lambada

Thinking of spending around 4 weeks in Argentina from mid-November to mid-December. I came up with the below draft itinerary after many hours of research. Before spending yet more time fine-tuning it, I thought I'd seek opinions as to whether it's doable on my budget and suited to my interests. I'll have 3700 Euros to spend after international flights. I have no problem booking flights/buses/accommodation in advance to save money. I'd like to stay in private rooms (shared bathrooms for some of the time are ok), no overnight buses and no more than 3 bus journeys exceeding 8 hours. I do understand that this means I'll have to take several domestic flights. I have no problem renting a car for a few days, but very much doubt it's affordable on my budget.

The main reason I picked Argentina is Patagonia so I wouldn't mind dropping Salta, Mendoza and, to a lesser extent, Iguazu if necessary due to budget constraints. I've excluded the Chilean side of Patagonia solely for cost reasons. I'm mostly interested in hiking, scenery, discovering cities, and cycling. Not into wine tasting, rock climbing, rafting or horse-riding. I'm M/42 and rather fit. Thanks!

Would greatly appreciate your opinions on the adequacy of my budget and suitability of the draft itinerary.

Draft itinerary

Location | Days

Buenos Aires - 5

Iguazu - 3

El Calafate - 2

El Chalten - 3

Bariloche - 4

Ushuaia - 3

Mendoza - 3

Salta region - 5

Total - 28

crellston

You need a proper analysis of your costs of travel. No one else can do this for you. Air fare alone could eat into that budget quite significantly (but I could be wrong)I would start by using google flights to ascertain the cost of the flights you will need. Once you have done that I would use booking.com or similar for accommodation costs. After that you will be left with residual figure from which you will need to pay for food, guides, tours, taxis etc.

Do bear in mind that the more locations you include, the more expensive the daily cost will be simply because a higher proportion of your cash will be spent on travel.

You seem set against overnight bus travel for some reason but do bear in mind that this can save a lot of usable time and save money on accommodations. We have spent many months travelling the country and rarely used flights. When we did there was usually a problem due to delays, cancellations etc. something Argentina is renowned for.

It is a good time of year for Patagonia so I understand your focus on that region though I do suspect it will be more expensive down there than in other parts.

BA is a must as you will be flying in there anyway. Iguazu is rightly thought of as one of the natural wonders of the world (dont drop it!0. Salta I love and have spent many happy hours driving through the region exploring the amazing scenery - a few photos on our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/categor...ica/argentina/

Mendoza did not inspire me so I would possibly leave that out.

We only made it as far as Bariloche in Patagonia before heading east to Peninsula Valdez to see the whales. Long been on my wish list to travel down toUshuaia.

Once you have had a look at flights you may need to work on the order of your itinerary.

lambada

Thanks for the feedback, crellston. I've gone ahead and booked flights to Argentina. I've prepared the below itinerary based on research and also your advice. Would welcome feedback (from you and others) and answers to these questions:1. Am I visiting places in the right sequence?
2. Should I drop anywhere (e.g. El Calafate or El Bolson) to allocate the time to somewhere else (e.g. BA or El Chalten or Ushuaia)?
3. Would the Salta region be easier to explore by bus than the Jujuy region?
4. Are there any websites that I can use to verify that there are indeed buses covering the journeys mentioned in the itinerary?

Date | Itinerary
Wed 15th November - Land @ Buenos Aires Airport @ 08:40
Thu 16th November - Buenos Aires
Fri 17th November - Buenos Aires
Sat 18th November - Buenos Aires > Iguazu. Flight @ 18:45, arriving @ 20:35
Sun 19th November - Iguazu
Mon 20th November - Iguazu
Tue 21st November - Iguazu > Jujuy Region. Flight @ 14:30, arriving @ 16:30
Wed 22nd November - Jujuy Region
Thu 23rd November - Jujuy Region
Fri 24th November - Jujuy Region
Sat 25th November - Jujuy Region
Sun 26th November Jujuy Region > El Calafate. Flight @ 10:50, arriving @ 18:30
Mon 27th November - El Calafate
Tue 28th November - El Calafate > El Chalten. Morning bus
Wed 29th November - El Chalten
Thu 30th November - El Chalten
Fri 1st December - El Chalten > El Calafate > Bariloche. Flight from El Calafate @ 17:20, arriving @ 23:50
Sat 2nd December Bariloche
Sun 3rd December - Bariloche
Mon 4th December - Bariloche
Tue 5th December - Bariloche > El Bolson. Morning bus
Wed 6th December - El Bolson
Thu 7th December - El Bolson
Fri 8th December - El Bolson > Bariloche > San Martin de Los Andes. Morning & afternoon buses
Sat 9th December - San Martin de Los Andes
Sun 10th December - San Martin de Los Andes
Mon 11th December - San Martin de Los Andes > Bariloche > Buenos Aires. Flight from Bariloche @ 15:52, arriving @ 17:59
Tue 12th December - Buenos Aires
Wed 13th December - Return flight home from Buenos Aires @ 13:45

Thanks!