Tango & Nature: Buenos Aires, Iguazú & Perito Moreno

Welcome to Argentina! An English-speaking guide meets you at Ezeiza, the international airport, and a private transfer takes you to your hotel. After that, nothing. On a first day, that is exactly right.

Buenos Aires is a cosmopolitan capital, full of color, with architecture of every style. People here like visitors. Stand on a corner with a map open and see how long before someone stops to help. Not long. Walk the cobblestones to an outdoor cafe and follow the smell of beef on the parrilla. Energy left? Browse the antique and artisan markets or Palermo Soho, and look for a leather jacket or handbag by a local designer.

This morning you are picked up from your hotel for a private, five-hour city tour. It starts at Plaza de Mayo and the Pink House, the presidential palace. San Telmo next, the oldest residential neighborhood, all cobblestones. La Boca is the colorful one, with tango everywhere along Caminito street. Recoleta's palaces recall when Buenos Aires was called the Paris of the South.

In the evening, a shared transfer to dinner with drinks and a professional tango show, local musicians and dancers bringing back the steps of a century ago. Leave the suit at home: formal dress is not required. Back around midnight. Early, by Buenos Aires standards.

At the appropriate time, a private transfer with an English-speaking guide takes you to Aeroparque, the domestic airport, for your flight south.

Welcome to Southern Patagonia! El Calafate sits on the Patagonian steppe, extreme and empty land, on the shore of Lago Argentino, the largest lake in the country. They call the town the capital of the glaciers, and it is your gateway to the Perito Moreno Glacier. You are met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. Tomorrow starts early.

The Mayo Spirit Trek starts early, into Los Glaciares National Park, 50 miles from El Calafate. From Punta Bandera you sail into Seno Mayo on Lago Argentino. At Toro Bay a guide walks you through Andean-Patagonian forest to a century-old cherry tree and a waterfall-fed stream under a 180-meter rock wall. Back on the boat, past Mayo Hill's glacier. At Negro Hill, a kilometer on foot to its hanging glacier. Then Perito Moreno's north face and its walkways. The famous one last. That is the right order.

Eight hours, shared, with a bilingual guide and easy walking. Weather can change the route. Park entrance and lunch are extra.

At the appropriate time you are transferred to El Calafate airport for your flight north. Leaving already? Yes, too soon. A Destination Consultant can add a night here, so you can forget about the time for a day: people-watching, browsing the shops in town.

Welcome to Puerto Iguazú! This small border town is the gateway to Iguazú Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders and a UNESCO World Heritage site. You are met at the airport and transferred to your hotel, and the rest of the day is for the tropical warmth and the jungle setting.

You are collected at your hotel for a semi-private full day, about seven hours, on the Argentine side of Iguazú National Park, with a bilingual guide. The falls sit in humid subtropical forest, and your guide helps you spot who lives there: toucans, parrots, coatis.

Upper and lower walkways weave in and around the falls, one angle, then another. Then the ecological train and a boardwalk take you out to the Devil's Throat, the largest of the falls, and for many the most spellbinding. There is free time for lunch in the park. The train is included; lunch and the entrance fee are not.

Passport today! You cross into Brazil, so check with your consulate whether you need a visa. Argentina has 80% of the falls. Brazil has the view of them. On the Argentine side you were inside the falls; here, in two to three hours in Iguaçu National Park, you understand how big they are. A park bus and your guide take you to the walkways. Feel the spray, cross the boardwalk over Salto Santa María, get close to the Devil's Throat once more. Park entrance and meals are not included.

Afterward, fly from Puerto Iguazú to Buenos Aires, where a private transfer meets you at Aeroparque.

At the appropriate time, you are transferred to Ezeiza, the international airport, for your onward flight. ¡Buen viaje!

One practical note. Every effort is made to keep the excursions and hotels in the order shown, but weather, or anything that affects your safety, can change that order along the way. The details are in our Terms and Conditions.