florflor

Hi all,

My friend and I have 6 weeks off from mid December into January and we've always wanted to do South America and it seems like the perfect time for us both.

We want to maximise our time & we don't like to go at a slow pace. We're more than happy staying somewhere for 3-4 days exploring and then moving on to the next. So if you're thinking "you want to do too much" we do like moving around.

We want to do Rio, Iguazu Falls, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima (and Machu Picchu) but organising it all seems like such a huge task. She also wants to do the Galapagos Islands, but I'm not sure about time & money. Just wandering what peoples opinions were for the best travel itinerary? We LOVE food & wine, markets, hikes & walks. A bit of everything really! We would also appreciate any recommendations for travelling around (if it cuts time & it's not TOO expensive we're happy to fly between countries) and if there are small towns worth going to for an experience. All suggestions are welcome suggestions

We're coming from Melbourne, Australia, just in case that makes a difference.

Thanks

florflor

It would also be great if someone could give us advice on the best area to spend Christmas and New Years as we'll be there over that time.

mlgb

Check out crellston's report

http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...th-america.cfm

You are right, it is overwhelming. Many people take 6 months or a year to plan a trip like that. If you can't put the time in to planning and research, you might consider cutting the number of countries in half, that way you can use some of those 24 hour bus rides to get around with a few days notice.

The most expensive countries are Brazil and Chile, if that makes a difference in which to cut out. Galapagos will add a few thousand $$ each to your trip costs. Sometimes you can save by booking when you arrive in Quito.

I gather you have to fly in to Santiago because you are coming from Australia?

Do not underestimate travel times, some local airfares can be very expensive especially for one-way travel. If you cannot see the trip report icon then get on a regular computer and look at some of the trip reports (with orange book symbols).

florflor

Thanks for that info mlgb. It ends up being cheaper to fly into Rio than it is to fly into Santiago (only marginally really) so we were thinking of having Rio as our start & end point.

I probably wont be able to put proper planning into it for another 2 weeks, just because I have Uni exams at the moment and it is taking all my attention, which is why I am hopeful this forum will make things a little easier.

I definitely want to cut out the Galapagos, as beautiful as it may be. Just purely because of time and money.

crellston

Hi florflor,
I would reinforce what mlgb has already said re Chile and Brazil being expensive countries and maybe reducing the no. of countries to plan to visit. Coming to the end of a six month trip to South America ( for the second time) and looking back, I would certainly have done things a little differently.

Mlgb has already provided the link to my trip report but here is the link to my blog which is essentially the same narrative but with photos
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blo...4700/tpod.html

Two things which will make life easier is to get hold of a guide book, Fodors have one covering the whole of South America, and a map of the continent which will help in plotting the general direction of your trip.

One problem with the list you have provided is that the iconic sights you have mentioned are huge distances apart and airfares are generally expensive in SA. Buses are a viable alternative for some and are generally very efficient and comfortable but distances are vast e.g. Lima to Buenos Aires takes 3 days and 3 hours! BA to Iguazu around 20 hours.

Personally with 6 weeks I would just forget about Brazil and fly into Santiago and limit myself to a circuit including Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Northern Argentina and Northern Chile I.e. The northwest sector of South America. Within that area you will get to see a sample of what SA has to offer, jungle mountains, desert, beaches and a huge variety of cultures. But that is just my subjective opinion. Ecuador particularly is often underrated but is does have all of these features in a very compact space almost like a mini South America .

The Galapagos will take a week and a lot of cash so, realistically, I agree it is better left out.

Iguazu is very special and the best way to get there could be to fly or bus to and from salta.

Good luck with the exams!

IsabelaS

I agree with the suggestions to limit your number of destination countries. You may be comfortable with moving from place to place, but when the travel days start to equal, and perhaps outweigh in energy taken, the days to see and experience the locale, the trip becomes very different and IMO less of a pleasure.
Why not fly into Santiago and forget Rio for now? A couple of days in Rio is not "seeing Brazil" at all. Save it for another dedicated trip when you have sufficient time to experience more of the country.

mlgb

I was going to suggest dropping Santiago, LOL>>>

Another suggestion is to look at some tour itineraries and try to model after those.

I don't know if you are acquainted with Geckos Adventures but they do a lot of South America tours. I ran in to one of their groups in Bolivia in the Salar de Uyuni. They use local guides and local (ie bus) transport. Their group was quite happy with them (but they probably skew older). I would look at their sample itineraries and not attempt to go any faster than what they outline.

crellston

"Another suggestion is to look at some tour itineraries and try to model after those."
Great idea! I find intrepid to be pretty useful for that
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/uk/?gc...FXDItAodIj4ADg

If you drill down into the various itineraries and trip notes they do provide a lot of detail.

sdtravels

I am anxious to see the final itinerary. I'm planning the same trip and could have written florflor's OP. Only difference is that we don't have a firm time limit in that we are retired. Thanks for the links, I'll check them out too.