Tour for 18 or 23 days Patagonia- Argentina, Santiago, Punta Arenas, Torres del Paine, calafate, Perito moreno, Chalten, Ushuaya, Buenos aires, Iguazu

Tour is leaving only in private

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You can choose the date,  the kind of hotels

Look at the Dutch Page for the fixed departure dare with Dutch speaking tourleader

We can arrange English speaking tourleader
The extreme southern point of Latin America, dividing Chile and Argentina, this is Patagonia. It is one of the most capricious mountains landscapes in the world, a last impressive breaking loose of the Andes before going under in the sea . But it is also a country of endless splendid untouched nature areas, penguins, glaciers, dolphins, whales. We cross over Patagonia with bus and plane concerning a very large distance, certain is that you return homeward with pure lungs and a lost heart for this nature ! As an extra you get the water falls of Iguazu on top !

How do we work?
Our tours are with an English  speaking tour leader, he travel all the time with you and the group, he is no guide but after many years working in Peru/Bolivia/ Argentina, he knows what a tourist need ! He arranges all the hotels, transport and excursions. He’s support and translate in any problem. He gives you general info in every place, enough info, so you can discover the beauty of this country by yourself, or with members of the group.The tour leader speaks  English to the group .

We promote a lot of freedom and flexibility in our tours, we call it alone in group, you do your thing with the comfort of a group while de tour leader arrange your excursion or bus ticket.

Character of the tour:
This is an easy, active tour for nature –loving persons with hotels /hostels, because there are many opportunities to walks and do active things, but these are optional so you don’t have to walk if you don’t like ! For all ages, open – young minded persons is what we’re looking for ! A positive mind is very important! Leave your Western way of thinking home and enjoy the beauty of these countries, accept that its differently than home, we come to the country to admire, not to change! We use hotels and neat local hostels in this tour, a good mixture of hotels /Hostals all central lain.

Highlights
*The sparkling city Buenos Aires with its tango and nightlife and Santiago
*Ushuaia, the end of the world!
*The immense glacier  Peritto Moreno
*Possible to visit Upsala glacier
*The penguins
*The Torres del Paine national park
*The impressive  water falls of Iguazu to the Argentinean and Brazilian borde

What is included?
* All bus transport,
* All the hotels in a mixture of good hotels /and local hostels with private bathroom all very clean and central located. All the hotels are based on 2 persons in 2 persons room.If you don’t mind to share a room with an other person ,male or female, there is no surcharge for single travelers. Single rooms on request and for different rate. Only in torres del paine we sleep in dormitories refugio with shared bathroom
* All the buses are based on good local buses sometimes private if written in the program. The night bus from Buenos Aires to Iguazu is in the real luxury bus.

Not included in this tour
* Your meals and spirits, in most of the hotels breakfast is included.
* The entrance fee and taxes, such as airport tax and entrances to national parks
* The excursions, everything with the blue sign excursion in front, below you find a list with approaching prices.
* Insurance, everyone is obliged to have travel insurance before you start this tour!

Day 1 +2  international flight + Santiago de Chili
At day 2 the transfer pick you up, at the airport and bring you to your first hotel in centre Santiago. You can wank around by yourself, visit Alameda Bernardo O’Higgins, Santiago’s main avenue, before visiting La Moneda, the Government Palace. Walk through the pedestrian streets where the main commercial activity of the city is concentrated. Visit the famous Plaza de Armas, the main square of the city, surrounded by the Metropolitan Cathedral and other historical buildings. Focusing on the historical and cultural sites of Santiago, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, as well as the Pre-Columbian Art Museum. Cross the Mapocho River and visit Bellavista, the cultural and artistic neighborhood of Santiago.Hotel In Santiago

Day  3:   Santiago
Free day to discover Santiago. you can do a bike tour as Excursion or you can leave Santiago early in the morning as excursion  for the enchanting port city of Valparaiso, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, classified thusly due to its historical importance. The tour continues to Cerro Alegre and the museum “Al Cielo Abierto” (Open Sky Museum), whose walls and stairways have been painted by local artists After that, you will depart Valparaiso and travel down the coast to Viña del Mar, enjoying the sights there. You will return your hotel in Santiago or you do a kalf day excursion to Concha y Toro – Wine tour
You will travel to the Concha y Toro winery, located in Pirque commune. This day is going to be an intense one, where you will enjoy the best wines this place has to offer and tour its wine cellar and lovely vineyard. There will be time for sampling a glass of Terrunyo Sauvignon Blanc or Casillero del Diablo Carménère. You won’t leave the place until visiting the main attractions, like its old underground wine cellars, and without tasting its different varieties of grapes. Meanwhile, relax and sip a glass of Marqués de Casa Concha Merlot. Later on, after a day filled with pleasure, you will return to Santiago to spend the night. Hotel Santiago

Day 4: Punta Arenas – Pt Natales
After breakfast in your hotel, you will be transferred to the airport where you will board a flight to Punta Arenas. From the Airport we have transfer to Puerto natales.Before making your way into the park. Puerto Natales is a very cozy town which offers travelers a great base for explorationHotel in Puerto Natales

Day 5/6/7:

Torres del Paine
A bus brings us directly to the national park of Torres del Paine in Chile, this is undoubtedly one of most of spectacular national parks! This large park has been named after to the three important granite towers. It has a large variety of plants – animals and with snow covered mount tops, waterfalls, glaciers and the blue-green glacier milk, mountain lakes all over here the landscape. We even see a lot of guanaco’s .This route is the habitat of the Andes-condor which you can see flying above your head. This largest bird on the continent can reach a wings u to 3meters.In the splendid park we sleep 3 nights in refugio,s (or tents if the refugio,s are full ) . you can buy healthy and nutritive meals.

The costs for the meals you have to pay direct to the Refugio. You can do longer or short treks, depending your own conditions in the park.We stay 3 nights . The splendid laguna in front of the torres viewpoint are a highlight for many of us, But it is a steeply climb !! Count on 6 h go and back to viewpoint and lake in front of the granite torres. Certainly worth the effort! or you take a walk along the banks of the Lago Skottsberg and Nordenskjold concerning the path ` Sendero Paso loose Cuernos. You touch certainly splendid viewpoint! Also the surroundings of the park are splendid to make as excursions a Horse ride (excursion.)Refugio in Torres del Paine

Day 8 + 9 : Calafate
A bus brings us directly to Calafate is the base for a visit (excursion) to the giant Perito Moreno-glacier, which leads to an altitude of 60 / 70 m. and concerning a length of several kilometres in the immense Lago Argentino. The approximately fifty glaciers in the park form the largest compact ice mass on the earth. Another highlight during this travel. The glacier, one of largest in the world, lies at approximately eighty kilometres from Calafate. The Perito Moreno glacier ensure spectacular moments if there giant scraps demolish ice, which floats into the blue glacier lake .The blue coloured ice, sighs and cracks already millions years under the billion tons of weight, he moves itself approximately six meters per day an unique experience ! You can approach also the glacier closer with a boat excursion. Also an ice trek excursion on the Perito Moreno is for a lot of us truth excitement! With some pins under the shoes you go up the glacier. Accompanied with a glacier guide. 1 ½ h you climb over the working ice, surrounded with nothing ells than ice with strange forms. Superb blue pools of melt water are varied with walls of ice and snow. You have splendid view concerning these enormous ice mass and finish at a small bar, where they give whisky on the rocks ,so you also can taste this world wonder !You don’t need any experience or condition. You can make in this excursion certainly the most fantastic photographs! Hotel in Calafate

Day 10: Chalten
This morning we take directly a bus who brings us in 3 ½ h to Chalten on the famous route 40. Chalten is situated in the national park los Glaciares . This is the Southern point of the Ice cap ,to the foot of the Andes-mountains. It’s the starting base for exploring the Fitzroy mountains. Here is the Cerro Torre (3100 m.) and Cerro Fitzroy (3405 m) who dominate the horizon. From Chalten starts splendid trekking. A rising path by half forests area brings you to Laguna Torre, from where you have a splendid view to the almost vertical boasted granite rock points, covered with snow .This walk lasts approximately five hours. The Torres are similar with the Torres in Torres del Paine on the Chilean side, to you to decide which is the most beautiful! Chaltén have many different walks. To the Laguna the los tres for example, where you stand on the feet of Cerro Fitz Roy with an overwhelming overview, very impressive! This walk is approximately 25 kilometres. Hostal in Chalten 

Day 11: Chalten – Calafate
Today is free for you to enjoy El Chalten and the many beautiful hiking trails that weave around the base of the two giant massifs of the area, Torre and Fitz Roy. There are three main circuits, each with a set of trails.

Day 12 + 13: Ushuaya
This morning we take a flight to Ushuaia, and we touch the original field of Yahgan- Indians, the mysterious “fire land”. The name fire land has been considered by the Spaniards, they saw Ushuaia from their boats  with a constant red smoke for sunset .Also the Beagle-canal is very famous. The mountain tops around the city become almost the whole year cover with snow and ice. Ushuaia is the most Southern city in the world, after a military base. At the port are frequently large vessels, cruising ships for Antarctica and sailboats of world travellers. Tourism in the last years strongly increases and it seems that it’s the most important source of income to become. The Argentinean Navy is also present, particularly to protect the disputed and claimed part of Antarctica.
You spend the night in a nice hostel in Ushuaya

Day 14:Ushuaya
The national park Fin del mundo, have splendid excursion possibilities Tierra del Fuego have a lot to offer, here several walks are possible. The park is situated a half hour drive from the city and exists of a mount landscape with grass countries, confesses, lakes, fjords and splendid dense bunches of coihue. Undoubtedly you see the Cauquén, a goose type who is not shy and regularly visit this area . The walks are not heavy and pass through concerning mount slopes, bunch and along the masonry bank of the Lapataia bay, you can see Chile .You also can make a very pleasant excursion cano/walking tour with a visit to the penguins this in pure nature! You cantake also an excursion on the Beagle canal, where the Pipo river ends. A boat brings you near Isla the pharaoh (the most Southern lighthouse), There are sea lions and cormorants or you take the boat which brings you to the penguin colony,or you go to the glacier with the cable car who brings you above the city, as from here you have a splendid view over the bay of Ushuaia or you visit  “fin del Mundo” museum ,where they stamp in your passport . In the evening you can have a meal with “Centolla” or traditional Asados”, Centollas are the largest crab in the world which is caught in the Ushuaia bay .This bay colours in the evening sometimes totally red. We stay  in Ushuaia hostal

Day 15: Ushuaya – Buenos aires
We leave fireland behind us and go direction North, Buenos Aires. Arrival in Buenos Aires George chavez airport around afternoon, the transfer pick you up, at the airport and bring you to your hotel in centre Buenos Aires.You can visit the market in San Telmo or Recoleta Cemetery, a beautiful historical site surrounded by parks and cafes and a busy arts and crafts market during weekends.Hotel in buenos aires

Day 16 + 17: Buenos aires
You have enough time, the complete day to discover this fascinating sparkling capital of Argentina. The city has several districts with each another face. The best picture of the city you get by undertaking an excursion with a bicycle
and guide along these districts ,the Plaza the Mayo, Casa Rosada (the rose presidential palace), Theatre Colon, Boca football stadium ,the worker district which has been built entirely around the stadium of Boca juniors with its colourful houses.

This day is good to have a bicycle ride excursion. Football is and remains very important for Argentina here lives still the football fever! You can  visit the football stage in a tour, the port “Puerto madero” is also worth the effort, with its an renovated dock with nice restaurants, the tango neighbourhood of “San Telmo”, this is the heart of Buenos Aires with many antique shops and especially the “TANGO” .Palermo” is the richer neighbourhood with a lot of parks ,Recolette is the nightlife busy place,,, around the cemetery where the very well-known “Evita Peron try to rest, or visit the famous café Tortoni. You see sufficient and even too much to discover in this city , evenings in Buenos Aires are also an adventure . From sparkling nightlife, to excusion tango/diner shows enthusiastic till early morning . In the evening you can also enjoys Argentinean wines and huge steaks on the BBQ . At day 17  Hotel in Buenos Aires we take the luxery nightbus for 18 h to iguazu.

Day 18 : Iguazu
We arrive in the morning in Iguazu. It’s situated northeast of Argentina, in the province Misiones, with his world famous waterfalls and his subtropical fauna and flora. Most of the time we stay in Foz do Iguazú on the Brazilian side, but sometimes in Iguazu .These places are situated very close to each other, its a must to visit both sides of the waterfalls. The  park on the Argentinean side ,also have beautiful walking trails with suburb views over the waterfalls .The mild climate invites us to relax after the long bus ride ,at our swimming pool !Hotel in Iguazu

Day 19: Iguazu
This day you can, or have to take, the excursion to the world famous and impressive Iguazú-waterfalls. The views are amazing! The impressive waterfalls are situated at the border of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. They are not the highest but the widest in the world! About 275 big and small waterfalls coming down over a distance of 3 kilometre ,with around 80 meter of depth ! This impression and overwhelming noise of the water coming down you never forget, for sure you also get wet ! There are many tropical animals who are used to tourists .On the Argentinean side, you walk till almost in the waterfalls, the views from the walking pads are suburb! You have enough time to enjoy this beauty of Mother Nature. The highlight is the visit to the biggest waterfall ‘Garganta del Diablo’. You also can do some treks in the jungle around the waterfalls .One of the most spectacular excursions is the boat ride, this go very close till even under the waterfalls! Its fun and adventure and gives you breathtaking pictures of these falls!!! We guaranty you get wet! Hotel Iguazu

Day 20: Iguazu
The next day you can take as excursion, the helicopter flight over the waterfalls! This is a breathtaking experience! Like this you have a perfect impression on how big this falls are! Also the bird park is worth a visit .You walk between the Toucan’s .The Brazilian side gives you the best overview of these impressive waterfalls .People who like can do the excursion to the dam of Itaipu , one of the biggest dams in the world who gives electricity to a big part of Brazil and Paraguay .

Day 21: Buenos Aires
Today we go back direction Buenos Aires by flight, here you can do your last shopping for souvenirs. Its also San Telmo Tango market today .We stay in our nice hotel. The people who like can visit this night as excursion, one of the Tango-diner shows .  Buenos Aires’ finest dinner and tango shows at Esquina Carlos Gardel (or other), a traditional Art Nouveau dining room which first opened its doors in 1893. Here you will experience the very best of Argentine cuisine accompanied by some fabulous wines and followed by a tango show. The tango is a passionate and intense dance and over the course of the evening you will experience one of Argentina’s most beloved art forms. Hotel Buenos Aires

Day 22:  International flight
Transfer to the airport and flight back home.

Day 23:  Arrive at home

General Information
The program can change a bit according the flight schedules  because they often change !
airporttaxes seperate to pay in Ushuaia + calafate ca.10 usd
http://www.oanda.com/

Luggage and clothing
We recommend to travel as light as possible, around 15 kilogram’s a person maxima, we prefer a backpack or skilful hold-all, heavy trunks are bad in transport! Sometimes you have to carry your stuff !for example in a station or airport or in the national parks .The person who have more than 15 kilogram’s have to pay the extra overweight at Aerolineas Argentina themselves .In this tour we  goes from the north hot jungle to the south ice fields. In January its summer, this means dry and warm, certainly in the surroundings of Buenos Aires and Iguazu it can be tropical in the south it can be a bit cooler ,be prepared to cold and warm, good Walking shoes , a poncho, sunglasses, alarm clock , lip balsam, personal medication, not too much, everything what you miss, is possible to buy cheaper in Argentina !

Care that you have a clean pair of clothes in your hand luggage and are able, 48 hours without your large luggage, in case luggage arrives later than you yourself.

Money and passport
We recommend pocket money around  450  euro P/P each week this in a combination of travel cheques/cash/and credit card. This money serves for the excursions, meals and entrance fee money, at a normal spending pattern of course we can not know what you spend on souvenirs or spirits. Everyone spend differently. The money in Argentina calls Peso ,the euro is accepted in each exchange office, the best you bring approximately 300 USD in small bills for the airport tax ,and excursions ,the rest is better in euro. With travel cheques you will pay much commission outside Buenos Aires. Credit cards such as master card/visas are accepted at many places, in each place where we come are  ATM machines with Cirus signs, on weekends the machines, however can, be empty!. You don’t need a visas if you are from Europe or the USA .You always need a valid passport ,valid for at least 6 month and with minima 3 empty pages. At arrival you get a tourist card, valid to stay up to 60 days.

Climate
In fire land the mountains give much influence on the climate. This immense mountain chain divides the country in different climate Areas. The coast area, which consists for a large part of desert, is dry. In the mountains of Patagonia you can have 4 seasons on 1 day it changes very fast!!!Evenings can get cool and wind can be strong. You need warm clothes in the south, which you can buy even cheaper on the spot !Best travel time: dry time of October till March. Then it is summer and generally dry

Medication
The mountains in Patagonia are not high so you don’t have problems with altitude sickness/ Argentina doesn’t obligate any vaccinations.

We advice that you take some vaccinations like :- Hepatitis-A- DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, polio);You have to start with these vaccinations about 6 weeks before departure .Tap water and river water is drinkable in the South