Please Critique 3 Wk Itinerary & Provide Feedback
 

Hello!

My husband and I are heading to Argentina on December 27, 2009 for our honeymoon. We’ll be there for three weeks. We’ve been having some difficulty with our itinerary! (by “some” I mean a lot!).

Would you kindly critique my itinerary? Am I spending too much/little time in any place? Is there a particular order that I should be visiting places in (I’ve noticed that plane transportation is a bit of a pain since most planes go through BA – is there an order that makes it easier)?

Here’s what we’ve got:

B.A. – 7 nights/days (with day trip to Tigre Delta & Colonia Del Sacramento)
Mendoza – 4 nights/days
Salta/Cafayate/Jujuy – 4 nights/days
Iguazu – 2 nights/days (or should we make it 3 nights/days and do a tour of the jungle)
El Calafate – 2 nights/days (or should we make it 3 nights/days?)

Also, I was wondering whether the trip to El Calafate is worth the time and $$ spent getting there? Or, should we add more days elsewhere and save it for another trip?

Any help you could provide me would be greatly appreciated.

At that time of the year, unless you don't mind rather warm weather, I would favor touring by car various areas of our South, instead of Mendoza, our NW and Iguazú.

Have a wonderful honeymoon in our country.

Hi,

I did a very similar trip (except for Mendoza). I don't think the order matters-do what makes the most sense for air connections. I found that the hardest part to plan, and we ended up spending an extra overnight in Buenos Aires due to connections (i.e. we arrived from US, 2 nights BA, then Iguazu & Salta, then back to BA for 2 nights, then to Calafate, & back to BA for 2 nights then home). I think you can go from Iguazu to Salta (or the reverse) w/o an overnight, but I'm just guessing the connections still work.

I think two nights in Iguazu is fine. That's what we did, and we had time for a jungle tour plus a hike besides seeing the falls. We did not go to the Brazilian side. I don't think it would be wrong to add a day if you have the time, as you could then go to Brazil.

We spent three nights, two full days at Calafate, and thought that was just right. You don't need longer unless you plan to go to Fitz Roy/El Chalten. Don't miss the mini-trekking. Is it worth the time and $$? I think so, as the glacier is very impressive. If you've been up close to other glaciers, maybe not, but it is much cleaner than any I've seen anywhere else. However, if you asked about Torres del Paine vs. El Calafate, I'd say TdP was more spectacular and better for wildlife.

I think you are shortchanging Salta and the northwest. I don't know what your interests are, but I might consider eliminating Mendoza, and spending more time in the Northwest. We spent 8 nights there. I think 4 nights is really cutting it short, and you probably won't have time to see the salt flats which were the highlights. So my personal advice would be to add at least a day, and preferably 2 or 3 to your time in the northwest.

Also, I thought the trip to Colonia was a waste of time. I know some people like it, but I thought it wasn't worth the time (the boat, customs, etc.) and cost, especially if you've been to any other Latin American colonial towns. So I'd eliminate a day from Buenos Aires for that and add it somewhere else. Didn't do the trip to Tigre.

Best of luck, and congratulations on your marriage.

Tigre is a wonderful experience indeed, a town built on the banks along a river. I've been there three times-- each time with a variance of activities in which I participated. ...plan to go again if I find myself on my mentally-planned trip to this point--in 2010.

We just got back from Argentina. Here are a couple comments.

Mendoza was enjoyable if you are into wines/wineries. We enjoyed the area quite a bit as we also did some horseback riding and were able to chat quite a bit with the locals and have a great asado lunch. I guess it's what you put into it.

I agree that Colonia was not very eventful. Charming town but it was a whole day and there was not enough to keep us occupied.

Have a wonderful honeymoon!

take one more day for the nw and you will not regret. I think you will enjoy this area a lot. It is warm, but not warmer than BA... so you made a great choice.
Flintstones

Thank you for your input!

A few more questions, if you don't mind!

(a) What's the Northwest like during rainy season? I only recently found out that January is the rainiest month. I'm a bit concerned about being stuck indoors and/or having difficulty driving around from point A to point B.

(b) If we were to spend 3 nights in Iguazu, would that be too much?

(c) Would you go to El Calafate and not go to Mt. Fitz Roy? Or, is Mt. Fitz Roy a must?

(d) If you had to chose between Northwest or the Glaciers, which would you chose? I'm just concerned about including too much. Mind you, I'm also concerned about 'wasting' too much time in one place.

I agree with suggestion to add more time to NW. I would cut out Mendoza and spend that entire time in the NW. Note: I have not been to Mendoza, but I do think the NW is worth a week. Can't help you with the rain question, but I would imagine that the only impact would be not being able to do the road that passes through Cachi because it is unpaved most of the way. I think your idea to add a day to the other stops is also a good one -- simply because you are doing so much flying around, that you might want to add in time in case of delays, to have down time, and to have the opportunity to do more in those places if you want. I haven't been to Iguazu, but if I were to go, I actually would want to have more time to explore more. From what I've read, you can do it with just two nights and see the falls, but it's up to you to decide how much more exploring you want to do.

I strongly recommend more time in the NW. We spent 3 months in Argentina last year and the NW was the highlight of our time in South America - rent car and spend a week there - you won't regret it. Not sure about the rain as we were there in November (didn't see a drop!) maybe

2 nights is enough for Iguazu - try and make it to The Brazilian side if you can (beware the visa fee).

We were less impressed with Mendoza than many seem to be, but a must if you are into wine, food etc.

My one big regret is that we didn't make it to El Calafate - I would suggest 3 days.

Some photos and more detail of our time there can be found on our bloghttp://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/candcthai/1/tpod.html