At what time of the year are you coming, RJames?

avrooster, I plan on coming to Argentina in early October.

We spent a few months travelling in South America mostly by bus and quite a few trips with Andesmar which is one of the best. I would strongly recommend going 1st Class/Full Cama/ejecutivo wherever you can. Seats do get booked up a few days in advance so if you can book online great (but I have heard reports of difficulties using non Argentine cc. We tended to book our onward tickets on arrival in any new place for the next destination. 2-3 days was almost always ok.

The buses are extremely comfortable with fully reclinable wide seats, decent food and even complementary wine on some trip, in fact very similar to 1st Class on a good airline. They are very efficient - we only experienced one delay of 2 hours in 5 months. We found the buses to be safe but to be extra cautious we did used to get off whenever they stopped to disembark passengers (infrequently) just to make sure our luggage was not unloaded by accident (or deliberately!). Take the usual precautions you would at home travelling on a bus and you will be fine.

The bus journeys are long and most are done overnight and are a great way of daving on accomodation. Take a good book or an iPod to pass the time.

As for your itinerary, Argentina is a huge country (at least for me, living in England it is!) & so needs careful planning to see the best bits. I would definitely see Iguazu from both sides as you will get an entirely different perspective - Brazil is very panoramic, whereas on the Argentine sise you get much closer to the falls. You definitely need a full day on each side. Crossing the border involves changing buses but is pretty straightforward (or get a cab).

Mendoza was not my favourite place. Nothing wrong with it, it just did not inspire me and I enjoyed other places in the country much more. My first choice would be Salta and the Northwest which has the most amazing scenery, great food and v. hospitable people.

We didn't visit Cordoba mainly because of the comments we got from other travellers who weren't impressed, but that doesn't mean you won't love it.

We crossed the Chile Argentina border further south from Pucon to San Martin de los Andes and loved both places (and the journey between).


Given the time you have available and, depending upon your final itinerary, it may make sense to get flights for some of the longer journeys.

With 12 days availble and ignoring the cost of airfares my itinerary would probably include:

2 nts - Iguazu
3 nts - BA
5 nts - Salta & the NW (as a lone female, hiring a driver guide such as Angie Valdez (aka flintstones on this forum) would make sense

Add a couple of nights in for travelling makes 12

Lots of photos and more info on our blog:

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/candcthai/1/tpod.html

BTW October is a fabulous time to visit.

Great advice above from DE Crellston!

Angie (Salta guide) is great!

You can research her by using the TA Argentina forum's search feature: http://tinyurl.com/nw9f4

You'll have a great time in our country, RJames. Our spring begins in late Sept. and October "is a fabulous time to visit" Argentina, as Crellston said above.

Thank for the replies.

I have a question about the overnight buses, usually when I have travelled by intercity bus (not overnight), when I have placed a suitcase in the luggage compartment I have been given a tag (another tag is attached to the bag) and I have to give back the tag I have when I take my luggage. Does Andesmar have a similar system? If I'm travelling overnight and fall asleep I may not know the bus has stopped so I may not be able to get off and check on my luggage. If loss of luggage is a concern I'll need to rethink and rework my itinerary.

Re: the falls, I had planned on staying on the Brazilian side, sightseeing in Brazil then crossing over to the Argentine side and sightseeing on the Argentine side. Thats why I only had one day in the falls in Argentina. Is it better just to stay on one side of the falls instead? If so, which side is better in terms of the tour itself and easy of sightseeing independently on both sides of the falls.

Had thought of adding Salta, in fact that appeals more than Cordoba but there are no direct connections to Salta from Puerto Iguazu with Andesmar. I felt Corboda was a good place to break up the joruney between Puerto Iguazu and BsAs.

The 12 days is not carved in stone, at this time I'm working out an itinerary and I have a little flexibility in how many days I spend in Argentina, I can add a few days if need be.

I agree with everything crellston has said about Andesmar. We took an Andesmar bus from Santiago to Mendoza (by day) to see the magnificent scenery. Also took an overnight Andesmar bus from Mendoza to Buenos Aires (1st Class) and slept amazingly well. They are reasonably priced and very comfortable. Book 30 days out for best seat selection.


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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Rjames - to put my comments re luggage security into perspective, the chances of anything happening to your bag are probably lower than an airline losing it when flying. On the trip from Salta to Iguazu (25 hours) we stopped just once at Tucuman at lunchtime after around 4 hours (be aware there is a time zone change on this route). All bus stations are hectic and we were just being a little cautious to make sure that our bags were put on the buses each time. Once we saw them safely in the hold we took our seats. I vaguely recall being given tickets for our bags on some trips but can't be sure.
If you are concerned and your bags are not huge then take them with you into the cabin there is plenty of personal space in 1st class. As always on any buses or planes, keep any valuable close to you and out of sight.

If Andesmar do not go direct, then Flechabus are another good bus company we used and they do operate a direct Salta - Iguazu route (and many others).

As for your time at Iguazu, I think you have got it right. I presume you are staying in Foz on the Brazilian side and a day or even a long morning at the falls will give you plenty of time in the park there. A similar amount of time is needed for the Argentine side (maybe a bit longer if planning on a boat trip). One tip I found useful was to get to the Argentine entrance early for when the gates open. Get your ticket and get on the train right to the end of the line and start from there working your way back (most people will jump off at the first stop. That way you avoid the crowds that can build up quickly throughout the morning.

Here is a link to our blog covering our time in Argentina and elswhere:

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/candcthai/1/tpod.html
Iguazu is entry #82 and Salta #75 onwards

Thanks for the replies, Orlando_Vic and crellston you have both put my mind at ease about travelling on the night buses.

crellston, I have read your blog. You certainly covered a lot ground. I only have a month in South America and will not be able to visit many of the places you went to.

I had planned on staying in Foz on the Brazilian side and also spending a night on the Argentine side of the falls, I was planning on two full days in the area. Thanks for the great tip on how to avoid the crowds at the falls.