Hi. We are planning a trip to Argentina in Feb. It's two families. 2 couples, + 2 fourteen yr olds and a nine year old. We arrive Feb 17th am in BA, fly out Feb 27. So it works out to ten nights in Arg.

We have pretty much decided we want to do Glacier National Park and possibly Torres del Paine as one destination during our trip. We don't want to maintain a crazy pace, nor spend too much on internal airfares. I figure we have time for one other destination and we're considering Ushaia, Lake District or Vlades Peninsula. We know we are travelling at high season, and we don't like ultra crowded touristy places. My friend is leaning towards Ushaia for that reason. I feel though that it would be nice to be someplace warm before heading back to cold NY, so I am leaning more towards Valdes or Lake District- someplace where we could kick back with the kids and relax a bit while enjoying nature.

Thoughts/advice appreciated.

Either Ushuaia or Bariloche would work for you. I think you should check out airfares/convenience and make your decision based on that. Ushuaia is more rustic, like an outpost in Alaska maybe? After touring the Torres del Paine, it would be a little similar. Bariloche has the lakes and I think is more geared to relaxation. You can do a 1/2 day lake tour and yes, it will be a lot warmer. We were there the middle of March, the days got up into the 70's, nights were cool.

Hope this helps. Have you thought about going to Iguazu Falls instead? I think that would be my first choice if my time was limited. The kids will love it, lots of places to run around.

Let me know if I can be of any further help.

Anyone else with any thoughts?
On further conversation with our friend, we have come to a couple of decisions.
#1- We only have time to do 2 areas of Argentina.
#2- We won't do Ushaia because it's similar to Torres del Paine. The glacier + T del P could be one area. I am concerned about the cost of T del P however.
#3- The other areas (we can choose one) that interest us are Salta, Valdes Peninsula and as a last choice Bariloche but we need to do more research on plane flights etc. Salta is a contender because my DH + friend are avid photographers and like driving around through quaint interesting towns. Valdes would be good if it is warm enough to swim. Choosing will be hard! For some reason, the guys aren't that excited by Bariloche because they see it as touristy.
#4- Would Salta be too hot in late February? Would it be like going to Arizona in August ie. insane?
#5- We have ruled out Iguazu because my DH has already gone and because in Feb it is max hot + crowded.

Owlwoman, do you have a contact for your private guide in T del P? Was that portion of your trip extremely costly?

We were in Argentina for three weeks in December and visited 5 areas. Salta was our favorite. Don't worry about the heat, it is an over exaggeration. You will not go wrong with this choice. My husband is also a photographer. You can see the gorgeous photos of our trip at www.slrobertson.com.

Our TA set up the guide for us in the Torres del Paine, his name is Angelo and he is wonderful. The name of the company is Chile Nativo and they have a web site - http://www.chilenativo.com/
I don't know the cost as we paid one fee to the TA for the whole trip and it was not broken down.

Nicci - we're going to Salta - Mendoza this March - did you have any problems with the altitude? I looked at your pictures, awesome, my husband is a photographer, I think he'll be very pleased when he sees the possibilities!

We live in Atlanta, GA and did not have any problems with the altitude.

We had a fantastic guide for the 5 days spent in Salta/Jujuy- Angelica Valdez de Zaleski at [email protected]. I highly recommend using her while you are there.

If you click on my screen name, you can read our trip report.

Thank you so much, Nicci and Owlwoman. I will be pondering some tough choices and trying to figure out how to sync up those Aerolineas flights!

Hi Cinepez. i just returned from Argentina a week ago and went to a few of the places you write about.

Valdez Peninsula- great for a two day trip. more than anything else i enjoyed the penguins and the whales. Hotels can be a bit tuff to find so make sure to book early as possible. make sure to bring a good windbreaker as it is very windy, esp. on the whale watching boat.

Torres del Paine- are you planning on doing this as a day trip from El Calafate? This is a very long day trip. I did it with a 4x4 and enjoyed it a lot but the pace was a bit crazy. i wonder if it might have been more comfortable to just stay at a hosteria there for one night before returning to calafate. alternatively, i would have loved to have seen the Fitz Roy,,which due to the distance, might be more comfortable to stay the night in el chalten? everything generally a bit more expensive than other places in argentina, but well worth it.

Bariloche was a great place to chill out. i spent 4 nights there at Nido del Condor with a magnificent view of the lake but not sure how much the kids might like it?

buena suerte.