Driving Tour activities in South America
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Circuito Costero
Take a remise or your own poor, abused rental car on the incredibly scenic 30km drive following Bahía San Julián on a dirt road. A series of golden bluffs divide beautiful beaches with drastic tides. The area includes a sea-lion colony and the penitent attraction of Monte Cristo(with its stations of the cross).
reviewed
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Ruta de los Siete Lagos
From San Martín, RN 234 follows an eminently scenic but rough, narrow and dusty route past numerous alpine lakes to Villa la Angostura. It’s known as the Ruta de los Siete Lagos (Seven Lakes Route) and its spectacular scenery has made the drive famous. Sections of the 110km route close every year due to heavy snowfalls – December to May is the best time to schedule this trip, but ask around for current conditions. Full-day tours from San Martín, Villa la Angostura and Bariloche regularly do this route, but there’s also a scheduled bus service and, with a little forward planning, it’s possible to drive/cycle it yourself.
reviewed
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A
Oruro Tours
Oruro Tours is a decent set-up that runs tailored trips in comfortable 4WDs; if it's closed, ring the top bell.
reviewed
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B
Movitrack
Innovative and reliable operator, with a variety of daytrips and multiday excursions with fixed departure days. Some use a characterful open truck, while others go in a pressurized minibus that prevents altitude sickness.
reviewed
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C
Adventure Center
Four-day trips down the fabled RN 40 as far as El Calafate are offered for AR$650 per person. Trips run from the end of September to April. Prices include accommodations, but national park entries and food are separate.
reviewed
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D
Combi-Tur
Offers two-hour city tours (around Arg$15) daily at 10:30, 3:30 & 17:30 and excursions to nearby Sierra and Laguna del los Padres (around Arg$30; see ), leaving at noon and 15:30. Tours depart from Plaza Colón, at Colón and Arenales.
reviewed
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Taxi Trips
Taxis in front of the bus terminal offer return taxi trips around the sights surrounding Villa de Leyva. The standard routes include El Fósil, El Infiernito and Convento del Santo Ecce Homo, and Ráquira and La Candelaria. Prices are per taxi for up to four people and include stops at the sights.
reviewed
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Road to La Quiaca
The road to La Quiaca is intriguing. After leaving the Quebrada de Humahuaca, paved RN 9 passes through Abra Pampa, a forlornly windy town 90km north of Humahuaca, and climbs through picturesque and typical altiplano landscapes. Nightly frosts make agriculture precarious, so people focus subsistence efforts on livestock (llamas, sheep, goats) that can survive on the sparse ichu grass. Look for the endangered vicuña off main routes.
reviewed
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Cars & Ferry
For those bringing a car to the island, avoid huge lines at the ferry by booking in advance. The ferry arrives from the mainland in Perequê. About 4km north along the straight lies the historic town of Vila Ilhabela. Good roads run along the western coast of the island; however, the south and east coasts are reachable only by boat or foot except for a rough road accessible by 4WD that reaches Praia dos Castelhanos on the west coast.
reviewed
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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…
reviewed
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