Last Minute Argentina/Uruguay planning

So, apologies if these are all questions that are easily find-able, but I'm a little pressed for time so hoping the hive mind can help! My husband and I are planning a fairly last minute trip to Argentina/Uruguay. My husband works for an airline, and we got time off, and have decided to go for an impromptu 11 day trip. We're literally winging it, and leaving in two days! I've done some initial research but I'm hoping you guys can fill in some of what I'm unsure of.

I know 11 days is not a lot of time, but it's what we can afford to do. What we're so far planning is 4-6 days in BA and maybe doing a couple side trips. Then going to Montevideo, Colonia, and maybe Punta del Este. I have a few questions about some of the day trips we're hoping to do.

1) Tigre - We don't want to take a packaged tour where you're loaded up with a bunch of tourists. We're planning to take the train down, and then we'd like to do something on the water. Should we book something in advance? Any tour companies once we're there to avoid? Any reputable companies that do some excursions around the islands? I've heard you can take an Interisleña boat to specific locations... Any locations worth visiting? We were thinking of maybe focusing on one location, an Isla or something with a nice restaurant. We're pretty relaxed and would like to do something that shows us a bit of the river ways without feeling toooooo horribly touristy or rushed.

2) Estancias - We were thinking of going to San Antonio de Areco, and maybe to a close by estancia. Once again, however, we'd rather not load up in a big package tour with a bunch of people. So, I was thinking of taking the bus to San Antonio de Areco. I have the following questions: Is San Antonio de Areco interesting in its own right? I know it has a gaucho museum, but is there much else to see there? Is there transportation from the town to the estancias, and how do you go about booking that? Do you need to book with an estancia before going, or can you just show up?

3) Futbol! I saw that the Juniors are club members only! I wasn't having much luck finding tickets in my searches online. Am I out of luck?

4) Boat to Montevideo - We were planning on buying boat tickets with Buquebus... Any risk of boats to Uruguay booking up? We were planning to just buy tickets once we were there, but wanted to make sure we weren't going to somehow be out of luck.

Thanks!

One place that you haven't listed is Iguazu Falls. That would be my first choice. You can either go by bus (overnight) or by plane. Return to BA and take a side trip by ferry to Colonia del Sacramento and return from Montevideo.
3 days BA
3 days Iguazu, including travel
3 days Uruguay,
2 days BA

Tigre is an easy day trip. You can easily spend the day and still have a fun evening out in BsAs. No need to book anything in advance. Take the train from Retiro, look around for a boat tour that goes for the time you want. The Tigre Art Museum is a worthwhile visit.

As for Uruguay, unless you want an ocean beach, I'd skip it. Or do Colonia as a day trip. Personally I think BsAs has much more appeal than Montevideo. If you want to do the beaches around Punta del Este, I would fly (or rent a car in Montevideo) to minimize traveling time. I've never known the big ferries to book up; possibly the smaller, faster ferries may get booked up a few days in advance.

Maybe someone else can help you with the estancia and futbol tickets. But I'd second a trip to Iguazu as a great alternative.

We didn't include Iguazu mostly because of the distance. Felt like it would eat up a lot of time for a short trip, unless we fly and the ticket prices internally seem to be really expensive right now.

But we'll definitely consider it since you guys recommend it so highly!

One place that you haven't listed is Iguazu Falls. That would be my first choice. You can either go by bus (overnight) or by plane. Return to BA and take a side trip by ferry to Colonia del Sacramento and return from Montevideo.
3 days BA
3 days Iguazu, including travel
3 days Uruguay,
2 days BA

To many days in BA. If you take the pilgrimage to Iguasu (Ygasu=big water in Guarani), and I strongly recommend it, you can go put some more days on the road for Perito Moreno and get the top 2 sites in South America in one trip. Use the airlines! Uruguay is going to be HOT as Hell this time of year.

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