There are two main types of taxi in Argentina: regular urban taxis that you can flag down in the street; and remises , or minicab radio taxis, that you must book by phone or at their central booking booth. Urban taxis are fixed with meters - make sure they use them - and each municipality has its own rates (generally $0.10 per block, with a $2 minimum charge). Buenos Aires, like New York, is a city that seems to be suffering from a taxi plague of biblical proportions: you'll rarely have problems finding one, and if you follow a few basic precautions, you'll find them a handy way of negotiating the metropolis. For reasons of safety, if you need a cab from Retiro, get one at the official pick-up point, where you'll be issued with a destination ticket and the price. Also, when flagging down cabs on the street, make sure you ask a rough price before you get in and, to be on the safe side if you have luggage in the boot, wait until the driver has got out of the cab before you do. Remises operate with rates fixed according to the destination. They are less expensive than taxis for out-of-town and long-distance trips. Often, it makes more sense to hire a remise for a day than to rent your own car: it's often more economical, plus you save yourself the hassle of driving.

In some places, shared taxis or colectivos also run on fixed routes. Remis colectivos head between towns: they wait at a given collection point, each passenger pays a set fee, and the colectivo leaves when it has a car load (some carry destination signs on their windscreen, others don't, so always ask around). They often drop you at a place of your choice at the other end. Taxi colectivos drive up and down fixed routes within certain cities: flag one down and pay your share (usually posted on the windscreen).