Argentina - Where to go?
 

After spending our holidays over the past 10 years or so in Asia, we have decided to turn our attentions to South America. and would like to spend 3 weeks next year. Having bought the guide book and just realising just how huge the continent is, we have decided resitrict ourselves to Argentina this time around.
Any suggestion for where to go, how long to stay, hotels and activities etc.would really be appreciated Our initial thoughts are:
1. BA - but how long
2. Crossing on foot into Chile through the Lake district (read an aricle about this! - staying at El Bolson/Isla Bandurrias/Puerto Varas/Bariloche
3. Iguazu falls
4. A couple of days on an Estancia ( will learn to ride before we go!
This is not an exclusive list any other suggestions or comments would be welcomed.

crellston,
We, too, spent several years traveling in Asia and are now looking at SA. In January-February, we are:
1 flying to BA (5 nights)
2 flying to IF (3 nights)
3 flying to Ushuaia (3 nights)
4 bus to Punta Arenas, Chile (3 nights)
5 flying to Chile Antarctica station and
spending 1 night. (DAP airlines does
this once a month)
6 bus to P Natales (2 nights)
7 bus to El Calafate (2 nights)
8 flying to Bariloche (2 nights)
9 bus/boat to P Varas (2 nights)
10 flying to Santiago (3 nights)
11 flying to Easter Island (3 nights)
12 flying to BA-return to US
Hope this gives you some ideas.

Jane, please post a trip report! Buen viaje.

Both itineraries sound pretty ambitious to me for the periods of time alotted. For crellston, the area you're talking about covering, Argentina and Chile, especially as you're going from one end of the countries to the other, is sort of the equivalent of spending those three weeks touring the entire eastern seaboard of the U.S. and as far west as, let's say, the Mississippi River. That'd be a lot to try to see in that period of time.

For Jane, you've certainly got a well planned itinerary, but count on that it's quite common here to have travel delays. You could easily find yourself spending an entire day just flying between, say BsAs and Iguazu, solely because of transportation problems - some friends of mine just did this and coming back from IF literally wasted an entire day in the airport. It really sounds like you're going to be spending most of your time in transit rather than in the places you want to see.

If you are on a budget, stay in BA a week and rent an appartment. There are several web sites dedicated to this. We used "By T Argentina" which gave the best info.
Staying a week gives you time to explore the various areas of BA and take a day trip (ferry) to Colonia, Uruguay.

We've also travelled to Asia many times and spent 3 weeks in Argentina last December. We spent 5 days in BA, 3 in Iguazu, 5 in Salta, 4 in Mendoza and 4 in El Calafate/El Chalten. All of Argentina is beautiful and diverse- our favorite area was Salta. Click on my screen name to get our trip report. You can also see photos on my husband's website at www.slrobertson.com.

Nicci