We just returned from a 16 day trip to Argentina and Chile. I received so much valuable information from this forum; I wanted to write a trip report in the hope that I might be able to provide the same service. I will keep this brief, and would be happy to provide more detail if anyone has questions.

First, we used the services of Mercedes at Argentina Escapes to help us plan the trip, book hotels, arrange transfers. She was absolutely lovely and always responded quickly to my multitude of e-mails. She met us at our hotel upon our arrival in Buenos Aires, had coffee with us, and went through our itinerary. She gave us all of her contact information and we did speak to her one more time during our trip.

We started in Buenos Aires. We stayed at the Bobo hotel in Palermo which we highly recommend. The staff was incredibly helpful and warm. The hotel has a slightly "zoomy" ambience but you do not have to be young/hip to enjoy it (we are certainly not hip!). We loved our private half-day city tour with the Eternautas agency; this was a highlight. In retrospect, I wish we had booked the full-day tour. We saw Recoleta cemetary, Plaza de Mayo, La Boca, San Telmo. We also loved seeing a soccer match with the Tangols tour group - another highlight. This was a great deal of fun; I would recommend going with a guide. On the cultural front, we enjoyed Teatro Colon and the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de B.A. (MALBA). We recommend the following restaurants in B.A.: the restaurant at the Bobo hotel, Bar Uriarte, Bereber, La Cabrera. These are all in the Palermo neighborhood.

We then flew to El Calafate and stayed at Estancia Nibepo Aike 1.5 hours outside of El Calafate. We loved the estancia. The proprietors were so warm, the views were amazing. I would highly recommend staying here instead of in El Calafate. We visited the Perito Moreno glaciar and did the minitrekking tour on the glaciar. This was a great experience; we put crampons on and hiked directly on the glaciar. The group which runs this, Hielos y Aventuras, is quite professional. The glaciar is truly amazing; do not miss this. We also did a 6 hour horseback ride at the estancia one day which was amazing. If we had stayed another day in the area, we probably would have done the Upsala glaciar tour.

We then crossed the border to Chile and went to Torres del Paine national park. We stayed at the Hotel Salto Chico/Explora. This was a huge splurge for us and was certainly worth it. The views are incredible, the hotel is gorgeous. One issue to be aware of is that the guests have a range of hiking abilities. We were frustrated a couple of times by the fact that our attitude about being outdoors was different than some of the people in our hiking groups (who were smoking, putting on makeup, listening to Ipods during the hikes).

From here, we went back to El Calafate and flew to Bariloche. We rented a car, which we were intially a bit anxious about. In the end, we were pleased that we did have a car. We stayed in Villa la Angostura, a small town 80 km north of Bariloche. We were pleased with this choice; it was much smaller and seemed more quaint than Bariloche. We stayed at the Hotel Correntoso. I would recommend getting a lakefront room. The hotel has great views of the lake. The hotel helped us secure a place on the boat which took us to the Parque Nacional los Arrayanes. We then did a beautiful 12 km, 2.5 hour hike back to Villa la Angostura. This hike winds through forests and you do get some great lake views. We also did part of the Seven Lakes drive (much of which is on a dirt road) which was gorgeous. We also did the Circuito Chico, which was less impressive, mostly because of the development around Bariloche.

From here, we headed back to B.A. and then home. Hope this is helpful!

Thanks for posting. On my next trip I want to see Torres del Paine.

I will be in Bs As in Feb. and looking for a private tour of the city. What is the website/email address of Argentina Escapes and the Eternautas agency? Thank you

How much time did you spend in each of these places?

Newerworld,

Your trip sounds amazing. Do you have the contact information for your travel agent? Also is it expensive to use a travel agent to do the booking for you?

Thanks!

Hi all -

cmcfong - Torres del Paine was the most dramatic landscape we have ever seen. The mountains, lakes, cloud formations, wind, rapid changes in weather were all incredible. We loved every second we were there. We saw other hotels in the park. One does not need to stay at Explora to enjoy the natural beauty of this area.

rogfam & pgshorty - The website for Argentina Escapes is www.argentinaescapes.com. To reach Mercedes directly, her e-mail is [email protected]. Mercedes booked the tour with Eternautas for us, but I found the address of the website: www.eternautas.com. This agency does come highly recommended in Lonely Planet. Our Eternautus guide was a young man who was a journalist. He was fluent in English (he had lived in England for a while) and was able to adjust the tour to accommodate my husband's interest in architecture.

This sounds ridiculous, but I actually don't know how much it cost to have Mercedes help us with the booking. Her fee was included in the cost of the trip. Our overall cost was quite reasonable (except for Explora) so I didn't even ask for a breakdown of the costs. If you contact her, I would just clarify that with her. Her assistance was certainly worth it. She was able to get the Teatro Colon tickets for us. She also booked the trip to the soccer match. She arranged several transfers (to/from El Calafate airport, to/from Chilean border) which would likely have been more difficult for us to do on our own.

Here is a breakdown of our trip by day:
Day 1 - Arrived in Buenos Aires after overnight flight. Spent several days in BA.
Day 4 - Flew to El Calafate. Was picked up and driven to Estancia Nibepo Aike. Did a short hike there.
Day 5 - Perito Moreno glaciar with minitrekking.
Day 6 - 6 hour horseback ride at Estancia.
Day 7 - 4.5 hour drive to Chilean border, then 1.5 hour drive to Explora. Short (but tough!) hike at Explora.
Day 8-10: Lots of hiking at Explora.
Day 11: Transferred back to Argentina (from Explora to El Calafate). Flew to Bariloche. Rented acar, drove to Villa la Angostura. This was a long travel day, but the drive from Bariloche to Villa la Angostura was lovely.
Day 12: Hung out in Villa la A, (it was pouring and we were tired!)
Day 13: Hiked 12 km, drove part of Seven Lakes drive.
Day 14: Drove to Bariloche, did Circuito Chico drive, dropped off car at airport, flew back to B.A.
Day 15: More sightseeing, shopping in BA. Flew back to U.S. overnight.

We did it all ourselves:
Taxi to Queretaro Bus Station; bus to MEX; Avianca business class (not great) using DAL sky miles MEX-BOG-EZE.
Took the Remise from the airport to Hotel Bobo for $65. pesos. Spent 4 nights in Pop and 2 nights in Rationalista. Their incl breakfasts are wonderful.
We left our bags and walked several hours in Palermo before a light cafe lunch and SO's plastic surgery appointment. Met AVR at Alvear Palace Hot, did "the other Buenos Aires" tour and had dinner with him and his wife at El Porteno (excellent Parrilla) in the 'burbs.
Next day was mostly shopping for SO, so we took the subte to Retiro/Plaza San Martin and walked Florida street and the surrounding areas; had a French lunch at Ligure and visited the Bellas Artes Museum which is excellent, 'tho I nearly got arrested for taking a flash foto of Rodin's The Kiss. Had an excellent "fusion" dinner at Cabernet a few blocks from Bobo: it was more expensive than most, but still less than most upscale places here in SMdA.
Sat. we took a taxi to Recoleta for the Cemetary, the fair (bought some excellent leather binders, Inca Rose earings), and had a snack at LaBiela under the huge Gum tree.
We didn't have reservations for the Tango show at Cafe Tortoni, but I gave the Maitre'd $10. pesos and got a front row table for the $30. peso pp show which was narrated in Spanish and would have been less interesting if you couldn't follow. Snacks of a veggie (mostly spinach) tarte and small pizza were good and the ubiquitous bottle of Malbec was $19. pesos.
Sunday took the D and ancient A subte to Plaza de Mayo and then walked to the San Telmo antiques market and La Boca where we had a great lunch at Il Matterello. Dinner at El Trapiche near the hotel.
On Monday we took the (expensive @ $209. pesos pp) fast ferry to Colonia which we thought disappointing. Great lunch at Meson de la Plaza with a UR trebbiano (white wine) saved the day.
Dinner that night at Bobo with an outstanding choice of AR wines.
Tuesday was shopping in Recoleta; lunch at Juana M (super and inexpensive), dinner at Gardelito (the least expensive).
Flew AerolineasArgentinas to Iguazu where we had a great 3 day (Luxury Link) package at Iguazu Grand Hotel. One full day at the AR falls was enough to see everything, but it was hot and humid and we were ready for our massages at day's end.
Had dinner at the hotel and 2 nights at LaRueda in town - both recommended.
Had a 6+ hour layover back in BsAs, but missed ScarlettO and the Yankee at Alvear Palace Hot before our LAN flt to Bariloche where we stayed in the very nice Designs Suite Hot. Took a bus ($50. pesos pp) Xing the Andes to Puerto Varas the next day where we stayed at Vickie Johnson's The Guest House. Late lunch at Cafe Dane's was a real disappointment.
Then a LAN flt to Santiago to pick up a rental car at Econorent. They tried six ways from Sunday to overcharge, but my Spanish was good enough to argue my "paperwork". I did need an International Driver's Permit.
Drove to the Hacienda los Lingues where we had another 3 night Luxury Link package: thoroughly enjoyed the hacienda and the service, which included flannel wrapped hot water bottles in bed for your feet, was outstanding. Caught no trout in the property's "lagoon", but SO had a strike.
Took a day trip to the Apalta region of the Colchagua valley and bought some wine at Montes which is stunning.
Had a late lunch at the Hotel Santa Cruz Plaza which was great and included a '04 Montes Alpha Chardonnay which even SO liked lots (she's a red fan).
Rest. Juan y Medio on Ruta 5 Sur recently burned down.
Spent the last two nights in Providencia (Santiago) at the well located Hot. Orly: shound have reserved the Queen as the double was small, but adequate. Used the Metro easily. Lots of good food and wine in Santiago: De la Ostia; LeFlaubert; Donde Augusto in the Mercado - best sea bass ever; Galindo - outstanding with a '04 Ventisquero Syrah Reserva @$4880. pesos.
Bar Liguria was way too loud, but I had the best (1/2) rabbit ever.
Between meals we saw most of the recommended sites and neighborhoods including Barrio Bellavista and Parque Metropolitano.
Bought more wine at the duty free to use our remaining pesos and had a very nice flt (excellent food and Montes Alpha wines in the business cabin) to MEX on AeroMexico.
Ambien allowed us to get 6-7 hours sleep on the international flts and we paid no visa, reciprocity nor departure fees (those from SCL were incl in our a/l ticket fees) other than $10. returning to BsAs from Colonia, UR on the Buquebus.
M

Explora would be most of my travel budget for a year. Which other places to stay did you see you could recommend?
Love your report!

Hi cmcfong - There were two hotels in the national park, close to Explora, that I saw. One was Hosteria Lago Grey, which is on the Grey Lake and has views (I think) of the Grey Glaciar. The other hotel we drove by was Hosteria Pehoe, which is on a small island in the middle of a lake. It looked like it had great views, similar to Explora. We did not go inside these hotels, nor did I meet anyone who was staying there, so I don't know how good they are. They are both in the Argentina Lonely Planet guide. LP also lists several other hotels - Hosteria Las Torres, Hosteria Mirador del Payne, Posada Rio Serrano. My thought about this is that you don't need to stay in a fancy place - the scenery is so magnificent that you want to be outside most of the time anyway.

Thanks so much. It stays on the dream list for now, but life is short and I am definitely not getting any younger. I want to see Torres Del Paine while I can still hike it! Your report has whetted my appetite. I appreciate the information.

Newerworld, isn't Mercedes fabulous? After she did the arrangements for our first trip to AR, we used her again last year. She puts together an amazing itinerary and we've had no complaints about any of the local tour agencies she uses. Plus, it makes the trip go smoothly, given our lack of Spanish.

CMC, Torres del Paine is an amazing place, we looked inside the Hosteria at Lago Gray, the common areas looked very nice, was told the rooms are plain but comfortable. The location is amazing.

Thanks, owlwoman.

Thank you newerworld and mikemo for your reports.

Unfortunately, we'll miss Torres del Paine and Parque Nacional los Arrayanes, but at least I will be going to Tierra del Fuego National Park and hanging out in Patagonia for a few days before heading up north.

It's already planned that we'll be spending 2 nights in the El Calafate area, before we head south to Ushuaia. I guess I'll have to go back so I can visit Bariloche and all the other places my fellow Fodorites have gone!