Argentina advice

[Sobeboy15]

We are off on a cruise round the Antartica in February and we have three weeks in Argentina before hand.

I am trying to see the highlights of Argentina and am struggling with our itinerary.

It currently is

8 nights Buenos Aires
8 nights Glacial Region
4 nights Cordoba
3 nights Mendoza

Ive looked back through the history on this forum and feel that I may be missing out on Bariloche.

We are people who like a mix of city and natural beauty.

Any Tips or Advice would be warmly welcomed before we book our internal flights.

[Michael Scott]

I would cut down on the BA part of the trip and fit the Bariloche area in personally. Iguazu falls is also worth thinking about!

[mzb]

Agree, 8 nights in BsAs seems overkill. I’d second getting out to Iguazu (2 nights is plenty, including crossing over to the Brazilian side). If you don’t fancy getting on a plane, I am told a trip across to Colonia in Uruguay is worth at least a day trip (it’s an hour crossing on a fast ferry).

[JDB]

@Sobeboy15 – the itinerary looks a bit unusual for a first visit and you aren’t really seeing the highlights. As above, eight nights in BsAs is a lot, maybe five would be better. Personally, I wouldn’t include Córdoba on a first visit unless you are very keen on riding/polo or golf. Mendoza is just another wine area and very overtouristed although to the north of the city is a little better.

Iguazú has been mentioned and it is incredibly spectacular and ideally visited from both the Argentinian and Brazilian side; pretty busy these days but mitigations available!

Eight days around the glaciers is probably a lot unless you have some specific hiking plans. Are you not planning to stay around Ushuaia for a few days around your cruise?

The big omissions for me would be Bariloche for the lakes and mountains and the whole area around there and the NW – Salta province/Cafayate and Jujuy for the altiplano if that interests you. The 3-4 hour drive from Salta to Cafayate is extraordinarily beautiful on any route. Cafayate itself is now an important wine area (if that’s why you were going to Mendoza) and alternative routes back (eg via Colomé (great winery!) and Molinos) offer amazing unspoilt landscapes.

[Not Long Now...]

My wife is currently between the Falklands and South Georgia, and then on to Antarctica. Just a note on internal flights with Aerolineas Argentinas, hers were changed twice (once from AEP to EZE, one from 07.30 departure to 15.30) and no notification received whatsoever, only picked up when looking at the booking online. Other forums have similar stories, and I’m not saying everything is always changing, but definitely check online every now and again, especially as the day approaches, to check you are going when and where you think…

[JonathanC]

I went to Buenos Aires in 2019, and gave myself 4 days in the city, it was definitely too much time. Of course it’s the same for everyone, you’ll be able to visit the city in 3 days or under

[Matt]

I’d agree that 3 or 4 days in BA is plenty, although add a day on if you want to get the ferry over to Colonia for a day trip.
8 days also seems a lot for the glacial region, unless you’re hiking.
Would recommend Bariloche and the lakes.
We made an error with Salta – 2 days was more than enough for the city, but not enough to see/do anything around it.
We liked both Córdoba and Mendoza – you’re probably about right for time there.
If you’ve not been to Iguazu before then do it.
There are plenty of other places to go as well (that didn’t fit into our 2 weeks there last year)

[Thaliasilje]

Hijacking for late November/early December trip,

3 nights Buenos Aires
2 nights Ushuaia
1 night El Calafate for Moreno Glacier
3 nights Bariloche

Fast paced is okay for us. Any ideas welcome.

JDB your expertise is always much appreciated.

[Sobeboy15]

Thankyou all so much for the input. For a bit of context we have already been to Iguazu Falls from both sides.
We don’t have any spare time in Ushuaia we literally fly down from Santiago and then board the ship.

After all your help I’ve rehashed our itinerary.

Land in Buenos Aires and 1 night in BA to recover from flight
El Calfate for the Glacier Parks 5 nights hire a car
Fly to Bariloche for 4 nights hire a car
Fly to Salta for 4 nights hire a car
Fly to Buenos Aires for 5 nights
Fly to Lima for the next part of our journey.

Thanks again for any input I really appreciate it.

[JDB]

@Sobeboy15 – you have now mentioned Santiago! If you want to see the glaciers, they are far, far better on the Chilean side than in Argentina.

[JDB]

Salta Province is known in Argentina as Salta la Linda (Beautiful Salta!). The city / provincial capital itself is of some interest but the province itself is very special and much less touristy than many of the other places mentioned, probably partly because it doesn’t work that well for those short of time and you really need a car and/or a driver to get the most out of it. It’s a 2½ hr flight from Buenos Aires and then eg Cafayate is a 3-4 hour drive – not that great a distance 200km or so but its quite a windy road and you will want to stop frequently for photos. The route to/from Colomé, itself a very special place is incredibly beautiful. There’s such an incredible mix of landscapes from desert with cactuses, to most subtropical teeming with wildlife. Much of it is like being in one of the best US parks, but without the people. Then there are the delicious high altitude wines (the valley floor is at 1660m, so far higher than Mendoza) or Salta beer if you prefer. Hopefully you can share the driving so not always focussed on the road!

[Sobeboy15]

@JDB The reason for the question regarding our itinerary is that I have been to Argentina before but my husband not. So I want him to get the best out of it. This is a bucket list trip and we need to be in Santiago for our cruise as the cruise company will fly us to Ushuaia for our Antarctic Cruise and we then come back to Valparaiso Chile. We are unsure of wether to have a day in Valparaiso or go straight to Santiago.

We intend to have a few days (3) in Santiago before we fly back to the UK.

After Argentina we are flying to Lima to go to Lake Titicaca and Macchu Pichu we have already booked the Andean Explorer and Hiram Bingham trains.

I was struggling with the Argentina part and I notice from looking at your past posts you have some great insight into this area and I was hoping you’d reply.

I see you can drive from El Calafate to Puerto Natales, would you recommend this?

[JDB]

@Sobeboy15 – we haven’t done that drive but I think it would be fantastic and you could even drive right up from PN to the heart of the Torres del Paine park which is magnificent.

I don’t know what the road conditions or glaciers would be like in October as we have been twice, but in December and they aren’t brilliant at clearing the roads plus it snowed a bit on both occasions and in the new era of austerity, the provinces are even shorter on cash.

[JDB]

@Sobeboy15 – re Valparaíso, I wouldn’t bother spending too much time although we liked the Neruda house/museum. You should look at the FCDO advice on Santiago/ Valparaíso – it’s got quite bad since covid.

[Perkypat]

How are things in Argentina these days? We haven’t been since 2019 and I wonder how security/poverty is with the economic crisis etc? I assume obtaining pesos is still a pain?

Can second the recommendation for the drive Salta to Cafayate, probably one of the best days travel I’ve ever done. Lovely glass or two of wine at the end of it as well.

[JDB]

Perkypat wrote:

How are things in Argentina these days? We haven’t been since 2019 and I wonder how security/poverty is with the economic crisis etc? I assume obtaining pesos is still a pain?

Can second the recommendation for the drive Salta to Cafayate, probably one of the best days travel I’ve ever done. Lovely glass or two of wine at the end of it as well.

We have been to Argentina for each of the last three years since covid restrictions and it’s not felt very different and we still feel safe wandering around the main parts of the city day and night. In Cafayate where we have spent three weeks in each of the last three years it doesn’t feel different although people are nervous about future funding for education and health. The state has been failing for a long time so the grafters at all levels have become very resilient and self sufficient.

PS Amalaya (the junior brand of Colomé wines which has its own place a few hours away) has opened a great new winery/restaurant in Cafayate!

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Just remember no crying!

[JDB]

BA Flyer IHG Stayer wrote:

Just remember no crying!

And don’t leave another suitcase in another hall.

(Oh dear, what have you started?!)

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

Are you Rainbow High?

Just remember You Must Love Me.

[Perkypat]

JDB wrote:

Perkypat wrote:

How are things in Argentina these days? We haven’t been since 2019 and I wonder how security/poverty is with the economic crisis etc? I assume obtaining pesos is still a pain?

Can second the recommendation for the drive Salta to Cafayate, probably one of the best days travel I’ve ever done. Lovely glass or two of wine at the end of it as well.

We have been to Argentina for each of the last three years since covid restrictions and it’s not felt very different and we still feel safe wandering around the main parts of the city day and night. In Cafayate where we have spent three weeks in each of the last three years it doesn’t feel different although people are nervous about future funding for education and health. The state has been failing for a long time so the grafters at all levels have become very resilient and self sufficient.

PS Amalaya (the junior brand of Colomé wines which has its own place a few hours away) has opened a great new winery/restaurant in Cafayate!

Thanks that’s good to know.

[LD27]

JDB wrote:

@Sobeboy15 – we haven’t done that drive but I think it would be fantastic and you could even drive right up from PN to the heart of the Torres del Paine park which is magnificent.

I don’t know what the road conditions or glaciers would be like in October as we have been twice, but in December and they aren’t brilliant at clearing the roads plus it snowed a bit on both occasions and in the new era of austerity, the provinces are even shorter on cash.

Haven’t been on HfP for a while as we’re travelling in South America and just seen this thread. We’re in Argentina at the moment. Last week it was sleeting and light snow in Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine.

Unfortunately I left my driving licence at home and OH didn’t want to do all the driving so we took the bus from PN to El Calafate. Including border crossings it was less than 6 hours. Very few vehicles around. We took the catamaran to Perito Moreno glacier this week and it snowed. It’s also snowed quite a bit this week in El Chalten. We didn’t try the trek, but lots of people we have talked to had to give up on going up Mt Fitzroy because of heavy snow and the trails were very icy.

[LD27]

JDB wrote:

@Sobeboy15 – re Valparaíso, I wouldn’t bother spending too much time although we liked the Neruda house/museum. You should look at the FCDO advice on Santiago/ Valparaíso – it’s got quite bad since covid.

We did a half day walking tour of Santiago last month. On meeting our guide he immediately warned us of issues with phone, camera and bag snatching. He told us visitor numbers were down by more than half. They used to get around 15 for the tour. There were 5 of us. Whilst we were walking around we saw 2 tourists (in front of our eyes and in different locations) have their phones removed from their hands by passing delivery drivers on bikes. The guide shouted at them in both occasions but they were gone. It was over in seconds. A well travelled 40ish year old lady from Australia who was one of our group of 5 then told her story. Arrival at SCL late at night. Went to taxi desk and booked ride to hotel where they gave her a piece of paper. She turned round and immediately standing next to her with “official lanyard with photo” said words to the effect “this way to your taxi”. It was a scam. 3x they “tried” to take card payment which they said hadn’t gone through. But it had. 4th time bank had blocked card and driver said it was ok but obviously it wasn’t. She was locked in the car and couldn’t get out. So just be aware. We enjoyed our time in Santiago and also spent a day in Valparaiso – the painted houses were very interesting. But I’m not sure I’d rush back to either.

We had no issues using Uber in Santiago and despite what we’d read, we were able to use Uber to pick us up from SCL and take us to our hotel.