The Best of Argentina
Daily
Buenos Aires, Salta, El Calafate, Patagonia, Perito Moreno, Iguazu falls (both sides)
WHY CHOOSE THIS TOUR?
- the most popular destinations in Argentina
- includes the visit of sights of UNESCO
- raw nature and breathtaking sceneries of El Calafate
- colonial architecture of Salta and world famous city Buenos Aires
TOUR DESCRIPTION
The best of Argentina tour will introduce you the most gorgeous landscapes, cosmopolitan cities and lively culture, Argentina is a traveler’s paradise. There is something for everyone. Nature-lovers can walk among thousands of penguins and witness the world’s most amazing waterfalls, sportsmen can climb South America’s highest peak, hikers can admire the stunning scenery of glorious lakes and white-tipped mountains. You will have the best opportunity to learn Spanish, dance the sexy tango and eat the best steaks in the world herewith this tour. Moreover, you will visit Salta, the only city in the country that has succeeded in preserving its colonial architecture at its best.
Day 1 – Buenos Aires
Welcome at Ezeiza International Airport of Buenos Aires. Meet and greet by the English speaking guide and transfer to the hotel. Get ready for the afternoon city tour. Visit to the Historical Complex of Plaza de Mayo (May Square) where we can see the Government House called: Casa Rosada (Pink House), site of the Argentine National Government, next to the Metropolitan Cathedral and the historical Cabildo, a beautiful 18th century building, site of the first Government born in our country.
Our tour continues south, to the oldest quarters of the city. Arrival to La Boca district, largest typical Italian quarter, where a colony of artists made our city worldwide famous through their painting, sculpture, etc. Caminito is nowadays a painters market on Saturdays and Sundays. Afterwards, we will visit San Telmo, a paradise for antique lovers. On the way to the north we will visit the new neighbourhood of Puerto Madero, whose docks have been turned into the finest restaurants in the city. The trip continues to the North towards July 9th Avenue to see the famous Obelisk, the symbol of the city. Next highlight to be visited is La Recoleta Quarter, where French architectural influence will be admired: houses, apartments, shops, streets, cafes and restaurants, offering a lively and colourful picture. Passing by the Exposition Centre of the city, the Faculty of Law and the National Museum of Fine Arts we’ll arrive to Palermo Chico, a neighbourhood plenty of old-aristocratic residences which stand facing the Parks. This immense 2.500 acre Park, even not being the largest in the city, but the most beloved by citizens and tourists from all over the world.
Day 2 – Buenos Aires (B)
Today you can either discover Buenos Aires deeper on your own or take part of optional tours. Visit Fiesta gauncha with a BBQ lunch, which we highly recommend! Argentina is the country of gauchos and herds of cattle, there are almost twice as many heads of cattle as people! This excursion is an excellent opportunity to get in touch with the gauchos, and the traditional music and dances of the area. You leave Buenos Aires in the morning by coach and after approximately one hour you arrive at the estancia, where you are welcomed with typical “empanadas” (meat pie snacks). You can stroll around the farm, have a look at the horses – even ride them – or jaunt in a carriage and watch the gauchos preparing your barbecue. After a typical lunch of different cuts of meat and tripe with a variety of salads, you are entertained with traditional music, dances of the “Pampa”, and the gauchos’ display of horsemanship.
After a relaxing day at the ranch, you return to Buenos Aires and have the option to spend an evening in tango rhythm (see optional excursions below) before going to bed.
Day 3 – Buenos Aires (B)
This day starts with a half-day tour (about 4 hours) through the elegant suburbs of Olivos, Martinez and San Isidro, that will show passengers the streets and avenues lined by colourful trees, and lovely houses, some from mid 19th century. You will board a typical river boat at Tigre for a 60-minute cruise along the canals and streams that thread their way among many islands. The Paraná river starts far in the North, in Brazil, just South of the Amazon basin, and ends in this vast delta, before it flows into the river de la Plata. The vegetation in the delta is dense and many Porteños (inhabitants of Buenos Aires) have made sailing clubs and weekend homes, built on stilts because of frequent flooding. The way back to the hotel is along the Panamericana highway. The afternoon is at leisure again.
Day 4 – Buenos Aires – Salta (B)
After breakfast you will leave for the airport. A guide will pick you at the Salta airport to bring you to the hotel. Short time to rest and the city tour follows. This tour visits the main tourist attractions in this city, which was founded in 1582 and still has a marked colonial character that distinguishes it from the rest of the Argentine capital cities. Its urban profile is full of colonial-styled houses and churches framed by hills. The tour visits the 9 de Julio Square, site of the city founding, surrounded by the Cathedral, keeping the images of the Lord and the Virgin of the Miracle, patron saints of Salta, and in front of it is the Historical Town Hall of the Northern Region, the most antique colonial building in the city. Only some blocks away from there are the impressive Church and Museum of San Francisco, known for its terracotta colour and its tower, and the San Bernardo Convent, wich is the most antique religious building in Salta. The tour continues towards the Monument to the General Güemes, and then goes up the San Bernardo Hill (1,454 masl) to enjoy the panoramic views of the city and the Valley of Lerma from its summit. The tour ends with a visit to the summer village of San Lorenzo, on the ravine which was declared Natural Reserve, and its Handicrafts Market, offering diverse regional products.
Day 5 – Salta (B)
The full day tour to Cafayate is awaiting for you. Cafayate is the cradle of the famous ‘wine of altitude’, it stands out for the production of its ‘Torrontés’ wine, of an unmistakable sweet flavour.
The tour departs early in the morning from Salta to cover the 180 km that separate it from Cafayate, passing by local towns such as Cerrillos, El Carril, Coronel Moldes, Ampascachi and Alemanía. A stop at Posta de las Cabras allows visitors to taste several regional products, with a wide variety of cheeses and wines. Then begins the impressive journey through the Quebrada del Río Las Conchas, a ravine which was declared Natural Monument by UNESCO. Its coloured hills present curious reddish rock formations eroded by the rain and the wind. Among them are the Devil’s Gorge and the so-called Amphitheatre, due to its incredible acoustic. It is also possible to observe the formations called the Toad, the Monk, the Obelisk and the Castles. By arriving at the town of Cafayate the vineyards surround the route. Visit to its main square, cathedral and the Bravo Archaeological Museum. During the tour it is possible to visit some of the wineries of the region. Return to Salta city.
Day 6 – Salta (B)
You will be picked up by a guide for another full day tour. This tour covers the Quebrada de Humahuaca, part of the Inca road that was declared Cultural and Natural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. The tour passes by typical towns of the Puna, such as Purmamarca, located at the foot of the Seven Colors Hill, with mud-walled houses and cobbled narrow streets. The tour also visits Tilcara, where one can visit the antique indigenous fortress that was rebuilt, traditional looms of the Northern Region can be found in their fairs. The tour continues then to Humahuaca, a colonial town with narrow cobbled streets and mud-walled houses and lampposts that is worth a walk. It is possible to visit its Archaeological and Folk Regional Museum, the Our Lady of Candelaria antique church and its town hall, from whose tower a clock activates the life-size image of Saint Francisco Solano, as a memory of his presence in the area. The way back to Salta includes a visit to the city of Jujuy, known as ‘The silver little cup’.Return to Salta city.
Day 7 – Salta – El Calafate (B)
After breakfast you will leave for the airport. A guide will pick you at the El Calafate airport to bring you to the hotel. You can spend the rest of the day however you wish.
Day 8 – El Calafate, Perito Moreno (B)
Today´s extraordinary full-day tour brings you to the biggest and most important highlight of the Argentine Patagonia region, the spectacular glacier Perito Moreno. We leave El Calafate heading westwards to the Los Glaciares National Park, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981. The glaciers after which the park was named, about 13 in total in the Argentine side, show a 10,000 year-old world. The most famous glacier of all of them is the Perito Moreno Glacier, located on the Argentino Lake, at about 85 km from the town of El Calafate by the Provincial Route Nº 15. Its name remembers a great Argentine explorer of the last century. We will first cover a distance of 48 km through the Patagonian steppe, where we will have the chance to see lamas, rheas, hares and maybe condors, chimangos and caranchos. We will also see curious rock formations, such as the so-called Elephants Hill, the Sleeping Indian and the Comisión Hills. After entering the Andean Patagonian forest area we will begin to see the Rico Arm of the Argentino Lake on the left, surrounded by forests of lengas, cipreses, ciruelillos, calafates and ñires. We´ll stop at ‘Curva de los Suspiros’ (Sighs Curve), to enjoy the first panoramic view of the Perito Moreno Glacier, from where we will be able to admire its wall of ice of up to 70 metres high. Continuing our way to the platforms and balconies (1000 metres approximately), we will be at about 300 metres away from the front of the glacier. From there we will have breathtaking views of the glacier, with the different shades of blue-coloured ice on the surface and hear the sounds of block of ice falling into the Icebergs Channel as they melt. The Perito Moreno Glacier is 257 km2 in size and 29 km long, with a wall over the lake up to 5 km wide.
Day 9 – El Calafate / optional cruise to glaciers (B)
You can have a “day off” today, but we highly recommend an optional boat excursion Todo Glacieras. This excursion sets off from the pier in Punta Bandera, 47 km away from El Calafate, where comfortable top-of-the art vessels set sail through the Argentino Lake heading towards the Upsala Glacier. After going through the Devil’s Mouth, the narrowest sector of the lake which leads to the North Arm, the boat heads West. Meanwhile, the landscape turns into forests and high mountain tops with hanging glaciers. Finally the boat enters the Upsala Channel and it navigates among giant icebergs which have built a huge ice barrier, witness of the glacier’s receding process. Afterwards, the boat heads to the Spegazzini Channel where the highest glacier in the whole National Park lies. Its walls are 130 metres tall and it has a length of 25 km. The whole excursion lasts approximately 5 hours before the boats return to the port at 2 pm approximately.
Day 10 – El Calafate – Iguazu (B)
This day is a transfer day. You will be driven to the airport to fly via Buenos Aires to Iguazu. You will be met here by an English speaking guide again and transferred to the hotel. The rest of the day is at leisure. Overnight in hotel.
Day 11 – Iguazu – argentinean side (B)
We will visit the Argentine Side of the impressive Iguazú Waterfalls. We will first arrive to the Visitors Center where we walk the Nature´s Interpretation Center. From the Visitors Center we will board the train that goes first to Cataratas Station in about 8 minutes through the jungle. Then a walk along the catwalks, some 1,200 meters over the islands, will take us to enjoy the most spectacular sight from the most important balcony: the Devil’s Gorge. Afterwards, we will walk the so called Upper and Lower Trails, which are 800 and 1,600 meters each of catwalks detached from the jungle´s surface so as to protect the fauna by preventing disruption of their natural trails. From these trails we will admire upper and lower views of some of the most impressive falls, enjoying their magnificence with a panoramic view. These circuits provide a unique experience of feeling part of the natural surroundings, watching and sensing their magnitude from close. Overnight in hotel.
Day 12 –Iguazu falls – brazilian side (B)
From Puerto Iguazú we will cross the International Bridge Tancredo Neves (also called Bridge of Fraternity), which links Argentina and Brazil. There are customs procedures to carry out so as to cross the border on both sides of the bridge. We will then arrive to the Brazilian side of the Falls. As most of the cascades are on the Argentine side of Iguazu river, the Brazilian side offers a spectacular panoramic view of them, with almost 3 km long and 270 cascades. The Brazilian National Park of Iguazú has an area of 185,000 hectares. Upon arrival to the Visitors Center, the access through the Portal is individual, so that the Park manages the number of visitors within the area. Afterwards we board the park´s shuttle buses that drive us inside the park to the beginning of the paths that extend for 1,200 meters by the Iguazú river. From this site there is a panoramic view of the Argentine falls. The right place to get some wonderful pictures. Walking down the paths we will get a view of the canyon of the Iguazú river, the Rivadavia Fall and the Tres Mosqueteros (Three Musketeers) Fall, among others. At the end of this path we get to the Lower balcony with a view of the Devil´s Gorge (some 200 meters from there). The beautiful scenery is usually highlighted by rainbows. The walk ends by the Floriano Fall, where an elevator takes to the buses’ parking lot area. Those you prefer to walk can finish the path and take the stairs. Overnight in hotel.
Day 13 – Iguazu falls – Buenos Aires (B)
Transfer from the hotel after breakfast to the airport, flight from Iguazu Falls back to Buenos Aires.
End of program.
- all services, transfers and excursions detailed in the program
- local English speaking guide during tours
- flight tickets as detailed in the program
- accommodation in hotels or motels in double room with private bathroom
- meals detailed in the program included (B: breakfast; L: Lunch D: Dinner)
- entrance fees to National Parks as detailed in the program
- taxes
- permanent English assistance by our Operations Department
- National park entrance fee on Brazilian side – payable only on spot
- international airfare
- meals and services not detailed in the program
- tips
- insurance
- personal expenses
- optional excursions
- single supplemet
- accommodation upgrade to 4* hotel
- traditional dinner and Tango show – 99 USD / person
- Fiesta Gaucha with traditional lunch ex Buenos Aires – 175 USD / person
- El Calafate – Upsala & Onelli glacieres navigation – 325 USD / person
- Local flights with AR – luggage allowance 15 kg (plus hand luggage).
- Price per person (2 people in double / twin room).
- The program can be customized according to your requirements.
- The price is subject to availability and actual airfare cost.
- Difficulty level of this tour – moderate.
