Argentina for True Explorers

Buenos Aires

Your flight lands in Buenos Aires and a transfer takes you to the hotel. The rest of the day is yours. Keep it easy: a stroll through the leafy neighborhoods, a dinner of something Argentine, an early night. Locals here are glad to share their city, so ask for a recommendation. Tomorrow starts on a bike seat and finishes close to midnight.

Buenos Aires

You meet your guide and the bikes, and the ride starts in San Telmo, the oldest neighborhood in Buenos Aires, where your guide tells how the city began and how immigration shaped it. South of there is La Boca: the Boca Juniors stadium, the Art District and Caminito, with street tango exhibitions. Puerto Madero follows, a modern district born of an old port project, with a stop at a parrilla for Argentine barbecue. The ride ends at Plaza de Mayo.

In the evening a milonga offers tango and live music by local artists, with dinner and Malbec. By midnight you are back at the hotel.

El Calafate

A transfer takes you to the airport for the flight to El Calafate, known as the capital of the glaciers. This is where the Patagonian part of the trip begins. Nothing is scheduled for the rest of the day, so spend it at your own pace and get some rest. Tomorrow is the ice, and the pick-up is early.

El Calafate

An early pick-up takes you to Los Glaciares National Park, about 50 miles from El Calafate. From the Puerto de la Bahía “Bajo de las Sombras”, a 20-minute boat ride crosses the Rico Arm of Lake Argentino to the Magallanes Peninsula. Specialized guides then lead your group of around ten along the shore to the southern edge of the Perito Moreno Glacier.

The crampons go on, and you climb gradually onto the ice for an hour and a half, with plenty of stops for photos. A walk through the forest afterwards shows you the glacier from another side, and then you return to your hotel.

El Chaltén

An early pick-up and the drive along National Route 40 take you to the historic “Luz Divina” Parador. There you gear up for a 10-mile kayak down the La Leona River. Halfway, you stop for a 2-hour hike at Cerro Los Hornos, among petrified logs and fossilized dinosaur bones. Lunch is at a viewpoint, then you paddle on to the Turbio stream, where the kayaking ends. From there you are driven to your hotel in El Chaltén.

El Chaltén

Today you are on your own. El Chaltén has well-marked trails for every level, and you choose the trail and the pace. The easy one starts at the hotel door: a gentle 2-mile hike, about an hour, to the Cerro Torre viewpoint, through lenga forest. Keep an eye out for birds, woodpeckers especially. If that is enough, it is enough. If it isn't, the rest of the day is long.

El Chaltén

Laguna de los Tres, at the base of Mount Fitz Roy, is the hike for anyone who wants a real one: a moderate trek of about nine hours, at your own pace, with views over the Río de las Vueltas valley. The path crosses Laguna Capri, where icy water runs past bright orange rocks. The final stretch is the demanding part.

At the top, Fitz Roy is right in front of you. Five minutes further on, Laguna Sucia is easy to miss and shouldn't be.

El Calafate

Start with an early walk around El Chaltén, or choose a short hike of about three hours. A favorite is the trail to El Chorrillo del Salto, an hour's walk from the village, ending at a waterfall among native trees and Patagonian flora, including the Patagonian orchid.

In the afternoon the bus takes you back to El Calafate, a three-hour drive. You are dropped at your hotel, and the evening is free.

Ushuaia

A transfer takes you to El Calafate airport for the flight to Ushuaia, and another brings you to your hotel in the city. Ushuaia is Argentina's southernmost city and easy to explore on foot. The Yamanas, its first inhabitants, named it Ushuaia, meaning “protected bay.” The rest of the day is yours: wander the streets at your own pace and see what the town has to say for itself.

Ushuaia

This is a long day, about ten hours, in Tierra del Fuego National Park, 7.4 miles from Ushuaia and bordering the Beagle Channel. From Ensenada Bay you start a 4-mile hike along the coast, about three hours, past remnants left by the Yamanas, to Lake Roca, where a homemade picnic lunch is waiting.

In the afternoon you take to the water for a 1.5-hour canoe paddle along the Lapataia River, ending at Lapataia Bay, where the Pan-American Highway and National Route 3 stop. Children over 5 can join in. Then you are driven back to your hotel.

Ushuaia

Four hours on the Beagle Channel, in the wake of Charles Darwin. The boat leaves from the downtown tourist pier and carries up to 26 passengers. It sails to the Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse, which still guides mariners, with Ushuaia Bay and the Martial Glacier behind you. Watch for cormorants and fur seals.

You land on Bridges Island with a bilingual guide to see its vegetation and the archaeological remains of the Yamanas. On board there is unlimited hot cocoa and cookies, or maté. Back at the port, walk to the hotel or stop at a café or brewery for a craft beer.

Iguazú Falls

A morning pick-up takes you to the airport for the flight north to Iguazú. You are met on arrival and driven to your hotel in Puerto Iguazú, the base for exploring the falls. Iguazú Falls is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. From the far south you land in humid subtropical forest. The rest of the day is free. Tomorrow is seven hours in the park, so rest while you can.

Iguazú Falls

A driver and a bilingual guide take you to Iguazú Falls National Park, on the Argentine side, for about seven hours. The falls sit in humid subtropical forest, and the guide helps you spot toucans, parrots, manakins, antbirds and coatis. Lower and upper walkways show the falls from several angles.

The Devil’s Throat, the largest of the falls, is reached by ecological train and then boardwalks. There is free time for lunch, and the driver returns you to the hotel at the end of the day.

Iguazú Falls

The day starts at La Chacrita with a regional breakfast. Then comes a 2.5-mile hike along a straight path through the jungle to Mbocay Falls, where you can swim in the natural pools. Back at La Chacrita, lunch.

In the afternoon a transfer takes you to the airport for the flight to Buenos Aires, where you are met and taken to your hotel. Spend the last evening in Palermo Soho, with its restaurants and bars.

Buenos Aires

The trip ends where it began. At the agreed time, a transfer takes you to the international airport in Buenos Aires. You leave with a lot behind you: crampons on the Perito Moreno, petrified logs at Cerro Los Hornos, the Beagle Channel, a swim at Mbocay Falls. ¡Buen viaje!

We make every effort to deliver your itinerary and hotel reservations exactly as planned. On occasion, weather, natural events, or other circumstances affecting your safety may require our local operators to change the order of services. For full details, please see our Booking Conditions.