Hi,
My husband and I are going to Argentina for 2 weeks at the end of December. We are late in finishing planning our trip.
We plan to spend the first two days in BA, then we will be heading to Cordoba for his friends wedding, the reason for the trip. We will spend 2-3 days in Cordoba, then are trying to figure out what to do for the remaining 8-9 days.
His friend is marrying an Argentinian woman, and the family may be able to help direct us as to where to stay in the Mendoza/wine region. How far/easy is it to get to Chile from there? I'm torn as to whether we should try to visit the wine region and maybe Chile, or to try to go to patagonia.
Are we missing out if we don't go to Patagonia? I don't know that we want to go to Tiera del Fuego, but were thinking of seeing the glacier park. Is it worth the time and money? Or is there enough to see in Mendoza or the Lake region? We do really enjoy wine, as I'm originally from near Napa Valley in California, but because of that I've done wine tasting many times before.
Any help, advice welcome, thank you!!!
2 Weeks in Argentina, help needed with Itinarary
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The NW area is a good choice. I would skip Cordoba and would take at least a week in the NW, where you can see the most incredible sceneries, Historical sites, great spanish colonical architecture, and wine, food... Salta and Jujuy have the most amazing landscapes and most people enjoy our wine country Cafayate not only because of the wines but also because of the rock formations. Compared to Sedona by many of my customers, the road to Cafayate is very varied that you can hardly winkle.
And if we talk abouut wines.... Cfaayate is the craddle of teh worldwide famous torrontes wine. It is a unique kind of grape that grows only in this area. I describe it like this. In nose it is fruity and flowery, orange blossom, jasmines, and pineapple. delicious scents... that you expect it to be sweet, but at mouth it is dry, refreshing.... it is indeed like the sunshine on your throat... You would really love it.
And you do not have torrontes in Napa Valley, believe me, NW is really a place you will never regret to choose.
Flintstones/angie
As nice as the northwest sounds, we really want to head to see the Glaciers. We have to stop first in Cordoba, because our friend will be getting married there. From there, it appears we will have to head back to BA, to fly down to El Calafate.
We would like any advice on how best to see the glaciers, any tour companies recommended? How difficult is it to rent a car and drive? How far is it to head from there to Torres del Paine, is it wise to try to visit them both in 6-7 days?
Thank you.
I am confident you will enjoy our South also.... Have a wonderful time!
FLintstones
This time of the year, Ushuaia is wonderful. Wonderful glacial hikes, a couple of nearby estancias to visit. There are some gorgeous places to stay, but the city itself is not high-end. There are wonderful daytrips by boat to see penguin colonies. Easy to rent a car and just explore the area. It is NOT easy to get from here to Chile. Also this time of year, Bariloche and the lake district is lovely. Llao Llao is a fabulous hotel, and you can also take a daytrip by boat across the lakes here (the boat goes on to Chile, which is considered the most beautiful, though time-consuming, crossing). Other wonderful hotels in Bariloche, and again it is great to rent a car and explore nearby towns and markets. At this time of the year, the lupines (tall flowers) are everywhere on this side of the Andes, although not in Chile.
One other thought...you can take a daytrip by boat (or you could stay overnight) from BA to Colonia, Uruguay. Beautiful, relaxed little town...a UNESCO World Heritage site. Oh, and Tigre is another great daytrip from BA. (We love BA...often start our Christmas trips with several days there. )
We've done all of this with kids. On our sans-kids trip we also took in a late-night tango show in BA, which was fun.
I would go Mendoza to Santiago and then to Bariloche and the lake district and maybe to Cafayate if you want to. It's beautiful scenery across the mountains, lots of wines and not an outrageous drive. Patagonia is lovely but there's an awful lot of it to cross especially if you plan to drive.
Ushuaia and southern Chile and Argentina are beautiful too but have more in common with Alaska than with Mendoza or wine country. I was there in high summer and it was still wasn't warm.