4 week Adventure Itinerary. Help Needed!
Replies: 4 - Last Post: Feb 3, 2013 12:41 AM Last Post By: j0eshmo85
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4 week Adventure Itinerary. Help Needed!
Hi,I have a flight to Buenos Aires on the 14March and a flight leaving Buenos Aires 12April which gives myself and my friend a month to play with. This is our first backpacking trip and are wondering whether anyone has anyone helpful advice on our itinerary.
We are on a budget, aiming to spend less than AUD$3500 for everything excluding the international flights. We will be staying at hostels and eating cheaply. I love adventure and the outdoors so want to go to the best places for rafting, kayaking, canyoning, trekking etc as i can.
This is the itinerary we have come up with :
MARCH 14- Arrive BA 8pm
MARCH 15- BA
MARCH 16- BA
MARCH 17- BA
MARCH 18- Fly afternoon flight to Elcalafate
MARCH 19-El calafate - Glacier tour morning then bus to Chalten or TDP???
MARCH 20- Chalten or TDP?
MARCH 21- Chalten or TDP?
MARCH 22- Chalten or TDP?
MARCH 23- Chalten or TDP?
MARCH 24- Chalten or TDP?
MARCH 25- Bus or fly? to Bariloche from El calafate
MARCH 26- Travel Day
MARCH 27- Bariloche
MARCH 28- Bariloche
MARCH 29-Bariloche
MARCH 30-Bariloche
MARCH 31-Bus bariloche - pucon
APRIL 1-Pucon
APRIL 2-Pucon
APRIL 3-Pucon
APRIL 4-Bus pucon - Santiago
APRIL 5-Santiago
APRIL 6-Santiago - Mendoza
APRIL 7-Mendoza
APRIL 8-Mendoza -BA
APRIL 9- BA- morning flight to Iguazu
APRIL 10-Iguazu
APRIL 11-Iguazu- Night flight to BA
APRIL 12-BA
APRIL 13- BA Fly home 8pm
Questions:
1. Does this seem like a good route and ammount of days in each place? Also are these the best places for adventure/amazing scenery? Are there any other amazing places we have missed out? (Note: we do not want to go to Ushuaia and are not particulary interested in going somewhere just for wildlife)
2. We will have three - five days for trekking after el calafate but dont know whether we should just do el chalten and only spend 3 full days, only do TDP and spend 5 days or use the five days (possibly could stretch to six) for a combination of both? I have multi day trekking experience (carrying up to 13kg and staying in tents) but my friend has none. I wouldnt bring any of my hiking gear with me though so was thinking el chalten would just be easier and just do day walks? Is fitz roy and tdp very similar?
3. We will be using an airpass with aerolineas but just recently the direct flight from El Calafate to Bariloche has been cancelled which means we need to go through BA which will use two coupons at about US$170 each. Does anyone know an approximate price of a bus for the same route? Trying to work out if the savings we might get are worth a very long 30hr + bus trip. Any thoughts?
Sorry this is such a lengthy post!
Any help will be much appreciated!!
Thanks:)
Also sorry i have accidentally posted this on the south american forum not under argentina so i have reposted it.
1
HiUnfortunatley Argentina is not a very cheap backpacker destination anymore so i suggest that you will need more than your 3500 $AUD......assuming that the 3500 is for the two of you and each. Not been to TDP but spent time trekking in el chalten and loved it there......there are plenty of great day hikes in area (meaning a return to a warm bed after a days hike).......lauguna los tres and the Cerro Torres Glacier.
2
El Chalten is easier and cheaper than TDP and the daytreks there are just great. I don´t really understand why you do not include Ushuaia if you are already that far south as it has really amazing outdoor adventures in the mountains and forests around there and lots of very good daytreks and also longer trekking routes. Flights El Calafate - Bariloche are very expensive if there are some avaible at that time of the year. Bariloche itself isn´t a big deal, except the surroundings. El Bolson or San Martin de los Andes are much nicer3
"Glacier tour morning" in El Calafate is not really an option. You spend a full day at Perito Moreno regardless of how you do it. Bus to El Chalten or TdP/Puerto Natales the next day early."I don´t really understand why you do not include Ushuaia if you are already that far south"
Ushuaia is easily 12h more by bus from Puerto Natales (TdP) which is a whole day of travel. I don't recommend to add it to the itinerary. Doesn't save you any real "sightseeing time" compared to Bariloche. Also, the city itself is not awesome, you go there for the surroundings.
I can't help you about El Chalten vs TdP, I can only tell you that both are awesome and neither will be a bad choice. A "technical" advantage of El Chalten is that you get there early enough to do a hike on the same day.
I don't know if you're into camping, but that would make your trip cheaper. Camping + multiday hikes is a great option for both El Chalten and TdP. You can rent tents. If you want to do TdP multiday without camping, it will be expensive since you have to stay in the awesome but not cheap refugios; whereas from El Chalten you can easily do multiple day treks.
4
@JustBeccI'll be flying into El Calafate on 3/19.
My plans are 3/19-3/22 El Chalten
3/23-3/24 El Calafate
3/25-3/30 TDP
3/31-4/1 Punta Arenas
Will be flying from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt on 4/1 to visit the lake region for a few days before heading up to Santiago.
Message or email (joseph.c.liu@gmail.com) me if you would like to meet up or share information. I am 27 travelling alone.
