Day 1: Arrival into the city
At leisure in Buenos Aires, one of Latin America’s most captivating and elegant cities. Those passengers arriving on an international flight will be met at the airport by the tour leader or a local representative and escorted to the group hotel.
Day 2: Guided tour of Buenos Aires
On this guided city tour you’ll discover the capital’s most iconic sites and vibrant neighbourhoods. Your explorations include the Plaza de Mayo, enclosed on three sides by the town hall, the metropolitan cathedral and the pink-hued Casa Rosada (presidential palace). Take in the brightly painted houses of La Boca, the birthplace of tango, before exploring the quirky antiques shops and quaint houses of bohemian San Telmo. You’ll also explore the modern metropolitan port district and laid-back, trendy Palermo.
Day 3: Fly to Bariloche for three nights
On the southern shore of serene Lake Nahuel Huapi is San Carlos de Bariloche, the principal town of Argentina’s lake district. Famed for its delicious chocolates and alpine architecture, Bariloche is a charming centre for snow sports in winter and mountain hikes in summer.
Day 4: Full day tour around Bariloche
Take in the jagged, snow-capped Andes and glittering lakes that surround Bariloche on a full day tour. You will visit some of the area’s most magnificent viewpoints. Expect panoramic vistas over the turquoise waters of the Moreno and Nahuel Huapi Lakes, idyllic walking trails in the Llao Llao peninsula and hidden views from the top of Cerro Campanario. Round off the morning’s activities with a well-deserved lunch at a local brewery.
Day 5: Optional Excursions in Bariloche
You’ll have the whole day free to explore the chocolate-box pretty region, with many excursions and activities on offer. We recommend a visit to Cerro Catedral ski resort- it involves a bit of a climb but your efforts are well rewarded by the sweeping panoramas from the top, and funicular railways and ski-lifts can shoulder some of the burden. Ancient Patagonian beech and cypress forests are animated by the sight and calls of an abundance of birds as varied as the woodpecker, ibis, goose and hummingbird. There are also plenty of scenic lakeshore drives from Bariloche, or you may wish to take a boat from Puerto Panuelo to Puerto Blest, one of the area’s best day-trips.
Day 6: Fly to El Calafate for 3 nights
Arrive in the bustling town of Calafate, the principal gateway to the staggering glaciers, sparkling lakes and vertiginous peaks of Los Glaciares National Park in southern Patagonia.
Day 7: Full day tour to Perito Moreno Glacier
A scenic drive begins your tour, gliding through forest valleys dense with beech and birch trees, continuing alongside hidden lagoons bordered with crimson and heather lichens. Los Glaciares National Park itself is a carefully preserved wilderness, with discreet wooden viewing platforms landscaped into the cliffs. Views over the Perito Moreno Glacier are staggering: the icy tower stands at 60m above the surface of the lake and stretches out across 5km. There is an optional trek atop the immense glacier, so you can explore its every crevice and pool up close.
Day 8: Day at leisure with optional excursions
There are plenty of optional activities to choose from. Keen adventurers can take a full-day trip into the ice fields, past dense forests and snow-capped mountains to the icebergs afloat the glittering waters of Lago Onelli. Alternatively you may like to try horse riding, visiting a traditional estancia or driving to El Chaltén to hike in the shadow of the magnificent Fitzroy mountain range.
Day 9: Fly to Trelew and travel to Puerto Madryn for 3 nights
Sandy beaches line the coast of Puerto Madryn, a breezy seaside resort in Patagonia which offers plenty of restaurants and a marine museum with panoramic ocean views. Just across the bay is the Valdés Peninsula, home to an extraordinary array of marine wildlife, from vast penguin colonies and elephant seals to migrating whales.
Day 10: Full Day Wildlife-Spotting Tour of the Valdés Peninsula and whale watching
We’ll spend a full day exploring the wild, craggy Valdés Peninsula, which juts out into the Atlantic Ocean where it laps the shores of Argentine Patagonia. Its cliffs, bays, lagoons, salt lakes and plains are teeming with an astonishing array of exuberant and vociferous wildlife – birds and mammals, both marine and terrestrial, mate, breed and thrive here. On this expedition, depending on the time of year, you’re sure to see a variety of these creatures, from gigantic elephant seals sprawled on the beaches to gangs of playful fur seals and sea-lions jostling for position, while migratory seabirds wheel and cry mournfully above the waves.
The unique geography of the Valdés Peninsula makes it one of the best locations in the world for whale watching. You’ll have the rare opportunity to witness southern right whales as they breed and calve in the calm waters of the gulf, sheltered by the cliffs of the peninsula. From Puerto Pirámides, you can take a boat trip to view them up close, their huge, primeval bodies and graceful forked tails heaving above sea-level almost within touching distance: an incredible sight.
Day 11: Full Day Tour to Punta Tombo penguin colony and visit to Gaiman
Day 12: Fly back to Buenos Aires for your final night in the capital
Fly back to Buenos Aires for your final night in the capital
