Nick04

We would like to visit Argentina and Chile this January for our anniversary. Here is the rough itinerary we have in mind. We realize it’s aggressive But we are young and want to make the best out of the time we have.

3 days – Buenos Aires
1 day – Iquazu Falls (From Argentina side only)
2 days – Bariloche
1 day - Penisula Valdes
1 day – Punta Tombo – Penguine site
2 days – El Calafate
2 days – Tores Del Paine
1.5 days – Ushuaia

1. Not finding any flights (less than $450 per person in Aero Argentina one way from Trelew to El Calafate). We are planning to use south America pass from LAN but LAN does not have any flights from Trelew or Puerto Madyn. Is there any cheaper option for travel from Punta Tombo to El Calafate?
2. How is the drive from El Calafate to Tores Del Paine? Would you recommend the tour instead? Is there any tour which gives somewhat sufficient time in Tores Del Paine.
3. Do you recommend going to Ushuaia or we skip Ushuaia and spend more time in Tores Del Paine?

qwovadis

way too crammed for me expensive flights

almost all your days will be travel days.

might pare back for better experience.

www.latinamericaforless.com

www.wowargentina.com

couple of good booking sites might save you some money.

Happy Journey and good luck with your whistle-stop tour

You will need it.

Huentetu

>>2. How is the drive from El Calafate to Tores Del Paine? Would you recommend the tour instead? Is there any tour which gives somewhat sufficient time in Tores Del Paine.<<

It is a long drive which will take the better part of a day. The tours from El Calafate only give you a very short (2-3 hours I think) in the park before you have to head back again. I do not think you have enough time to do TdP and Ushuaia.
You have El Calafate but not El Chalten, about 4 hours away, which would be an excellent alternative.

Nick04

Hi-
Thank you for the response & the info.

We have now booked the international flights with LAN and need to book domestic flights as soon as we finalize the iteniary so any help is appreciated.

We are not sure about the following-
1. Pengunie Site - Punta Tombo or Magdalena Island Reserve

2. Ushuaia or Lake crossing from Bariloche to Chile (Land and Cruise)

3. Is fjors a muse see in SA? I see they have 3 or 4 day cruise either from Ushuai to Punta Arena or Punta Arena to Puerto Montt.

mlgb

January would be high season in Patagonia, so don't delay. I would drop Valdes and Punta Tombo. I also question Ushuaia unless it is necessary for transfers.

You can take one of those days from Valdes/Punta Tombo and use it to see the penguins near Punta Arenas (Isla Magdalena will take most of the day or there are a few penguins at Seno Otway which doesn't depend on weather and the ferry schedule). Then take the other day and add it to the Torres del Paine leg.

I had asked a few people who took the cruise from Punta Arenas and Puerto Montt and they said they wouldn't do it again. It took too long and they did not always have much to see.

If you wanted to do a short cruise in a fiord there is the Ultimo Esperanza that Turismo 21 de Mayo runs, from Puerto Natales. You can also combine this with a transfer into the Torres del Paine park, but you will want to find a good travel agent to arrange this.

http://www.turismo21demayo.cl/ultima_esperanza.htm

Nick04

Thank-you. That helps - I was getting mixed opinions about the penguine site in Argentina vs Chile. Also excellent suggestion on short cruise to see fjors.

What about Lake crossing from chile to Bariloche? (Land and Sea)Have you done it? Do you recommend? I see there are many tours costing around $250 PP and you have the choice to take 1 day excursion or one with an overnight stay.

Thank-you.

crellston

The mating seaon for the Southern Right Whales off Peninsular Valdes is April to December. if you visit in January you woule be on the cusp of the season and could miss them 9although you could be lucky!). We didn't go to Punta Tombo but did see loads of penguins during our day tour of Valdes (as well as the Elapant seals).http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...3240/tpod.html It is a great place to visit but for me seeing the whales up close was the only reason to go so I tend to agree with mlgb and would drop Valdes/Tombo

mlgb

I have not done the lake crossing but if there had been more time, I would have added it, the scenery would appeal to me more than the flat part of Patagonia on the Argentina side (you see some of these flat plains traveling to Seno Otway to see the small colony of penguins, and elsewhere between Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine).

Just my opinion.

mlgb

I also agree with crellston, if the whales had been a big priority and you were in the "right" season then it might make more sense (although for me not that important because we see can see elephant seals pretty easily (Central Coast of California) and the big blue whales are also here every summer. Penguins, on the other hand, we don't have those!

Nick04

yes - I would agree with you. We have been to Cape cod for whale watching and we have seen sea lions in CA. We are definitely interested to see the penguins and biggest confusion was to see from Punta Tombo in Argentina or Chile and from your response earlier Chile is the way to go.

In that case we will revise our iteniary:

3 days – Buenos Aires
1 day – Iquazu Falls (From Argentina side only)
2 days – El Calafate
3 days – Tores Del Paine
3 days - Penguine site in Chile and short cruise to see fjors
2 DAYS to fly from Punta arena to Puerto montt and lake crossing to Bariloche
2 days - Bariloche

Does that make sense?
Thanks a tonne for your help.

mlgb

Yes I think that is better, hope some people who have done the lake crossing can comment about the last part. Also check how long it will actually take to get all the way from Iguazu Falls to El Calafate, I think you may want to pad that a bit so that you have at least a full day in El Calafate with two travel days on either side. Maybe you can just do one day for the penguins at Magdalena and for the short fiord cruise, what I did was go from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales, then a day for the fiord cruise, then the next day go to TdP on a "van tour" which takes you along the southern side of the park. The arrangements of cars and transfers between El Calafate and TdP can be quite frustrating, are you going to rent a car? That helps, although I think it can take a while to cross the borders (don't bring any food into Chile!).

mlgb

I meant one day for the penguins and one day for the Ultima Esperanza cuise. So 2 and not 3. It doesn't take long to get from Puerto Natales to TdP.

owlwoman

I did a similar itinerary on our first trip, except we came from Ushuaia. I know there is easy bus service between El Calafate and TDP...then you can spend you time in the TDP and a suggestion, instead of a whole day for the penguins, just stop at Seno Otway (I think that's the name), on the way to Puerto Arenas for your flight (we did this the opposite way). We loved the lake crossing and did it in one day, it's a long day, but I think totally worth it. We then had three days in Bariloche. We loved this area so much we returned last year. I also highly recommend you use a local travel agent for all these arrangements, it will make your life much easier.

Enjoy!

Nick04

We've not made any arrangements for the car or road transfer? Would you recommend any?

@ mlgb: We would come back to Buenos Aires & then fly to El Calafate.

@ owlwoman: we might have an extra day or so, should we go to Ushuaia, is it just geographical location as the southern most point or its worth a visit. Is the Lake crossing, always that expensive $250/ person or we can find a better deal?

As I said earlier, we are definitely interested in Penguins & would like to go to a place where we are can definitely see them in the beginning of Jan.

mlgb

I've been to Seno Otway, you do get up close to some penguins, and they are cute, but it's not 1,000s (or 100s of thousands?) of penguins like you can see at Isla Magdalena or Pta Tumbo . If I had the time I would do the trip there (just read up on it..so you know the times days of the week and what is involved..I think you have to do more walking than at Seno Otway.

I don't remember reading if you were into doing any serious hiking. That would make a difference in the number of days you might spend at each place, eg if you want to hike at least to the Towers it's a full day, and for the French Valley probably two days. There are other less strenuous hikes as well.

mlgb

If you are going to book into an all inclusive such as Las Torres Hotel or Explora, they should be able to handle your transfers into TdP, so consider that before you make transfer arrangements.

You really do need to get on this quickly for TdP! Chances are Explora is booked but I was able to book on short notice into Las Torres when I went a few years back.

owlwoman

I don't know what we paid for the lake crossing as our TA made all the arrangements and I never asked for a breakdown of costs. It was an amazing day, a lot depends on the weather, we were very lucky and had one of those beautiful sunny days with temperate weather.

As far as the extra day, I would add it to Bariloche, you might need a little R&R after all that travelling. Ushuaia is neat, but El Calafate has a lot more to offer. IMO it's not worth the extra day/expense to go to Ushuaia.

mlgb

IF you can find a travel agent willing to put this together for you (and they take lots of time off!) I would get started now! I was almost in exactly the same situation that you were and it was very difficult to plan this. Do not be surprised if no one returns emails.

I was able to get lodging at these places

Punta Arenas..La Casa Escondida http://www.lacasaescondida.cl/home.html
Read the TA reviews. Fantastic. And they are English teachers!

Puerto Natales: Lady Florence Dixie..I had to call, little English spoken but very friendly and helpful with arranging tours and transfers. 61/411-158 There are more expensive places on the waterfront.

Explora was full. I stayed at Hotel Las Torres on the B&B plan they also have all inclusive. I booked HLT using the online chat function. Expensive for what you get but that applies everywhere in TdP. http://www.lastorres.com/

Refugios. You can book through www.verticepatagonia.cl and www.fslodges.com Kind of a nightmare to book these, eventually you may have to call. Glacier Grey nearly impossible to deal with very little English spoken and Chilean Spanish is hard!

Isla Magdalena http://www.comapa.com/en/ These guys are also travel agents.

Ultimo Esperanza Florence Dixie helped me with this one. http://www.turismo21demayo.cl/ If you had more time you might be able to email but better to have a travel agent book this.

yestravel

Can't offer any advice from first hand experience on most of your trip as we r going on a similar trip beginning in Feb. Someone wrote a great review of the lake/boat crossing btwn Chile and Arg. Check it out here
http://tinyurl.com/2afz6ma. We debated about whether to stay over night or not on the crossing and got advice from a couple people that did it, that its really not worth it. It added a fair amt to the cost so we r doing the crossing in 1 day. We did end up eliminating Ushuaia primarily due to the time and cost of including it. Have a great trip and would love to read a TR when u return.

RE IF have been there-- by one day does that mean u will be staying overnight? I cant imagine doing it in one day. We loved it and spent 2 nights there, but one night would be fine.

Nick04

Thanks a lot, everyone! This informations are so insightful!

@ mlgb: You are right, we are not into serious hiking though small hikes (when necessary) would be fun! Thanks for sharing lodging info. As soon as we book internal flights with Lan pass, we 'll get started with the lodging.

@ owlwoman: Do you remember how much time did u spend in Ushuaia & what was the highlight? Also, we 've read that Bariloche is commercialized & overrated, that's why we didn't think of spending much time there!

@yestravel: Thanks for sharing the link. Enjoy ur trip as well. We;ll update on our return & share our experiences!