Luján Travel Guide

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That is the home of the patroness of Argentina, Our Lady of Luján. It is a very beautiful neogothic church built in the 19th century. The image of the saint is on the main altar, but there are interesting capelas inside, and also an image of Christ that the pilgrims touch while asking for help. Unfortunately there was a mass going on, so I thought it would be respectful not to take pictures of the inside.

On the outside walls (as well as on some inside), note that there are names of benefactors carved. When I was there, the Basílica was being restored, and its walls were being washed, so that part of it looks clear, with the pinkish colour of the stone. There is also an outdoors museum of the restoration worth peeking at.

Like many regions in Argentina, Luján has got its own traditional alfajor. The really traditional ones are made of chocolate, dulce de leche or membrillo marmalade, but there are variations, like the very good one made of nut. Any shop in the city centre will sell you one of those, but there is a shop whose name I forgot, on the street in front of the Basílica (facing the Basílica to the left), two blocks from the church). Don't miss those...

Though there is a train to Luján from Moreno, getting there from Buenos Aires by train requires patience and some adventurous spirit. If you wish to do so, get to Once Train Station by taking the Subte Linea A to Plaza Miserere. Then you walk to Once and buy a ticket to Moreno, which costs less than 50 cents of dollar. In Moreno, you should go to the Boletería before you get to the other platform (otherwise you won't embark). Buy a ticket to Luján.

The incovenients of this trip are:

1) The long wait you might have to face for the connecting train, if you are - like I was - unlucky. My whole trip took 3h30min...

2) The stations along Moreno-Luján part are not well signalised, you might get confused. My travel companion was very attentive. Were I alone, I'd get down from the train two stations earlier, which would have been a loooot of kilometres for walking.

People say what we did was crazy, that we could have been robbed, killed or abducted. Well, I did not die a single time on the way, and the only inconvenience was that my seat at the train was dirty - which I attribute to an isolated individual manifestation of filthyness. But the time it took could have been saved by bus travelling. I thought anyway it was very interesting to see people leading their everyday lives.

The bus to Luján departs from Atlántida Terminal near Plaza Italia, in Palermo, and it takes only 1h30min. We came back from Luján by bus. Much more comfortable and one still travels with the locals and some adventurous spirited tourists. There are tours, of course. But I don't know anything about them and wouldn't recommend.

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Luján has got a lovely park near the Basílica (facing the building, to the right). Too bad there was some kind of drought problem with the creek nearby, but it is still a fun place to go at the weekends. But right beside the park, on the way from the Basílica, there is a lovely colonial patio (also a parking lot) with handsome buildings like this Pabellón Balcarce. Though there is not much to do there, the scenery is really something... And there is also a very interesting view of the Basílica from there.