in the sector of Las Conchas was forbidden.

At the same time, all the fluvial movement was derived to the new San Fernando Canal, which turned to be the arriving point for the ships coming from the wealthy territory of Paraguay.In 1865 Tigre and San Fernando were connected to Buenos Aires through the railroad, and in 1916 electricity reached the area. In 1954 the name of the district was changed for that of Tigre, and the River Las Conchas was denominated Reconquista.

Towards 1880 Buenos Aires' social upper class chose Tigre as their summer centre. The most renowned families built huge mansions in there, many of which are still standing. This peak prolonged until the late decade of the 20s in the XX century.

Nowadays Tigre is regarded as "Argentine's Rowing Cradle", and it offers both national and international travellers an endless list of possibilities. It has the Paraná Guazú, the Paraná Miní and the Paraná de Las Palmas Rivers as its largest fluvial ways.

This paradise invites to enjoy its 1170 square kilometres beyond the Paraná de Las Palmas River towards the north, and the Arias Canal, the Luján River and Rio de la Plata towards the east.

The current population is of 3000 inhabitants and its "isles" are exploited mainly to supply the paper industry with cellulose and agglomerate. Likewise, the cultivation of wicker for craftsmanship purposes represent between 80 and 90% of the entire production of the country.

This tourist paradise, rich in flora and fauna, has currently awakened the interest of national and foreign investors alike.

The main activities nearby the Port of Tigre are relaxation and aquatic sports. There are rowing clubs, recreational areas and houses for rent during weekends. One of its most relevant attractions is the chance of going on long rides on diverse vessels, touring the innumerable rivers and streams of the Delta of the Paraná.

Likewise, while touring along the beautiful promenades in the city you can take a glance of the classical mansions of the late XIX century, which were important gathering places for the aristocracy of Buenos Aires in those times, as we mentioned a few lines above.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Port of Fruits
It is one of the main spots of attraction in the zone, and the produces cropped from the market gardens and orchards on the delta are traded here. Amongst the handicrafts artisans offer we have furniture made of reed and basketworks made of wicker; and if travellers wish to do so, they can visit the workshops called sheds and appreciate their work. This pier is located at about 15 blocks from the main port, on Sarmiento and Peru Streets.

Park of the Coast
It is the largest amusement park in Argentina, and was inaugurated in the year 1997 with more than 50 different attractions and shows for all ages. It can be reached through the Train of the Coast; you pay a fee that allows entering all the attractions in the park, and if you add a plus you can go on a ride aboard a catamaran across the delta. It is located on 1509 Vivanco Street, and can be visited between Thursdays and Sundays, and on holidays, from 11:00 till 21:00 hours.

Trilenium Casino of Tigre
It is a unique amusement centre in Latin America, located between the Park of the Coast and the Port of Fruits, and it operates almost permanently. It has 20000 square metres distributed on three storeys with more than 60 gambling tables, roulette, blackjack, point and bank, and a VIP hall. Its spectacular shows of jazz, bolero, salsa, meringue, tango and hot dance, amongst other rhythms, stand out. There are also first-class restaurants where you can eat in candlelight, while looking at the moon and the stars. It opens its doors to the public every day from 11:00 am till 4:00 am; it is located on 1385 Peru Street.

The Delta and its Isles
Tigre is the starting point to tour the delta of the Paraná, and go across the extensive succession of island localities through the Sarmiento, San Antonio, Luján, Paraná de Las Palmas and Capitan Rivers, and the Vinculación Canal, where you can experience navigating offshore, fishing dolphin fish, atherine and surubí; and moreover, practice nautical and aquatic sports. The only means of transportation that communicates islanders with the mainland are motorboats, and numerous lines of collective motorboats providing this public service abide by fixed timetables. They transport the locals on a daily basis and go on tours as well.

The typical island constructions are something worth of watching; they stand on piles that raise the dwellings several metres and constitute a unique characteristic, appearing in the midst of dense vegetation.

Other than the typical tours realised in the zone, thematic, cultural and adventure eco-tourism stand out, with tours on diverse vessels across rivers and streams in the zone, setting foot on land and going on hikes and treks to visit historic and traditional places, or forest zones ideal for fauna watching and photo safaris.

It is recommendable to come near a post and appreciate the sunset on the imposing islands, where you can find the said picturesque houses.

For those visitors wishing to spend the night on the islands, there are several hotels, pubs, restaurants and recreational areas, which allow you fully enjoying this place with no time limit.

The Rio Laura Hotel, surrounded by a green wooded park, is also worth of visiting; it is the oldest lodge of the delta of the Tigre (it was inaugurated in 1907), and its restaurant operating in a picturesque big house of English style, with a terrace protruding over the river, stand out in it. It has comfortable rooms, swimming pool, bar and bungalows.

Delta of the Paraná River
The delta is a very attractive place to go on a one-day tour or to spend your entire vacations. It is located relatively close to the city (at 32 kilometres) and has a great number of summer houses, rowing and yachting clubs.

Tigre Fluvial Station
It is a picturesque and flashy fluvial station built in an English fashion, and the gathering point for motorboats and catamarans setting out in different directions, including several ports in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. Some of the firms provide the daily local transportation service and others go on scheduled tours. There is also the service of taxi motorboats, whose rates are high, though they are ideal to go on short tours in groups of four to six people. It is located on 305 Mitre Avenue, on the banks of the Luján River.

Deliberant Council and Municipal Cultural Centre - Former Tigre Club This magnificent and lavish edifice was built in the year 1900 by French architects Pablo Pater and Luis Dubois. It has an important number of pergolas and balconies and can be visited for free. The building is currently a Historic Monument, and is located on 972 Victoria Drive.

Paraná de Las Palmas River
It is situated at approximately an hour and a half away by motorboat from the Tigre Fluvial Station, and it owes its name to the large number of palm trees existing along its course. It is recommendable to visit El Tropezón, a recreational place built in 1928 in the style proper of this island zone. Argentine author Leopoldo Lugones, renowned for having won the National Prize of Literature in 1926, took his life in this place in 1938, thus moving the public of that period; he is remembered with a granite monolith and a room functioning as a museum.

Sarmiento River
It is one of the rivers most toured by motorboats on the delta, and attractive houses and sport clubs standing on the shores of the isles and on the riverbanks can be appreciated from its banks. It is recommendable to visit the Lyfe Park, which has an especial camping area with all the commodities, where besides green vegetation you can find sandy beaches. The Sarmiento Museum, which was built in 1855 by President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1811-1888), a local from San Juan, as a summer house, is worth of visiting.

Capitan River This river is born of the confluence of the Sarmiento River and the Abra Vieja Stream, where the ashes of Argentine writer Roberto Arlt (1900-1942) were scattered. Further ahead it is joined by the San Antonio River, nearby Victoria Island, before flowing into the Paraná de Las Palmas River. It is a picturesque setting where forests of willows, poplars and ceibas, along with grasslands, can be appreciated on the shores of the islands and isles from its banks. Besides, it has mooring piers and traditional recreational areas, pubs and restaurants.

San Antonio River
It originates as an arm of the Sarmiento River, in the zone denominated Tres Bocas, crossing a residential zone on the delta where restaurants alternate with lodges and the classical recreational areas of the zone. It is advisable to visit the complex of cabins called I Marangatu, a cluster of inns and cabins built in a Mediterranean style, which has a music bar and restaurants; hence, it is well attended by young people.

There is an aquatic skiing school operating on its banks, which provides gear and vessels for the practice of different sports. It has a volleyball court, a football field and a swimming pool within its installations. The Floating Bar is a typical snack bar that operates on two floating platforms, which is worth of visiting not only for its gastronomy, but for the splendid vista of the banks of the locality of San Isidro it offers as well. These sectors can be accessed on private motorboats or taxi motorboats.

Otamendi Natural Reserve
It is located on the banks of the Paraná de Las Palmas River, in the District of Campana, and here you can appreciate a varied flora and fauna typical of the entire delta region. The white timbó, the laurel, the willow and the ceiba stand out amongst its flora; while the capybara (amphibious mammal), and aquatic birds such as the American coots and the white herons are abundant regarding the fauna. The marsh deer is a species characteristic of the zone which is on the brink of extinction.

Luján River
This river borders urban areas such as Tigre and San Fernando before flowing into the majestic Rio de la Plata. It is recommendable to visit the recreational place called Nautical Centre, where you can find ideal installations to enjoy the day, such as grills for roasting beefs, swimming pools and even sandy beaches. Visitors can rent ATVs and boats if they wish to do so.

Train of the Coast
It is an interesting 15-kilometre tour going along the Districts of Vicente Lopez, San Isidro, San Fernando and Tigre, bordering the banks of Rio de la Plata. It is the most modern train in Argentina, and you can appreciate different residential zones in northern Buenos Aires, with beautiful and sometimes lavish houses built on landscapes of exceptional beauty, from its cars.

City Town of Nordelta and Private Neighbourhoods
Nordelta is the first city town in Argentina, conformed by an ideal place to enjoy the river, the green and the fresh air, though with all the facilities of a city: dwellings, education and health services, business centres, shopping malls, and sport and recreational installations, with the quietness and safety of a town. The enclosed neighbourhoods composing it are La Caleta, Portezuelo, Los Castores, La Isla, Las Glorietas, La Alameda and Barrancas del Lago.

Nordelta is located in Benavides, District of Tigre, at 30 kilometres from the Federal Capital and within the vial corridor of the Northern Access - Pan American Route. Its fluvial access is through the Luján River, and there are several nautical private neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the City Town of Nordelta.

MUSEUMS

Naval Museum of the Nation
This museum was founded in the year 1892 by the Naval Centre, and it is an institution destined to inform the public about naval history and activities. Here you can find on exhibition from sailboats and steamboats up to modern battleships, navigation tools, documents, weaponry, uniforms and naval paintings. There are also a few types of navy planes in its inner patio, more than 200 scale models, weapons from different periods and ancient cartography.

Sarmiento Museum
It is located on the banks of the Sarmiento River, 35 minutes away by motorboat, and it was the house Sarmiento used when he was on the delta. Sarmiento was the one planting the first wicker stem on the delta, and the main plantations were placed on the banks of the Angostura Stream. It has been declared a Historic National Monument, refurbished and protected with glasses to avoid any further deterioration.

Museum of the Re-conquest
It is situated before the historic place where on August the 4th of 1806 Santiago de Liniers came ashore to re-conquer the City of Buenos Aires, then in the hands of the British forces. It occupies the former house of Spanish trader Jose Martin Goyechea, which has been recycled and admirably integrated to a modern construction of Spanish colonial style.

Uniforms of the period of the re-conquest can be appreciated in this museum, along with the weapons used on it and diverse documents. It has rooms dedicated to the re-conquest and defence of Buenos Aires, while others are dedicated to the history of the District of Tigre and the parochial church, and others yet to the histories of the Tigre Hotel and the Tigre Club.

The library, administrative offices and an auditorium for conferences and performances work in the adjacent building, inaugurated in 1994 and located on 470 P. Castañeda Street.

Museum of Argentina's Naval Prefecture
It has six rooms exhibiting iconography, uniforms, devices for fire and damage control, communications, diving and rescue, navigation and aviation, and weapons and explosives. These rooms, located on 1264 Liniers Avenue, shelter the history of the Argentine Coast Guard.

Fair of Handicrafts
It has more that 150 vending stands offering all sorts of products, objects made of different materials, items of clothing, a variety of ropes and strings, etc. The works elaborated with wicker, reed and rush stand out in this fair, with their model houses made of dried-up branches.

SPORT ACTIVITIES

Different nautical activities such as canoeing, windsurfing and sailing can be practiced in this zone, along with sport fishing. You can practice the local nautical activity by antonomasia a few metres away from Fluvial Station, bordering the Tigre River: rowing. Its numerous adepts, from Olympic athletes up to amateurs, enjoy the benefits offered by the Canottieri Itabani Club and the Buenos Aires Rowing Club, amongst others.

Sport Fishing
Generally speaking, there is a good fishing prospect in all the rivers and streams in the zone, though the capture of interesting specimens is more frequent in the mentioned area. Fishing devotees will be able to catch species such as boga, dolphin fish, atherine, armado, catfish, amarillo, pacu, patí, wolf fish, carp, etc.

Touring the River
There are different firms offering these tours on board motorboats and catamarans, with one-hour rides or longer. In some cases you can admire the setting of the delta aboard a vessel with a sector in open air and an inner one, where a bar-restaurant usually operates. Set offs on sailboats are also offered to enjoy an especial dinner under the moonlight.

Adventure Tourism
You can go on excursions as part of a small group in order to get a personalised attention. There are nautical tours along little-known streams, trekking across wooded zones or forests, camping and lessons on survival in wild forests, amongst others.

Photo Safaris
They can be realised along the delta by foot or by boat, and these tours include transportation, meals and photo advising with a later meeting to analyse the pictures taken.

Tigre and Delta Tourist Guides Centre
Call to find out about guided tours, going by yourself or in groups.
Address: 1380 Italia Street
Phone numbers: 4542-4510 / 4731-4682 / 4749-0543

HOW TO GET THERE

By Train: the Mitre Railroad is the fastest way of access linking the stations of Retiro and Tigre, and the trip lasts between 30 and 40 minutes.

By Collective Transportation: the line 60, Tigre branch, goes across the city departing from Constitution Station and arriving in Tigre a couple of hours later, approximately.

By the Train of the Coast: the Train of the Coast sets out from Maipú Station (2350 Maipú Avenue, Florida) in the District of Vicente Lopez, and arrives in Tigre after 30 minutes. This 15-kilometre long railway has 11 train stations in the northern zone of Great Buenos Aires, and connects the Districts of Vicente Lopez, San Isidro, San Fernando and Tigre bordering the banks of Rio de la Plata.

By Car: it can be reached coming along General Paz Avenue, Pan American Route (Sol Highway), up to the Northern Access, Tigre branch. Once on the Northern Access, the name of the descent is Tigre, so simply pay attention to the road signs. From there continue through the United Nations Boulevard until reaching the Train Terminal Station, the Tigre River to your left and the Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Fluvial Station.