Argentina/Peru/Chile Potential Itinerary

Old Nov 29th, 2022, 05:21 AM
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Argentina/Peru/Chile Potential Itinerary

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to do a month/five weeks in SA from the end of March 2023 to end of April/beginning of May and need advice.

- First time doing SA and want to do at least a couple of weeks in Argentina. From what I've read the weather is still nice end of March/beginning of April. Is this correct?
- Is a couple of weeks in Argentina not enough? Should I focus on specific areas once time in BA is exhausted?
- Want to do Macchu Picchu and it seems late April would be a decent time weather-wise to do it?
- I had initially wanted to do Argentina/Peru and Chile (mainly for Easter Island), but am I biting off more than I can chew here? Best just to do Argentina and Peru, given the timeframe?
- I'm a 35-year-old travelling solo, so can rough it a bit. How much projected spending/hotel money would I need for the month/five weeks, roughly?

Any advice greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
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Old Nov 29th, 2022, 05:47 AM
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I think a couple of weeks (2 or 3) is okay to travel Argentina. Of course you need much more time to travel every corner of the country but this is okay.
I would suggest visiting Buenos Aires. There you can try some tango, enjoy the food in neighbourhoods like San Telmo and Palermo, take a tour of the arquitecture in Microcentro and watch a Polo match an learn how to play at Argentina Polo Day's estancia and Polo Club.

Then visit the Patagonia. It's a huge territory but worth every second. Ushuaia is nice and cold all year round, in Calafate walking on the ice Glaciar is breathtaking. In Puerto Madryn you can take a boat trip and dive with the local fauna (amazing experience!). Summers in Bariloche, Villa La Angostura and San Martin de los Andes are beautiful.

Stop by Mendoza to try the best wines and then start heading north. I'd go first to Iguazzu Falls in Misiones and then to Salta and Jujuy, where you can try some local empanadas saltenas and visit the Salinas Grandes. From there I believe you can take a plane to Peru.

Hope this helps. Have fun in your trip!
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Old Nov 30th, 2022, 02:39 AM
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5 weeks is not a lot of time to explore any one country let alone three. You would get more out oft the trip by limiting it to two or even one country. The list of 11/12 destinations above is unrealistic in 2-3 weeks . On a trip like this you need to remember that to get one full day of actually doing and seeing stuff you need two nights and allow half a day or more to get between destinations.

In Argentina, I would forget about Patagonia, it is the wrong time of year for the weather. Buenos Aires probably deserves 3-4 days . You could also maybe add a day/overnight trip to Colonia del Sacremento across the river in Uruguay or perhaps the Tigre delta, but there is plenty to see and do in the city.

I would certainly recommend a visit to Iguazu which is simply one of the most iconic sights in the world. Two days there would be enough to see both the Brazilian and Argentine falls.

Next stop for me would be the truly spectacular scenery around Salta and NW Argentina. Ideally you would rent a car and self drive a loop or two of the area which can take anywhere between 4 and 10 days. That would be expensive for a solo traveller so unless you can find someone share a rental with, a tour may be the better option.

It may prove expensive to fly for Argentina to Peru but when you get there , the travelling is a lot easier.

A couple of weeks would be sufficient to see Lima, Cusco and the Sacred Valley and maybe Arequipa and Colca Canyon. Three weeks would likely be enough add in a trip to the jungle and Lake Titicaca. In terms of things to do and costs, you could spend less money and see more by spending those entire 5 weeks in Peru

A "mid-range" solo traveller could get by on $100 US per day for accommodation, food and some travel. Entrance fees to places like Machu Picchu an dthetrain fares to get there would add a significant amount. General speaking you will be able to find decent en suite rooms in either country for < $50. Less still in a shared dorm room. Cheap and good food can be found in markets, at street stalls and hole in the wall restaurants. You could spend a bit less or a lot more but I think that is a reasonable guesstimate in current times.

You can save a LOT of money in Argentina by taking advantage of the"Blue Dollar" or unofficial exchange rate. Take cash and exchange with on street fx dealers and you will get double the official rate thus halving your costs. Take new notes in any of the major currencies to take advantage or set up a Western Union account.

Some details of our travels in South America @ https://accidentalnomads.com just click on the Destination tab to go to the relevant country.

One final thought is Bolivia which would fit well with either country and is cheaper and see a lot of solo travellers like you
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Old Dec 5th, 2022, 12:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Sphjen
I think a couple of weeks (2 or 3) is okay to travel Argentina. Of course you need much more time to travel every corner of the country but this is okay.
I would suggest visiting Buenos Aires. There you can try some tango, enjoy the food in neighbourhoods like San Telmo and Palermo, take a tour of the arquitecture in Microcentro and watch a Polo match an learn how to play at Argentina Polo Day's estancia and Polo Club.

Then visit the Patagonia. It's a huge territory but worth every second. Ushuaia is nice and cold all year round, in Calafate walking on the ice Glaciar is breathtaking. In Puerto Madryn you can take a boat trip and dive with the local fauna (amazing experience!). Summers in Bariloche, Villa La Angostura and San Martin de los Andes are beautiful.

Stop by Mendoza to try the best wines and then start heading north. I'd go first to Iguazzu Falls in Misiones and then to Salta and Jujuy, where you can try some local empanadas saltenas and visit the Salinas Grandes. From there I believe you can take a plane to Peru.

Hope this helps. Have fun in your trip!
So Patagonia is off the table you reckon? I obviously want to do BA, and perhaps the Iguazzu falls, but I don't really know what else to do in Argentina outside of those two.

So Chile should be axed off the list. Perhaps three weeks in Argentina and a week in Peru? Is that more feasible?
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Old Dec 5th, 2022, 12:50 PM
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Originally Posted by crellston
5 weeks is not a lot of time to explore any one country let alone three. You would get more out oft the trip by limiting it to two or even one country. The list of 11/12 destinations above is unrealistic in 2-3 weeks . On a trip like this you need to remember that to get one full day of actually doing and seeing stuff you need two nights and allow half a day or more to get between destinations.

In Argentina, I would forget about Patagonia, it is the wrong time of year for the weather. Buenos Aires probably deserves 3-4 days . You could also maybe add a day/overnight trip to Colonia del Sacremento across the river in Uruguay or perhaps the Tigre delta, but there is plenty to see and do in the city.

I would certainly recommend a visit to Iguazu which is simply one of the most iconic sights in the world. Two days there would be enough to see both the Brazilian and Argentine falls.

Next stop for me would be the truly spectacular scenery around Salta and NW Argentina. Ideally you would rent a car and self drive a loop or two of the area which can take anywhere between 4 and 10 days. That would be expensive for a solo traveller so unless you can find someone share a rental with, a tour may be the better option.

It may prove expensive to fly for Argentina to Peru but when you get there , the travelling is a lot easier.

A couple of weeks would be sufficient to see Lima, Cusco and the Sacred Valley and maybe Arequipa and Colca Canyon. Three weeks would likely be enough add in a trip to the jungle and Lake Titicaca. In terms of things to do and costs, you could spend less money and see more by spending those entire 5 weeks in Peru

A "mid-range" solo traveller could get by on $100 US per day for accommodation, food and some travel. Entrance fees to places like Machu Picchu an dthetrain fares to get there would add a significant amount. General speaking you will be able to find decent en suite rooms in either country for < $50. Less still in a shared dorm room. Cheap and good food can be found in markets, at street stalls and hole in the wall restaurants. You could spend a bit less or a lot more but I think that is a reasonable guesstimate in current times.

You can save a LOT of money in Argentina by taking advantage of the"Blue Dollar" or unofficial exchange rate. Take cash and exchange with on street fx dealers and you will get double the official rate thus halving your costs. Take new notes in any of the major currencies to take advantage or set up a Western Union account.

Some details of our travels in South America just click on the Destination tab to go to the relevant country.

One final thought is Bolivia which would fit well with either country and is cheaper and see a lot of solo travellers like you
Thanks for the reply! I will take a look at your website. Patagonia a definite no-no then?

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Old Dec 6th, 2022, 02:15 AM
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No it is not a definite no go, just that best weather is likely to be between September and March in the Austral summer. More info here https://www.swoop-patagonia.com/visit/when

Climate change is affecting the timing and severity of seasons all around the world and I doubt Patagonia is an exception. That said, it is often said that there are no such thing as bad weather just the wrong clothes. We have visited New Zealand three times always in a camper and and always in winter. The locals thought we wee mad but we had campsites to ourselves, no traffic , no crowds and some great, if cold weather (some of the time!)

If you were to go to Patagonia then I would suggest heading there straight away on arrival before the weather moves into autumn. You should also be aware that it tends to be one of the more expensive areas in South America, especially in Chile, Torres de Paine etc.
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Old Dec 11th, 2022, 03:13 PM
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Ignacio10 (OP),
hope you don't mind me piggy backing onto your thread! I've tried creating a new thread for days and continue to get an error message (I have shared this with the Support team and haven't received a solution thus far). My post (that I can't make) is somewhat related to your thread (e.g., the idea of going to Patagonia in March). Here it is:This winter (summer) we will be in Lima for 3 months (we have family there). We enjoy hiking/ walking and would like to get out of the city for 10 days or so. I don’t do well with altitude and so many “out of the city” locations with walking in Peru are out of the question for me. We also have never visited other parts of South America. Flights out of Lima seem to be late at night overnight flights and seem to be expensive. Flights between Chile and Argentina route through BA, except if you can find a flight to do a stopover in. So working with this, I’ve come up with a plan which currently looks like this (middle of March):

Day 1- fly Lima to Santiago (AC Costanera on points or Magnolia?)
Day 2, 3- Santiago (possibly visit Valparaiso; possibly visit a vineyard or find a way to get up into the hills)
Day 4- fly Santiago to Bariloche (Sky Airlines; I can’t seem to find another connection that would give us at least more than one night here without flying via BA)
Day 5,6- El Calafate
Day 7,8,9,10- El Chalten
Day 11- transfer to El Calafate for flight to BA (Alvear Palace as a splurge or Park Tower on points?)
Day 12- BA
Day 13 Flight from BA back to Lima


I’ve read that March is a good time to visit Calafate/ Chalten since the wind tends to be less and according to historical temperature data the temps still seem to be moderate, although not as warm as January or February.

I know that we’re missing a lot of other great parts of Argentina and Chile with this brief visit (e.g., I’d love to see the falls and go to Valdes peninsula, or go to Tierra del Fuego…).

I’d appreciate any feedback/input to help me decide on finalizing our plans!
Trycke

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Old Dec 12th, 2022, 12:53 AM
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If you are set on seeing Patagonia then I guess it is a good a plan as any. My main concern would be the number of flights and the amount of time spent in transit- on planes, in airports or on your way to and from airports. A further issue is that airlines operating in Argentina are notorious for their unreliability so bear that in mind when setting your schedule and allow leeway for the unexpected I was chatting with someone recently who was due to spend a couple of months in the country but had so many flights cancelled or changed last minute that they gave up and came home! I think it is important to build in some leeway for delays and cancellations

Personally, I would skip Santiago completely. Valparaiso is definitely worth a couple of days and is easily reached from the airport. I would just head there and return direct to the airport to head south.

The Alvear Palace is an amazing (and very expensive) hotel. If you can try to be there on a Sunday - their brunch is legendary!

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Old Dec 14th, 2022, 02:16 PM
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Thanks for the reply, Crellston! Given the unpredictable situation in Peru we are going to hold off on planning for a “side trip” at this point. The demonstrations are affecting some of the airports in country and now today’s news of the state of emergency without a full decision re: curfew makes us feel it’s better to wait. Once we’re in Lima when/ if things seem more settled we’ll reassess.

I’m not finding current news articles re: air traffic controllers strike or hearing about this from family. Do you have a link to any information that you could share? We hopefully fly the first week of January🤞
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Old Dec 14th, 2022, 04:09 PM
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trycke, it seems Al Jazeera covers Peru about as well as any other English resource.

https://www.aljazeera.com/where/peru/
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Old Dec 14th, 2022, 05:37 PM
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Can’t your family in Lima help with current info? If not there is a lot in the Peruvian press. If you don’t speak Spanish use Google translate. There is a lot of activity around this subject on the TripAdvisor’s Peru forum with several links to the Peruvian press. I tend to use Reuters and Bloomberg for news but like Aljazeera, there coverage tends toward the macro, background stuff rather than the nitty gritty like airport closures.

i have been visiting Peru for the last 15 years or so and frankly, there has always been some form of civil unrest going on however this does seem to be worse than anything I can remember. It comes hard on the heels of unrest in Ecuador and Colombia w much of which I suspect was caused by a combination of covid and global inflation and their effect on living standards. I hope I am not being over dramatic but there does seem to be a trend across Latin America

Check out those links on TA . Here is a link to one post https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTo...cchu-Peru.html
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Old Dec 14th, 2022, 07:42 PM
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Yes, family has lots to say about what is happening and we are reading news related to the demonstrations and unrest.

Family in Lima are telling us that daily life is “normal” for them as long as they avoid the center of the city and stick close to their local neighbourhoods. Normal for them, in Lima, means always always being on guard since muggings are very common. There was a state of emergency declared due to crime when we there last summer and police and neighbourhood security presence was increased at that time. My first visit to Lima 35+ years ago was during the time of the Shining path when there was a strictly enforced curfew and the streets were patrolled by armored tanks. I don’t expect to see that this time around, but it is an unpredictable situation I suppose.

when asking for more information I was referring specifically to news re: air traffic controllers striking as mentioned in an earlier post in this thread. Family have not heard of this and we don’t see anything in the Peruvian news.
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Old Dec 14th, 2022, 10:11 PM
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Here is a copy of a couple of posts from the TA forum.

The Unified National Union of Workers of Córpac S.A. SITE CORPAC has corresponded with the General Manager of CORPAC, Miguel Angel Moreno in order to complete the legal term to carry out a 48-hour national strike from 07:00 a.m. on December 22, 2022, ending at 07:00 a.m. on December 24, 2022. In the requests, the union demands a new salary scale, an extraordinary bonus, vouchers for food benefits and generally better work environments, among various points. The letter is signed by Raúl Fernando Ruiz Meneguzzi, National Secretary General. This morning T News contacted him who did not deny the intentions of this stoppage and who stated that they are in union negotiations.

The last Air traffic controllers strike was in April of 2022 affecting 8,000 passengers on domestic flights around the country.

AND

https://tnews.com.pe/controladores-aereos-estarian-fijando-fecha-para-paro/?fbclid=IwAR0KtW_fNzZ_ehAJmpnVnNHpcHBiedd7DOSNE802 Q1lryttooa0bGqrr2Aw



**** A CLARIFICATION HAS BEEN REQUESTED *****

SITA, the union calling for the strike is a union of employees and technicians of CORPAC SA. The entity responsible for Lima’s airport operations. But Air traffic controllers are not included in that workers union. Is still not clear how a strike by SITA workers would affect airport operations.



I would also note that last year, there was a strike by air traffic controllers (SUCTA) on Christmas 12/23-12/26, 2021. Authorities launched a contingency plan with replacements of personnel and there was little disruption in the flow of flights. However, when they had a strike again in April 2022, it caused the temporary closure of 5 airports, flights delays and cancellations affecting thousands of travelers.

Sorry, but that is about all I could find right now. Hope it helps a little. If I see anything else I will post here.
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Old Dec 15th, 2022, 05:08 AM
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That’s vey helpful. Thank you for being so kind and providing the information and clarification!
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Old Dec 15th, 2022, 09:59 AM
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You can also check the State Department Daily Alerts about airport closures and other disruptions.

While flying to Lima and traveling to your family's residence may be possible, if not necessarily on time, it sounds as if other travel will be unpredictable for a while.

https://pe.usembassy.gov/demonstrati...er-14-15-2022/
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Old Dec 18th, 2022, 09:10 AM
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Flying to Patagonia from Santiago you can go via LATAM to Punta Arenas (PUQ) to get to Torres del Paine. Those flights do run year round. If you can go in March that would be better than April but the lodgings, catamaran should still be operating through April and it would be less crowded. You'll be able to see fall color in the forests then, too.

torresdelpaine.com
lastorres.com (Central Mountain Hostel is pretty nice).
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Old Mar 11th, 2023, 07:55 AM
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We went to Argentina and Chile for the month of March and it was the perfect time to visit. The mountainous areas were beautiful and the weather had not become too cold yet.
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Old Apr 20th, 2023, 12:10 PM
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If you are looking for new experiences in Argentina you should take my advice. Recently I’ve been to Buenos Aires, Argentina and had enjoyed the best experience: Playing and Watching Polo, Horseback Riding with stunning landscapes, and trying the best BBQ ever. It has been a memorable adventure in Argentina Polo Day, and I think everyone should try it!
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Old Apr 20th, 2023, 07:54 PM
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milim02 welcome to Fodor's. You wouldn't happen to be connected with any commercial ventures in Buenos Aires would you, such as "Argentine Polo Day"?

I don't think either of the two people asking for information expressed any interest in that activity.
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