My husband and I have an open slot of time this year scheduled Nov 24, 2015 to Jan 5, 2016 (give to take a few days). We have never been to South America and I have been reading these Foder's Forums as well as numerous travel blogs to get ideas over the last 2 years. My notebook is full of notes, do's and don'ts, safety, other peoples itineraries and travel stores etc... I also have the Lonely Planet Guidebook for Argentina and Colombia. I would like to spend 4 weeks in Argentina and 2 weeks either in Peru or Colombia. Our interests are food (we're big foodies), hiking (but we're not hard-core hikers), culture, museums, outdoor activities, food markets. Being that it's December, I don't want to miss experiencing Pantagonia.

Who are we and what do we want to do/see/experience?
We are seasoned travelers and have mostly traveled in Europe and SE Asia. We will travel from USA to BsAs and possibly return to USA via Peru or Colombia. I know we could spend all 6 weeks in Argentina as well, but I would like to get in another country as I'm not sure when we'll return. Obviously the cost to fly to either Peru or Colombia will add up...as once we're in either country we'll be probably doing internal flights as well. i.e Lima-Cusco RT. Colombia - Bogota-Medellin-Cartegena.

We usually travel slow, but I want to see as much as I can without changing locations/hotels every 3 days. I do understand Argentina is big and distances are long. Bus rides over 7 hours probably won't go over with my husband. I only have about 3 weeks planned so far.

Rough Itinerary:
Nov 24-Dec 2 - Buenos Aires
Dec 3-5 - Iguazu Falls - undecided on this. I got a quote from a travel agent for $510/PP USD. Can I do this cheaper on my own?
3-4 days - Fly Buenos Aires to El Calafate
7 days - Bus to El Chalten. Hike based on our level.

Here is where I am puzzled as to where we should go next....
1. From El Chalten, should we return to BsAs so it's easier to fly to Lima or Bogota or we could head north to Salta or Bariloche and spend 1 week. From either place, then fly to Lima or Bogota?

2. How far in advance should I book internal flights? i.e. Buenos Aires to El Calafete? I assume the further out the better the price?

3. Is 7 days too much in El Chalten? I'm not sure we'll go to Torres del Paine but since we're so close I think we should; however we don't plan on doing continuous days of hiking (the 'W' trek) so not sure going to TdP to just 'see it' is worth it for the time and running around to get there. Thoughts ??

4. Since it's summer in the northern part of Argentine, will Salta may be too hot to enjoy it?

Help! Any ideas or suggestions based on your experiences will help!! Tell me if this is too much for this time period or do-able but just a lot of flight time and with any travel day, it's one more day getting settled.

I have been to ARG and Peru, but not Colombia yet (be there this winter). I think Colombia is too far to combine with ARG. Peru deserves a minimum of 2 weeks. Whichever you fly from in ARG you will most likely have to fly through BA. Have you conisdered Chile as your 2nd country? The food is not great, (but I understand that is the case for Colombia too) but it has a lot to offer.

If you like waterfalls, dont miss Iguazu Falls - they are spectacular. I haven't been for quite a few years, so I dont know prices today.

Are you planning on spending 3-4 days i El Calafate? I think you'd be fine with 3. We missed El Chalten, but I would think a week is more than you need.

I would not miss TdP. Its one of the favorite places I have ever visited. Absolutley gorgeous and some nice hiking which need not be the W or long ones.

We were in NArgentina in Nov time frame and it got a touch hot towards the end, but was fine. Its really nice in the NW. I preferred the NW to Bariloche, but the bus boat trip from Chile to Bariloche was pretty fabulous. You can fly from IF to the NW and that might be a more convenient way to go than from the south.

We like similar things to you and you might pick up some ideas from our Trip reports. I've got different trip reports on the areas you want to go
http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-chile-arg.cfm which includes Santiago, Valparaiso, Chiloe, Chilean Lake District, ARG Lake District, Puerto Montt, Torres del Paine, ElCalafate & BA.

And then our TRs on NW Argentina
http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...of-arg-pt1.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...g-cafayate.cfm

Yestravel,
Thank you for your response! I will look at your trip reports for more ideas. I did consider Chile as it is the most convenient. I am just so stuck on Colombia now based on folks raving about this country as well as trip reports and it would be totally different scenery (more jungle) from Argentina, plus I really want to experience the coffee region. None-the-less, I have to consider the time factor here as well.

I know these 6 weeks especially when we go to Patagonia will be awesome. Based on your tips, I am starting to think that I should possibly go counter-clockwise versus clockwise (ba-iguazo, salta, el calafete, back to ba and fly back to usa) which covers only Argentina then. My plan now is that I am flying in/out of BA if we go to Iguazu as well as returning from El Calefete to make that connection to Peru or Colombia. I guess I want to see it all but I know I cannot in 6 weeks, now do we want to be so worn-out with hopping all over.

Yes, 3 days in El Calefete, mostly to tour the Perito glacier.

And the price for Iguazu was in USD. I forgot to note that.