BUENOS AIRES, IGUAZU & CLASSIC PATAGONIA – 15 Days

Upon arrival, you’ll be transferred to the city and you’ll have the rest of the day to enjoy Buenos Aires at your own pace. Buenos Aires is a marvelous, energetic, cosmopolitan city, full of color and different styles of architecture. 

The capital of Argentina, and described as the Paris of South America, Buenos Aires proudly embraces its title, and also shows off plenty of its own culture! Argentinians are usually eager to host visitors; if you walk the streets with a map, someone will surely stop and ask if you need directions… that’s just our spirit! 

So, for this first day, feel free to wander the cobblestone streets lined with outdoor cafes, enjoy the mouthwatering aroma of world-famous Argentine beef sizzling on an open parrilla (barbeque), and browse the local antique and artisan markets that offer plenty of bargain shopping.

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Don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, che! (“che” means “guy” in Argentina). Take a look at our Buenos Aires Travel Guide and check out our recommendations on where to eat dinner and the can’t-miss places to visit in town.

(This is “maté”, our national drink!)

It’s time to leave the city and start your trip through Patagonia. Today we’ll pick you up from your hotel and drive you to the airport to take your flight to Puerto Madryn, the wildlife paradise of Patagonia. You’ll land in Trelew and then we’ll drive you one hour to your hotel in the city of Puerto Madryn.

Puerto Madryn is the closest city to the famous Peninsula Valdés, where the Southern Right Whales come every year to mate and raise their calves. Thousands of travelers make the annual journey to participate in this natural spectacle!

In fact, Peninsula Valdés is a Natural Reserve that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it’s home to many different mammals and birds which can only be seen in this part of the globe. Come to see the whales, as well as short-haired sea lions, magnificent (and huge!) elephant seals, black and white dolphins called ‘toninas’, and the always-adorable Patagonian penguins.  

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No activities are scheduled for your arrival day… but there’s always something amazing to discover in Patagonia! We recommend that you visit the Ecocentro, a museum overlooking the coastline, where you can learn about the native wildlife and awaken your inner-ecologist. Experience the feeling of being inside the belly of a whale in a room that is modeled after the size and shape of these enormous creatures, and enjoy some amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean from a tower which doubles as a cozy reading room! Ecocentro is just 30 minutes away from downtown, and can be reached via a breezy walk on the beach.

We’ll leave Puerto Madryn in the morning and drive 75 miles south to Punta Tombo, home to the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in South America.

The colony’s population reaches over half-a-million birds during peak season, and you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy some waddling with these adorable creatures. You’ll have 2 hours to walk around the reserve, learning about how they feed their babies, build their nests and swim beneath the waves!

After the penguin encounter, you’ll have time to eat a quick lunch at a bar near the reserve, and then head to the Punta Tombo Interpretation Center, where you’ll learn some interesting facts about the lives of Magellanic Penguins. How many types of penguins are there in the world? Why can’t they fly? All of your questions will be answered today!

To end the day, you can choose to visit the Paleontologist Museum in the city of Trelew or return directly to Puerto Madryn.

Today we’ll pick you up for an 8 to 10-hour, moderately difficult, adventure in Tierra del Fuego National Park, just 7.4 miles away from the city and bordering the shore of the famous Beagle Channel.

Once in Ensenada Bay, you will have time to enjoy the view over the Beagle Channel before you start hiking along the coast. Four miles of trail awaits you, where you’ll discover native flora, wild fauna and the remains left by the Yamanas, the native inhabitants of the area. After this 3-hour hike, you will reach Lake Roca, where lunch will be served.

After a full homemade picnic, you will start the second part of this adventure. Grab your oar and plunge into a 1hr 30min canoeing trip along the Lapataia River (only available for children over 5 years old). Make it all the way to Lapataia Bay, where the Panamerican Highway and National Route 3 end at an awe-inspiring landscape.

After discovering the unique vastness of this stunning setting, we’ll take you back to your hotel to rest and enjoy another Patagonian evening. 

In the morning, we’ll bring you to Glaciers National Park to take the 6-hour Perito Moreno Glacier Tour. Get prepared to get up-close and personal with these icy giants!

Glaciers National Park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, and is home to approximately 200 glaciers. Half of this park is occupied by the Campo de Hielo Patagónico (Patagonian ice field), the largest ice field in the world, outside of Antarctica.

You will travel about 25 miles from El Calafate to the park, enjoying the views of the Patagonian steppe along the way. Once inside the park, you will follow the walkways to explore the different viewpoints, and you’ll feel incredibly close to the famous Perito Moreno Glacier. If you’re lucky, you may get to see a piece of ice break off and fall from the glacier wall to sink forever into the lake.

Over the course of an hour, a bilingual guide will provide you with all the information you might want to know… you will learn things about this unique Patagonian environment that you may have never thought about. After this visit, you will take a boat that will bring you close enough to fully appreciate the 262-foot-high ice walls of Perito Moreno! You’ll never feel closer to this gigantic and impressive natural masterpiece.   

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Have you ever imagined walking over the ice of a glacier? Well, why don’t you take a look at the Mini Trekking Tour, where you would have the unique opportunity of crossing the surface of the Perito Moreno Glacier… we’re sure you won’t regret it.

Today you’ll fly to Buenos Aires for a one-night stop, and then fly to Iguazú Falls the next day. We’ll pick you up from your hotel and take you to the airport. Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, we’ll be waiting to bring you to your hotel in the city.

Enjoy the evening in one of the many trendy restaurants or bars in Palermo Soho, or maybe visit a ‘milonga’ (local tango house) in the city. Don’t be shy! If you can cross the Patagonian glaciers and cruise next to giant whales, then you can definitely mingle with Argentine locals in their favorite dance spots.     

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Buenos Aires offers many spectacles (movies, theater, music!) every night. What about ending your travel adventure by visiting the most famous theater of South America? We recommend that you visit Theater Colon, an Argentine opera house with some of the best acoustics in the world. This is one of the prides of Buenos Aires!

Today our driver and bilingual guide will pick you up at your hotel and drive you to Iguazu National Park, to enjoy a private tour to the Argentine side of Iguazú Falls.

The falls are surrounded by a humid subtropical forest where the exuberant vegetation is home to many different species of wildlife. Our guide will help you spot some of them: toucans, parrots and coatis, just to name a few.

Lower and upper walkways weave in and around the falls, permitting up-close and personal experiences with this magnificent spectacle of nature. The Argentine side of the falls is filled with a myriad of paths, walkways and stairways which allow you to have an experience from many different perspectives. 

You will also have the chance to visit the “Devil’s Throat”; the largest of the falls and for many, the most spellbinding. To get to the Devil’s Throat, you’ll take the ecological train and then walk out along boardwalks. 

After walking around and taking pictures of waterfalls, animals and plants, you will have some free time to eat lunch in this amazing environment. This exciting, 7-hour excursion is highly recommended in order to experience the true power of Iguazú Falls. 

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Would you love to have a “Great Adventure” in Iguazu? The Great Adventure (“Gran Aventura”) is an optional tour you can add on to this day. You will take an open-air jeep through the rainforest, and then a zodiac open-air boat up the river to the base of the falls (there is a 100% chance that you will get soaking wet on this boat trip, so be sure to take some extra clothes!).

You can explore the cobblestone, tree-lined streets of Palermo Soho in search of some one-of-a-kind Porteño fashion stores and the district’s notable graffiti circuit. Or you may want to stop by one of our historic cafes (called “cafés notables”) located all over the city and have a “cortado”, the most popular Argentine coffee choice. If you’re leaving on a Saturday or Sunday, you may also have the chance to visit one of the city markets, only open on weekends.

After saying your goodbyes to our marvelous city, you will be transferred to the international airport for your flight back home.

If you want to continue traveling, Argentina still has plenty to offer! Check out some more of our travelers’ favorite trips to Argentina and Chile.