Trip Report - BA/Iguazu/Mendoza Highlights
Dec 25th, 2007, 05:43 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Trip Report - BA/Iguazu/Mendoza Highlights
We are just back from BA and aside from HUGE problems getting there (storm in NYC, missed connection in Houston – started trip a few days late) - we had a wonderful and amazing trip - and returned about 10 lbs heavier!! We planned some of the trip ourselves, but used Isabel at Buenos Aires tours for all the “in Argentina flights”, help with hotels, tours, and suggestions and she is nothing short of amazing! When our flight was cancelled - she helped us with re-arranging EVERYTHING for us that got messed up. Her contact info is: [email protected]
I would recommend her to EVERYONE traveling to Argentina. We emailed her throughout our trip too - and she helped us with many arrangements and changes when necessary and also checked up on us at certain points to make sure we were doing well!
I can't write everything from our amazing trip here but I will post the highlights:
* We stayed in two different neighborhoods in BA – one on the first part of our trip and one at the end … we really enjoyed this as you can experience two different areas of the city … and they really ARE different! We stayed at HOME Hotel in Palermo on the front end – nice garden, clean rooms, great pool – but we didn’t love the staff. We stayed at the Bel Air hotel in Recoleta on the back end - in a residential area, pretty street … as someone else said here: rooms were nothing fancy, staff was fine, and rooms were clean.
* Day at estancia Los Dos Hermanos was a wonderful experience! We rode horses for about 2 hrs in the morning - galloping all over the pampas, had an incredible 2 hour lunch and then rode for a few more hours in the afternoon! A great day - with wonderful hosts and generous people. http://www.estancialosdoshermanos.com/index3.htm
* Dinner at La Cabrera in Palermo - one of THE best steak dinners we have had - it was one of the highlights of our trip - the food is nothing short of amazing and the prices are very low vs. Las Lilas and other restaurants for this type of food.
* Iguazu falls - we fell in love with the falls - even though we had a full day of rain. The falls are really breathtaking. We stayed at Sheraton - nothing special - but if you can afford it - stay HERE - the location is beyond amazing. And the food was actually very good. The MUST is the boat ride under the falls! So fun and a really great time! The people offering this tour are all over the place – so don’t worry – you won’t miss it. All the walks are really nice - and we were lucky - we had no issues with mosquitoes.
* Lunch at Familia Zuccardi winery in Mendoza Province. A 3 hour lunch with wine pairings and lovely ambiance in a sunlit room and a phenomenal waiter who treated us extremely well. The wines aren't super special - but we did try some of their "Q" wines which were recommended by a sommelier and we really enjoyed the Malbac and took some home with us. Buy wine skins! We had never heard of them before – but a couple from San Fran told us about them and we bought them at Zuccardi – they were only about $5 and they are really great for transporting wine in your suitcase back to the US.
* Dinner at Francis Mallman in Mendoza – this was also a highlight meal from our trip (you can tell my husband and I like to eat) – sit OUTSIDE in the garden – order anything from the clay oven (although the pastas are to die for) and drink lots of amazing wine. I liked dinner here so much that I dragged my husband there for ANOTHER dinner before we left … everyone remembered us and everyone was super friendly and the food, once again, was wonderful. On the other hand, we despised our meal at La Bourgogne.
* San Telmo market on Sunday – so fun to walk around through all the stands and the antiques – a really great experience that I wouldn’t miss if I was in BA on a Sunday.
* Shopping in Palermo – we live in NYC and we love little boutiques and unique clothing and accessories – and this area has it ALL! Personally, unless you are VERY tiny, it’s hard to shop for women (a lot of sizes are 1,2,3,4 and that is it) but my husband bought a ton of stuff and I did well with purses and belts. The staff in the shops are mainly pretty friendly – also, don’t forget to ask for your tax free form back – we didn’t realize you had to fill out a form in the shop (we thought you could do it with just the receipts at the airport) so we missed out on a lot of our refunds, unfortunately.
* The recoleta cemetery is one of the most unique places I have been! Allow yourself a lot of time there for wandering around the “streets” and exploring.
Other notables:
* Fewer people spoke English in Argentina than I would have thought … and this is not me making an “ignorant American/Canadian” comment. Most people we met – other than the front desk staff at our hotels – did not speak a word of English. Given I do not speak a word of Spanish, this sometimes made for some harrowing driving, tipping, paying, communicating experiences.
* It is cooler in BA at night than I expected … so bring a sweater or cardigan or a light jacket … I was cold some nights even though it was 80+ during the day.
* Also – it is true what people write here about Aerolineas Argentina. Now, a few things to note – US air travel is nothing short of a disaster – and with Aerolineas – I can say that we took 4 different in country flights within the country and none of them were cancelled as most flights in the US are. However, not one left on time. If you are flying to a few places in one day (you typically have to fly through BA) give yourself TIME to make connections. Do not think that you can make a quick connection – because you probably can’t (i.e. less than an hour). The other good thing is that there are usually a few flights a day to the major destinations so theoretically, if you miss a flight, you can probably get on a later one. Lan flights appeared to be MUCH more reliable than ours, but they were much more expensive.
That’s about all I can think of for now! If I come up with anything else interesting or fun that I forgot, I will write it down here again. All in all though, we thought going to Argentina was a great vacation and we can’t wait to go back to see other parts of the country including Patagonia and some parts of Chile.
I would recommend her to EVERYONE traveling to Argentina. We emailed her throughout our trip too - and she helped us with many arrangements and changes when necessary and also checked up on us at certain points to make sure we were doing well!
I can't write everything from our amazing trip here but I will post the highlights:
* We stayed in two different neighborhoods in BA – one on the first part of our trip and one at the end … we really enjoyed this as you can experience two different areas of the city … and they really ARE different! We stayed at HOME Hotel in Palermo on the front end – nice garden, clean rooms, great pool – but we didn’t love the staff. We stayed at the Bel Air hotel in Recoleta on the back end - in a residential area, pretty street … as someone else said here: rooms were nothing fancy, staff was fine, and rooms were clean.
* Day at estancia Los Dos Hermanos was a wonderful experience! We rode horses for about 2 hrs in the morning - galloping all over the pampas, had an incredible 2 hour lunch and then rode for a few more hours in the afternoon! A great day - with wonderful hosts and generous people. http://www.estancialosdoshermanos.com/index3.htm
* Dinner at La Cabrera in Palermo - one of THE best steak dinners we have had - it was one of the highlights of our trip - the food is nothing short of amazing and the prices are very low vs. Las Lilas and other restaurants for this type of food.
* Iguazu falls - we fell in love with the falls - even though we had a full day of rain. The falls are really breathtaking. We stayed at Sheraton - nothing special - but if you can afford it - stay HERE - the location is beyond amazing. And the food was actually very good. The MUST is the boat ride under the falls! So fun and a really great time! The people offering this tour are all over the place – so don’t worry – you won’t miss it. All the walks are really nice - and we were lucky - we had no issues with mosquitoes.
* Lunch at Familia Zuccardi winery in Mendoza Province. A 3 hour lunch with wine pairings and lovely ambiance in a sunlit room and a phenomenal waiter who treated us extremely well. The wines aren't super special - but we did try some of their "Q" wines which were recommended by a sommelier and we really enjoyed the Malbac and took some home with us. Buy wine skins! We had never heard of them before – but a couple from San Fran told us about them and we bought them at Zuccardi – they were only about $5 and they are really great for transporting wine in your suitcase back to the US.
* Dinner at Francis Mallman in Mendoza – this was also a highlight meal from our trip (you can tell my husband and I like to eat) – sit OUTSIDE in the garden – order anything from the clay oven (although the pastas are to die for) and drink lots of amazing wine. I liked dinner here so much that I dragged my husband there for ANOTHER dinner before we left … everyone remembered us and everyone was super friendly and the food, once again, was wonderful. On the other hand, we despised our meal at La Bourgogne.
* San Telmo market on Sunday – so fun to walk around through all the stands and the antiques – a really great experience that I wouldn’t miss if I was in BA on a Sunday.
* Shopping in Palermo – we live in NYC and we love little boutiques and unique clothing and accessories – and this area has it ALL! Personally, unless you are VERY tiny, it’s hard to shop for women (a lot of sizes are 1,2,3,4 and that is it) but my husband bought a ton of stuff and I did well with purses and belts. The staff in the shops are mainly pretty friendly – also, don’t forget to ask for your tax free form back – we didn’t realize you had to fill out a form in the shop (we thought you could do it with just the receipts at the airport) so we missed out on a lot of our refunds, unfortunately.
* The recoleta cemetery is one of the most unique places I have been! Allow yourself a lot of time there for wandering around the “streets” and exploring.
Other notables:
* Fewer people spoke English in Argentina than I would have thought … and this is not me making an “ignorant American/Canadian” comment. Most people we met – other than the front desk staff at our hotels – did not speak a word of English. Given I do not speak a word of Spanish, this sometimes made for some harrowing driving, tipping, paying, communicating experiences.
* It is cooler in BA at night than I expected … so bring a sweater or cardigan or a light jacket … I was cold some nights even though it was 80+ during the day.
* Also – it is true what people write here about Aerolineas Argentina. Now, a few things to note – US air travel is nothing short of a disaster – and with Aerolineas – I can say that we took 4 different in country flights within the country and none of them were cancelled as most flights in the US are. However, not one left on time. If you are flying to a few places in one day (you typically have to fly through BA) give yourself TIME to make connections. Do not think that you can make a quick connection – because you probably can’t (i.e. less than an hour). The other good thing is that there are usually a few flights a day to the major destinations so theoretically, if you miss a flight, you can probably get on a later one. Lan flights appeared to be MUCH more reliable than ours, but they were much more expensive.
That’s about all I can think of for now! If I come up with anything else interesting or fun that I forgot, I will write it down here again. All in all though, we thought going to Argentina was a great vacation and we can’t wait to go back to see other parts of the country including Patagonia and some parts of Chile.
Jan 7th, 2008, 01:48 PM
#4
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi-
I am in the middle of planning the same trip (BA/Mendoza/Iguazu) in march 08 (also traveling from nyc)... how many days were you there? I can't really take much more than 10 days and it seems like alot, especially b/c you have to take domestic flights to mendoza and Iguazu...did you feel as if you were traveling much of the time?
I am in the middle of planning the same trip (BA/Mendoza/Iguazu) in march 08 (also traveling from nyc)... how many days were you there? I can't really take much more than 10 days and it seems like alot, especially b/c you have to take domestic flights to mendoza and Iguazu...did you feel as if you were traveling much of the time?
Jan 9th, 2008, 04:12 AM
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes - we were there 11 days - and yes, we did feel like we were traveling most of the time. I would do BA and one of the other places ... you can take many day trips from BA and it's a great city that we definitely did not have enough time to see ... there are alot of internal flights to take and as I said, they are almost always delayed ... that said, both Mendoza and Iguazu were amazing so I'm not sure which one I would recommend that you skip!
Jan 11th, 2008, 06:00 AM
#6
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,523
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Jodi, thanks for the great information.
We are going in April and have already booked our internal flights with Isabel. She's been really great.
DO you have the address for La Cabrera in Palermo? It sounds so good. I'm looking forward to steak dinners.
We are going in April and have already booked our internal flights with Isabel. She's been really great.
DO you have the address for La Cabrera in Palermo? It sounds so good. I'm looking forward to steak dinners.
Jan 11th, 2008, 07:46 AM
#7
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 5,245
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
La Cabrera. Address. JA Cabrera 5099, Palermo Viejo. Phone. tel: (011) 4831 7002
http://www.parrillalacabrera.com.ar/default2.html
Have a great time in our town.
http://www.parrillalacabrera.com.ar/default2.html
Have a great time in our town.
Jan 11th, 2008, 10:57 AM
#8
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 441
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
For all of us, Argentine people, it is really nice to know that tourists enjoy their visit and think about coming back again. Argentina has many places to be visited and in all of them, warm people who make them feel home.
Milla/Isabel or any other person who works on tourism will do their best to make your trip an excellent experience.
A big THANK YOU for visiting us.
Milla/Isabel or any other person who works on tourism will do their best to make your trip an excellent experience.
A big THANK YOU for visiting us.
Jan 11th, 2008, 10:20 PM
#11
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,141
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I, too highly recommend Isabel as your tour agent for Argentina. Hard working, experienced and dependable.
A personal thanks to Isabel for the Christmas card.
We were in Europe for awhile and just returned to see our emails. A belated merry christmas to avrooster.
A personal thanks to Isabel for the Christmas card.
We were in Europe for awhile and just returned to see our emails. A belated merry christmas to avrooster.
Jan 12th, 2008, 12:53 PM
#15
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Might as well pile on re: Isabel/Milla. She's been taking care of our one month trip in March/April (Angie's guiding us in the Salta area and she's been great too). I don't think Isabel ever takes off a day (or a night!).
Her picture should be in the dictionary next to "travel agent," because she has to be what the epitome of one really is. Rapid responses, recommends accommodations that we would never find on our own, diplomatically straightens me out when I go astray on the planning, really listens to what you want and then presents several options. Makes me confident that our first trip to Argentina will go swimmingly. We haven't used travel agents very much before, but she's restoring their good name for me, that's for sure.
Her picture should be in the dictionary next to "travel agent," because she has to be what the epitome of one really is. Rapid responses, recommends accommodations that we would never find on our own, diplomatically straightens me out when I go astray on the planning, really listens to what you want and then presents several options. Makes me confident that our first trip to Argentina will go swimmingly. We haven't used travel agents very much before, but she's restoring their good name for me, that's for sure.
Jan 12th, 2008, 02:13 PM
#18
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
AV,you're right about Angie, but she does get in touch to let you know she'll get in touch, if you know what I mean. When she does, she's very funny. When she responded to the long list of places I wanted to see in the Salta area in a week, she just replied, "it's not possible, you're not God!" She's right, because if I was, I would have been to Argentina by now, that's for sure.
Jan 12th, 2008, 03:30 PM
#20
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
AV, that's news to me. I couldn't use an idiom in Spanish if my life depended on it! I found this on Wikipedia. Doesn't sound derogatory in a bad way really: A bandwagon is a wagon which carries the band in a parade, circus or other entertainment.[2] The phrase 'jump on the bandwagon' was first used in American Politics in 1848 as a result of Dan Rice, 'President Lincoln's Court Jester.[3] Campaigning for Zachary Taylor, Dan Rice, a professional circus clown, used his bandwagon for Taylor's appearances, gaining attention by way of the music. As Taylor's campaign became more successful, more politicians strove for a seat on the bandwagon, hoping to be associated with the success. Later, during the time of William Jennings Bryan's 1900 presidential campaign, bandwagons had become a standard fixture of campaigns,[4] and 'jump on the bandwagon' was used as a derogatory term, implying that people were associating themselves with the success without considering what they associated themselves with.
