How To Plan a Polo Holiday in Argentina
Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer. I couldn’t agree more with this statement and one of the adventures that have added the most to my life experience was my polo holiday in Argentina last year. I can highly recommend for any polo person to go to Argentina, where you feel the heart and soul of polo. I can understand that it can be quite scary to go on a polo holiday to a new place and not knowing where to go or what to do. I am used to traveling on my own, so I just go and figure it out along the way. Now that I have figured some of it out (there’s still a lot more to explore and discover) I can help you guys.
Step 1:
Decide when you want to go on your polo holiday. The high season for polo in the Buenos Aires province is from mid September till mid December, with the Palermo Open being played in the centre of BA from the 1oth of November this year. If you want to see the polo greats like Cambiaso and Pieres in action and go to the pony auctions and all the social events, November/December is the time to go. If you aren’t really fussed and just want to go for your own polo learning experience, avoid this time as it will be cheaper and less crowded.
-I love the social part of polo so I went from November 1st until December 13th last year. This year Palermo open will run until the 15th of December.
Palermo Open is the best polo in the world, highest level of polo with the best players and horses, right in the middle of Buenos Aires. Last year La Dolfina won.
Step 2:
Decide if you want to rent your own apartment/house/hotel room or if you want to go to a polo place that offers accommodation as well. With this also comes if you want to rent your own car or not, it can get expensive, but also gives you a lot of flexibility. I have a good car rental guy, shoot me an e-mail ( Diana@polopeopleplaces.com ) and I’ll put you in touch.
-I rented a room with a family on Airbnb and visited several polo places, some had accommodation and some didn’t. As I was staying in Argentina for 6 weeks and was visiting a lot of different places, this was the best solution for me, also I wanted to stay with a family as I was traveling on my own. But it depends on what you want to do.
Stay where you feel comfortable – this is the living room of the El Venado guest house
Step 3:
Book your polo. Once you have decided how long you want to stay and when, you need to decide where!
- Below are my three favourite places that had accommodation, click on them to read full blogposts:
Some weeks I stayed at my house in Pilar and went for private lessons at different places and just rode and stick and balled with friends.
Juan from La Amistad Polo gave me a great two-hour lesson.
For “tailor-made” packages I can recommend my friends Slaney and Sierra, I haven’t had the pleasure of taking lessons with them yet (as I simply couldn’t squeeze more in on that trip), but I can vouch for their characters, that these girls are awesome and will take care of their clients. They will organise as much or as little for you as you want and you will be in good hands.
Step 4:
Pack your bags! If you don’t already have all the essentials, that’s a great excuse to go shopping! For a new polo helmet, go see my friends at Cavalier and they will sort you out. For boots I am absolutely in love with my La Pampa Polo ones, and already within the first few times I wore them they felt broken into as the leather is soft but sturdy. Make sure to pack up on whites and polo outfits, staying stylish with the Hurlingham Polo 1875 lifestyle collection and the sporty collection on the field. Remember the sunscreen and mosquito spray and you are ready to go!
I hope this little guide was helpful, I have received this question many times, so I figured it was about time to write a post about it, if you have any further questions please comment below or shoot me an e-mail, also if you just liked my recommendations and you will be there, then let’s meet up.
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