My husband and I are having our first "kid-free" vacation since having 3 children in the past 5 1/2 years -- thanks to Grandma who has offered to babysit. We want to do 5-6 nights in BA and 2 nights in I Falls. I simply do not have the time to plan the trip and really would like someone to do it all for me (keeping in mind our budget -- (neither shoe-string nor luxurious -- in the middle). We would like to go mid-March; although timing is flexible.

Any ideas for a great travel agent? (We are not interested in a tour)

There have been several travel agents discussed on this site. If you do a search you will come up with threads with recomendations. We used Cintia at Wow!Argentina http://www.wowargentina.com.ar/. You may contact her at
[email protected]
We were very pleased with her. She will do everything for your trip. I don't believe she deals with a lot of budget hotels though, more mid-range to high end. If you tell her your price range she works within that range. I understand that she now charges $100 up front that is then applied to whatever you get thru her--hotel, air fare etc. Have a great childless trip!

Let me ditto the recommendation of Cintia Stella at WOW! Argentina. She handled our trip to Buenos Aires and Bariloche. The city guide she arranged (four hours) was superb. We gave her our budget and she worked with us to develop an excellent itinerary. My trip report is shown as "My Argentine Adventure". It is a bit wordy but the first paragraph deals with how Cintia's help paid off for me. Yes, I paid $100 up front, but it was deducted from my cost. I considered it a reasonable business measure to insure against people getting her advice and counsel then booking elsewhere. Buen viaje.

We used [email protected] for both of our trips and have been extremely pleased. The corporate web-site is Argentinaescapes.com.

cmcfong---we would like to get a copy of your complete trip report. Can you paste it in this post?

MnJ: click on cmcfong's screen name and you'll get all her latest posts. Then scroll down until you find the one you want.
cmcfong used to be the president of my fan club. I miss her, A LOT. LOL!!!

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=6

AVRooster, I am forever in your debt for all your good advice on my trip to Argentina.

Former President: you do not get your report by clicking on that URL. I believe you have to do it the way I said.

Well, AVRooster, right again. My trip report doesn't come up on that link. There are two options, click on my screenname or enter my screenname in the search bar on the Latin America forum and scroll down for my trip report "My Argentine Adventure".

Hello WisconsinJen:

Owlwoman is right on.

We used Mercedes at Argentina Escapes for our 9 week visit last Jan/Mar and were very pleased with her work.

I have happily recommended her to others and have good comments from them.

Woodie.

Hi Wisconsin JEn, I am for Cintia too. They have a small travel agency with high qualified personel and the owners Cintia and Matias are on top of everything.
The agency is located in Calle Santa Fe in the heart of Buenos Aires and they are 24/7 for you.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34898117

my trip report (thank you, Scarlett!)

How did you do it, former President?

Ah, the able Scarlett did it. I am too much a technoninny.

My husband and I visited Argentina this summer with the superb help of Isabel from Buenos Aires Tours.

We were travelling on something a little more than a grad-student budget. I told Isabel not to waste too much time with us since there wouldn't be much of a pay off, but she devoted herself to our trip as if we were the only ones in the universe.

As if she hadn't done enough work for us already, when my husband, then I, fell ill in the jungle near Mocona Falls, Isabel was on the phone with us daily to make sure we were alright.

In addition to booking us into hotels that both fit our budget and that she had personally approved (as to quality and service), she got us great tickets (in a private booth!) to a tango show for a great price and made wonderful recommendations for restaurants, shopping and attractions.

Argentina was stupendous, and our trip was so rewarding thanks in large part to her passionate good work.

You can contact her at: [email protected]

a vote for cintia from WOW

I heard a lot about Isabel...She is reliable, gets very good fares, is always chscking the services, and help her customers a lot!
[email protected]
Warm regards.
Flintstones.

I also vote for Isabel, who has been very helpful in this forum.

My vote = Cintia
See my post on this forum under WOW! Argentina.

We did BsAs; Iguazu; Bariloche; Puerto Montt/P. Varas; Colchagua Valley and Santiago easily with help from this and the Trip Advisor Forums.
M (SMdA, Gto.)