I am planning a honeymoon for my sister-in-law for June 2009 (June 14-23rd) to Argentina. I've been to Argentina before and absolutely loved it, but I'm nervous about the weather in June. Please take a look at the below itinerary and let me know if you think the weather will be good in these areas during June and i'd love to hear what activities they can do in Mendoza during June if the weather is chilly(besides eating and drinking).

I've also heard recommendations for Salta and the surrounding regions...is that a better option than Mendoza? She wanted Mendoza so she can see the Andes and maybe do some hiking, thoughts??? Would you recommend any other areas in June?

Day 1-Arrive BA, transfer to Mendoza

Day 1-Day 3-Stay in Mendoza, Cava Wine Lodge (if there's availability). Wine tasting, restaurants, other activities??? Will it be too cold to hike and raft in June?

Day 4-Transfer to Iguazu, stay 1 night in Iguazu (probably stay at Sheraton, is this the best option for close proximity to falls?)

Day 5-Transfer to BA

Day 5-9-Stay in BA (possibly four seasons, are there any other nice hotels you'd recommend?)


Also, I looked up the temperature for these areas, but it's always better to get advice from someone who's been there and experienced the weather.

Haven't been to Argentina in June so can't speak to the weather factor. I think the Salta area is spectacular, but not sure 3 days is enough time to really see the area and enjoy it. U could fly to Salta (about 2 hours flight from BA), spend the night in Salta and drive to Cafayate, stay one night and return to Salta. It would be a long day the first day since you will have flown into BA, transferred to the AEP airport and then fly to Salta. In Salta I would consider staying at Legado Mitico. We didn't stay there, but did visit and it's gorgeous. The route to Cafayate is really beautiful with lots of interesting places to stop to view the fantastic rock formations and scenery. Its an easy drive on paved road the entire way. Cafayate is a small town with lots of wineries to visit. Hotel Killa is a wonderful, small hotel in Cafayate.

The Sheraton in Iguazu Falls is right at the Falls and thus makes it a nice place to stay for visting the Falls. Hotel itself is a typical Sheraton, but has fabulous views of the Falls from the hotel. U can stay in a room with a Falls view if you want to.

In BA, there are lots of small boutique hotels that might be worth looking into in they are intersted in a smaller hotel. 4 Seasons gets rave reveiws though.

In general terms, I would suggest 1 or 2 nights in Iguazú (Sheraton), 3 or 4 nights in Salta and the rest in Buenos Aires.

Hopefully, by June 2009, there could be a Salta/Iguazú flight, which would help the schedule.

Your sister-in-law will have a wonderful honeymoon in our country, no matter what she chooses to do, Lkar.

avrooster' s advice is good with me. Unless there very interested in wines it seems that Salta would be more exciting that Mendoza on the whole, although Cavas is a charming place . There are many fine hotels in Buenos Aires the Four Seasons is one of the best, as always with the 4 Season group their service is excellent. We made the reservation through WOW argentina, they work a lot with this hotel. Of course the hotel was part of a package but I could tell it was a good deal.
We were celebrating our anniversary and it was the ideal place to be in.
I found both location and service outstanding.
You might as well check with them .

We are on our honeymoon right now - we loved Cavas and Mendoza, but I don't know about the weather in June - if it's cold and there's nothing to do but wineries your sister might get bored. We are staying at the Four Seasons in BA, which is great for a honeymoon they really pamper you and the service is so great - you can read my posts for more details. We will be at the Sheraton in Iguazu later this week so I can't speak to that yet. What a nice sister in law you are to plan this!

We took a trip there October 2008. It was rather cold in the evenings and in Mendoza but we were still able to enjoy ourselves. We stayed at La Finca Los Alamos in San Raphael Mendoza. We read about it in that book 1000 things to do before you die, but we had a hard time reaching them. I just did an internet search and they now have a really nice website. We loved it there--its luxury but rustic. (There are fireplaces in both the room and the bathroom! but it is a "lodge" type of building with a lot of old dusty furniture/books). The owners have dinner with you and drinks with you. You end up drinking a ton of wine and some of the food is delicious (asparagus). They have bikes to explore the area and they arranged a horse ride and white water rafting trip--although I would not do the rafting trip in June because I think it will be way too cold. (The water was freezing for us in October but still fun).

We also visited Iguazu--took an AM flight out of BA and then flew back the next evening. We stayed in a hostel there (forgot the name but one of the main ones). It was cheap and perfect for one night. (We had rented an apartment in BA for the week, so left our luggage and took a small bag to Iguazu for the night). At the airport in BA we picked up a taxi who ended up driving us all around--to the Argentinian side of the falls, the Brazilian side the next day, the town and to the gem mine which was pretty neat. All of this for only $100US. We highly suggest doing something like this...

Just so you are aware--to travel by plane anywhere you have to fly from BA. (at least when we went). there were no direct flights from Mendoza to Iguazu.... So take this into account when planning.

In BA we have had many friends stay at the small bed and breakfast type hotels in Palermo/Soho and love it. We stayed in an apartment and that was great--but might not be what they want for a honeymoon.

hope this helps!

Thanks very much for all your advice. I just learned that Cava will be closed during the month of June...and I was really excited to have them stay there. Now I'm thinking maybe I will send them to the Salta area after all the feedback I received.

Does anyone have any info about the house of Jasmines? Since it's their honeymoon and they'll be flying almost 16 hrs to reach Salta I would like them to stay in a luxury hotel w/ spa for the first few nights...that will give them a chance to relax etc. for a few days. Please let me know if you recommend any other hotels.

Thanks again!!

House of Jasmines is a bit out of town and they would need transportation to go back and forth to Salta. We considered staying there as it looks really nice, but didn't want the hassle of "commuting" to Salta. While in Salta we looked at Legado Mitico and thought it a beautiful luxurious property, small and just lovely...The suites were very nice. It just opened this past year. No spa, but I bet they could arrange one for you. I think it would be a great place for a honeymoon. It's near Balcare Ave which is where all the nightlife takes place and about a 15 minute walk to the main square where most of the sightseeing is. I preferred that area to being right downtown.
Are u thinking they will visit other parts of the NW which I highly recommend. If so Angie who is on this forum as Flintstones I think is a great guide and tremendous resource on this board and Trip Advisor (where she is Giena).

Lkar: I imagine you know Salta is also a winery area.

As Yestravel says, Angie is a great independent Salta guide.

Check her out by writing her name in the search feature you will find here: http://tinyurl.com/nw9f4

There is also a lot about her in this forum. She can also answer any questions you have about our NW.

Thanks again for the responses. After researching all the posts I've come up with the following itinerary...let me know if this is too rushed and if it's possible.

Day 1-Arrive in Salta from US--stay in Salta-relax and see city

Day 2-Get up early and do full day tour of Salt flats etc. and stay in Salta

Day 3-Travel to Colome--make stops on way and then they can relax, spa, hike, taste wine etc. the rest of the day)

Day 4-Colome-enjoy property

Day 5-Cafayate

Day 6-depart to BA

Let me know if it would be better to fly into Jujuy and stay at Manantial del silencio day 1 and day 2, or if it's fine to stay in Salta....I don't want to add any more hotels...too much packing/unpacking.

Thanks in advance.

First depending upon what time your flight from the US arrives in BA, u wll need to transfer to AEP (the domestic airport) to get a flight to the NW. You likely would not get to Salta until late afternoon or evening.

It would be a very long day to drive to the Salt Flats etc and then return to Salta. North of Salta I would see Puramarca. It makes for less back and forth if you fly into Jujuy and go to Purmaraca and u could go to the Salt Flats from there.

To the south of Salta, Colome is supposed to be really nice, but it's a long drive and partly on unpaved roads. You'd do better to go to Cafayate and find a nice place to stay there.

I would recommend they stay the first night in BA, unless things have changed, most flights to the NW leave in the AM.

Then, I would fly into Jujuy the next AM, have a private guide pick them up to tour Pumamarca, Tilcara, etc., stay at the Mantial Del Silencio. The next day drive through the flats to Salta. We stayed at the House of Jasmines, looved it. We live in NY and don't need the city when we travel. Loved being in the country. We took a taxi into Salta for the day (I think it was $10 or so) and arranged for the taxi to take us on a little tour, then drop us DT and we arranged to meet him for the ride back again. House of Jasmines has a great spa, had a fabulous massage for about $30.

From there, our guide picked us up and we drove to Colome for 2 nights. Again, this is one of the most romantic places I've ever seen (next to Positano). The place is incredible and worth every penny.

Then, from there we were winding our way to Mendoza, but you could just go to Calafate from there and fly back to Mendoza. One night there if needed would work.

I highly recommend a local guide, the roads are not well marked and as this is their honeymoon, you don't need any stress driving around.

We use Mercedes at Argentina Escapes, she arranged everything, again highly recommend her. And, of course Angie gets high marks on the board.

We're heading back for our third trip in March! Good luck.

oops, I meant fly from Calafate to BA.

another oops, meant Cafayate, not Calafate (that's where we're going in March).