Hi everyone. We're a family with two young children (under 7) living in BA and want to escape in January to either El Calafate or Bariloche areas for 1-2 weeks are to do some hiking, relaxing, enjoying of scenery, etc. We're trying to figure out the most enjoyable, cost effective way of doing this all so that we all can have a great experience without it completely blowing our limited but not super low budget. We're considering the following options:
1) Flying to El Calafate. This would be our only flight while here and we're willing to do one flight, particlalry considering the enormous distance. In El Calafate we'd obvioulsy like to see the glacier(s), hike some, relax, possibly going to Chile and Torres del Paine and El Chalten areas while there.
2) Bariloche. Here we'd like to explore the lake region, do some hiking, possibly go over the mountains to Chile and the lakes and Puerto Montt lake area there. We could probably take an overnight bus here, rent a car from BA or just in Bariloche or, possibly, fly.
Given that we are a family of four, would it make the most sense here to rent a car (not sure how expenisve car rentals are but I heard pricey), try and get on a tour type thing, try to rely on public transportation and go everywhere or combine these possibilities? Not sure which areas are more beautiful and worth the trek for but we have lots of flexibility here. How expenisve are hotels in these places and what is the best way to book them from BA? Here's where I'm not sure where a more inclusive hotel/bus tour might be better for our situation money wise allowing us to see a lot of places and not have to worry about travel.
What do you all think? Any suggestions or recommendations would be much appreciated.
1) Flying to El Calafate. This would be our only flight while here and we're willing to do one flight, particlalry considering the enormous distance. In El Calafate we'd obvioulsy like to see the glacier(s), hike some, relax, possibly going to Chile and Torres del Paine and El Chalten areas while there.
2) Bariloche. Here we'd like to explore the lake region, do some hiking, possibly go over the mountains to Chile and the lakes and Puerto Montt lake area there. We could probably take an overnight bus here, rent a car from BA or just in Bariloche or, possibly, fly.
Given that we are a family of four, would it make the most sense here to rent a car (not sure how expenisve car rentals are but I heard pricey), try and get on a tour type thing, try to rely on public transportation and go everywhere or combine these possibilities? Not sure which areas are more beautiful and worth the trek for but we have lots of flexibility here. How expenisve are hotels in these places and what is the best way to book them from BA? Here's where I'm not sure where a more inclusive hotel/bus tour might be better for our situation money wise allowing us to see a lot of places and not have to worry about travel.
What do you all think? Any suggestions or recommendations would be much appreciated.
