12 days in Patagonia by plane and bus???

Hi

In The fine October start November I will pass to only a week whit my girlfriend in Buenos Aires, then remain to me 12 days to spend in Argentina, is it possible to go to Calafate by plane (90 euro buying the ticket now aerolinas) and return to bariloche by bus RN40 and then return to Buenos Aires (120 euro) by plane??

4 days in El Calafate
3/4 days trip to Bariloche
5/4 days in Bariloche

is one good idea? any suggestion

Thenks and sorry for my english

I personally would spend 2 days in Calafate and 4 to 6 days in El Chalten which has great scenery and very good trekking and maybe including Torres del Paine and Ushuaia in the trip. Going by bus till Bariloche is a long and very tiring drive and then again from Bariloche to BA is even a more boring frive. You will spend 3 full days and nights on buses You don´t have much time and the scenery down in southern Patagonia is by far more spectacular than Bariloche.

There is no regularly scheduled bus service from Bariloche to Calafate. The alternative bus connections are:

1 ) First leg of journey, Bariloche to Puerto Madryn; takes 13 hours and costs 45.00 US$. Then Puerto Madryn to Rio Gallegos; takes 17 hours and costs 55.00 US$. Then Rio Gallegos to Calafate; takes 4 hours and costs 13.00 US$.

2 ) First leg of journey, a Don Otto bus from Bariloche to Comodoro Rivadavia; takes 15 hours and costs 42.00 US$. Then an Andesmar bus from Comodoro Rivadavia to Rio Gallegos; takes 11 hours and costs 33.00 US$. Then Rio Gallegos to Calafate takes 4 hours and costs 13.00 US$.

The one-way trip Calafate-Perito Moreno-El Chalten-Bariloche or viceversa costs 127.00 US$ plus 21.00 US$ for a single room for the one-night stay at a hotel or 33.00 US$ for a double room.

The following are previous reports:

I did it in December 2006 with Chalten Travel along Route 40. If you are into openess and the vastness of Patagonia, it is a good 2+ day trip. But to be honest, a lot of people on my bus were pretty sick of "nothingness" after a few hours. Usually there are two overnight stops...one in El Chalten and one in Perito Moreno. It is not a cheap bus ride either and forget about semi-cama or cama...the buses are very, very normal ( no video, no foot rest, etc.).

We took the Ruta 40 Chalten Travel trip from Chalten to Bariloche 2 years ago and enjoyed it so much we did it again this year ( December 2006 ). I am sorry to report that the Perito Moreno to Bariloche bus was a cooker. We were all drenched in sweat after a very long ride. I do not mind open windows, but the bus was modern and the windows would not open. For the amount they charge for this trip in comparison to other routes I would suggest taking the longer way until Chalten Travel realizes they need to improve their bus. If this was a route locals took, they would not stand for this service.

www.chaltentravel.com

Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.

Aerolineas has prices for residents and non-residents. It also has different fares for travellers arriving in Argentina via Aerolineas and for travellers arriving in Argentina via any other international airline. There is no way to get around it as they ask for your papers when you check in. Unless you live in Argentina and have the right ID you will have to pay the non-resident price. This is why the web site says something about country of origin. So you need to be careful when you get quotes that they are for non-residents and also be clear whether the quote is in dollars or pesos.

Round-trip flights from Buenos Aires for travellers arriving in Argentina via Aerolineas Argentinas taxes included:

Iguazu ---- 354.00 US$.
Salta ------ 422.00 US$.
Ushuaia --- 374.00 US$.
Calafate ---- 357.00 US$.
Trelew ------- 217.00 US$.
Cordoba ---- 253.00 US$.
Mendoza ---- 374.00 US$.
Bariloche ---- 482.00 US$.

One-way flights:
Calafate-Trelew ---- 164.00 US$.
Ushuaia-Calafate -- 133.00 US$.
Calafate-Bariloche -- 264.00 US$.
Buenos Aires-Rio Gallegos -- 122.00 US$.

Round-trip fares from Buenos Aires for travellers not arriving in Argentina via Aerolineas:

Trelew ------ 422.00 US$.
Salta ------ 548.00 US$.
Iguazu ------ 458.00 US$.
Calafate ---- 464.00 US$.
Trelew ----- 336.00 US$.
Cordoba --- 431.00 US$.
Ushuaia ---- 486.00 US$.
Mendoza --- 486.00 US$.
Bariloche --- 625.00 US$.

One-way fares:
Calafate-Trelew ---- 254.00 US$.
Ushuaia-Calafate --- 192.00 US$.
Calafate-Bariloche --- 343.00 US$.
Buenos Aires-Rio Gallegos -- 284.00 US$.

When there is not high demand Aerolineas Argentinas uses the Natalia fare for foreigners independently of which carrier they arrive in Argentina.

Round-trip Natalia fare from Buenos Aires (The one-way fare is half the amount given here): There is no Natalia fare for Trelew, Calafate and Ushuaia.

Iguazu ---- 240.00 US$.
Calafate --- 241.00 US$.
Ushuaia -- 253.00 US$.
Mendoza -- 253.00 US$.
Cordoba -- 183.00 US$.
Bariloche -- 325.00 US$.
Gallegos -- 243.00 US$.
One-way Bariloche-Calafate --- 277.00 US$.
One-way Calafate-Ushuaia --- 158.00 US$.

Aerolineas Argentinas´phone numbers around the world:

Madrid: 900-955-747
Australia: 9234-9000
USA: 1-800-333-0276
London: 0800-0969-747
Germany: 0800-1844-747
Argentina: 0810-222-8652

LAN Argentina return fares from Buenos Aires:

Iguazu --- 238.00 US$.
Cordoba --- 184.00 US$.
Calafate ---- 240.00 US$.
Ushuaia ----- 252.00 US$.
Mendoza ---- 252.00 US$.
Bariloche ---- 323.00 US$
Rio Gallegos ---513.00 US$.
Comodoro Rivadavia - 474.00 US$.

One-way Calafate-Ushuaia -- 90.00 US$.

Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.

I would not spend more than a day in Bariloche..
I was totally disappointed by it last summer. Villa la Angostura, on the other hand, is amazing.

#4
I agree with you, I prefer la Angostura, or San Martin <--I really loved it, but la Angostura or still more Villa Traful, are more exclusive, more natural, but not easy get out of there to visit some other places if not with an agency.
and I went out of season and was not able to reach Traful at least, I just crossed by there during a guided tour from San Martin...

but the good thing about Bariloche is that from there you can visit many places by public transport, so if someone has many days could use Bariloche just as a base, spending the day light using buses to reach the very interesting places around.

for a couple of days and looking for relax and nature, I wouldn't go to Bariloche.

Quimera is absolutely right. The advantage to Bariloche is the easy access to all sorts of places and activities. Villa La Angostura and San Martin are much nicer, but you really need your own transport to take full advantage of the area, especially in VA. There is a small airport, Chapelco, outside San Martin, so you could bus from Bariloche to San Martin de los Andes by the seven lakes road and fly back from there.