Hello!
I've got 5 weeks in S America this summer, and wanted some advice on whether or not the itinary I've planned is a bit over ambitious!! If so - which bits should I miss and which are unmissable? Any advice very gratefully recieved.
Day 1 - arrive in Buenos Aires and then spend 5 days tangoing my socks off
Day 6 - fly to El Calafate
Day 7 - visit the Perito Moreno glacier
Day 8 - fly back to BA (possibly connect to fly to Puerto Iguazu same day? or
Day 9 - fly to Puerto Iguazu
Day 10 - at Iguazu
Day 11 - fly back to BA (or late flight back on day 10 evening)
Day 12 - fly to Sucre (is this poss from BA?)
Day 13 - in Sucre
Day 14 - bus to Tupiza
Day 15 - horse riding in Tupiza
Day 16,17,18 - Salar de Uyuni (starting in Tupiza ending in Uyuni)
Day 19 - in Uyuni, overnight bus to La Paz
Day 20,21,22 - in La Paz
Day 23 - bus to Copacabana
Day 24,25 - Isla Del Sol
Day 26 - bus to Cuzco
Day 27 - Machu Picchu
Day 28 - in Cuzco
Day 29 - bus to Lima
Day 30 - in Lima
Day 31 - fly to Rio
Day 32,33,34 - chillin in Rio
Day 35 - fly home
Am I mad??
Melody x
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<hr>Am I mad to try all this in 5 weeks?!?!<hr></blockquote>
Probably! That's an awful lot but with those flights in there it's doable, no question.
Your one problem is likely to be getting on a Salar Tour in Tupiza. It's the less popular way of doing it so there's less 4x4s heading out from there. Having said that, there's always someone going. Oh, and two days on Isla del Sol is quite a lot; it's not that exciting. Maybe you should spend some more time in Cuzco.
DD
Ambitious but do-able, you'll definately need those days chilling in Rio at the end!!! Couple of comments:
Day 12: Dont think this is possible direct, you'd have to go via La Paz or Santa Cruz. LAB (Bolivian airline) currently grounded (not for the first time!) for a host of reasons and may not exist by the time your trips happens; Aerosur is the other Bolivian airline and they also fly to BA but not from Sucre. Another option might be to fly up to Salta in N Argentina and get a bus from there up to Bolivia border at La Quiaca/Villazon (8hrs). Tupiza is only a couple of hours from the border, get an overnight bus from Salta and you should be there by lunchtime. If you are using Aero Argentinas for international flights and the other flights in Argentina this may be a cheaper and easier option. You could then go on to Sucre from Uyuni and then bus/domestic flight from there to La Paz.
Day 29: Might be worth flying, 1hr flight, 20hrs ish by bus, several flights daily. Would give you a bit more time in Cuzco.
Have fun!
But, in my opinion, sometimes the cost flying between countries down there is higher than you would think....hopefully you have checked all of this out....and considered that as ambitious as your program is, if you have bought the tickets in advance, then this makes you less flexible for changing your ambitious schedule around in case you become weary.
Not crazy, no, but not necessarily what I would want to do.
All sounds good, re #1 comment about two days on Isla del Sol, after 25 days of that travel, two days on Isla del Sol would be perfect, great place to chill out. Also the minute you arrive in Cusco, book the tourist train to Machu Picchu, it gets booked out a day or two in advance and you cant use public transport. Agree with #2, spend that time in Cusco and fly to Lima. Just personally, I would even sacrifice the day in Lima and just fly Cusco-Lima-Rio (use the same airline if you do this so you have recourse if first flight delayed) in order to spend more time in Cusco.
Hello,
you are mad. But good on you!!
You could gain yourself a bit more time by not doing the day 6 and 7 bit to El Calafate. You are going to be there in the middle of the Argentinean winter and El Calafate is like a ghost town at this time of year. You would probably also experience some pretty serious weather.
Instead of flying back to BA on day 11, I would cross the boarder from Puerto Iguazu - Foz do Iguazu (Brazil) - Cuidad del Este in Paraguay and then take a 5 1/2 hour bus to Asunción. Spend a night in Asuncion (look up the Asuncion Palace hotel - it is nice and very cheap) and then take a flight around midday the next day with TAM Mercosur to Santa Cruz de la Sierra and make a connection with Aerosur or Lloyd Aero Boliviano (see comments from James) to Sucre. You then have a hideous bus ride from Sucre to Tupiza to face. Why do you want to go to Tupiza at all? There are plenty of other places that you could do horse riding from.
If you go from Uyuni to La Paz, consider taking the train as far as Oruro and then bussing it to La Paz - you might have to wait around a bit for the train, but it is a fantastic ride. I agree with the sentiment about the Island of the Sun, 1 night is all you need here in order to see everything.
On day 26, I would break the journey to Cuzco in Puno, if only to see the steamship "Yavari" on the lake or to go and visit the Uros islands in the morning, and then take another bus on to Cuzco. "Ormeño" probably provides the most comfortable service and leaves at 4pm.
Don`t take a bus Cuzco - Lima. The flight will cost a maximum of U$80 with LANPeru, Aero Condor or Star Peru and is really worth it.
Good luck, enjoy the trip!
Like #5 says "your summer is their winter". Keep it in mind unless you are a glutton for punishment.
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<hr>get an overnight bus from Salta and you should be there by lunchtime<hr></blockquote>
Is this an overnight bus from Salta to Tupiza ?
I am interested in knowing if there are direct long distance buses from Tupiza to Salta.
I am hoping to do a salt lake tour from Uyuni, finishing in Tupiza and from there I need to trave to BA. I have limited time and would prefer not to have to worry about connections and border crossings on my own.
Thanks in advance for any information you can provide
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<hr>Is this an overnight bus from Salta to Tupiza?<hr></blockquote>
Not to Tupiza but one leaves Salta at midnight and gets to La Quiaca around 6.30am, I was on an 8am bus away from border to La Paz (remember Bolivia is 1 hour behind Argentina). Buses between La Quiaca and Salta are frequent, and there are various from Tupiza to the border, though dont think any services cross the border, you have to chaneg vehicles. If time is an issue you may be able to sort out a ticket for BA on Bolivian side, there are offices. Advantage with this is they also have reps who will help you jump border queues so you dont miss the bus; queues going into Argentina worse than leaving (loads of Bolivians engaged in "informal" trade!)
Not sure if tours from Uyuni finish at Tupiza, most go to San Pedro in Chile or back to Uyuni. If you're going to Uyuni by train stay on it for a few more hours, the same train passes Tupiza and do the round trip from there.
You're probably mad, but it sounds like great fun.
My recommendation at the end of your trip would be to spend a couple extra days in Cuzco and skip Lima altogether. Lima is just another big city, while Cuzco is a brilliant atmospheric place to hang out and relax. If it were me, I'd spend a 2-3 days in Cuzco adjusting to the altitude, do the long day trip to Machu Picchu, then fly out of Cuzco with a touchdown in Lima on your way to Rio.
Have a great trip!
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