In the second half of 2024, my daughter had the opportunity to study abroad in Argentina for six months. She lived with a host family, experiencing daily life up close with the locals, and studied and traveled with friends who were part of the same overseas program. They developed deep friendships along the way. At the beginning of December, after she completed her courses, I flew to Buenos Aires, and the two of us set off on a two-week trip together. In mid-December, my husband and my son joined us, and our whole family flew to Chile. We finished W-trek in Torres del Paine National Park, and eventually made our way to the lake districts of northern Chile and Argentina. Over the course of a month, we got a glimpse of some South American cities and natural landscapes. This continent, so rich in natural resources, attracted us like a magnet and made us cherish every single minute we spent there.
Traveling in South America is quite different from places we’ve been before — we used planes, ferries, long-distance buses, taxis, and Uber. The complexity of booking tickets surpassed all of our previous trips. As the family’s planner, what I appreciated most was the detailed itinerary sharing from other travelers. That’s why in my first blog post, focused on the itinerary itself, I will record as many practical details as possible, in the hope that they may help other travelers who may take the similar journeys.
Here is our day-by-day itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive in Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) Airport in the morning; settle in; stay at an Airbnb in Recoleta; bought a one-month eSIM card (25GB) from a Claro Argentina store for about $12, which was cheaper than purchasing an eSIM online.
Day 2: Join a free walking tour; explore Buenos Aires.
Day 3: Take a 5 a.m. flight, arrive in Iguazu at 7 a.m.; take a taxi (arranged by the hotel) from Iguazu Airport, cross the border to the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls; after visiting the waterfalls, the same driver brought us back to Iguazu on the Argentine side; stayed at a guesthouse.
Day 4: Visit Iguazu Falls on the Argentine side (tickets booked online); return to the hotel in the afternoon; enjoy the sunset at the Tri-Border landmark.
Day 5: Visit three local Iguazu attractions: La Aripuca, Casa de Botella, and Güirá Oga. Take an evening flight back to Buenos Aires.
Day 6: Third day in Buenos Aires; stayed in an Airbnb in the Palermo neighborhood.
Day 7: Fourth day in Buenos Aires.
Day 8: Take a domestic flight from Buenos Aires Aeroparque (AEP) Airport to El Calafate; in the afternoon, take a Chaltén Travel bus (2 hours 20 minutes) to El Chaltén; stay at an Airbnb.
Day 9–13: Five days of trekking in El Chaltén.
Day 14: A short morning hike; at noon, take a Chaltén Travel bus back to El Calafate.
Day 15: Perito Moreno Glacier day trip (bus tickets booked online); boat ride for a close-up view of the glacier; glacier park entrance tickets booked online.
Day 16: Take a long-distance Marga bus from El Calafate across the Argentina–Chile border to Puerto Natales (5 hours 40 minutes); pick up pre-rented sleeping bags; stay overnight in Puerto Natales.
Day 17: Take an early bus from Puerto Natales to the entrance of Torres del Paine National Park (2 hours); begin the W-trek, hike to Las Torres; overnight at Chileno. (W-trek accommodation bookings referenced from toLife’s blog.)
Day 18: Second day of the W-trek; overnight at Chileno.
Day 19: Third day of the W-trek; 8-hour hike from Chileno to Francés.
Day 20: Fourth day of the W-trek; leave Francés, leave backpacks at Italiano, hike light into French Valley and up to Británico; then hike 2 hours to Paine Grande Refugio; total of 9 hours hiking.
Day 21: Fifth day of the W-trek; hike nearly 35 km, about 12 hours round trip from Grande → Grey → Grande; overnight at Grande.
Day 22: Leave Torres del Paine; take a ferry to Pudeto (tickets booked); walk one hour to Hostería Pehoé; overnight at the lakeside lodge.
Day 23: Watch the sunrise in the morning; around noon take a bus back to Puerto Natales (about 2+ hours).
Day 24: Leisurely morning in Puerto Natales; in the afternoon fly to Puerto Montt in the Chilean Lake District.
Day 25: Join a day tour to Frutillar, Puerto Varas, and Petrohué Waterfalls; overnight in Puerto Montt.
Day 26: Take an Andesmar long-distance bus across the Chile–Argentina border to Bariloche in the Argentine Lake District (6 hours).
Day 27: First day in Bariloche.
Day 28: Second day in Bariloche.
Day 29: Half-day sightseeing in Bariloche; afternoon flight back to Buenos Aires.
Day 30: Half-day sightseeing in Buenos Aires; afternoon departure from EZE Airport for the return flight.
At first glance, the itinerary looked complicated, but in reality much of the time was spent on point-to-point travel. To simplify, it breaks down to:
Buenos Aires – 4 days
Iguazu Falls (Brazil & Argentina) – 3 days
El Chaltén – 5 days
Torres del Paine National Park (including the lakeside lodge) – 7 days
Chilean–Argentine Lake District – 4 days
Since on past trips we often rushed through places without enough time to fully enjoy them, this time I deliberately made the schedule a bit more relaxed. A few small takeaways:
1. The 3 days in Iguazu could be compressed into 2 days.
2.Four full days in Buenos Aires is not too much—there’s still plenty left to see.
3. Spending two nights at Chileno on the W-trek could be reduced to one, but the risk is missing out on seeing Las Torres if the weather doesn’t cooperate.
4. Puerto Montt is rather boring and could be skipped. Bariloche, on the other hand, is called Argentina’s “backyard garden” and has stunning natural scenery—well worth adding another 1–3 days. If you can fly into Buenos Aires and out of Santiago, it may make sense to put Bariloche earlier in the trip and end with Puerto Natales → Santiago for departure.
5. When arriving at El Calafate Airport, luggage must pass another inspection at customs—fruits, vegetables, and seeds cannot leave the airport. The goal is to protect Patagonia’s national park ecosystems.
6. Argentina offers very good discounts for students from around the world. Many national parks have excellent student tickets, so no matter where you’re from, remember to bring a student ID (you can even purchase student tickets online).
7. Is it necessary to exchange cash? Aside from a few shops, hostels, or tours that accept only cash, most stores, hotels, and restaurants in Argentina and Chile accept international credit cards. However, many places offer attractive discounts (e.g., 10%) if you pay in cash. It’s therefore worthwhile to exchange some local currency when convenient. We usually exchanged through Western Union, though exchange rates varied slightly from branch to branch. Argentina went through a period of shock-like currency turbulence in 2023–24, with dramatic, cliff-like devaluation. By the end of 2024, however, the situation had stabilized somewhat, with the rate holding at around 1 USD ≈ 1,000 pesos. Also, $100 USD bills tend to fetch better rates than smaller denominations.
