Argentina - Igauzu to Patagonia

Crybabygeeks

Hi all,

Hoping someone with experience of Argentina can offer some advice Myself and my boyfriend are arriving into BA in mid Jan and are hoping to have about a month in Argentina. We'd like to see Igauzu Falls & spend some time in Patagonia but are wondering whats the best way to do this? Is flying from the falls to El Cafate the best option and bus it back to BA?

Any help will be greatly appreciated !

Thanks

Handy11

Crybabygeeks wrote: »

Hi all,

Hoping someone with experience of Argentina can offer some advice Myself and my boyfriend are arriving into BA in mid Jan and are hoping to have about a month in Argentina. We'd like to see Igauzu Falls & spend some time in Patagonia but are wondering whats the best way to do this? Is flying from the falls to El Cafate the best option and bus it back to BA?

Any help will be greatly appreciated !

Thanks

If you have a month, I say bus it. Get the bus to BA for a couple of days and then another on to Puerto Madryn, where you can take a trip on the Valdez peninsula (penguins, whales, seals, snorkelling). Then bus from there to Calafate. You might even want to stop for a couple of days somewhere on the way.

Be aware that Calafate isn't a very lively town. It's the launch point for some of the most wonderful treks and hikes in the world but it's a quiet town.

If it was me, I'd do that and then get a mad long bus up to Mendoza (or fly if you have the money) and chill out there with adventure sports and vineyards. Then back to BA.

I have plenty of info on the places mentioned above, so feel free to PM me and I'll happily share

Meathlass

Handy11 wrote: »

If you have a month, I say bus it. Get the bus to BA for a couple of days and then another on to Puerto Madryn, where you can take a trip on the Valdez peninsula (penguins, whales, seals, snorkelling). Then bus from there to Calafate. You might even want to stop for a couple of days somewhere on the way.

Be aware that Calafate isn't a very lively town. It's the launch point for some of the most wonderful treks and hikes in the world but it's a quiet town.

If it was me, I'd do that and then get a mad long bus up to Mendoza (or fly if you have the money) and chill out there with adventure sports and vineyards. Then back to BA.

I have plenty of info on the places mentioned above, so feel free to PM me and I'll happily share

I second this. It's almost exactly what I did but in the opposite order. Started in Terra del Fuego and went north. Went from the Valdez peninsula to Mendoza to Cordoba and then BA.

sarkozy

I would certainly recommend using your time to enjoy Buenos Aires, a fantastic city. Getting to and back from Iguazú takes 2 days, and there's not a huge amount at the falls to keep you there. Though I'm sure the jungle deserves some exploration.

Unfortunately, I was there during their winter and never made it to Pagagonia. I promise to go back, but instead we went north-west to Jujuy province, which is stunning, then on to Bolívia and Perú. We had only 5 weeks to cover that much ground.

But I recommend taking the buses in Argentina. They're luxurious to say the least. But bring a good book!

themacman

I would fly from Iguazu to Ushuaia, and bus it back up. There's not a whole lot to see on the east coast on the way down, apart from Puerto Madryn, which is quite skippable unless you are keen to whale-watch. Bus up the west side of the country from Ushaia and take in the awesome Perito Moreno glacier, El Calafate (snowboarding, though dunno bout jan), Mendoza (wine), Cordoba, Rosario, and back to Buenos Aires.

I bussed it in both directions (over about 6 weeks) and the above is what I would do with the benefit of hindsight.

cherryghost

I bussed it with a stopover in Rosario. Nice city. But yeah, was nice going over the mountains in the north of Argentina. Would definitely recommend it instead of flying over.

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

Handy11 wrote: »

If you have a month, I say bus it. Get the bus to BA for a couple of days and then another on to Puerto Madryn, where you can take a trip on the Valdez peninsula (penguins, whales, seals, snorkelling). Then bus from there to Calafate. You might even want to stop for a couple of days somewhere on the way.

Be aware that Calafate isn't a very lively town. It's the launch point for some of the most wonderful treks and hikes in the world but it's a quiet town.

If it was me, I'd do that and then get a mad long bus up to Mendoza (or fly if you have the money) and chill out there with adventure sports and vineyards. Then back to BA.

I have plenty of info on the places mentioned above, so feel free to PM me and I'll happily share

Also heading to BA in January and will hopefully be bussing down to Patagonia at some point. Only have 2 weeks though so time is a premium. Couple of questions:

- How long does the bus from BA to Puerto Madryn take? And then from Puerto Madryn to Calafate?

- Did you book your treks and activities like whale watching and that prior to departing? Or can you sort it all out there?

themacman

BA to Puerto Madryn is a long one if I remember correctly, maybe 24 hours.

You can sort everything when you are there.

Crybabygeeks

thanks all for your help - really appreciated! Looks like the bus will be the way to go primarily, but will take 1 or 2 flights where absolutely necessary.

Thanks again

ck086

Might be a bit late here but whale season in Puerto Madryn ends in Dec.. I'm doing this trip at the mo' but only wanted to go to P.M. to see the whales. It was my only planned stop on the way to Ushuaia so I decided to fly from BA instead. Still some other wildlife to see in P.M. apparantly though..