Argentina, end to end.
Glacier ice at Perito Moreno, the falls from the Argentine side, Malbec under the Andes and a tango night that starts late. What each one is like, what it costs, where to book.
Start here, book the rest later.
The glacier that calves while you stand there, a parrilla that runs nine courses of beef, an afternoon among the Mendoza vines and the show that keeps Buenos Aires up past midnight. These are the ones travellers reach for first.
Buenos Aires: City Highlights Guided Tour with Transfer
A fast, air-conditioned Buenos Aires highlights loop with pickup, guided stops in La Boca and Recoleta, plus tango street energy in 3 to 5 hours.
From $38 per person
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★ 4.4A full day, no fillerFrom El Calafate: Full-Day Tour to El ChalténFrom $130926 reviews
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You stand right over the falls.
The Argentine side is the one with the walkways. Upper Circuit along the lip, Lower Circuit down into the spray, then the long catwalk out to the Garganta del Diablo where the whole river folds over the edge and disappears. Boats run in underneath if you want to come back soaked.
Which Patagonia are you booking?
Patagonia is not one place. Ice at the bottom of Santa Cruz, lakes and forest up in Río Negro, the Beagle Channel at the very end of the map. The right one depends on your dates and which internal flight you can get.
Ice country
El Calafate and El Chaltén
8 hours · from $80 · 2,586 reviews
Perito Moreno is why people fly to El Calafate: five kilometres of ice wall cracking into Lago Argentino while you watch from the walkways. Strap on crampons for a trek across the glacier itself, or run three hours north to El Chaltén and walk in under Fitz Roy.
See the glacier trips →
Lake country
Bariloche and the Seven Lakes
10 hours · from $100 · 624 reviews
Northern Patagonia is greener, warmer and far easier to reach. Circuito Chico loops the water in an afternoon, the Seven Lakes road runs north to San Martín de los Andes, and Cerro Catedral puts the whole Nahuel Huapi basin under your feet.
See the Bariloche days →
End of the map
Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel
5 hours · from $111 · 811 reviews
The southernmost city runs on water and forest: catamarans out to the Les Éclaireurs lighthouse and the sea lion rocks, penguin colonies on Isla Martillo, and the old prison train into Tierra del Fuego National Park. Pack for wind in any month.
See what leaves Ushuaia →
Buenos Aires dances late.
The big houses in San Telmo and Puerto Madero put a bandoneón orchestra on stage and dinner on the table before the first number. The milongas are a different thing entirely: no stage, no menu, and the floor does not fill until well after midnight.
Malbec is grown at altitude here.
Maipú and Luján de Cuyo sit around nine hundred metres with the Andes filling the western window, and the Uco Valley climbs higher again. Most days run three bodegas, a long lunch among the rows, and a driver so nobody has to spit.
Beef is an evening, not a course.
An asado is lit two hours before anyone eats. The cuts come out in order, the wine keeps pace, and the last plate lands close to midnight. Some of these are chef tastings with nine courses; others are a family courtyard and one very large grill.
The northwest keeps its own colours.
Purmamarca sits under a seven-coloured hill, the Hornocal ridge behind Humahuaca counts fourteen, and Salinas Grandes turns the whole horizon white at three thousand metres. Cafayate makes Torrontés where the vines are higher than most European summits. The roads climb hard, so these days leave Salta before seven.
Seven Argentinas, pick one.
Almost everything departs from Buenos Aires, and almost nothing worth seeing is nearby. Iguazú for the water. Mendoza for the wine. El Calafate for the ice. Ushuaia for the wind off the channel.
Twelve kinds of Argentine day.
Ice, vines, walking, wildlife, a very long lunch. Pick the shape of the day and everything behind it is already priced and rated.
Everything leaves from Buenos Aires.
It is the hinge of any Argentine trip and it fills a week on its own. La Boca in the morning, San Telmo on a Sunday, the Bombonera if there is a fixture, and the pampas an hour out of town when the city gets loud.
Ten days, three legs.
Nobody sees this country in one trip. Three legs and two internal flights, though, will cover the parts people come for, and this is the order that works.
Leg 1
Buenos Aires first
Land, sleep, then walk. La Boca and San Telmo by day, a parrilla and a tango house at night, and a ranch on the pampas if you have a spare morning.
Plan the city days →
Leg 2
North to the falls
Under two hours by air to Puerto Iguazú. Give the Argentine walkways a full day, and half of another to the boat that drives in under the water.
Plan the falls day →
Leg 3
South to the ice
Fly to El Calafate for Perito Moreno, then decide: three hours north to El Chaltén for the mountain, or south to Ushuaia for the channel.
Plan the Patagonia leg →
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