My fiancé and I are going to spend 4 weeks in South America for our honeymoon. We plan on spending 3 weeks in Argentina and a week somewhere else being beach bums (we haven’t determined where). I’ve created a rough itinerary but I’m having troubles sorting out what else to do (I know there’s lots to do – problem is trying to eliminate choices) and figuring out if I’m spending too much/little time at each of the places. These are the places we’ve figured we definitely want to go to and I’ve stated the amount of time that we think we’re going to stay there for (subject to your helpful suggestions!)

> Buenos Aires – 7 nights
> Iguazu – 2 nights (I know Iguazu can be one night instead of two – I’m just worried about missing a day due to a flight being really delayed (which I’ve heard is common).
> Mendoza – 3 or 4 nights

* Note this isn’t the order that I’m necessarily going to do the trip in (I am finding transportation to be a pain in the bu*t, mind you, since most flights take us back to BA and end up being long and buses are sometimes wayyyyy to long).

That leaves us with 8 or 9 more days (or more/less depending on how we tweak our itinerary). Among the places that I’m thinking of are (NOTE I’m trying to decide between them – not planning on visiting all of them):
- Bariloche for some outdoor hikes and fun (not sure how many days)
- El Calafate for glaciers (again, not sure how much time)
- The Northwest – Salta and environs (again, not sure how much time)
- Corboda might be a good stopping point if we take the bus from Mendoza to the Northwest – I don’t know very much about it and if I should visit.

I’ve scratched Peninsula Valdes off the list – the whales interest me the most of all the wild life and they don’t tend to come around after mid-December. I’ve also scratched Ushaia off the list – far to far and takes us way off track.

My time in BA is not changing. We’ve booked our accommodations there. IF it’s too long there, we’ll do a day trip to the Tigre Delta and/or Uruguay. My fiancé and I love cities (as well as nature), great food, culture and shopping (!) so I think it’ll be the right amount of time for us.

Can you help me figure out if I’m spending the right amount of time in places and what I should do with my extra week and a half? While we love the city, we do love the outdoors as well. We want beautiful scenery, some culture, great food, good atmosphere. I want to cover enough but don’t want to feel like I’m on an episode of the amazing race.

Any help you could give me would be appreciated!

Thanks!

10 days is not a lot of time for me probably

Bariloche and/or Mendosa

Glaciers might be a tad chilly for beach bums

depending on time of year of course.

Brazil best for SA beaches around Natal my fav.

Have fun,

Firstly, congratulations!

My vote would be for the Northwest. The scenery is spectacular and there are loads of really nice places to stay. The best way to visit is to rent a car and drive around the region. We spent a week doing this plus some downtime in Salta and loved it.

We got the bus from Mendoza to Salta and yes, it is a long time, but the buses are very comfortable with flat beds (book the full cama service) and run overnight so the time flies. Plus you save on a nights accomodation. As quovadia says, Brazil is probably best for beach time.

We spent a 3 months in Argentina last year and one of my big regrets ii not going to El Calafate to see the glaciers. We did look into it but the airfares were horrendous. As for time we did look at some 3day/2 night packages from BA.
The other place worth a visit from BA maybe for a day trip or overnight is Colonia in Uruguay- very picturesque with some amazing restaurants.
Punta del Este in Uruaguay could also be an option for beach time (although it is v. expensive.
Here is a link to our blog with some photos
Entries 82 onwards cover Argentina. Have fun, its an amzing country

Oops - forgot the link

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...5860/tpod.html

Hello all,

First off, thank you for the helpful information!! I greatly appreciate it.

Just to clarify (because I re read my post and it is confusing), we will be spending 4 weeks on our honeymoon - 3 of the four weeks will be Argentina and 1 week will be outside of Argentina for a beach (we're thinking Brazil or Chile)

qwovadis - if we went to Bariloche, how much time do you think we'd need there? btw, you can be a beach bum and like glaciers too!!

crellston - same question for you but with respect to the northwest!

Thank you again!

Just one more thing - we're going to be there late december to late Jan

6-7 days in the NW would be perfect. This would allow time for a driving circuit of the area without rushing - Purmamaca, Humhuaca, Cachi, Salineras Grande, Cafayate etc. plus a night in Salta at either end for organisation/connections etc. and of course the town itself.