rampup82

Here are the facts:
1) Going to Argentina for 10 nights late April.
2) Flying in and out of Buenos Aires
3) Would like to visit BA (of course), Iguazu, and Perito Moreno.

The difficult part of planning this trip are the internal flights, and the fact that BA is planted in the center of the three sites we wanna visit.

So, should we follow this itinerary:

BA for 4 nights --> El Calfarte (sp?) for 4 nights --> fly back to BA --> hop on a flight to Iguazu (1 night here) --> back to BA for last night, then fly home.

OR should we split our BA stay like this:

BA for 1 night after arriving --> El Calfarte for 4 nights --> fly back to BA for 3 nights --> fly to Iguazu for 1 night --> back to BA for last night.

Any other suggestions? What would you do?

Also, which domestic Argentinian airline would you recommend? From the forum, it seems like LAN airlines is the more respectable one, but for some reason their website is not letting me book the tix from BA to El Calfarte..? Do I need to go to their office directly or something?

Thanks in advance!!

AndrewDavid

hi there, we have recently been to the places u named ("Our Wonderful Time in Argentina&quot. I would recommend that u give urselves as close to a minimum of 2 full days at Iguazu which means 2 nights and trying to take early flight out from Bs As and late flight from Iguazu. Highly recommend u book flightts on LAN rather than Aerolineas as they were always very late or cancelling flights in our experience

Activities iin el Calafate tend to be full days starting early so even if u catch the first flight from Bs As ( 5;30 am) u may find urself sitting around town for that day. Ditto try to catch the last flight back (fyi we spent 2 nights in el calafate which gave us only the opportunity to see Perito Moreno, but we added 3 nights in Chalten ( a much smaller ( summer pop 400) village where activities were closer 2 town.

cheers
AndrewDavid

flintstones

AndrewDavid; You did not come to hte NW, did you??? You should one day then...
The NW is AMAZING!
Flintstones

AndrewDavid

Angie, the main reason we didn't make it to the NW was lack of time. We just couldn't fit in a 4th destination. Second reason was that before I emigrated to Canada I lived for 15 years in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the USA
(pueblos, native americans, high desert landscape , hstoric towns ( Santa Fe is just over 400 years old) so Iguazu and Glaciere NP were exotic. But we'll be back and my husband a native Canadian has not beeen to the American SW so he'll love the Argentine NW I'm sure.

If u've been following my reports ( Our Wonderful Time in Argentina) uyou'll know we had an incredible time and hope to b back soon.

Thanks for all your useful advice and comments to all of us
cheers
AndrewDavid

flintstones

Since 2004 I met a lot of americans and canadians, many of them felt curious about my comments and the comments of the ones who came to the NW, and none of them was not satisfied. I am sure you will love. I also met people from New Mexico!
The NW is completelly diferent to the rest of Argentina, is amazing...
The food is great and I hope Salta were not the 4th destination in AR, but maybe the second.
You will be welcome anytime-
Flintstones.

carrom

I would do BA 3 nights, Calafate 3 nights BA flight to Iguazu 2 nights back to BA 2 nights. In Iguazu do stay in the Sheraton - I never reccommend big chain hotels but this one is a must because of its position.

AndrewDavid

no angie, i meant salta would have been the 4th destination on our recent trip. i think when we come back i would again choose bs as and 2 other spots so salta and the nw would be one of those 2

cheers
andrewdavid


ps we had a small hotel when i lived in santa fe and i told guests that we could find something new 4 them to do for almost two weeks i am sure the nw of argentina is the same in its richness and variety

kodi

AndrewDavid, we leave for Argentina this week and are so excited.
We will be in the NorthWest during our second week and know Angie will show us a great time!!

But I wanted to mention, I just spent last Christmas in Santa Fe ( my first time there) and absolutely loved it. I will definately be going back there.
And I'm already sure I'll be back in Argentina again too!

AndrewDavid

Kodi, Have a wonderful time. I'm sure u will as we certainly did ( need to get the end of my report done)
Yes Santa fe is a great destination, a wonderful combination, of art, architecture, landscape indigenous and hispanic culture and great eating and skiing
cheer AndrewDavid

jcasale

I would echo spending more time in Iguazu. In fact, we spent two nights there and wished we had a third. In retrospect, I would have preferred two FULL days plus the half days on either side so that we weren't so rushed to see everything. That would have also given us time to enjoy the Sheraton and I agree that you should stay there if at all possible. You really need to be able to spend a day each on the Argentinian and the Brazilian side. I know there is debate about whether it is worth getting the visa to do Brazil and I will say without hesitation - YES!!!! I don't think you can really have totally experienced the falls without seeing them from all angles and to do that you have to go to Brazil.

I also am not sure I would skimp on Buenos Aires. I really enjoyed "down time" to relax in cafes and to wander the various neighborhoods. Plus you HAVE to be there over a weekend so you can go to the Recoleta fair (Saturday and Sunday) and the San Telmo fair (Only Sunday - billed as antiques, but there is so much more there).

Enjoy Aregentina - we just got back on Sunday and I loved every minute of it.