5 Weeks Itinerary Argentina & Chile
Replies: 11 - Last Post: May 7, 2012 12:59 PM Last Post By: nahuel
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5 Weeks Itinerary Argentina & Chile
Hey guys!Me and my friend recently booked a return flight to Buenos Aires. That means we have five weeks for our roundtrip before getting back to Buenos Aires again.
At the moment that's our plan:
1. Buenos Aires
2. Mendoza
3. Santiago & Valparaíso
4. Chillán (to visit friends)
5. Púcon
6. Puerto Varas (&Chiloé)
7. Bariloche
8. Puerto Madryn
9. Buenos Aires
We wanted to do everything by bus and just assumend three day for every stop. That would make 24 days. So there are 11 days left for travelling and other eventualities or spend more time at some of the places ;-)
What do you think about the itinerary? Would you recommend those places in Chile and Argentina? Any further suggestions?
I'd love to see more, such as the north of Chile (Atacama and also Uyuni (Bolivia)) or Argentina (Iguazu) or of course the South with Patagonia.
But I guess we can't put any of these in our itinerary due to our budget and the little time we have. And of course we don't want to stuff to much in those five weeks.
Thanks for your help :)
Edited by: CristalDeRoche
Edited by: CristalDeRoche
1
I can only really comment on the placecs I have visited on that list (Which sadly isn't many of them). I loved Valparaiso, I think 3 days there alone would be good. Santiago was lovely but less interesting in my opnion. Buenos Aires is amazing.I have to admit I couldn't quite work out your time budget there. I was looking at it being either 9 stops or 11. Either way, 3 days at each doesn't come to 24.
2
Hi!Thanks a lot for your answer!
I've heard quite often that Santiago isn't that special, so I guess we're only gonna do a short stopover there for like half a day or a day and try to get to Valparaíso soon.
Haha, you're right. My time management wasn't really transparent.
I counted three days for each point, not each place. Buenos Aires is there twice, so that makes 8x3=24.
But as I said that's just a rough calculation, there will definitley +/- several days.
3
Sorry mate, I could have worked that out pretty easily with basic maths, ha ha. Santiago is cool but if you are restricted by time then Valparaiso is far more interesting, Santiago is a bit "just another city". That said the setting is nicer with the Andes towering above and the views from Cerro San Cristobal are pretty good.4
If you're concerned about your budget and that it might limit your travel, you should rather combine Argentina with Bolivia, not Chile. Your choice of countries makes your trip more expensive.Bolivia is the cheapest country on the continent, and the best value for your money.
I wouldn't skip Iguazu. You need to try to get there anyway.
5
Yes, I know that we chose the two most expensive countries in South America.It's just that we know people there who we are going to visit (and that way we also save the money for some nights).
Our Budget should be fine for the trip we planed now. The problem is that flights to places like Iguazu are really expensive :( Even though I'd love to see it.
What do you think would be the cheapest way to go to Iguazu? Maybe we could get a oneway flight to Iguazu and then travel from Iguazu to Mendoza via Cordoba by bus. What do you think?
6
You could take the bus from Buenos Aires to Iguazu also. For my accommodations, I used http://www.hostelbookers.com Are you traveling during Argentina's winter -- you don't say?Otherwise, in their summer you could take the bus from Bariloche to El Chalten to see Cerro Fitz Roy (Patagonia), then bus 4 hours to El Calafate to see Perito del Moreno Glacier, then bus 4 hours to Torres del Paine National Park -- spend the night in a hostel in Puerto Natales, then take the park shuttlebus to Lago Pehoe; take the catamaran across the lake to Mountain Lodge Paine Grande and spend the night there -- it is cheaper for 2 people to rent a tent with sleepingbags than bunkbeds inside the lodge. (I am assuming that the popular lodge has been repaired after the wildfire last year. There is a very popular W-trek right there that takes 4 nights, 5 days, with refugios/huts en route or campgrounds.) Go for a day trek to Valle de France, then return to the hostel in Puerto Natales that evening. From there, take the bus across east to Buenos Aires.
P.S.: Thank you for the itinerary for the Yunnan Province and Tiger Leaping Gorge!
8
Ooooookay, so, now I really don't know what I wanna do anymore :) There are so many beautiful places in those to countries.First of all, we're gonna be there in October/Novemer.
Patagonia would be awesome, but as I said we want to enjoy our trip an not stuff to much into those five weeks and we are definitely visiting friends near Concepción in Chile.
I think we'll plan another trip just to Patagonia next time. We don't wanna fly down there for just a few day just to say that we've been there! This countries have a length of 4000km, you can't do all of that in five weeks.
So... what do you think about this alternative:
1. Buenos Aires
2. Iguazú
3. Salta
4. San Pedro de Atacama --> Trip to Uyuni
5. Valparaíso
6. Santiago de Chile
7. Chillán/Concepción
8. Mendoza
9. Buenos Aires
Maybe we could include one or two flights BA-Iguazu and/or North Chile - Santiago.
Would you say this trip is more interesting than the one I wrote above?
9
That´s the problem if you look for advice on a forum. Often you will be more confused afterwards.Overall it looks fine and perfectly doable. Of course if you have to go down south you could include Pucon and Chiloe which are ceratinly worth too. You could skip Mendoza if you take enough time for Salta. The scenery in the small towns of Tilcara and Purmamarca is amazing and in Cafayate and Cachi, there are very good wineries
10
That sounds good, thanx :)We just have to get back to Buenos Aires somehow...
I guess I have to talk to my friend again to decide what we are gonna do. Good that there's still quite some time until october.
11
If you decide to include the Uyuni saltflats you might better go from Salta to Tupiza, take the tour from there and get dropped at san pedro de Atacama. This way you can certainly acclimatize better to the altitude. from Salta you can easily leave on public transport to Purmamarca, Tilcara and Humahuaca and stay for a night at each place to explore the amazing surroundings and enjoy the local people and culture there. Good side excursions too. Don´t take the excursion to Salinas Grandes from Purmamarca so, as this isn´t really interesting if you are going to see the saltflats. The advantage of this itinary is that you will acclimatize slowly. Easy to continue to La Quiacq and from there to Tupiza.
