Puerto Madryn is a top Argentina travel destination for spotting southern right whales.

Puerto Madryn

A Patagonia trip to Puerto Madryn is perfect at any time of year. In the summer months of December through February, this small town located on the Atlantic coast midway between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia, becomes a popular, but still quiet beach resort. Tucked into the Golfo Nuevo, the waters around Puerto Madryn are calm and crystal clear, making them perfect for swimming, scuba diving, sea kayaking, and myriad other water sports. From August to October, the bay waters become the breeding and birthing grounds for migrating southern right whales, which can be spotted from land or on a Puerto Madryn tour that includes a whale watching cruise. Meanwhile, the nearby Peninsula Valdes hosts a beautiful natural reserve that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its abundant wildlife, including Magellanic penguins, elephant seals, and countless sea birds.

Bariloche characterizes the pristine forest & lake landscape of Patagonia.

Bariloche

Located directly to the east of Puerto Madryn, but at the foot of the Andes Mountain Range, Bariloche has become a top Patagonia tour destination as well as a national capital of outdoor recreation. In the spring and summer months of October through March, travelers can enjoy activities such as kayaking, fly fishing, sailing, cycling, and trekking through the endless miles of trails that extend deep into the pristine mountain landscape. In the winter, skiers and snowboarders of all levels can enjoy the nearby Cerro Catedral, which hosts a first class ski resort, one of the largest in South America. First time visitors should not miss the Circuito Chico (Small Circuit), a tour which visits Bariloche’s historic sites as well as nearby peaks for panoramic views of the surrounding lakes and mountains. Bariloche itself boasts a complete infrastructure with many fine restaurants and accommodations for travelers to choose from.

The Perito Moreno Glacier can be viewed from observation decks or on a boat ride that approaches the glacier’s face.

El Calafate

Perito Moreno Glacier, a top attraction in Patagonia, is unique in that its location on the shores of Lago Argentino and near the town of El Calafate makes it easily accessible for travelers. This land glacier descends into a branch of the largest lake in Argentina and its face rises up to 230 feet (70 meters). Building pressure causes the glacier to frequently fracture and rupture, causing chunks of ice to break off and fall into the lake. Travelers can use walkways and observation decks to obtain fantastic views of this dramatic process. As part of a Patagonia tour to El Calafate, it is also possible to sail up to the face of the glacier on a boat. The best time to visit is from late October to early April, but January and February should be avoided as they can be incredibly busy.

El Calafate is also a great jumping off point for trekking in El Chalten, or for Patagonia tours to Chile, the Beagle Channel, and Ushuaia, the city at the end of the world.

For more Argentina travel ideas, visit our Argentina For Less website or contact one of our travel advisors at Argentina For Less.

The festival will bring together 700 young musicians, including choirs, orchestras, and soloists from countries across 5 continents. The musicians, selected after an exhaustive screening process, will be performing free concerts at various venues in and around Puerto Iguazu. Gustavo Santaolalla, a reputed composer who has scored movies such as Babel and Brokeback Mountain, is a key sponsor and one of the festival’s directors.

The Setting

Iguazu Falls is formed by 275 waterfalls fed by the Iguazu River. Iguazu National Park straddles the border between Brazil and Argentina.  For its astounding natural beauty, Iguazu Falls was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.

The spectacular Iguazu Falls is one of the natural wonders of the world.

If planning an Argentina vacation, the best way to see this world wonder is by taking an Iguazu Falls tour that visits both sides of the falls. On the Brazil side travelers can hike along walkways that border the Iguazu River and offers great panoramic views. The Argentina side is best for hiking along trails within the lushly forested park, getting up close views of the waterfalls, or taking boat rides under the falls and experiencing the full power of the rushing cascades.

Venues

Performances will take place in top Puerto Iguazu hotels, including Iguazu Grand Resort, Loi Suites Iguazu, and Panoramic Hotel.  The grand finale will be at the Sheraton Hotel, the only Iguazu accommodation situated within the boundaries of Iguazu National Park. This hotel is the perfect place for scenic views of the waterfalls, be it from the rooms’ balconies, luxurious lobby bar, or from the extensive gardens where the concert will be held.

La Aripuca in Puerto Iguazu, one of the venues for the youth concert. This cultural center was constructed thousand-year-old endangered tree species that were found and recovered after being illegally logged.

Iguazu Travel Tips

Two full days is enough to visit both the Argentina and Brazil sides of Iguazu, and both sides are definitely worth it. The park itself has numerous trails, some of them offer panoramic views and others take you into the heart of the falls for an intimate experience with this majestic landscape.

Devil’s Throat is one of the most spectacular sights that you can see on an Iguazu tour – this is a horseshoe-shaped series of cataracts stretching 150 m across and falling 80 m, forming an ever-present, thick cloud of mist. The best view is from the Brazil side, while the Ecological Jungle Train on the Argentina side takes travelers straight up to the falls.

Contact one of our expert travel advisors at Argentina For Less to start planning your tour to Iguazu and other Argentina travel destinations.

Southern right whale off the coast of Puerto Madryn, Argentina. The callosities (thick white callouses) on each whale’s head are unique and help to identify individuals.

Geography

The Valdes Peninsula protrudes from mainland Patagonia and forms two gulfs, Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San Jose. Both gulfs have waters that are relatively warm, calm, and crystalline – perfect for scuba diving. Northern warm water currents from Brazil and the nutrient-rich cold water Falkland Current mix around the peninsula and create excellent conditions for the flourishing of all sorts of marine life, from microscopic phytoplankton to 40-ton whales. For its richness in marine wildlife, the Valdes Peninsula was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 and today functions as a natural reserve replete with seabirds, sea lions, elephant seals, dolphins, orcas, and Magellanic penguins, as well as herds of guanacos and the mara, also known as the Patagonian hare.

NASA satellite photo of Peninsula Valdes.

Puerto Madryn Attractions

Whale-watching: The best time to see the southern right whale is from August to October when they are present in larger numbers. On some days, whales can be seen from the beach and the pier as they swim through the bay. Boat trips depart from Puerto Piramides across the bay from Puerto Madryn and are a great opportunity to get a close up view of these giants of the sea on your Argentina travel experience.

Scuba diving and water sports: Informally known as the national “Capital of Scuba Diving,” Puerto Madryn is indeed an outstanding destination for diving, snorkeling, and other water sports such as kayaking, windsurfing, and kite-boarding. Divers will find a varied underwater environment that includes natural reefs, shipwrecks, man-made parks (including sunken school buses), and caves and caverns.

Beaches: Puerto Madryn has 7 beach resorts spread out along a 3-mile-long (5 km) coastline. The summer season runs from December to March and the bay is always busy with activity. During the winter months, visitors can cycle along the tranquil coastal boulevard.

A view of the Golfo Nuevo and the pier that extends into the bay of Puerto Madryn, Argentina.

For travelers interested in marine wildlife or beach relaxation, a Puerto Madryn tour makes a great addition to any Argentina vacation package and is an ideal stopover for travel between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia. Contact one of our travel experts at Argentina for Less to start planning your dream vacation.

Indeed, anyone who travels through the northwest of Argentina, as well as northeast Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador will note unifying elements in regards to people, culture, artifacts, and architecture. An Argentina trip that starts in Mendoza and continues north to Salta and Jujuy provides insight into this captivating regional history, set amid a visual feast of incredible landscapes.

Mendoza

Readily accessible by air from Buenos Aires, Lima, or Santiago de Chile, Mendoza is the perfect starting point for a northern Argentina tour. The city feels like a laidback version of the Argentine capital and it’s easy to forget that it is smack in the middle of a desert. Mendoza offers an easy transition to the more rugged landscape that lies beyond its well-irrigated, tree-lined downtown area.

Within Mendoza, the cultural offerings include wine tourism and excellent dining options.  For wine enthusiasts, the Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia (National Grape Harvest Festival) occurs annually during the first weekend in March.  During the rest of the year, there are several hundred bodegas (wineries) that offer world-class wine tasting and culinary options.

Mendoza is the place to sample Argentina’s increasingly famous wines.

For the adventure traveler, the nearby Andes Mountain range will beckon, and there are abundant opportunities for mountaineering, hiking, cycling, horseback riding, and other activities, all within driving distance. From the nearby foothill community of Blanca Encalada, you can enjoy a 2-hour hike to Cerro Negro, a 6,800 foot (2,072 meter) mountain.  Climbers can also try to tackle Cerro Aconcagua, 70 miles (112 km) from Mendoza, which, at 22,841 feet (6,962 meters), is the highest peak in the Americas. In the winter months, the nearby Las Leñas ski resort features excellent skiing options.

Salta

On the way to Salta, stop in La Rioja, a province host to Talampaya National Park, where you can find ancient petroglyphs dating from 10,000 BC, as well as stunning geological formations along the dry bed of what was once the Talampaya River.

Stunning geological formations are a highlight of a tour through northwestern Argentina.

Also within the park are the Cañon Arco Iris (Rainbow Canyon) and the Ciudad Perdida (Lost City). The amazing water- and wind-formed landscape can be appreciated on foot, horse, or bike.

The Dali-esque, Cañon Arco Iris, or Rainbow Canyon, named after the dazzling multicolored hues of its rock formations.

Further north is Salta, the 8^th largest city in Argentina and host to architectural treasures that bestow the city with an air of colonial charm.  Around the city’s main square, travelers can find the Cathedral, the Cabildo (or city hall), and the Museo de Arqueologia de Alta Montaña, which houses the impressively preserved remains of 3 Inca children thought to have been human sacrifices in ancient indigenous rituals. A city tour of Salta includes visits to churches, convents, and other colonial monuments in the surrounding plazas and pedestrian streets. For panoramic views of Salta, a cable car takes passengers to the top of Cerro San Bernardo, which rises 1,400 feet (430 meters) above the city.

Salta, Argentina’s 8th largest city, bears a strong Spanish colonial influence most evident in its architecture.

Salta also provides a jumping off point for more outdoor adventures and sightseeing. The Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds) is a popular 217km (135 mi) rail route that can also be traversed by car. Sights and stops along the way include Campo Quijano, Quebrada del Toro, the pre-Inca city of Santa Rosa de Tastil.

Jujuy

In juxtaposition to the heavy Spanish influence visible in Salta, Jujuy’s culture and population are more heavily Andean. Quechua and Aymara groups have a profound and visible presence and travelers that arrive during a carnival can appreciate this community’s rich and living cultural traditions. The nearby sites of Tilcara, Quebrada de Humahuaca, Paseo de los Colorados, and the Salinas Grandes (salt lakes) boast must-see landscapes as well as pre-Inca ruins dating back several thousand years.

Jujuy’s Salinas Grandes provide a surreal setting of vast flat spaces bordered by foothills and interrupted by active salt mines.

From Jujuy, travelers can launch into further exploration of the region by venturing into Chile, Bolivia, or Peru.  The region’s deep history and the remarkable vistas that it offers make it a worthy addition to any Argentina or South American travel package.

Buenos Aires, cosmopolitan capital of Argentina where influences from all over the world meet and mix, is known as the capital of tango. Every year, thousands of professional dancers flock to this glittering metropolis to attend the world famous Buenos Aires International Tango Festival, held in August. During two weeks, the city is under the spotlights as the world’s best dancers meet one another with electrifying performances.

What is it about tango that tugs at our heartstrings? This Argentine dance somehow charmed the world in the early 1900s when Argentinean sailors made their way to Europe and showed off their moves in local establishments. These sailors are believed to have arrived first in the port of Marseille, France, where they taught this lascivious dance to local girls. It rapidly became France and Europe’s favorite couple dance.

For years, tango was not socially accepted in Argentina, especially among the elites who considered it a distasteful call to lust. However, avant-garde young people in Europe took the unconventional dance style and started doing the tango. Eventually, Argentina’s upper class embraced the dance as their own. Tango was to become Argentina’s national dance, and one of its most thrilling cultural attractions. Over the decades, tango reached such a magnitude worldwide that in 2009, UNESCO declared it an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

From August 16-30 this year, Buenos Aires will once again house the Tango Festival and Dance World Cup, where the finest practitioners will meet with equally brilliant local artists for 2 weeks of tango competition. Concerts, dancing displays, exhibitions, and tango classes are all part of the package.

This is the ideal time to pay a visit to Argentina’s beautiful capital, and soak up the culture of dance and warmth. Testament to the passionate Argentinean spirit, tango is duly celebrated at virtually all city clubs and venues during the event. With countless opportunities to observe and learn how to tango, travelers are in for the dance of a lifetime.

To learn more about how to tango in Buenos Aires on your Argentina vacation, contact one of our travel advisors at Argentina For Less.

Just like most countries in the world, the majority of countries in Latin America require travelers to have a passport valid up until at least 6 months after they enter the country. So before you even start booking your trip to South America, make sure you have a passport and that it is valid for this duration of time. It can take up to 6 weeks to get a new passport, so don’t wait until the last minute (although there are some emergency procedures for specific cases).

Now, for country specific regulations:

Peru

Nationals of the United States, Canada, Australia, and the European Union do not need a visa to visit Peru. Touristic stays of up to 183 days are allowed in Peru. You will generally be given a 90-day stamp upon arrival at the international airport, but if you wish to stay longer and travel in the country, you can just ask the immigration officer for a 6-month stamp.

The airport in Lima—so far the only international airport in Peru—charges an international tax of approximately $30 USD upon departure from the country. However, most international airlines now include this fee in the flight ticket, but if it is not included when you purchase your flight, you’ll be required to pay it before you leave.

Argentina

Nationals of the United States, Canada, Australia, and the European Union do not require a visa to visit Argentina, and touristic stays of up to 3 months are allowed in Argentina. Touristic stamps are valid for several entries in the country within their period of validity, making it easier to travel cross country on your Argentina vacation. But, be aware that all citizens of the United States, Canada, and Australia will be charged a reciprocity fee upon entry in Argentina. As of 2011, the tax amounts to $100 USD for Australians, $70 USD for Canadians, and $140 USD for Americans.

Brazil

Citizens of the United States, Canada, and Australia must have a visa to visit Brazil. Make sure to contact the Brazilian embassy or consulate in your home country in order to obtain your visa prior to travel. Check out the list of Brazilian embassies and consulates in the world and find the one closest to your home. Procedures take approximately 2-3 weeks, so it is important to submit your visa application about 4-6 weeks before your intended travel date. But don’t do it too early either because your visa is only valid 90 days after its issuance.

US citizens need to fill in an e-application form, print it, and make an appointment with the Brazilian embassy using the online scheduling system. You’ll need to bring the form with a passport, picture, and travel documents. Find here the online application form for Brazil visas. Disregard the security warning that will pop up when you click on the link as this is a secure site and the error message only comes from the Brazil channel which is not automatically recognized by international internet browsers yet.

Nationals of the United States will need to pay a $140 USD reciprocity fee to enter Brazil; the fee is $65 USD for Canadians. Citizens of European Union countries are exempts from any visa requirements and entrance fees.

Chile

Nationals of the United States, Canada, Australia, and the European Union do not need a visa for touristic stays up to 3 months in Chile. However, if you are from the USA, Canada, or Australia, you will need to pay a reciprocity fee of respectively $131, $132, and $61 USD.

For more information about visa and passport requirements and to start planning your exciting trip to South America, contact one of our expert travel advisors.

The Famous Mar del Plata Beach Resort

With an extensive coastline running along the Atlantic Ocean, Argentina boasts some excellent beaches that will thrill everyone, from nature lovers and party goers to the most discriminative travelers. There is a wide range of beaches featuring distinct characteristics to suit all tastes: highly urbanized 24-hour party resorts, complete wilderness, and private spa retreats, Argentina has a beach for everyone.

Here is a selection of some of the best beaches in the country, where you are assured to have a blast whatever your interests are:

Probably the most famous in the country, and the first you will hear about, Mar del Plata is a favorite among locals and foreigners alike. Built in 1874, the country’s oldest beach resort features about 17 kilometers of beautiful beaches along the coastline, and is surrounded by picturesque landscapes of rolling hills. Bear in mind that this is one of the top vacation destination for Argentineans, so summer months can get pretty crowded.

If you are looking for some activity and 24 hour partying, and don’t mind sharing your spot on the beach, this is the perfect beach. There is plenty of choice for restaurants, bars and nightclubs in this resort, so rest assured, you will not be bored! The trendiest restaurants and shopping are found on Playa Grande, and if you want a more chilled out experience, head out to Playa Punta Mogotes.

The Upscale Pinamar Beach

One of the most luxurious beach resorts in the country, Pinamar is the perfect destination for travelers looking for relaxation and calm, while still wanting to enjoy the maximum level of comfort. Designer stores, gourmet restaurants, boutique hotels, luxury spas, and white sand beaches await you in Pinamar. This is a popular destination for the wealthy that are looking to get pampered for a few days. A favorite among the Argentinean elite, and a must if you are looking for luxury and serenity, away from the masses of tourists, Carilo offers amazing cabins secluded among the foliage away from the eye, and stunning private beaches.

For a more laid back atmosphere, and a fun vacation, head to Quequen, home to dreadlocks, paragliders and party-goers. With wide beaches and consistent wind, this sleepy beach town is a paradise for surfers, and even boasts a great surfing school for the beginners among you. Relax sipping on a cocktail and enjoying fresh fish at the restaurants located directly on the beach. Make sure to stop by “Jamming”, a hostel also serving as the only nightlife destination in town.

For those who want to avoid tourists and enjoy nature at its wildest, Pehuen Co is the destination. This spot filled with natural, untouched beaches is ideal for adventure travelers. You are unlikely to cross anyone’s path as you relax on the beach. Be aware that accommodations and facilities are sparse in the area, so come prepared.

For more information on Argentina’s excellent beach scene and for other Argentina travel opportunities, contact one of our knowledgeable Argentina travel advisors.

It appears Kristina has a true natural eye for taking amazing photographs, as she says she has never taken any photography classes, and was only using a small digital camera when she took this magical picture of Mount Fitz Roy, in Argentina’s Patagonia.

Ever since she started traveling around the world, Kristina has always carried a camera with her to ensure that she brought back many photos from her trips. Although she enjoys taking pictures, and wishes to learn more about photography, Kristina reminds us, rightly, that it’s all about enjoying yourself: “I was camping there, and I had such a great time. This picture is more about the memories of these moments.”

Still, we asked her for tips on how to take a good photo. According to Kristina, the light is generally what makes all the difference, and you should always have your camera ready for the special moments when the sun’s rays hit just right. Landscapes are also generally easier to photograph than other things, Kristina says, and they can make the best pictures simply because they are so beautiful to begin with.

Since her trip to Argentina, Kristina has invested in a more professional camera, a reflex camera, and is thinking of taking classes to learn some techniques to take truly great pictures—although all of us at Latin America For Less think she’s already doing a fantastic job.

When asked how she manages to take such spectacular pictures, Kristina, very modestly, tells us: “I guess I was just lucky. It’s just such a beautiful place that it would be hard to take a bad picture.”

Patagonia, with its infinite glacial landscapes and majestic mountains covered with snow, is probably one of the most beautiful destinations in Latin America. It’s certainly Kristina’s favorite, as she has spent months traveling all over this region in Argentina. Trekking on gigantic glaciers, sailing across icy lakes, and hiking up dizzying mountains is an experience you are unlikely to ever forget, she says.

We couldn’t resist showing you one more of Kristina’s photos of this truly superb region. This photo, with the mountains silhouetted against a striking sky, is her favorite, and we hope it leaves you speechless with its beauty, just like it did for us.

To discover the magical landscapes of Argentina’s Patagonian region and practice your photography skills, contact Kristina or any of our other expert travel advisors and ask about a Patagonia tour.