Activities in Argentina
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TOP SELLER
Argentina Fiesta Gaucha Day Trip from Buenos Aires
8 hours (Departs Buenos Aires, Argentina)
by Viator
Travel through the Argentinean pampas on a full-day trip from Buenos Aires to a typical estancia (ranch). On your relaxing day in the Argentinean countryside,…
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Internacional Mendoza
Rents bikes for AR$40 for six hours, including a city map and MP3 player with audio bike tour of the city.
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La Trochita
Argentina's famous narrow-gauge steam train, averages less than 30km/h on its meandering weekly journey between Esquel and El Maitén - if it runs at speed. In its current incarnation, subsidized by the city of Esquel and the governments of Río Negro and Chubut, La Trochita - which Paul Theroux facetiously called The Old Patagonian Express - provides both a tourist attraction and a service for local citizens.
Like many other state projects, completion of the line seemed an interminable process. In 1906 the federal government authorized the southern branch of the Roca line, between Puerto San Antonio on the Atlantic coast and Lago Nahuel Huapi. In 1922 Ferrocarriles del…
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Guided tours
Visitors may not use their own vehicles on park roads; only contracted guides with pickup trucks offer tours of sandy canyons where aboriginal petroglyphs and mortars adorn streambed sites. Nesting condors scatter from cliffside nests as vehicles invade their otherwise undisturbed habitat. On the usual two-hour tour from the park's headquarters, vehicles pass the dunes of El Playón, leading to the Puerta de Talampaya (Gate of Talampaya) entrance to the canyon.
Back on the road, the vehicles enter the red sandstone canyon, whose eastern wall reveals a conspicuous fault. The next major stops are the Chimenea del Eco, an extraordinary echo chamber where your voice seems to…
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Centro Paleontológico Lago Barreales
For true dino freaks, the best place to satiate the hunger for bones is the Centro Paleontológico Lago Barreales, 90km northwest of Neuquén. Here you can actually work – as in get your hands dirty digging – on-site with paleontologists in one of the world’s only fully functioning dinosaur excavation sites open to the public. You can visit the museum and take a guided tour of the site in about 1½ hours, but the real pleasure comes from the unique opportunity offered by sticking around. Prices (which help fund research) are AR$400 for one day and AR$1050 for two days and one night. It also offers scientific/educational tours, making a circuit of Neuquén province…
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Fishing
You know a place takes fishing seriously when the tourism board posts a trout map online. Hollywood stars, heads of state and former US presidents all flock to the desolate stretch of the island around Río Grande in search of the perfect day of angling. Usually they are in luck.
In 1933 pioneer John Goodall stocked the rivers around Río Grande with brown, rainbow and brook trout. Fish populated the rivers and, like the region's sheep stations, the sport-fishing industry took off. European brown trout ventured out to sea, returning to these rivers to spawn. Over the decades this back-and-forth migration has fostered one of the world's best sea-run trout-fishing areas,…
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Finca Colomé
Some of Argentina’s finest wines are produced at this ecological bodega, which is set (as they say hereabouts) ‘where the devil lost his poncho, ’ some 20km down a spectacular gravel road west from Molinos. The vineyards (including some ancient pre-phylloxera European vines) and hotel enjoy a stunning natural setting, surrounded by hills and mountains that seem to change color hourly. Forward thinking on environmental, social and cultural fronts is also in evidence: the complex is electrically self-sufficient, has funded substantial infrastructural improvements in the local community and now boasts a stunning museum designed by artist James Turrell, with a permanent…
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Boat Excursions
The best way to appreciate the area is by Boat Excursion. The classic trip is a two to 2½ hour excursion in a lancha, which takes you around the Laguna Iberá and its embalsados. You'll see myriad bird and animal life, elegant lilies, water hyacinths and other aquatic plants. The Laguna Iberá is only a small part of the 13,000 sq km area of the Esteros. Some 80km north, at Galarza, is the Laguna Galarza and the larger Laguna de Luna, which can also be explored by boat.
Many of the lodges can organize these activities; if you are staying at one they are usually included in the price. If not, there are many other options. There are several local, independent guides in…
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Circo del Aire
A peek into the grand doorways and skinny alleys of San Telmo always yields a few surprises – a stray kitten sleeping in the sun, an old man painting at an easel, a flowering tree – but nothing will capture your attention like the trapeze artists and acrobats that practice in the neighborhood’s cavernous studios. You can’t help but stop and stare when you stumble upon a circus troupe setting up their tightrope inside a garage-like space that opens onto one of San Telmo’s side streets. Keep your eye on Circo del Aire, a performance group that stages hipster circus shows on weekends and runs workshops teaching trapeze, acrobatics and ‘aerial dance’ to both adults…
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Hiking
Several nearby peaks and destinations make hiking in the mountains around Tafí del Valle an attractive prospect; try 3000m Cerro El Matadero, a four- to five-hour climb; 3800m Cerro Pabellón (six hours); and 4600m Cerro El Negrito, reached from the statue of Cristo Redentor on RN 307 to Acheral. The trails are badly marked, and no trail maps are available; you can hire a guide for about Arg$10 an hour. Ask for more information at the tourist office.
An easier hike climbs Cerro Pelado for views over the town. Cross the bridge toward the Capilla, and you'll see the path on your left immediately afterward. It takes about 1¼ hours to climb, and less to come down.
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Hielo y Aventura
Boat trips allow you to sense the magnitude of Glaciar Moreno, even though the boats keep a distance. Hielo y Aventura runs Safari Nautico (AR$45), a one-hour tour of Brazo Rico, Lago Argentino and the south side of Canal de los Témpanos. Catamarans crammed with up to 130 passengers leave hourly between 11:30am and 3:30pm from Puerto Bajo de las Sombras. Don’t forget rain gear: it’s often snowing around the glacier and you might get wet and cold quickly on the boat deck. Many travelers suggest getting on the last boat ride of the day and then viewing the glacier from the look-out platforms afterwards, when fewer visitors will crowd the catwalks.
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Senda Costera
This 8km (four-hour) trek leads west from Bahía Ensenada along the coastline. Keep an eye out for old middens (archaeologically important mounds of shells left by Yaghan inhabitants), now covered in grass. The trail meets RN 3 a short way east of the park administration (guardería) center at Lapataia. From here it is 1.2km further to Senda Hito XXIV.
It might be tempting to roll up the cuffs and go clamming, but be aware that occasional red tides (marea roja) contaminate mollusks (such as clams and mussels) along the shore of the Beagle Channel.
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Cerro Aconcagua
Cerro Aconcagua is often called the 'roof of the Americas.' The volcanic summit of Aconcagua covers a base of uplifted marine sediments. Reaching the summit requires a commitment of at least 13 to 15 days, including acclimatization time; some climbers prefer the longer but more scenic, less crowded and more technical Polish Glacier Route. Potential climbers should acquire RJ Secor's climbing guide Aconcagua (Seattle, The Mountaineers, 1999).
The web page www.aconcagua.com.ar is also helpful. Remember you will need to purchase a permit and entrance into the park.
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El Tren del Fin de Mundo
The most touristy and, beyond jogging, the slowest way to the park, El Tren del Fin de Mundo originally carted prisoners to work camps. It departs (sans convicts) from the Estación del Fin de Mundo, 8km west of Ushuaia (taxis AR$30 one way), three or four times daily in summer and once or twice daily in winter. The one-hour, scenic narrow-gauge train ride comes with historical explanations in English and Spanish. Reserve in January and February, when cruise-ship tours take over. If you are not a train fanatic, take it one way and return via minibus.
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Puro Remo
Due to water pollution near the city center, most of the aquatic activity on the Rio de la Plata occurs in the coastal northern suburbs. But a couple of kayak outfitters are attempting to bring some recreation back to the urban waters. Stroll down to Puro Remo at Puerto Madero’s Yacht Club to look into your paddling and rowing options. Offering kayak rental, guided tours and clean, efficient facilities, the business also runs longer trips including asados (barbecues) and island excursions in the Tigre river delta.
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Iguazú Jungle Explorer
Iguazú Jungle Explorer, with an office in the visitor center complex, is a well-run set-up which offers the following three excursions: a speedy inflatable boat ride to the bottom of several of the waterfalls, including a drenching under the San Martín torrent; a quiet dinghy ride down the upper Iguazú, and a one-hour trip combining a descent to the river in flatbed trucks along the Sendero Yacaratiá, and then a trip upriver through rapids to the falls.
Discounts are offered for combining any of these tours.
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Extremo Sur
In business since 1991, this outfit offers several trips on the Río Manso: the Manso Inferior (class II to III, AR$350 per person) is suitable for all ages; the Manso a la Frontera (class III to IV, AR$470 per person, ages 14 and up) is a fun and beautiful stretch of the river before the Chilean border. There’s also a three-day Expedición Río Manso (class III to IV, around AR$2600), in which you camp riverside at excellent facilities.
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Perú Beach
An interesting sports complex for those seeking outdoor activities is Perú Beach. Short soccer fields, a covered roller rink, a freestanding climbing wall and water sports such as kite-surfing bring in the crowds. There’s also a grassy lawn and outdoor tables for refreshments – great on a sunny day. It’s more of a social scene than anything else, and families are welcome. Perú Beach is located in Acassuso, a suburb way north of Buenos Aires’ center, just across from the Tren de la Costa’s Barrancas station.
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Las Marianas
One of the prettiest wineries in the region, this one was built in 1922, abandoned in 1950 and reinstated in 1999. The main building is gorgeous, with thick adobe walls and a few examples of the original winemaking equipment lying around. The mountain views out over the vineyard are superb. If you’re coming by bus, catch the 16 (40 minutes) near the corner of Santa Fe and Mendoza in San Juan. Get off at the corner of Calle Aberastain and Calle Nuevo, where you’ll see a signpost to the winery (an 800m walk).
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Gran Hotel de Villavicencio
If you’ve ordered mineral water from any restaurant or cafe in Argentina, odds are you’ve ended up with a bottle of Villavicencio on your table. These springs are the source, and their spectacular mountain setting once hosted the prestigious thermal baths resort of the Gran Hotel de Villavicencio. Popular with the Argentine elite during the middle of the 20th century, the resort has been closed for more than a decade; promises have floated around for years that it would ‘soon’ reopen.
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Esquel Tours
Numerous travel agencies, including Esquel Tours, sell tickets for the Circuito Lacustre boat excursion in Parque Nacional Los Alerces; buying a ticket in Esquel assures a place on the often-crowded trip.
Excursions to El Bolsón/Lago Puelo and Corcovado/Carrenleufú are also offered. Half-day trips include La Hoya's winter-sports complex; the nearby Welsh settlement of Trevelin and the Futaleufú hydroelectric complex and the narrow-gauge railway excursion to Nahuel Pan.
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Senda Hito XXIV
From Camping Lago Roca, a flat 10km (four-hour) round-trip trek leads around Lago Roca's forested northeast shore to Hito XXIV - that number is veinticuatro in Spanish - the boundary post that marks the Argentina-Chile frontier. It is illegal to cross the frontier, which is patrolled regularly.
From the same trailhead you can reach Cerro Guanaco (973m) via the steep and difficult 8km trail of the same name; it's a long uphill haul but the views are excellent.
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Club Andino Ushuaia
The Club Andino Ushuaia sells a map and bilingual trekking, mountaineering and mountain-biking guidebook with rough maps and plenty of trail description. The club occasionally organizes hikes and can recommend hiking guides. Unguided trekkers are strongly encouraged to register with the club or the tourist office before heading out – and check in after a safe return. In an emergency, contact the Civil Guard ([tel] 103, 22108).
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Expediciones Patagonia Aventura
Offers rafting, canyoning, horseback riding and trekking. Whitewater rafting trips (half day AR$270 with transport) go on the Río Corcovado (90km away). The EPA’s riverside hostel is a good option if you want to overnight. Canopy tours, horseback riding and trekking use the mountain center, an attractive wooden lodge (full pension AR$380) based in Parque Nacional Los Alerces. Guests have access to kayaks, and camping is also available.
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Senda Pampa Alta
The low heights of Pampa Alta (around 315m) grant long views across the Beagle Channel to Isla Navarino and Isla Hoste. RN 3 meets the trailhead 1.5km west of the Río Pipo and Bahía Ensenada road turn-offs (3km from the entrance gate). The 5km round-trip trail first climbs a hill, passing a beaver dam along the way. Enjoy the impressive views at the lookout. A quick 300m further leads to a trail paralleling the Río Pipo and some waterfalls.
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Bodega de las Nubes
Five kilometers west of Cafayate along the road to Río Colorado (it’s signposted ‘Mounier’), small, organic and friendly Bodega de las Nubes has a fabulous position at the foot of the jagged hills. The short tour and tasting nominally costs AR$15, but if you buy wine it’s not charged. It also does tasty picadas here. Ring ahead to check it is open and if you want to eat. Grape-picking day in March is lots of fun, with volunteers welcomed.
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