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

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: America del Sur Hostel ↗ (€20 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Madero ↗ (€120 a night) · Luxury: Alvear Palace ↗ (€350 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 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

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Hotel Carmen ↗ (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Loi Suites Iguazu ↗ (€155 a night) · Luxury: Gran Meliá Iguazú ↗ (€400 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Iguazu Falls on GetYourGuide

3

Patagonia: El Calafate

Days 6-8 · ✈️ Domestic flight 3h30

Glacier country. Perito Moreno, long one of the few stable glaciers, 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

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: America del Sur Calafate ↗ (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Design Suites Calafate ↗ (€170 a night) · Luxury: Esplendor by Wyndham El Calafate ↗ (€180 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 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

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Hostel Alamo ↗ (€18 a night) · Mid-range: Diplomatic Hotel ↗ (€150 a night) · Luxury: Park Hyatt Mendoza ↗ (€160 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 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.