nish1287

Hi everyone,

I would really appreciate some thoughts/advice'/recommendations please for a 2 month itinerary as outlined below, leaving in 10 days from Australia!

It's based on tips from forum posts and friend's who have been, and I'm trying to keep a balance between over planning and just seeing how things go on the trip!

My main questions are:
1) Is it too tight to fit in the Pantanal? I might leave this out!
2) Have I packed in too much overall? If so, what can be left out?!

I have a bit of research to do with regards to travelling between places, so please excuse my naivety if some things seems absurd.

Thanks in advance for anyone taking the time to help, I really appreciate it!!!!


May
26 Brazil Rio
27 Brazil Rio
28 Brazil Rio
29 Brazil Rio
30 Brazil Ilha Grandi
31 Brazil Ilha Grandi
June Brazil Paraty
1 Brazil Paraty
2 Brazil ?Pantanal (base Cuiaba)
3 Brazil ?Pantanal
4 Brazil ?Pantanal
5 Brazil Sao Paulo
6 Brazil Sao Paulo
7 Brazil Florionopalis
8 Brazil Florionopalis
9 Brazil Florionopalis

10 Argentina Travel time
11 Argentina Iguazu falls
12 Argentina Iguazu falls
13 Argentina Buenos Aires
14 Argentina Buenos Aires
15 Argentina Buenos Aires
16 Argentina Mendoza
17 Argentina Mendoza
18 Argentina Bariloche
19 Argentina Bariloche
20 Argentina Salta

21 Bolivia travel to Tupiza
22 Bolivia Tupiza
23 Bolivia Salt flats
24 Bolivia Salt flats
25 Bolivia Salt flats
26 Bolivia Potosi
27 Bolivia Potosi
28 Bolivia Sucre
29 Bolivia Sucre
30 Bolivia La Paz
July Bolivia La Paz
1 Bolivia La Paz
2 Bolivia Rurrenbaque
3 Bolivia Rurrenbaque
4 Bolivia Rurrenbaque
5 Bolivia Rurrenbaque
6 Bolivia Rurrenbaque

7 Peru Lake titicaca
8 Peru Lake titicaca
9 Peru Lake titicaca
10 Peru Isla del Sol
11 Peru Cuzco
12 Peru Cuzco
13 Peru Cuzco
14 Peru Sacred Valley
15 Peru Inca Trail
16 Peru Inca Trail
17 Peru Inca Trail
18 Peru Inca Trail
19 Peru Cuzco
20 Peru Arequipa, colca canyon
21 Peru Arequipa, colca canyon
22 Peru Arequipa, colca canyon
23 Peru Nazcar lines
24 Peru Lima, fly home

crellston

Looks pretty good I can't comment on Brazil as I have only visited briefly from Iguazu. As far as the rest is concerned, I have a few comments:

1. I would cut the days in Mendoza and Bariloche in favour of Salta and the North West of Argentina.
2. Definitely better to do the Uyuni tour from Tupiza - the town and environs are also worth a day or two. It will take a day to travel between Salta and Tupiza via El Quiaca. I would recommend Tupiza Tours.
3. It might be easier to go back yo Tupiz and go to Potosi direct from there rather than from Uyuni
4. 6-7 July - how do you plan on getting from Rurreanbaque to Titicaca? Pretty sure you wil need to go back to La Paz but I could be wrong!
5. Isla del Sol is in Bolivia not Peru side and is visited from Copacabana. Isla del Dol is worth a half day but I would stay in Copa for a couple of night. You would then need to get over to Puno to get the bus to Cusco. I would definitely consider getting the Inka. Express tour bus or similar from Puno to Cusco as it is a spectacular trip ( plus the overnight bus was hell!)

Overall I think you have a pretty good, balances trip planned but I would not add in too many other destinations. We found that on longer trips it is nice to have an outline plan to fit in all you want to see but keep things flexible and change plans if need be. You seem to have enough spare time built in to cope with unforeseen events (e.g. Road blocks in Bolivia and Peru.

For some more info on how we went about travelling a similar route last year see our blog

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blo...ai/6/tpod.html

flintstones

I think only one day for Salta is nothing! and I also wish to travel as fast as your itinerary goes. I think I woudl better take a toru to Uyuni instead of two nights in Tupiza...
Just an idea.
Flintstones.

merryweather

Hey man!
I'm making a similar itinerary and here are some things I can suggest from my own research.
It looks pretty great.. but there are a few spots you might need more time for.
Are you flying Iguacu to BA? If so you're fine, but if you're taking a bus you'll probably have to add a day for transport. Same with BA to Mendoza.
I think the tours from Tupiza are 4 days if you want to return to Tupiza at the end... but i could be wrong!

1 day in Salta won't be worth it.. so unless you are just in transit I'd add more days there. Seems like the attraction of Salta isn't just the city of Salta but nearby cities as well.

It's hard to cut anything from that itinerary... everyone enjoys different things. But I'd consider cutting out Mendoza or Bariloche... I've heard that Salta is much more worth your time, especially during SA winter. You could also cut down on Rurrenbaque IF you need to save time....

Take everything I've said with a huge grain of salt because I've never been. This is just based on what I've read so far!

Cheers! Maybe we'll cross paths this summer

merryweather

Sorry, my bad, if you're not planning on flying to Rurrenbaque and back then you probably can't afford to cut any days from it. Bus both ways is something like 18 hours....?

posty

Looks pretty solid. I'd hate to say it as I loved Bariloche more than any place I went in South America, but it will be winter there and might be worth just heading north from BA to Salta region and then crossing into Bolivia. Going to Bariloche and Mendoza and then to Salta is a LOT of ground to cover in such a short period and won't be that much fun in the winter.

nish1287

wow, thank you everyone! I cant explain how grateful I am for these tips. Its so hard to know how to do things! Really appreciate it!

Considering whether to cut out the Pantanal altogether! any thoughts?!!

nish1287

thanks merryweather too! Your itinerary looks more well thought out then ours! when do you leave?

mlgb

It isn't difficult to get from Uyuni to Potosi, there are direct buses. If you are late getting back to Uyuni, which is possible if you have any kind of car trouble, I would suggest spending the night and leaving in the morning. Although I believe the road is now paved, it goes over a high pass with sometimes bad weather (we had hail and rain in November). And the scenery is quite good. Unless you wanted to do the mine tour, Potosi just needs the one night to see the Moneda. So whether you spend a night in Uyuni or Potosi doesn't matter too much in my opinion. I stayed near the colonial center of town with a view of the Cerro Rica. The center is attractive (the bus station is in the outskirts). Sucre is a white city which many backpackers enjoy both for the better weather and lots of bars and cheap places to stay. I enjoyed the food at the market stalls (upstairs for lunch) and took the Sunday trip to Tarabuco which was interesting. If you can manage to time it for Sunday that is a bonus. Don't waste time or expense on going in to the dinosaur park. There may be better places to see dino tracks, or you can see the tracks at the dino park just as well from the parking lot as inside the tourist attraction. There are also some good ethnographic museums both in Sucre as well as in La Paz.

BTW if you like cities, you will like La Paz.

If you click my name there are a few trip reports.

Have fun!

mlgb

Oh, I just noticed the last day.

Do not try to get back from Nazca to Lima the same day you fly home.

Go back at least one night, preferably a few, before you fly home. You might even want to add in an overnight in Paracas, see the Ballestas Islands (cheap boat tour in the morning, take the bus in the afternoon to Lima the night before you fly home).
Stay in Barranco.

nish1287

great, thank you so much!!! will definitely change this now.
Does anyone have any experience of both pantanal and rurrenbaque? we think doing both might be too tight and expensive, but don't know how to choose...

crellston

I know nothing of pantanal but did spend some time in Rurrenbaque and really enjoyed it. Not how I a imagined teh Amazon basin to be e.g. Gigantic, wide rivers etc, but still a great experience. If the pantanal is pampas as opposed to jungle, then that can also be accessed from Rurre.

After a lot of research, I found Madidi to be much more affordable that other jungle experiences we looked at in Ecuador and Peru.

mariopjckmen

Very Nice. Try and succeed and enjoy your stay.