ATMs ( cajeros automáticos ) are plentiful in Argentina. Very few towns or even villages have no ATM at all, though you can sometimes be caught out in very remote places, especially in the Northwest, so never rely completely on them. Most machines take all credit cards or helpfully display those that can be used: you can nearly always get money out with Visa or Mastercard, or with any other cards linked to the Plus or Cirrus systems. LINK machines seem to cause a lot of foreigners problems, so maybe avoid them. Machines are mostly multilingual though some of them only use castellano , so you might need to have a phrase book or a Spanish-speaker handy. You may be offered a choice of pesos or dollars but whichever you withdraw try to avoid getting lumbered with only $100 notes by deliberately taking out odd figures such as $90 or $140. Trying to buy a drink, cigarettes or a postcard with a crisp $100 can be a frustrating ordeal and won't make you many friends.

Unfortunately travellers' cheques are not really a viable option. Fewer and fewer banks seem to accept them, none at all in some areas, and when they do they charge exorbitant commission and take ages to fill out all the paperwork. If you do insist on taking a stock of travellers' cheques (as a precaution in case your credit card goes astray) make sure they're in US dollars and are one of the main brands such as American Express - their own, not those issued by a bank with the Amex logo - and that your signature is 100 percent identical to that in your passport, down to the colour of the ink. Be scrupulously careful when countersigning the cheques, and you will be watched like a hawk as you do so. Travellers' cheques can't be used like cash nor can they be changed in many banks - casas de cambio end to be a better bet. Their opening hours vary from region to region but on the whole they are open from 9am to 6pm, perhaps closing for lunch or siesta. A few are open on Saturday mornings but Sunday opening is virtually non-existent. Tourist offices should be able to tell you where you can change travellers' cheques, but be prepared for blank looks. Banks may also be able to give you a cash advance n your credit card, though again this may be expensive.

Another way of getting emergency cash is to have money wired to you. This is a speedy but terribly costly option and only to be resorted to when absolutely necessary. Western Union operates through all post offices in Argentina.