Recommend Me A Tour For My Parents!

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Coming over to see their wandering son. They are late 60s, lively but not in to hiking anywhere or anything physically ott. They aren't crazy about extreme heat.

They will visit for 3 weeks in October but want to get out of the city for a week, English speaking tour guides would be ideal. They like eating and drinking, and in their own words dont really mind where they go so long s the tour os good, the people are nice and the guide speaks English. We won't be going with them.

I was thinking Bariloche (scenery) or maybe Mendoza (wine). Probably send them off via internal flights rather than a long bus ride.

Recommend me a tour folks, preferably one you have been on or have heard great reports of!

Thanks

 

[PhilipDT]

Mendoza isn't that great if you don't want to hike and have already seen a winery before. What's the budget? If I had a week and couldn't do hiking or activities I would do the following: Day 1 BA to calafate dinner and sleep, day 2 glacier walk and dinner, day 3 morning glacier mirador midday glacier museum evening flight to BA sleep the night and day 4 morning flight to iguazu, afternoon day 4 check into Sheraton and see a bit of the falls, dinner in town. Day five see the falls again from the park and then do the jungle truk/boat to the falls tour. Day 6 Brazilian side and triple frontera. Day 7 private car to the Jesuit ruins to the south in the morning and lunch there early evening flight to BA

 

[trennod]

I would send them down south for a week to get out of the city, options which can be done without any serious hiking:
- some time in Bariloche/San Martin de Los Andes
- El Calafate + glaciers

Sorry, I dont have names of tour operators but either a search or others might be able to recommend specifics.

 

[syngirl]

I don't know about Calafate in October -- it could still be freezing -- even in January the boat trips are cold due to the winds off the glaciars I needed hat/gloves/ski jacket (and then had to take all of those off at any stop off the boat as you bake in the sun). The whales are coming to end of season in Puerto Madryn, that could be an option -- I've never bneen so can't comment much.

I would say maybe Salta/Tucuman region and/or Iguazu would be better bets in October. In Salta the could go to Colome winery as well, highest altitude winery and makes some extremely drinkable product! They are supposed to have a spectacular estancia to stay at as well. http://www.bodegacolome.com/

 

[thomasb]

I second the North for October. Base in Salta, a few days in Cafayate and a trip to Jujuy to see the salt flats, huamauaca, tilcara etc.

October is the best period here, warm, but not too warm and pretty low season so it's not packed and prices are decent.

At work now so don't have much time but if you are interested send me a PM and I can put you in contact with some tourist agencies here that speak English.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

I second the North for October. Base in Salta, a few days in Cafayate and a trip to Jujuy to see the salt flats, huamauaca, tilcara etc.

October is the best period here, warm, but not too warm and pretty low season so it's not packed and prices are decent.

At work now so don't have much time but if you are interested send me a PM and I can put you in contact with some tourist agencies here that speak English.

Thanks, no issue booking in Spanish, more that the tour they go on should have a English speaking guides.

 

[trennod]

I don't know about Calafate in October -- it could still be freezing -- even in January the boat trips are cold due to the winds off the glaciars I needed hat/gloves/ski jacket (and then had to take all of those off at any stop off the boat as you bake in the sun). The whales are coming to end of season in Puerto Madryn, that could be an option -- I've never bneen so can't comment much.

I would say maybe Salta/Tucuman region and/or Iguazu would be better bets in October. In Salta the could go to Colome winery as well, highest altitude winery and makes some extremely drinkable product! They are supposed to have a spectacular estancia to stay at as well. http://www.bodegacolome.com/

October should be okay in the south, check out the weather charts here for El Calafate:
http://en.wikipedia....iki/El_Calafate

The reason I recommend the south is its probably the most amazing thing the country has to offer. Iguazu is another option (if it has recovered from the flooding). If they are happy to pay for the return flight its definitely something to see.

Tucumán and Salta are nice and you would get a totally different feel from the south (perhaps a more regional/authentic feel), but I would still vote for the south (my Tucumána might not agree ).

 

[lucha54]

If you go to the North, don't miss Cachi!!! Was my favorite day trip / circuit, although they are all amazing (I'm referring to the 4 circuits you can do from Salta - the salt flats, the Quebrada de Humahuaca, the Cafayate valley).

I think Poncho tours does private tours up there but with a price tag to match. Worth checking out to see if it's in the budget.

 

[amsam]

I would do the following: Day 1 BA to calafate dinner and sleep, day 2 glacier walk and dinner, day 3 morning glacier mirador midday glacier museum evening flight to BA sleep the night and day 4 morning flight to iguazu, afternoon day 4 check into Sheraton and see a bit of the falls, dinner in town. Day five see the falls again from the park and then do the jungle truk/boat to the falls tour. Day 6 Brazilian side and triple frontera. Day 7 private car to the Jesuit ruins to the south in the morning and lunch there early evening flight to BA

Philip, you are not screwing around. I would need a serious vacation after that vacation.

 

[florence]

We are "adult" travellers and in the past 18 months, have done all three of the trips mentioned above. I would recommend El Calafate and the glaciers or Iguazu ahead of Salta/Cafayate/Tilcara, etc. My favorite was Calafate. We were there in late March and it was fine. People over 64 aren't allowed on the glacier walk. But even if they can't do that, a boat trip will take them to the face of the glacier, and the trip to the Estancia Cristina (named for a different one ) has an option to include a 4x4 ride up to a spectacular vista of many glaciers converging.
We used Hueney Viajes and were pleased.

In Salta and Jujuy, there is a lot of distance to be covered, so it involved a lot of time in a vehicle on some pretty primitive roads. Cafayate in lovely, but unless you want to go just park yourself there for a while and soak in the picturesque town square you will be on the road a lot. We came back with severe fanny fatigue. There is an interesting museum of art involving light at the Colome vineyard, but when we were there in May they told us that the hotel was closed because it was too expensive to run. It is also a very long haul on dirt track to get there..

Iguazu is, of course, fabulous. PhillipDT is right that the combination of Calafate and Iguazu is double spectacularity. We have friends who did them together. One is a wall of frozen water and the other a wall of falling water. Great contrast. The best.