julelev

Hi. we are traveling to Argentina for 10 days in February. My bf has already done Iguazu, which is why we arent going there. We love wine so want to visit Mendoza..also the glaciers sound amazing, as does the lake district. Im debating if this is too much travel or if this is feasible?
day 1: arrive Mendoza.
day 2 Mendoza - wineries
day 3 Mendoza - wineries or rafting/etc.
day 4: fly to Calafate. Sleep in Calafate
day 5 Perito Moreno Big Ice tour
day 6 horseback riding or glaciar boat...flight will leave at 630pm for Bariloche so not sure if we will have time for full day excursion. Fly to Bariloche.
day 7: bariloche/lake area..not sure where yet
day 8 lake area...take late flight (8pm or 9pm to BA). Sleep in BA
day 9 Buenos Aires
day 10 Buenos Aires and 10pm flight home to NY

owlwoman

Sounds good to me, we did a similar trip w/14 days.

As there's a flight between Calafate/Bariloche, it makes it much easier. The glacier boat tour gets back early p.m., so you might be ok with a 6:30 flight....I think we took the 3:30 flight to Bariloche and basically just relaxed in Calafate for the day, did last minute shopping, etc. We live in NY too, so only spend time in BA to shop, I like the city a lot, my DH is more of a country person.

julelev

thanks owlwoman for the reply.

Now we are thinking of changing the itinerary bc we were able to secure a night to stay at Estancia Cristina...do you have any thoughts about if this is worth it? we would need 4 nights then in Calafate to accomodate the boat schedule and have time for the big ice tour on Perito Moreno.

Are we crazy to skip the lake district? Just worried it will be too much running around and one of our days in Mendoza will be a Sunday and im trying to find out if wineries are even open. If not, i'm thinking of adding another day there to have 2 days of wine visits.

We are planning on staying at Finca Adalgisa and maybe booking one night at La Posada (at Carlos Pulenta)..seems pretty cool but not sure if its worth it to do two hotels

thanks!

owlwoman

We were in Calafate back in March, we stayed in town, but passed the Estancia on the way to the Perito Moreno, I've heard good things, but we preferred to stay in town where we'd have more access to shops/restaurants. We found three nights with two full days to be enough in Calafate, once you see the glaciers, I didn't think there was much else.

We stayed at Finca Adalgisa when we visited Mendoza, loved the place. It's also close to a town with some good restaurants. Have not heard of La Posada, so cannot help you there. We also found one day of wine tasting was enough, but that's just us. The wineries are pretty far apart, we visited three in one day with a really long fabulous lunch at Altos (If my memory serves me right).

I don't think you're crazy to skip the Lake District, it is very pretty (think Switzerland), but I think you're travelling with a child, right, so it might be too much moving around. In that case, the split of Calafate/Mendoza sounds good.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

owlwoman

Oops, never mind, that's the other Julie that's travelling with the child, sorry.

HappyTrvlr

The lake district is nice, pretty but not spectacular like Switzerland.It is a pretty arid area too. Go another time when you have more days.

sandiej

We were in Mendoza in October. I would stay in Mendoza. There are some amazing restaurants and to visit the wineries you either need to rent a car or have a private tour. If you rent the car you can drive on Sunday to the Chilean border. I am sure the snow will be gone in February, but it will be an amazing drive. You could stop overnight in Upsallata. Or go to the park in Mendoza on Sunday. Doing more than two areas is a bit much. Besides Mendoza we went to Iguzau. Last year we went for Ushuia. I wanted to go to El Calafate this year, but 3 plane trips is a bit much. I would opt for Mendoza and El Calafate.

julelev

thanks everyone. we decided to do just el calafate, mendoza and BA for this trip.