Argentina

Argentina, in a few days

From Buenos Aires to the glaciers around El Calafate, by way of the Iguazu falls and the vineyards of Mendoza: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

Buenos Aires

Days 1-3

A capital that looks European and sounds like nowhere else: tango was born in its port districts. Recoleta for the marble, San Telmo for the Sunday market.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Tango show and dinnerEvening · from €55
  Dinner first, then the dance performed properly, with the orchestra in the room.
• City tour and La Boca, guidedHalf day · from €30
  The main districts in half a day, ending among the painted tin houses of the old Genoese port.

✦ Free to visit

• Caminito, the painted street of La Boca
• Recoleta and its cemetery
• San Telmo
• Puerto Madero

📲 Book things to do in Buenos Aires on GetYourGuide

2

Iguazu Falls

Days 4-5 · ✈️ Domestic flight 1h45

Two hundred and seventy-five falls in subtropical forest, UNESCO-listed on the Argentine side since 1984. The Devil's Throat is the one that empties your lungs.

🎟️ Worth booking

• The falls, Argentine sideFull day · from €40
  A full day on the walkways, which run both above and below the water. You will get wet.
• Devil's Throat: forest train and walkwaysHalf day · from €25
  The narrow-gauge train, then a kilometre of catwalk out to the lip of the eighty-metre drop.

✦ Free to visit

• The waterfall trails
• Wildlife: coatis and toucans
• The subtropical forest

📲 Book things to do in Iguazu Falls on GetYourGuide

3

Patagonia: El Calafate

Days 6-8 · ✈️ Domestic flight 3h30

Glacier country. Perito Moreno is one of the few glaciers still advancing, and it calves into the lake while you watch. El Calafate is the base for it.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Perito Moreno, the walkwaysFull day · from €45
  Balconies facing a wall of ice five kilometres wide. The sound of it breaking carries a long way.
• Mini-trek on the glacierFull day · from €180
  Crampons on, an hour or two out on the ice, and whisky poured over a chunk of it at the end.

✦ Free to visit

• Perito Moreno
• Lake Argentino
• The Patagonian steppe
• The sunsets

📲 Book things to do in Patagonia: El Calafate on GetYourGuide

4

Mendoza

Days 9-10 · ✈️ Domestic flight 2h

Malbec country, with the vineyards running up towards the Andes. Aconcagua, 6,961 metres and the highest peak outside Asia, stands a few hours west.

🎟️ Worth booking

• The wine road and its tastingsFull day · from €65
  The bodegas of Lujan de Cuyo and the Uco Valley, where Malbec found the altitude it wanted.
• A day in the AndesFull day · from €55
  The road west towards the Chilean border, past the Puente del Inca and the Aconcagua viewpoint.

✦ Free to visit

• Bodegas and vineyards
• San Martin Park
• Independence Square
• The view of Aconcagua

📲 Book things to do in Mendoza on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

Internal flights · The distances are enormous. Flying is what makes Buenos Aires, Iguazu and Patagonia fit into one trip.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut

🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer

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Flavours & local habits

🍽️ Worth tasting

• Asado: the national barbecue, several cuts over wood, eaten slowly and with company.
• Empanadas: baked or fried pastries, with a different recipe in every province.
• Milanesa: a breaded cutlet, served flat or buried under ham, cheese and tomato.
• Dulce de leche and alfajores: caramelised milk, in or on almost every sweet thing.
• Malbec and mate: one poured, the other passed round a circle through a metal straw.

⚠️ Best avoided

• Change money through official channels, and check the rate on the day: it moves fast.
• The distances are huge. Plan night buses or internal flights rather than improvising.
• Book El Calafate and Ushuaia early in high season. Beds and tours run out first.
• Keep small notes. Taxis and kiosks rarely have change for a large one.

Words that help

English ↔ Spanish

✈️ Flight delayed by 3 hours or more, or cancelled? You may be owed up to €600. Check your flight on AirHelp.

The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/argentina

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.