Three Weeks in Argentina
 

I find these forums so helpful and the people who write on them very helpful. I always come on this forum when planning my trips! To show my gratitude and help others, I've decided to post a trip report. This report is late (!) and I didn't make notes of my trip. However, I have a pretty good memory and lots of pics to remind me when my memory does get fuzzy so I will do my best. Unfortunately, the trip report will come in instalments as my posts are long and wordy (sorry!). However, I'm committed to having it done within the next couple of weeks.

Here are the basics:

WHEN:

We spent three weeks in Argentina - arriving on Dec 27 and departing on January 15.

ABOUT US

This was our honeymoon. While it was our honeymoon, we are not the type to want to sit in secluded restaurants and sit down simply watching the sunset (not that there's anything wrong with that!). We love to travel but we like to do it in a relaxed way. We don't feel the need to play "the amazing race" and see all the sites in a short period of time. We much prefer to spend more time in a place then less time and spend that extra time simply "living" in the city. If we don't get to see the entire country, we have a wonderful excuse to go back :-)

I booked all the flights/accommodations myself with the exception of one flight which was booked by a travel agent in BA.

WHERE

We spent three weeks in Argentina. Our time was divided up as follows:
Buenos Aires - 7 nights
Salta - 2 nights
Cafayate - 2 nights
Salta - 1 night
Iguazu - 2 nights
Mendoza - 4 nights
Buenos Aires - 1 nights

GETTING THERE

We took an American Airlines flight to Miami and a LAN flight from Miami to Buenos Aires. The American Airlines flight was fine except we had the misfortune of flying the same day as the "underwear bomber" incident took place. That meant we had to check all of our luggage, have a full pat down search on boarding, we could not get up during the last hour of the flight (including to go to the washroom) and we could not have anything on our laps during the flight. I understand and appreciate that it was all done for security - it just made for a not so pleasant flight. It would have also been nice to know about this when we were boarding the plane. We were advised at the airport by AA staff that they were on high security but the news hadn't actually broke about the "underwear bomber". I was furiously sending texts to friends and family trying to figure out if there was some news story that would have prompted this. I heard nothing. I then asked the AA staff if the same policies applies to all flights that day. It made me feel better (because I was starting to worry that they knew something about our flight!). There was a one hour delay on the flight because of the manual search of each passenger. Luckily, we did not miss our connecting flight.

We then took a LAN flight to Argentina. We had no issues. It was a pleasant flight. Staff were pleasant. Food was decent (as compared to other airlines). Left exactly on time. I tried to get a bump up to first class by playing the honeymoon card but it didn’t work (the flight was not close to full and so they couldn't justify the bump up).

GETTING AROUND

Flight travel is not cheap in Argentina, but the country is so vast that it's really the most efficient way to travel, unless you want to spend 20 hours on a bus (which we didn't want to do). For that reason, we didn't take buses (with the exception of Salta-Cafayate which is, if I recall correctly, about a 3.5 hour bus ride)

(a) Air Travel

We took LAN from BA to Salta; Iguazu to Mendoza; and Mendoza to BA. We spent more to travel with LAN ($100 in total per person - that's for all flights - not each). However, after reading bad reviews of Aerolines Argentina, I decided it was money well spent as I didn't want to spend hours at an airport because of delayed flights, missing connections or having a flight cancelled. The flights were great. I never had any issues. Every single one of our flights left on time. The staff were pleasant. I note that every time we got to the airport and looked on the departure screen, a good portion of the Aerolineas Argentina flights were delayed and some were cancelled. The extra $100 per person was money well spent :-)

We took Andes Air from Salta to Iguazu. The one annoying thing about air travel is that most flights between cities in Argentina (other than BA), all connect in BA. I didn't want to spend 8 hours flying from Salta to Iguazu and I discovered this flight which was direct and is fabulous. It flies only twice a week - Tuesdays and Fridays - so it requires some coordination. It's a beautiful little secret (I booked it through a travel agent in BA and she didn't even know about it!). The flight was fine. It was on time. No complaints about the flight. My only issue is that booking online in English is next to impossible. You can chose the "English" option on the website but when it comes time to booking, the website is in Spanish. I was able to surmise some of what was on the website but I didn't understand all of it. I tried calling to book a flight on a number of occasions, left a couple of messages and didn't hear from anyone. I then emailed them - nothing. I gave up trying to do it myself. So when we arrived in BA we went to a travel agent on the 2nd or 3rd day and booked it through them. We paid a bit of a premium but not much. Again, I paid it happily to avoid the long connecting flight.

(b) Bus Travel

We took a bus from Salta to Cafayate. We took the El Indio bus from Salta to Cafayate. We bought our tickets a day in advance of the trip so we secured great seats - we sat in the front of the bus that had windows from top to bottom. The bus itself was not fantastic - some of the windows were cracked and there was no AC. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the bus ride and the majestic views that it offered. We planned to take the same bus back. However, that proved to be an ABSOLUTE DISASTER. We got just outside of Cafayate when the bus was stopped by officials. There was a hold up of about 20-30 mins and then someone came on to explain what was going on. I had no idea what was going on because it was all in Spanish (but I did, later, find someone on the bus who spoke some English and was able to describe what happened). Anyway, the bus got turned back. The reason: it's permit had expired the day before and it had not renewed it!!!!! They told us that we could take the seats on the next bus. I note that the earlier bus was completely sold out and so was the next one. That would mean two bus loads of people would be on one bus with no air condition. And that would mean that I'd lose four hours of my time when I was ready to move on. There was another bus company (that looked a lot nicer than El Indio) but it was leaving at about the same time. I went back to our hotel and asked the owner if she could arrange a taxi. She noted that it would be very expensive. It cost us 300 Argentinian Pesos (the equivalent of $80 CDN). I was happy to pay it to leave right away and have a seat. I was NOT happy with El Indio and wouldn't recommend that bus company. Extremely unreliable (having permits is such a basic thing).

(c) Taxis

Taxis: We never rented a car in any of the cities/towns that we were in. I never felt like I got ripped off (we got to know the routes and standard fares pretty well). While we took radio taxis most of the time, we hailed all of them (except for the ones in Iguazu) off the street. This means that there was no record kept of who picked us up! Did it matter? No. Honestly, the drivers we had were incredibly honest. On new years day, we also jumped into a non-radio taxi and the guy was just fine. Taxis are cheap basically everywhere other than Iguazu (in Iguazu, everything seems to be a $25 Cdn taxi ride v. BA where we'd pay $6 CAD for a taxi from one side of the city to the other! We had one bad ride in the northwest that would be considered an ‘adventure’ of sorts – but I’ll get into that later.

BANK MACHINES/ATM CARDS

So, I was a bit freaked out going there because I heard that there was a 300 Pesos limit (and the total service charge would be around $7 dollars with each withdrawal). I used my card at a number of machines and found a bank which offered me $1000 Pesos. Here’s where my memory gets a bit fuzzy – I believe that it was the Balneco machines that I was using to withdrawal 1000 Pesos. Note, that I’m on the ‘Plus’ System. My husband, whose bank card is with the “Cirrus” system could only withdrawal 300 Pesos, regardless of the bank. So, we stuck to using my card so as to not incur ridiculous service charges.

OUR ACCOMMODATIONS

(a) Buenos Aires - Apartment

We decided to stay in an apartment in Recoletta for the first week. We booked in through Buenos Aires Habitat. When I initially tried to book the room, they were slow in responding to me. However, after I followed up and found someone to help me, they were very responsive, professional and easy to deal with. I cannot complain about the company. Regarding the accommodations, I found them to be quite nice. We rented a one bedroom apartment in a very nice building with 24 hour security and a roof top swimming pool. The apartment had it's own laundry facilities and was clean. The location was absolutely fabulous. We paid around 625 US for the week which is far cheaper than the hotels we were finding in the area.

(b) Salta – Hotel Le Candela

I booked this place based on the wonderful reviews it had received on trip advisor. It met all my expectations. It’s about a 5-10 minute walk from the centre of Salta (and the walk to/from is easy and safe). The staff there are wonderful SO incredibly friendly – they always willing to help and always making sure that our stay was great. The hotel is very clean. It has a small swimming pool which we never used (just because we were always around the hotel). The breakfast was a continental style breakfast (it was fine). The breakfast area was nice. We left our luggage there while we went to Cafayate for two days – they took no issue with that. When we returned, our bags were in our room waiting for us!

(c) Cafayate – Killa Hotel

I again booked this place based on the wonderful reviews it had received on trip advisor. It was a good hotel but I didn’t enjoy it as much as Hotel Le Candela for reasons I will get into later. It was a short walk from the centre of Cafayate. The rooms were cute. The breakfasts were, again, continental style (it was fine). The breakfast area was nice. It also has a small swimming pool with a nice courtyard which we sat on and enjoyed some wine. On the downside, our room smelled a bit musty; we were able to figure out why – on one of the nights that we were there, there was a heavy rainstorm and water was coming into the room (not tons of it, but enough). Our supply of bath towels had also not been replenished on the second night. They took our old bath-towels but hadn’t given us new ones. That wasn’t fun  We asked for new bath towels and we didn’t get them. On check out, there was no one there, so we left a key with the note. We then saw the owner, Martha, told her we were checking out and explained our issue with the towels. She was very apologetic about it all (and was quite sincere). We then left, had our fiasco with the bus (as noted above). We went back to the hotel to see if Martha could recommend something. She was so helpful in looking up the other bus company and seeing what our options were. She ultimately arranged for us to get a taxi from Cafayate to Salta. Despite the issues that I faced, I’d still recommend this place (Martha really redeemed herself!).

(d) Iguazu – Iguazu Grand Hotel

We don’t usually splurge on hotels but this was really good value for a 5* hotel. The hotel was beautiful! The staff were very helpful (including with making our daily arrangements for transportation). We ate at the hotels restaurant both nights – our meals were great. The pools and courtyard were great and well maintained. It was a real treat to come back and rest at the hotel after a day in the scorching heat. We had mentioned our honeymoon as we were checking in and when we got to the room, we had a nice bottle of champagne waiting for us in our room. Slippers were provided. It was a real 5* experience. Breakfast was included and was really nice. Lots of options. The dining area was also quite nice. The hotel grounds were quite beautiful.

(e) Mendoza – Villagio hotel

We had a nice stay at the Villagio. The location was great. The hotel and rooms were clean. The breakfast was nice. The staff were friendly and were helpful. Overall, good value for the money.

(f) Buenos Aires – Urban Suites Recolleta

We stayed in this hotel for the last night. The location was great, right across the street from the cemetery in Recoletta. The breakfast was nice. The staff were friendly. The rooms and hotel were clean. My only issue is that it’s right next to a bar that they were doing construction on (when we were there). I could hear the noise when I was there. When the construction wasn’t going on, the bar was and one could hear the music (a little bit). We didn’t spend a lot of time at the hotel, so it didn’t really bother me.

The fun details to follow soon. Stay tuned

Great start to your report-keep it coming. Lots of good detail. I am sure many will be interested in your flight from Salta to Iguazu. Many have enquired about it but few have actually managed to book it!

Thank you for a great report, anid2004!

We look forward to the next chapters.

How soon should we expect you back? To visit our wonderful South, perhaps?

Thanks for the report. I'm looking forward to reading more as I am currently planning our trip for Jan/Feb 2011.

Great report, Thanks!
You still ahve tyo se Purmamarca and the northern circuit!!!!
Flintstones

Great report so far. And I agree about the expense and inconvenience of flights within Argentina. That would be my only complaint about travel there.

Great report !
Most of the banks have been giving out more than 300 pesos for a while now, I am sorry you got outdated advice, but glad you had no banking problems!
I am relieved to hear that the stay at the Urban was not a total disaster with the noise. We could hear that clubs noise on the street a block away , in the middle of the night : - (
( There are new owners now of the Urban btw)
I am so happy that you had a memorable (happy) honeymoon .. now you can plan to do this on your anniversaries !
<I>Yes, thank you, I do have a lot of good ideas lol

Thanks, everyone!

I'm working on a report of my first week - it's coming together ... albeit slower than I wanted to.

Just wanted to clarify. I have a correction - I was only able to use my Plus card at Banco National banks. The other banks would only give me 300. It looks based on Scarlett's post that most of that has changed.

Crelston - even after I booked it, I still doubted whether or not I was booked because I found booking such a challenge!! (and yes, I'm paranoid!). But I went into their office in Salta and one of the very helpful people working there looked up my last name and confirmed that all was well!

Avrooster - the south is definitely on the agenda!

Finstones - I did see Purmamarca and did a tour through the Andes, saw the Salinas Grand etc!

Scarlett - had I known that there was a club next door, I probably would have stayed elsewhere. But I did't find it so bad (perhaps because I can sleep through anything!). Maybe it would have been more annoying if I was there for longer than a night.

This blog has been so very helpful! My fiance and I are going to Argentina for our honeymoon in January 2011. We are planning a very similar trip but instead of the Northwest, we are going to focus that time in Patagonia (still not sure exactly which part). Anyway, keep the good info coming! Thanks!

We are planning a trip to BA and Iguazu Falls next April. It's all rather daunting owing to the time it will take getting there and the vastness of the country. What to see???? Where to go??? This report is very helpful. Could you supply the name of the apt you rented through Habitat in the Recoleta please. The only thing we know at this point is that the Recoleta will definitely be our location for 1 week.
Thanks and keep it coming.

Loving this report.

Still waiting for more.....will that happen? You've left us 'hanging' Anid2004

Nice report,still waiting for any other will that happen?

Sorry, I've been completely delinquent. Was so busy with life...and then took another lovely trip and spent a lot of time on this forum researching that. I also get caught up in details and trying to include as much as possible. That being said, I've completed my first few days and will post those a little later this evening.

Minx, this is the apartment that we stayed in: http://www.buenosaireshabitat.com/apartment_n354.html

Ok. Here are my first two days. Maybe I should make them less detailed and that way it won't take me so long!!

DAY 1: BUENOS AIRES
We arrived on an early flight to Argentina. We got a cab from the airport. There’s a stand that you go to. You pay them there and it’s according to what zone you’re going to.
- we checked in (without difficultly) put our bags down, refreshed a bit and headed out!
- had a coffee and sandwhiches at La Biela in Recoleta. The staff there was pleasant. The patio there was quite nice and we just sat out enjoying the sunshine and planning our next destination. We decided to hit San Telmo as it was sunday and they were hosting their weekly antique fair
­- San Temlo Antique Fair: we went to Plaza Dorrengo to go to the antiques fair. People were selling all sorts of trinkets from the interesting and pretty to the quirky and weird! We admired the sort of bohemian nature of San Telmo and walked along the neighbouring streets. We sat down to enjoy a drink on a patio (the name of the place escapes me) before walking along Calle Defensa. There were TONS and I mean TONS of people. The street was completely jammed. We wandered along Calle Defensa for some time, and unknowingly (as we weren't following a map) headed to Plaza De Mayo! We didn't intend on covering plaza de mayo on the first day, but since we were there already we though, why not!
- Plaza de Mayo: the political and historic centre of the city. We saw various sites there including but not limited to Casa Rosada, Metropolitan Cathedral, Cabidilo.
- We then walked to Cafe Tortoni for a cafe con leche and a pre-dinner snack. There was a long line to get in, but we toughed it out and went inside. It was quite neat inside - i felt like w were in a bit of a time warp as the cafe looked very old in a very beautiful way. We enjoyed our coffee and snacks before heading for a siesta after a day full of tons of walking and exploring. We ended up covering WAY more ground than we intended to - mostly by accident as we had stumbled upon Plaza De Mayo by simply just continuing to walk from San Telmo.
- we continued walking. Saw the Palacio De Congresso.
- We had an opportunity to walk down the Avenida de Mayo with more lanes of traffic then I've ever seen.
- We adjusted to ARgentinian life very quickly, eating at hours that are ridiculously late by North American standards. Our first dinner was at Campo Bravo: This place was great! We came here twice on our trip once on our first day and the second time on new year's eve (there wasn't a ton going on that night that we knew of - see comments below). They've got a big beautiful patio (and we love to dine outdoors). They dont take reservations and the wait is long. We waited quite a while and got there at 11 (it was a Sunday night). However, they give you a complimentary glass of champagne to enjoy as you're waiting. It definitely makes the time go by faster!! We ordered a couple of appetizers was. One of them was blood sausage (which was DELICIOUS). The second was also a sausage but I cant remember what kind (it was also great ). My husband ordered side ribs (tire de asado – if I recall correctly) and I ordered bife de choriza. The portions were generous and the prices affordable (my steak which was huge was the equivalent of $8). The meal was delicious. The service was fantastic. Would definitely recommend this place.
We then hit a bar in the area (can’t remember the name ... it was just down the street from Campo Bravo), had a couple of beverages before heading home and going to sleep after a long but enjoyable day.

DAY 2: BUENOS AIRES

We went for a coffee in Recoletta. We liked this little place that was by our hotel and went there daily for a cafe con leche and two small croisants. It’s not upscale like Biela. It does however have nice coffee, pleasant staff, a small patio to the side and at the front. I wish I could remember the name but it’s on Quintana as you’re walking toward the cemetary (left hand side of Quintana). We then started a daily routine of going to this place.
We decided to spend the day in Recoletta. We started with the Recoletta Cemetary which has enormous and ornate mosoleums of the Argentinian rich and famous. We walked around admiring the various mosoleums. In particular, we, like every other tourist, saw Evita's mosoleum!
After we were done walking the cemetary we had lunch at Rodi Bar. I had steak and eggs with fries which was great. I also had a glass of wine. I think my portion of it was about $7. The place was packed even though we had a late lunch (even by Argentinian standards). The waiter was pleasant and the food was good.
We then walked around Recoletta, admiring the beautiful tree-lined streets, nice architecture and occassionally popping into the various stores in the area (many of which we couldn’t afford!).
We then went to Plaza San Martin, a big beuatiful park in Retiro. We walked around the neighbourhood. Saw the Malvinas Islands war memorial (we walked in part way of a tour that we listened in on!), the British Clock Tower and the General Martin monument.
After a siesta, it was time for dinner.
We went for dinner at Juana M in Recoletta. It had a very cool industrial-modern vibe. My husband ordered a cut of steak (dont remember which). He throughly enjoyed it. I ordered sweet breads. I enjoyed my sweet breads but I enjoyed my husband's steak more. The sweet breads were fried - not the way that I normally eat them. Nevertheless, they still tasted great. There is a free salad bar that's included and we enjoyed that as well. We were so beef crazy on the trip, that sometimes we forgot about the importance of veggies! *blush*

More to follow...I promise (though it will be less detailed...which will be great for the both of us!)

Thank you, anid2004! Keep going!

Just a couple of comments:

About your: "We had an opportunity to walk down the Avenida de Mayo with more lanes of traffic then I've ever seen." I believe you mean Avenida 9 de Julio, instead of Avenida de Mayo.

And about your: "The second was also a sausage but I cant remember what kind (it was also great)." It was probably a "chorizo".

Hi avrooster,

Re the street name, you're right! It was Avenida 9 de Julio. That's the problem with trying to write a trip report 10 months after the fact!

Re the sausage, you're probably right. I probably did order chorizo because I love it. The chorizo was great and the blood sausage was also amazing! Yum!

Looking forward to your next chapter. Thank you.