Weather-beaten gauchos galloping across expanses of empty pampas or steppe. Horses at pasture. Traditional Argentinian barbecues (called asados) under a star-studded night sky - all washed down with fabulous Argentinian red wine. An estancia experience in Argentina is based around these three classic ingredients: horses, hearty home-cooked food, and clinking glasses. It’s easy to tack on a short estancia stay to your tour. Some estancias can be visited in a day - and this may well turn out to be the option that best suits your trip - but it's worth incorporating a stay for a few nights if you're looking for something a bit different.
Estancias range from simple to luxury — you can stay in a family home with an annexe and room for just a few guests or opt for plusher, purpose-built country-house-style options. Some properties even have a golf course or a polo school! This does make for a different experience than a hotel or resort, but that’s precisely the point: this is as close as you’ll get in Argentina to a homestay.
What all estancias have in common is their remoteness. Many are lone farms adrift in the massive green sea of the pampas, the fertile lowlands of the continent that cover more than 750,000 sq km. Cattle, sheep and horses are the only immediate signs of life, grazing in huge fields. And if you choose to visit an estancia in Patagonia, the scenery becomes more dramatic and you'll be surrounded by the dry, sprawling steppe, potentially with the Andes as a backdrop.
You’ll share your stay with a handful of other visitors, only joining them for group activities and mealtimes. So, there are usually plenty of opportunities to seek the solitary pleasures of nature, if that’s what you’re after. It’s also worth noting that some estancias don’t have Wi-Fi or a phone signal, which might influence your choice one way or the other. You’ll have plenty of chances to see the estancia’s owners and gauchos (skilled, devil-may-care Argentinian horsemen) going about their daily business: sheep shearing, cooking, gardening, or looking after and rounding up livestock. You can also take part in such activities.
Meals at estancias are based around Argentine asados and pucheros (stews), but you might also be served Patagonian lamb and trout, and vegetarians are accommodated on request. If you are a vegetarian, you'd be better off choosing one of the more upmarket estancias for better meat-free dining options. You wash it all down with heady, full-bodied Argentinian cabernet sauvignons, merlots and malbecs (though soft drinks are also available). Food almost always exploits fresh ingredients — produce plucked that morning from the estancia’s orchards or vegetable gardens, and steaks sourced from livestock.
Horses and horse riding are often the main focus of time spent on an estancia, and you can take part in all sorts of rides, depending on your proficiency and interest. You might take a short trot around the estancia’s grounds, or trek out into wilderness that feels barely charted. Some estancias offer a wider menu of activities than others, so it’s worth checking with me and we can select a property that matches your interests. With a lack of beach destinations in Argentina, estancias can also fulfil the role of being a place to come and relax. Despite their roster of activities, you’re very much at liberty to spend time doing nothing. Some estancias have swimming pools and immaculately trimmed gardens, and all have some space set aside for unwinding.
The best time to stay in an estancia is during the warm Argentine summer (October to March). If you're considering an estancia stay in Patagonia, October is lambing season. Around 10th November, estancia dwellers and gauchos celebrate Tradition Day, a folk festival dedicated to gaucho culture. In the normally quiet town of San Antonio de Areco (70km north west of Buenos Aires), the town bursts into a fiesta around this time.
If you’re ready to start planning your Bucket List trip to Argentina, get in touch and we can get the ball rolling.
FIVE REASONS TO BOOK YOUR ARGENTINA HOLIDAY WITH ME
Your holiday is protected. Although booking all the different elements of your holiday direct may be less expensive, your holiday won’t be protected if any of the elements fall down. South American airlines are notorious for re-scheduling and cancelling flights late in the day. Booking all your arrangements with one company means your holiday is protected legally and financially because of Package Travel Regulations.
You’ll save time and aggravation. Pulling together a complex itinerary is confusing and time-consuming. You’re going to spend hours online scanning hotel reviews on Trip Advisor and elsewhere from people you don’t know and whose standards may be different from yours. And you’ll need to negotiate the complicated Argentinian network of domestic flights. You can have a 30-minute conversation with me and then sit back and wait for me to come back to you with your perfect itinerary.
You’ll have peace of mind that your arrangements will work. Although Argentina is a sophisticated country with a good infrastructure it’s easy to be seduced by cheap tours. It’s essential that the ground arrangements and logistics are booked through a reputable operator – with transfers that you can feel comfortable will turn up, in vehicles that are roadworthy and with guides that speak good English.
Nothing trumps destination expertise. Although the web is a huge source of information on hotels, tours and places to visit, there’s really no substitute for specialist knowledge, based on up-to-date feedback. I will select the right supplier for your trip dependent on the style of holiday you’re looking for. What’s more, I’ve visited Argentina 7 times now and will bring my own extensive knowledge of the country into the process, to advise and recommend on the best itinerary for your needs – to make sure that the pace and rhythm of your holiday is right. Argentina is a huge country, and it’s quite easy to end up with a multi-centre itinerary where you’ll be spending many days just travelling on a plane from place to place.
One Point of Contact. I provide the highest levels of personal service - you’ll see that all my Google reviews are 5* - and I will look after you from our first phone call until the day you arrive back home in the UK. You can call me direct on my mobile – there’s no waiting on the phone to speak to someone at a call centre when you have a question.
Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s a recent review from one of my clients who visited Argentina and Chile earlier this year…
“We have recently returned from a three-week trip to South America, arranged for us by Sue. We wanted to start in Buenos Aires and end in Rio, visiting Patagonia and Iguazú in between. It took a lot of talking, emailing, thinking and planning. Not to mention a ton of patience from Sue in answering questions and coping with our changing thoughts and ideas to get everything perfect for our needs. We cannot fault the arrangements made in any way. At each point we were met by guides and drivers, all of whom were knowledgeable and helpful. Hotels were spot on. Excursions were great. Internal flights to and from Patagonia and Iguazu all booked for us. Car hire in Patagonia sorted. We had a personal issue meaning that we did not get to Rio as planned, but between Sue and the ground agents, they rearranged hotels, guides, flights etc for us. I dread to think how we would have coped without the help we had. It was invaluable and very reassuring. This was the second holiday Sue has arranged for us, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. She has the patience of a saint and is so approachable and available. We have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Sue Aitken - Travel Guru.” Fiona Macleay
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