Argentina first time
 

My wife and I take our family somewhere different every year.
My kids are adults and have wives.
My wife and I are retired so time isn't an issue but my kids have two weeks. We live in Arizona and Florida. We don't like typical touristy stuff. We are fit and do anything. We have been almost everywhere and can rough it if the experience is worth it.
Can anyone give us some guidence on where and how to begin?

Thanks
Al

Argentina is a large country, roughly the size of the United States east of the Mississippi. The country is as varied as the United STates in terms of what nature offers. I say this to say to make our help helpful we might need a bit more information from you about the kinds of adventures you enjoy most. In general, the highlights of any trip to Argentina are:

1, Iguazu Falls. Seven times the volume of water found at Niagra. Nature at her best.

2. Patagonia...a region so large that it needs to be subdivided into a. The lakes region around Bariloche (think the Rockies or the Alps) b. the glaciers c. the southern tip of South America (the end of the world), and the sea life found on the Atlantic coast (whales, penguins and so forth).

3. Buenos Aires. A vibrant Latin American city with a taste of Europe thrown in. Restaurants, theater, museums, quaint neighborhoods, sidewalk cafes, and night life ranging from hip hop to jazz.

4. Mendoza. Wine country at the base of the Andes. Take tours of wineries or go white whater rafting in summer or snowboarding or skiing in the winter (theirs not ours...seasons are the opposite).

5. Northwest Argentina...which will probably remind the Arizona portion of you family of home...rugged landscape, saguro cactus, Native cultures....

6. If you are looking for a beach vacation...go to Florida instead...beaches are decent but not spectacular in Argentina.

marvontherim: no one could have put it better than drdawggy, the universally acknowledged TOP Internet authority on tourism in Argentina.

Hi Al,
My husband and I decided after a visit to Buenos Aires last year, to move here.
We are from NY originally but spent a year in Fl and a year in Or..
If you like vibrant, interesting cities with museums and parks and good food and architecture, with very friendly people and better weather than FL ( lol) Buenos Aires is good. There is something for everyone here, all ages.
The out of town trips the good dr dawggy suggests are thrilling and I look forward to many of them myself !
A trip here that would be half "roughing" it and half "Buenos Aires" sounds like it would suit you and your family.
When we visited here, we had all sorts of plans for day trips, Tigre, Colonia, but we ended up spending the 2 weeks here, exploring and fall in love with BA :)
Happy planning.

Thanks Guys, you are getting close to what I am looking for. We have climed Killi, river rafted and ziplined in CR, taken cooking classes in Thailand, rivered in China,viewed ruins in Peru and toured Europe a number of times.
We, of course, want to see everything and have tried that on some trips but found that we spent to much time in airports, packing and unpacking. We love different foods and wine, maybe a little to much. We don't want to sit around a hotel or lay on the beach. We want to taste the culture not the tourism. One son is in the pease corp in China the other a bartender and they are both a little crazy. Maybe two places one week in each, but will there be enough to do?

OK, see how this strikes you..

Week 1-
Rent an apt here in BA .. this way you can come and go without the luggage / checking in issues.And spread out with the "kids" being with you too.
apartmentsba.com
www.buenosairesapart.com
another company called BYT something..maybe Argentina..
You might enjoy staying in San Telmo for the optimum amount of atmosphere.

Hang out a few days, get to know the neighborhoods, explore, see the estuary on Puerto Madero, take a day trip to Tigre, go on a boat .. dr dawggy knows who to hire for the boat . Our friends took out a little boat and paddled themselves around..this makes it better than a big boat that cannot go in and out of the little "lanes"...

You can take a high speed ferry to Colonia Uruguay and come back the same day- or you can go overnight and go on from Colonia to Montevideo..

You can get a plane to Iguazu Falls and stay 1 or 2 nights..there is a great trip report here by jcasales, she did a wonderful stay at Iguazu..

I don't know when you will be here but Bariloche might be a nice couple of days or more .. I don't know how packed you want your days..

There is also the Estancia option..there are some where you ride all day, stay overnight, and there are those who entertain you and riding is optional or limited.

There is also quite a bit of cultural fun going on .. Tango, milongas, concerts, plays ( if you understand Spanish) ..

Maybe this will have something that will grab you :)

Since you enjoy wines at trip to Mendoza might suit you as one destination. If you want outdoor adventure along with winery tours....try skiining or white water rafting....paragliding is available too...but it is not for the faint of heart (yours truly included).

A trip to Iguazu can be as active or passive as you like: Iguazu Forest can arrange zip lines, dry or wet rappeling, or paintball in the jungle. The high speed boat under the falls is a short duration, high thrill ride...
Plan at least two nights in Iguazu.
http://iguazuforest.com/

While in BA, a trip to estancia los dos hermanos is a great way to spend the day horseback riding in the countryside....less than an hour from Buenos Aires.

A trip to Patagonia can include minitreks on glaciers, dogsledding, whale watching (depending on the time of year).

Enough to do? Depends on the location and what you want out of the experience...there are endless permutations...

Thank you all so much that gives me enough to chew on for awhile and begin my planning.

Again thank you all very much.

bookmarking

bookmarking

I really appreciate this thread! I like to research my trips well in advance. Fun to do and usually it pays off with nice accomodations that are usually all booked up otherwise.

My question is; If I have 2 1/2 weeks in either the fall (mid November), or the spring (mid-April), which would be the better time to visit Argentina weather wise, etc?

The best time would be your fall (our spring), but our fall is also nice.

Anyway, you'll have a great time in our country, with all those threads you have bookmarked! LOL!!

Fall & Spring in BA are both beautiful!

Thanks! What's your favorite hotel or B&B picks for two or three couples in their early to mid 50's. Active and loving good music, food, wine, siteseeing, etc. We walk a lot, so a great location to just walk out the door and 'there you are', would be great! A good deal would be nice, as well. Thanks!

We plan our trips well in advance...just got back from one. But, since I wonder about the state of the world...airlines...the planet, my frequent flyer miles, health, etc, I am thinking to just keep checking out this lovely planet while I can!

The ArtSuites ApartHotel in Recoleta is where we stayed..

artsuites.com.ar

Home Hotel in Palermo is really nice!

http://www.homebuenosaires.com/home/