I’m often asked what I think would be the perfect first trip to this amazing country. And it really does depend on how long you want your holiday to be. I’ve designed an itinerary that (with overnight flights there and back) would have you away for just over a fortnight. And if you can be away for 3 weeks, I’ve also suggested 2 fabulous extra destinations that I’d include in your itinerary. The 2-week itinerary will give you a flavour of the huge contrasts in landscapes in Argentina. I actually have clients travelling to Argentina in November who are following this exact itinerary.
5 nights in Buenos Aires. This fabulous city certainly merits 4 full days of exploration. See the sights, wander the cobblestone streets of Palermo, visit the gentrified port area of Puerto Madero and stroll around the weekend handicraft market in Recoleta. Visit a milonga to see the locals strutting their tango moves. Stroll around the colourful port district of La Boca. If it’s football season, going to a match to watch either of the local teams of River Plate or Boca Juniors would definitely be a memorable experience.
3 nights in Mendoza and the Winelands. I’d recommend staying at one of the boutique wineries outside the city which offer lovely accommodation in really peaceful surroundings. You can go on a day trip into the Andes and the border with Chile and spend a day touring the numerous wineries in the area. Mendoza itself is a pleasant enough city to visit, but in my opinion it’s worth spending your time in the surrounding winelands – this area is responsible for 70% of Argentina’s wine production, including its famous (and delicious!) Malbec.
3 nights in Salta. Salta is a very attractive city with fine plazas, beautiful colonial architecture and magnificent churches. The surrounding area is well-known for its fabulous high mountain and desert landscapes, with wind-sculpted gorges and red-ochre coloured rock formations, high altitude salt flats and winding mountains roads. I’d recommend 2 full-day excursions from Salta: one to Cafayate through spectacular canyon scenery and a second to the attractive town of Purmamarca, again through fantastic scenery returning to Salta via the Humahuaca Gorge.
2 nights in Iguazu. The amazing Iguazu Falls thunder over a wide curve of the Iguazu river on the border between Brazil and Argentina. The spectacle of the Falls is one of South America's most extraordinary sights; vast torrents of water flow over myriad small and large cascades over a length of 2.5 kilometres. It’s an absolutely magical place - and it's actually my favourite place on Earth. I recommend visiting both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides of the Falls – you get very close to the Falls on the Brazilian side, whilst on the Argentinian side you can get a more birds eye view of proceedings – including looking down into the churning waters of Devil’s Throat. You can choose to stay on the Brazilian side of the Falls - in which case, it's really simple to arrange a few extra nights in lively Rio, and you can fly back to the UK from there.
If you have a week longer to spend in Argentina, you should fly south to Patagonia for a few nights in El Calafate - the gateway to Los Glaciares National Park and the spectacular Perito Moreno and Upsala glaciers. And then you could travel on to Ushuaia. This lively town is the base for exploring attractions such as Lapataia National Park, the ‘Train to the End of the World’ in Tierra del Fuego National Park and for seabird-watching on the Beagle Channel.
As I hope you can see, when it comes to Argentina, I definitely know my onions. I’ve visited the country multiple times and am well placed to recommend and plan the best itinerary for you, based on your preferences. I have several suppliers that I use for trips to South America and will select the right one for you, dependent on what you’re looking for. Get in touch to discuss your holiday with me 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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