DAY 1: Buenos Aires
Arrival to Buenos Aires. Regular transfer from Ezeiza International Airport with the Airport Shuttle. Check in at selected accommodation
DAY 2: Buenos Aires
Breakfast. 9 am City Tour: Discover the beauty and wonders of Buenos Aires, see the National Congress, The Metropolitan Cathedral next to the Government House in May Square area. Visit the Colon Theater, one of the most important opera houses in Latin America and San Telmo, traditional neighborhood where Tango performances can be seen in many bars and restaurants. Stop at La Boca colorful neighborhood, which was seat of immigrants - mainly Italians - and now home of some artists.
Enjoy Palermo, an area that combines its architecture and history with entertainment and amusement in its green spaces. Finally, La Recoleta, an exclusive and elegant neighborhood where the famous cemetery is found.
Free afternoon.
DAY 3: Buenos Aires
Breakfast. Free Day. In the evening (8 pm), Tango show with dinner: In the very heart of Buenos Aires, this refurbished historic "conventillo" is a classic building of the porteño culture. A Tango Show is a trip to older times.
Professional artists will show you their best art, singing songs and dancing typical pieces, shared with the best tango orchestras. The show consists of several parts in which you can appreciate 2 tango orchestras, a folkloric group, dancers and singers.
DAY 4: Buenos Aires-Puerto Madryn
Breakfast and check out at 11 am. Departure to Puerto Madryn by night bus.
DAY 5: Puerto Madryn
Arrival to Puerto Madryn. Check in at selected accommodation. Free day.
DAY 6: Puerto Madryn
Breakfast. 7.30 am. Peninsula Valdes Full Day Tour: Peninsula de Valdes is a human world-wide heritage. Throughout its extension it locks up different unique species that find in the zone a great place to develop their life.
During this full day tour you will be accompanied by Naturists and Bilingual guides.
The first stop will be the Carlos Ameghino Isthmus Interpretation Center, where you can have fast references on fauna, flora and geology of the Peninsula. Also you will enjoy the panoramic view that the "Golfo Nuevo", "San Jose" and the "Isla de los Pajaros" will let us observe.
Another stop is the village of "Puerto Piramide", where depending of the month of the year, you can take a Tour to see the Whales (Optional from 1 Jun / 30 Nov), or a Nautical strolling with Snorkeling (Optional).
Continuing the gravel road, and subject to the season, the climate or the tides, you will visit in different order or combined with other stops: "Caleta Valdes", "Punta Cantor" and "Punta Norte" to observe Marine Elephants, Penguins and Marine Lions.
The Orcinus or ill-named "Killer Whales", can be watch from the seaside at "Punta Norte". The best months to see them are in March and in April. Also during September in the "Caleta Valdés" (with a bit less frequency). Back to Puerto Madryn.
DAY 7: Puerto Madryn
Breakfast. 7.30 am. Optional Punta Tombo Penguin Colony from the 1st of September until the 30th of March: In this Tour you will visit the most important Latin American continental "Pinguinera" or Penguin Colony (where hundred of thousands of Penguins lays their eggs in the beach).
The First stop will be at "Rawson" port, in the "Union" beach to observe the "Toninas Overas" (Optional Tour). After that, you will move towards Punta Tombo, geographic feature that serves as a habitat of the "Magallanes" Penguin. There, you will have time to observe how the Gulls, "Skuas", "Petrels", Cormorans, Oystercatchers and Steam Duck cohabit in the coast.
Due to a big extension area, you will also observe steppe characteristic species like "Guanacos" (typical American camaelidae), "Choiques" (small ostrichs), "Maras" (big patagonian Hares) and Foxes.
You will visit the small town of Gaiman, to admire its culture and the very particular architecture, also to taste a delicious piece of cake at a Welsh Tea House (optional).
DAY 8: Puerto Madryn-Rio Gallegos
Breakfast. Check Out. Departure to Rio Gallegos by nigh bus.
DAY 9: Rio Gallegos-Calafate
In the early morning, arrival in Rio Gallegos. Connecting bus to El Calafate. Arrival in El Calafate at 4 or 6 pm. Check in at selected accommodation.
DAY 10: Calafate
Breakfast. At 7.00 am or 9 am depending on season, Perito Moreno Glacier Full Day Tour: People from all over the world come to this remote place in Southern Patagonia to be a witness of the Ice Age. This is one of the only moving glaciers in the planet, and a visit is not only worth, is a MUST.
You start from El Calafate early in the morning to enjoy the landscape, the nature, the fauna and the wide variety of birds (trying to arrive to the glacier before everyone). Through the gateways you visit the north face of the Perito Moreno Glacier, in different viewpoints from different altitudes. Back at the hostel or hotel at about 4-5 pm
DAY 11: Calafate
Breakfast. 5.30 am, Torres del Paine Full Day Tour: The tour starts from El Calafate. You will reach the border between Argentina and Chile at 10:00 hs. and make the customs procedures. Then you make a stop in "Cerro Castillo" town. At 11:00 hs. you go on to the "Lago Sarmiento", where you stay there for a while to take photographs and to enjoy the amazing landscape.
You arrive to "Laguna Amarga" and pay the entrance to the "Torres del Paine National Park" (not included). You go to the "Nordenskjol Lake", from where you are going to admire the imposing sight to the "Cuernos del Paine". Once you arrive to "Pudeto" you visit the "Salto Grande waterfall" where you do a trek. At 17:00 hs. you leave the National Park and make 3 new stops at beautiful viewpoints where you can appreciate the "Paine Range". You arrive to Castillo Hill at 18:00 and come back to Calafate.
DAY 12: Calafate
Free day to enjoy El Calafate, El Chalten, or to take optional tours.
DAY 13: Calafate-Rio Gallegos-Ushuaia
Check out 2 am. At 3 am, departure to Rio Gallegos, connecting another bus to Ushuaia at 8.30 / 9 am. Arrival in Ushuaia in the night. Check in at selected accommodation.
DAY 14: Ushuaia
Breakfast. 9 am, Half Day Tour to Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego
Get ready to walk along thousand-year-old paths in the only Argentine National Park that combines sea, mountains and forests. Everything right there in front of your eyes.
The list is truly moving: Lapataia Bay, the coast of the Beagle Channel, the most incredible flora and fauna with red foxes, woodpeckers, steamer ducks, condors, eagles, beaver dams and peat bogs, all rubbing shoulders in the most spectacular setting. Here you get right into this beautiful region and you experience it right up close. Back to Ushuaia at about 2 pm.
DAY 15: Ushuaia
Breakfast. 9 am, Sea Lion Colony Half Day Navigation: You will leave the local port, in the direction of Alice island to see the colony of sea lions, then you continue to the Birds Island where the king and imperial cormorants inhabit. Nearby, you will enjoy the view of the Rock Cormorants on the cliffs. Then, you navigate towards the Sea Lions Island to see them and also fur seals. Fianlly, you find Les Eclaireurs lighthouse, which was made in 1919 and it?s the actual symbol of the city. Return to Ushuaia
DAY 16: Ushuaia
Breakfast. Check out and Airport Drop Off
Included
Not Included
Prices with OPTIONAL flight El Calafate- Ushuaia
The city of Buenos Aires, one of the most important Latin American cities, is a great cosmopolitan and many-sided metropolis. This city astonishes the tourist with its evident universal influence.
It is the capital of the Argentine Republic and the vital bond of the nation.
How to access?
To access to the downtown from the airport there is an option to take a shuttle to the hostel where you will stay. Book here Hostel Shuttle.
As long as European arquitecture is concerned, many streets recall those of Paris.
Its numberless museums, exposition and comference centres, art galleries, cinemas and theatres with national and international spectacles of high quality, are witnesses of its important cultural life.
The Colon Theatre, one of the most important lyrical theatres in the world, is seat, together with some other scenaries, of an intense musical activity that comprises all genres including, of course, the famous and typical Tango; besides, the city is frequently visited by orchestras, groups and soloists from all over the world.
Financial, stock-exchange and economical seat of the country, Buenos Aires is the main port of the nation. It has an intense commercial activity, reflected in numberless shops of the main worldfamous branches, shop centres and commercial shoppings.
Its nightlife is quite varied and extends up to the ealy hours. Discos, restaurants, cafeterias and many other attractions for all tastes are spread all around the city offering the tourist a large number of options.
Its accomodation capacity ranges from luxurious 5 stars hotels belonging to international chains up to modest lodgings, including all the hostel levels.
HIGHLIGHTS
TRANSPORT IN BUENOS AIRES
• Buses: The bus (colectivo) is a fast and inexpensive means of transport to travel over the Capital. There are more than 180 lines going through the city and providing connection with all districts in the Greater Buenos Aires. The service is available at regular intervals. Sometimes, streets may be blocked in the downtown area due to traffic jams. The ticket is sold on the bus and only coins are accepted. Hours: Bus service is available all day long but its frequency decreases after 12 am.
• Subways: This is the fastest and easiest way to reach your destination. The six subway lines (commonly known as “subtes”) are connected with the main avenues and railway and bus stations, and converge upon downtown, the main tourist and hotel area. Maps showing the subway lines in different colors may be obtained at the ticket offices located in every station. Information boards showing each line routes and transfer stations between lines are available in all stations. These connections that allow passengers to use more than one line are called “combinación”. The service runs Mondays through Saturdays, from 5 am to 10 pm, and Sundays and holidays from 8 am to 10 pm.
•Taxis: They can be requested by phone or you may call them on the street. Radiotaxis (provided with radio systems) are considered safer. There is a great number of taxis in the city – getting a taxi near the tourist areas is easy at any time of day or night. Usually, you will wait for no longer than a few minutes. Taxis can be easily recognized by their colors – black and yellow. In addition, a red light on the taximeter indicates that they are available.
• Remises: They are a sort of limo service that you request by phone to the numerous agencies spread out in the city. These cars are not identified with a special color. The total fare varies according to the kilometers covered and time elapsed.
• Trains: If you want to visit areas outside the Capital such as the Delta or neighborhoods distant from downtown, the railways provide an affordable service. Several lines allow access to the center of the city.
In El Calafate you will find yourself at the gateway to the majestic world of glaciers.
This town is near Lake Argentino, a green water surface covering 1,600 km2, with a length of 60 km and a width between 12 and 14 km. It also has great mysterious depths, like all lakes orginated from glaciers, ranging from 35 m in Feruglio, on the southern shore, to 300 m off the Avellaneda Peninsula.
El Calafate connects you with the most unknown and magical features of our geography. It is 316 km. from Río Gallegos, 185 m.a.s.l. and receives its name from the small bush calafate, indigenous of Patagonia. Its fruit is a delicious berry very good for the elaboration of jam. According to tradition, whoever eats calafate will return for more. But reality indicates that whoever visits Calafate wants to stay there forever.
It is a tourist resort of both national and international importance, since it is the start of all glacier circuits. It is an oasis of poplars, willows and pines at the border of the steppe.
This small town and all its magic are a must for lovers of glaciers.
El Calafate presents a dry climate, with an average maximum temperature of 19ºC, and an average minimum of -2º in winter. The length of the day changes according to season. In summer, the sun rises at 5.30am and sets at 11pm. In winter the day is shorter as there are only 8 hours of daylight.
El Calafate is the main supplier in the area. It has a population of around 8,000 inhabitants on a 155,000-hectare surface, with rivers and creeks draining into the Atlantic Ocean through the Santa Cruz River.
The Glaciers National Park covers a surface of some 600,000 hectares with 47 glaciers, such as the Viedma, the Moyano, the Marconi, the Upsala, the Agassiz, the Bolado, the Onelli, the Peineta, the Spegazzini, the Mayo, the Ameghino, the Moreno and the Frías, all of them located within the Atlantic basin.
El Calafate can be visited thanks to a significant bus fleet used for excursions and modern boats that allow you to enjoy the classical viewpoint of the Perito Moreno Glacier or the audacious expeditions to cross the glaciers from one side to the other. The International Airport of El Calafate, inaugurated on November 17, 2000 and located 23km away from the city, receives direct flights from Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, Pto.Madryn, San Carlos de Bariloche, and Puerto Natales, among other cities.
HIGHLIGHTS
Located on the eastern coast of the Province of Chubut, Puerto Madryn overlooks the blue waters of the Golfo Nuevo, where wind is music and silence accompanies the language of birds.
At present, the population is approximately of 50.000 inhabitants. The urban area is surrounded by hills and dunes. Its long coast boulevard, its wide paved streets, and its beautiful avenue turn Puerto Madryn into a modern progressive city.During the day, the visitor will feel obliged to walk along the coast avenue to observe the facilities of the port and the serene waters of the gulf.The transparency of the calm deep waters and its varied fauna make it an ideal place for subaquatic sports fans, among them lovers of scuba diving. Because of that Puerto Madryn is considered the Argentine capital of subaquatic activities.
In the southern end of the Republic of Argentina, on the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, there lies Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Located on the Beagle Channel, it takes its name -which means "bay overlooking the West"- from the yámana tongue.
Within the impressive frame made up by the sea, the forests, the lakes and the mountains, Ushuaia is a picturesque city with an important tourist services infrastructure, an elegant commercial center and an increasing social and cultural activity.
In its surroundings, Ushuaia offers unexplored untouched territories that invite visitors to discovery and adventure. Therefore, the main activities to be done in this privileged nook are related with nature. Some of them are hiking, horse riding, climbing and diving. Mount Castor Ski Resort is the the option offered by Ushuaia to the lovers of snow during the winter months.
But there is also a site reserved for beholding, such as the cruises and expeditions around islands, glaciers, bays and cliffs: not to be missed. The Tierra del Fuego National Park, with typical animal and vegetable species and important testimonies from the first settlers of the area, protects Lakes Fagnano and Roca, the channel and the southernmost subantartic forests.
Lured by the particular mysticism of its geography and its natural environment, tourists from all round the world visit Ushuaia every year, thus making it one of the most preferred destinations for unique vacations.
HIGHLIGHTS
