Our family of 4 (2 parents, early 50's & mid 60's + 2 young adults, M 25 & F 23 yrs) will be spending about 2 weeks in Argentina in late Nov. - early Dec. We haven't made any definite travel plans yet, so we're still pretty flexible and looking for ideas.

So far we're thinking of spending a couple of days in BA, then visiting Bariloche and Puerto Madryn for most of our visit. We're interested in seeing the beautiful landscape and have a soft spot for penguins and whales, but we're not thinking of doing any heavy-duty hiking. We're thinking of doing Bariloche first since there seems to be a Friday L.A.D.E. flight from there to Puerto Madryn, (A side note: our daughter has been in Jujuy since mid-March 2014 and will already have been to BA, Iguazu, Cordoba, Mendoza, and Santiago, Chile, so we haven't really focused on those areas.)

So here are some questions, assuming we visit Bariloche/Puerto Madryn:

- Is there someplace better than Bariloche to use as a home base while visiting the lakes? (The younger ones don't feel a great need for nightlife on this trip, so that's not a factor.)

- Does it really matter if we do Bariloche first? We'd rather not spend a long time going by bus or car between the two places. I haven't found a way to fly from Puerto Madryn to Bariloche without a stop in BA, so that's partly why we thought of going to Bariloche first.

- What lodgings would you recommend in each place? We'd rather not do low-end hostels, but other than that, we're not picky. If we look on Airbnb, do you have neighborhoods to recommend?

- How long would you recommend staying in each place? We'd generally prefer to have a home base in each area and spend several days doing day trips from there.

Thanks for any helpful hints or ideas for other things to see!

Just a quick suggestion. You might consider- in the Puerto Madryn area- a kayaking trip out on waters to see the whales. There are several good outfitters to choose from. I'm using Patagonia Explorers for mine.

If you head south, El Calafate is an excellent base ops- since I am heading there I can't speak from experience but I have been researching. From what I've gathered you can do a slew of different hikes, adventures, glaciar trips and many other trips from this town. You can also book a not-too- awful bus trip to El Chalten, which is glaciar central.

I'm 61, I do adventure stuff that might likely appeal more to your kids, but from what I've seen so far (thanks to the web and Lonely Planet) there is a wide variety of offerings that would keep both you and your kids very busy. Others on here can offer far more on site information as to neighborhoods. I can say that for the most part, flights nearly always head back to BA and then back down. There are other options, check out CheapoAir, which sometimes has direct flights when LAN doesn't. The Internet can be a really good resource for alternatives.

As for how long you want to stay in each place, keep in mind that every time you bus or drive you are losing nearly a full day to travel given that you have four people, luggage, and significant distances. Argentina is the 8th biggest country in the world, and since you've already been there you have a good sense of its size. Flights shorten this considerably unless the schedules condemn you to an overnight in BA. Your idea of basing in one place for say, four to five days is a good plan. Limit your moves to two or three, at most, and maximize your time in situ.

Best of luck and have a terrific journey.

We travelled between Bariloche and Puerto. Madryn by bus. It took 14 hours but is not as bad as it sounds as it was overnight and, provided you choose Ejecutivo or VIP class it is very comfortable - a little like business class on a good airline. You would need to book seats in advance because they do fill up days in advance. I don't think there are any flights between the two places.

Can't help with accomodation as we just turned up and found a Hostal. Nothing special, just an en suite room but perfectly adequate.

I hope you are not too late for the whales as the best time to go is supposed to be sept- oct in December they migrate back to Antarctica. For this reason, I would try and get to PM ASAP.

Bariloche did not inspire us as a place to stay but this is very possibly because we arrived in the argentine equivalent of spring break and teh town was packed with partying students. So busy that the only accommodation we could find was what I think was an old peoples home!!

Once in PM we took a day tour out into peninsula valdes which included a boat trip out to see the whales. Even though teh guide was hopeless, the trip was great. I doubt you could ever get closer to whales. Also saw lost of penguins and elephant seals even though it wasn't the main season for them.

Another day in the late afternoon, we got a taxi to some beaches outside of town where the whales were swimming right up close to the beach. Again, amazing.

On our final day we took a walk along the pier in the town and the whales were swimming right up close and jumping out of the water.

My only regret was that it was the wrong time of year ( oct) for diving because I would really have liked to dived with whales, seals etc. maybe next time..

Thank you jhubbel and crellston for the tips!

Do you know if whales will still be around Puerto Madryn in the very early part of December?

Also, we'd rather not be in Bariloche during a popular time for students on holiday, so I was wondering if the last week of November would be a problem there.

You are very welcome Annfam,

As I mentioned I on my previous post, December is usually the time when the migration starts. I imagine this changes a little from year to year. Whether El niño develops this year and whether it will have an effect on the migration, adds another layer of uncertainty ( which could, of course, work in your favour or against you!),

Some info on this site

http://www.in-patagonia.com.ar/puert...la-valdes.html

Here is a link to my blog with some photos of PV
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blo...3240/tpod.html

The last week of November should NOT be "a popular time for students on holiday".

Have a great time in my country with your family, annnfam.

Thank you both again, crellston and avrooster.

I'm glad to hear that our proposed timing won't coincide with crowds of vacationing students. We hope to be in Puerto Madryn for the last few days of November and the first few days of December, so I'm hoping we might be lucky and see the whales.

Another question, if you don't mind -
To get from Bariloche to Puerto Madryn, which option would you recommend and why?
- drive rental car (stick shift is not a problem) and pay the one way drop-off fee
- take the once-a-week L.A.D.E. flight from Bariloche to Puerto Madryn on a Friday (how likely is it the flight might be cancelled?)
- take an overnight bus
We're willing to pay the rental car drop-off fee for more control over our schedule, and we're willing to pay for the flight to save time, but we don't want to get stuck if the flight is cancelled.

Thanks again for your help. We're really looking forward to our trip!

We rented a car and drove from San Martinez and dropped off in Bariloche. The scenery was wonderful as we drove through the seven lakes area. We did think about carrying on with the car to PM but decided that the scenery would not be anything like as interesting so we opted for the overnight bus. As mentioned above, book the best class seats you can in advance and it is comfortable. The standard class is ok with smaller seats that recline to 104 rather than 180 degrees. That extra 40 degrees and an wider seat mak a huge difference.

If you are happy with the cost of the flight and the dates work then why not. I have yet to fly within Argentina so have no experience but many people we met on our travels spoke of delays and cancellations. Whereas we took maybe 15 -20 buses and only one departed or arrived late ( bizarrely that was from PM to San Rafael.

I may be wrong, but, if you did rent a car, I can't imagine that there would be much to look at between the two places, although a car may be handy to get around PM/. PV rather than get a tours.

Great advice above from the legendary crellston!

However, his "San Martinez" has me a little puzzled. He most likely means San Martin de los Andes and will blame his fancy computer for the mistake. LOL!!!!

Have a great time in our country.

Thanks for all the input! I'm kind of concerned about relying on the flight now, since it only goes once a week, and if it's cancelled, we'd be out of luck. Crellston, can you tell me what overnight bus you took? I'm having trouble finding good options online, and I'm not sure if I'm not searching effectively or if it just isn't listed online.

That LADE flight on Fridays seems to be your best alternative.

Andesmar should be the bus company you want.

We used a company called Mar y Valle. It is a while ago now but from memory, I am pretty sure we booked at the bus station. Not sure if they have an online capability.

Don Otto, the parent company of Via Bariloche, also operate from PM.

Also, have you seen this http://www.fodors.com/world/south-am...nd-around.html

Re: crowds in Bariloche. I was there the last week in November 2012 (see my TR - http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-patagonia.cfm ), and it was very crowded. Apparently there was a new holiday that weekend (no-one could tell me what it was for). At the very least book your accommodation ahead of time and avoid the weekend if possible.

We split our time between Bariloche and Villa La Angostura. My recommendation for Bariloche would be to not stay in the town itself.

Villa La Angostura is stunning and there are many places to stay with amazing views. We stayed at La Posada Hosteria and Spa and I just couldn't get enough of the views! It's not as new as some of the other places in the area, but was wonderful, but it's really important to stay in a room that faces the lake.

In Bariloche, we stayed at Los Juncos and if you are up for "bohemian chic" it is definitely a delightful place to stay.

I can't quite remember how far VLA was from Bariloche, but if you only want one place to stay, personally, I'd pick VLA because the variety of places to stay on the lake facing the mountains is greater IIRC than in Bariloche.

we were there about six years ago, I believe, and it was between Christmas and New Year's.

Not crowded.

Include the NW of Argentina, You will never regret!
Salta and Jujuy are very pretty provinces.
Flintstones