Author: Deryn Bliss

Itinerary overview: 30 days in Patagonia and Argentina


Notes:
Patagonia Flights tip: Try to book flights from the Chilean website as these are supposedly cheaper
Bus travel tips: Book at least the day before. Buses are cheaper when booked locally either on line or over the counter. Use BusBud https://www.busbud.com or Recorrido or Voy Hoy. Bus Sur is a great bus line.


Day 1-3: Fly into Santiago (or Buenos Aires and do in reverse) Enjoy this vibrant city while recovering from jet lag.
Day 4: Santiago to Puerto Natales. Transfer from Punta Arenas, to Puerto Natales with connecting bus at the airport. Punta Arenas didn’t look appealing.
Accommodation In Puerto Natales. For stylish and cosy accommodation http://www.booking.com/Share-9nst3B Otherwise we used Booking.com for our searches.
Day 5-6: Puerto Natales for down time and carbo load. The extra day could be better spent on the W Trek
W TREK: we booked through https://fantasticosur.com
Day 7: Puerto Natales to W Trek
Day 8: W Trek
Day 9: W Trek
Day 10: W Trek
Day 11: W Trek transfer Puerto Natales

Day. 12: Puerto Natales to El Calafate to El Chalten Long Full day of . but worth getting into El Chalten.
Puerto Natales to El Calafate: Buses leave early for El Calafate in Argentina, operated by Bus Sur, COOTRA.. The journey costs around $17,000 CLP ($27 USD) and can take anywhere between five and eight hours, depending on the queues at the border.
Bus El Calafate to El Chalten 3 hours. Book buses as per notes.

Day 13-14: El Chalten
Try to allow a few extra days as weather is very changeable and you need a clear day to climb FitzRoy. We would have spent more time here if we had it.
We did Mount Fitz Roy (Proper shoes and hiking poles are essential) and Condor lookout at sunrise. These two I wouldn’t miss but there are many walks to do. Check out https://elchalten.com/eng/actividades/caminatas.php
Accomodation: We stayed at Mirador del Bosque Aparts Av. Coirón 321, El Chalten, 9301, Argentina, a self catering Apartment on the hill. Every where you stay is central.
Day 15-16: El Calafate
We took the 1 pm bus to El Calafate 3 hours. There are later buses.
Los Glaciares N.P. Must visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. This immense jagged sheet of ice 5km wide 70 km long. It stretches as far as the eye can see. Rising out of Lago Argentino it reaches 50 metres. It is the fastest moving glacier on the planet and the eerie creaks add to the wondrousness of the experience. Every so often an office block sized chunk of ice collapses into the water below before slowly floating down the lake as a giant iceberg. You can take a bus or tour. We hired a taxi for 3000 pesos and had the freedom to do our own schedule visiting the Glacarium ice museum http://glaciarium.com/es/ on the way home. This is definitely the way to do it with 2 or more people.
Day 17-20: El Chalten – Buenos Aires then spend 3 full days to explore this city and its multitude of cultural offerings.
Day 21-23: Buenos Aires to Iguaçu Falls. We took the morning flight and spent the afternoon on the Brazil side and then had a full day on the Argentinian side. It’s worth doing both sides but if there is only enough time for one side DON’T MISS the Argentinian side. If time is short you could fly back to Buenos Aires for flights home.
Day 23-30 Iguazú to Salta and travel around this stunning a world heritage listed part of the world. We hired a car to give ourselves freedom and flexibility but tour companies prove day trips from Salta.
Day 30: Fly form Salta to next destination or home. Ours is Perú.

Heading North

We had a chilled (literally) morning in El Calafate before catching a flight to Buenos Aries. Both Deryn and I lost our pocket knives as we stupidly had them in our hand luggage. 3 hours later and we were in a BA and wearing too many clothes. 

We arrived at our boutique hotel (Hostel Boutique – go figure) in the Palermo area.  We had a lovely meal in the foody area around Armenia Square.  We headed away early the next day to get to the Teatro Colon for a 4 hour guided walking tour. We grabbed a subway card from the hotel and ventured onto the subway system.  It was very easy. 

The walking tour was brilliant – mostly around the Recoleta and Retiro districts. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable and we got a really good overview of the history of BA.  Basically the city didn’t exist before 1880, after which they tried to build a city that  copied the best ideas from cities all over the world.  Paris was a particular favourite. Even a lot of the trees are from all over Argentina. We also got a very good understanding of the mindset of the Argentines – the guide talked for a while about the Falklands (or Islas Malinas as the locals call them). It bought about the end of the Dirty War military junta in which 30,000 people disappeared or were killed.  Our guide also talked about the two terrorist attacks in 1992 and 1994 on Jewish targets which killed a lot of people.  No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks – the person conducting the most recent enquiry into the attacks surprisingly killed himself a day before he was going to announce his findings. 

The next day we went to hire some bikes only to find the shop had run out of bikes 10 minutes after it opened. Never mind, back into the subway. We headed to the La Boca area – a more grungy area well known for its street art and the world famous Boca Junior football team.  We got the subway to the end of the H line (Constitucion)and then walked the 3km into the area.  It was certainly a lot poorer than where we had been to date – the locals were also shorter and darker! It was great though and the Estadio Alberto J Armando was amazing.  It would be special on a match day. It got a bit touristy in the heart of the area but apart from that it was well worth the visit.

We then headed back underground to go for a walk around the famous Cementerio de la Recoleta, where all rich and famous have their crypts.  The size and splendour of some contrasted with the dilapidation of others. Again, well worth a visit.