Hi Fodorites!

This is my first time to the South American forum and I'm hoping to get some feedback on an itin I've planned for a trip to Argentina next month.

To give you some background, my husband and I travel a ton. We've been all over, from Europe to the top of Kilimanjaro to Australia to Cambodia. But this is our first trip to South America. We are in our early 30s, very active, and love to pack our itineraries.

Below is our itin thus far:

Day 1: depart US, overnight flight to Buenos Aires
Day 2: arrive BA mid-morning, spend 2 nights
Day 3: BA. Tango show.
Day 4: afternoon ferry to Colonia, spend 1 night
Day 5: afternoon ferry back to BA, where we have a few hours before our flight to Mendoza. 1 night in Mendoza.
Day 6: half day rafting, then spend the rest of the time at our wine lodge
Day 7: relax at the wine lodge, hit up a market in the afternoon. Spend last 2 nights in the area.
Day 8: full day wine tour
Day 9: tbd. Thinking about doing a day trip (not sure if on our own or through a company) towards the mountains. But our flight leaves Mendoza that evening around 7pm, so we're not sure if we're crazy to think we have the time or not. Overnight flight back to the States.

I know we only have 2 days in BA, but we really wanted to spend the bulk of our trip in Mendoza. We tend to zip through cities pretty quickly, but knowing how large Buenos Aires is, I know we won't get to half the stuff on the 'must-do' lists I've collected. We're ok with that, but we absolutely plan on getting as much in as possible.

Ref hotels, I'd love to hear your opinions.

When I was doing all my research on hotels in BA, all the ones I liked were in Palermo, with a couple in Recoleta. Is Palermo too far? I feel like we should have our hotel be in an area where we will be walking distance to restaurants and bars, and we can just have a bit further journey during our sight seeing daytime.

The hotels in BA I was seriously considering are: Five Cool Rooms, Home Hotel, and the Cocker (though I know this is in San Telmo and from what I understand, we probably don't want to stay in this part of town). Any thoughts on either Five Cool Rooms or Home?

In Colonia, we've booked Posada Plaza Mayor for our 1 night stay.

In Mendoza, we arrive just around dinnertime on day 5, and I was thinking of us staying at the Argentino.

Day 6, we will be splurging and staying at Cavas Wine Lodge.

Day 7 and 8, we need to decide on a hotel and I'm a little stuck. We can either return to the Argentino, or I was looking at staying at the B&B Plaza Italia right in Mendoza, or Parador del Angel in Chacras de Coria. I have concerns about both. Plaza Italia, I hear you receive attitude if you don't book a wine tour with them. We've already secured our wine day reservations and are happy with them, and will not be switching them. Is it suggested that we stay those last 2 nights actually in Mendoza, even if/when we won't really be exploring the city of Mendoza? Or would it be nice to stay a little outside, in Chacras de Coria? If the latter, what's there to do in Chacras de Coria? Will we have options for restaurants and walking tours, or will we be a little 'stranded'? I want to make sure that no matter where we stay, we are within walking distance to dinners and bars. We weren't planning on renting a car, except for maybe the last day (we were hoping though, that we could find a bus or touring company).

Lastly, are we out of our minds to plan something on our last day? Is it remotely possible to take a mountain journey, or just have a nice scenic drive on our last day? If it's not feasible, what would you suggest we do that last day?

These forums have never disappointed me in the past, and I'm hoping you can shed some light into our itin and opinions on our hotels.

Thanks so much in advance!

Oops I made a mistake! I don't mean Five Cool Rooms. I meant Miravida SoHo as the other hotel I'm thinking about in BA.
So to sum up: Miravida SoHo or Home?

THanks!

I can't really help you with your other questions, but I just returned from Argentina and stayed at the Argentino in Mendoza. Great hotel... staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. Air conditioner was a little noisy, but that could have been just my room, and it certainly didn't bother me too much. Good luck with your planning!

Firstly Colonia. I am a fan and spent 5 days there. It is a very picturesque place to hang out but I am not sure that on such a short trip I would spend an overnight there (packing/unpacking/travel etc. does take time). There is so much to see in BA. Entry 85 on our blog has some photos

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...ai/1/tpod.html

If you really do want to go then you could see most of what there is to see in a long day trip without the overnight stay. That said, if you do stay overnight Posada Plaza Mayor looks like a nice place and certainly is in a great location. As for your other hotels, I can't really comment as we mostly used hostals on our trip. Have a great trip

travelersusan - thanks for the tips on Argentino!

crellston - loving your website, thanks for that link as well as your thoughts on Colonia. Your travels sound incredible

On our trips to BA we've stayed in Recoleta, Palmero Soho and San Telmo -- they are all nice and have different feels to their neighborhoods. We've stayed twice in Palmero and loved it each time. BA is great for walking, cabs are cheap and the underground train even cheaper so pick the hotel baed on which neighborhood u like. U can do a searach here and read about the different characteristics of each area.
Last year we ended up at Miravida Soho--lovely property and fabulous owner and staff. The suite room is really nice and the upstairs rooms while nice are a touch small. We had considered 5 Cool Rooms but liked the look of Miravida Soho better. I don't always love big cities when travelling, but 2 days in BA is really shortchanging it. As u said, its huge and there is a lot to see and do.
Have a great trip!

Hello Yestravel:
Tomorrow we are off to NOA with your Trip reports, so Gracias to you and to DH & Happy V Day. See you in WDC.
~Marnie

MarnieWDC -- how lucky r u to b away from DC??? I've thought enviously of u daily! Have a great trip to the NW.

We stayed at Miravida Soho last March for a total of 7 nights. It is in an excellent location for restaurants and bars at night - a lot of great options to choose from nearby. We were with our two teenagers and the for 2 nights each had a separate room and the last 5 stayed in the suite. The regular rooms are a bit small, but we thought very nice and had all the amenities you would want. The suite is extremely spacious - particularly for 2 people, the only thing I would say was that the suite was a bit darker because the sun came through the windows on the back side of the hotel (where the regular rooms were) and the suite is on the front of the hotel.

Thanks all for your input on BA hotels. I think we've decided on Miravida for sure now!

Still trying to decide on Mendoza hotels (Plaza Italia or Parador del Angel), and also trying to find some ideas for what to do our last day, so if there's anyone with input on those, I'd really appreciate it.

I would have included the NW of Argnetina... The most amazing sceneries are in the provinces of SALTA and JUJUY...Nothing you have seen before would be like this. The colourfulmountains and the salt flats, the rock formatiosn and great wines!!! Charming town and fantastic buildings from the colonial times...
Delicious food, based in potatoes, quinoa and corn!! And empanadas!!!!
An unforgetable experience ...
Flintstones

Thanks flintstones, but that will have to wait for next time. Our first trip, we wanted to hit a city and then wine country. There's never enough time to pack it all in

We stayed outside Mendoza at the Finca Adalgisa, did not have a car, was within walking distance to town for dinner or you can take taxis. Loved staying outside of Mendoza as we are not city people either when we travel.

We also only stay one or two nights in BA at the beginning or end of our trips. On the last day, you would have plenty of time to take a day trip into the Andes, we did that and a little hiking, it was lovely. I think we were back at the Finca by 4:00 or so that day. We always spend the last night in BA so I can finish shopping Plus, I always worry about taking a domestic flight the same day as our international, but that's just me.

Have a great trip.

BostonGal,

Crellstons pics give you a good overall view of what there is to see in the city. While it is nice, it doesn't necessarily take that long to see it. Your iten will be fine, it is just a city, there's so much more to do and see outside; like you that is what we focused on.

BostonGal; if you saw Crellston´s pictures you might have seen the ones from SALTA and JUJUY also... keepthat in mind for your next visit... If He kept those pics for himself (LOL) look at this... http://cometosalta.spaces.live.com/
I can only promise you will not regret...
Flintstones

Hi,
That's a packed itinerary! I just got back from Mendoza and I don't think you'll be able to fit in a trip into the mountains before your flight. I suppose it depends on where you go but you'll want to be extra sure of the return time. We always got back around 7 or 8 at night and it sounds like you have the last flight out of Mendoza for the day.

I wouldn't recommend spending too much time in Colonia. The food is good, the air is clean the town is gorgeous but there just isn't much to do there. In my opinion it's an afternoon trip for lunch at most. I only go when I need to renew my visa.

While you're in Buenos Aires a great resource for finding bars and restaurants is: http://www.guiaepicureo.com/

They even have an iPhone app making it really easy to figure out what's around you.

Hope you have a great trip. I loved mine so much I never returned to the US!

Colonia was cute, we had a good lunch there and we enjoyed the first class on the ferry . But even with 5 days in BA, we wished we had skipped Colonia to spend another day in BA. Remember, even for a day trip, you will burn trough a bunch of time getting to the terminal, waiting in line, going through customs....and doing it all twice!
We did have a nice day there and it was fun to get another stamp in the passport - but on hindsight, we would have skipped it.
I would HIGHLY recommend having lunch at O'Fournier while you are in Mendoza!!

Thanks for the further comments.

Close friends of ours did a similar trip and came back talking up Colonia a lot. They wished they spent the night because it reminded them of Nantucket, where we've all been many times and adore. So that's pretty much why we're staying over instead of doing just a day trip.

I look forward to checking out that website Josh, thanks for passing it along.

And I've already written down O'Fournier on my restaurant list, thanks not_enuff_vaca!!

The ferry trips to Brazil are expensive for a one day trip.

Bostongal-when will you be traveling? I too will be going toward the end of March, we have a similar itinerary planned. I wish I could squeeze in a trip to Patagonia but it just doesn't seem feasible.