This holiday visits the places ticked below. You can design your own itinerary by adding destinations. Select the destinations you would like and click the red button to see full details of the holiday you have chosen.
The Best of Argentina & Chile + Iguazu Falls holiday allows you to take the following optional excursions:
Vineyard & Valparaiso | Torres del Paine | Boat to Grey Glacier | Las Torres Trek | French Valley Trek | Historic Buenos Aires | Tango Dinner Show | Patagonia Four Wheel Drive | Estancia Cristina | Argentinean Iguazu Falls | Argentinean and Chilean Excursion Package
A full day excursion, descending from Santiago through the countryside to Chile’s most interesting city, Valparaiso, on the Pacifc coast. Here, colourful houses tumble down the hills to the sea, and a series of funiculars take you up and down for spectacular views. The city was an important port in the 19th century, and was also once home to the poet Pablo Neruda, Chile’s most famous son. After lunch, you visit a vineyard in the Casablanca Valley, where you can try some of the excellent wine. The Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay are especially good here. You return to Santiago in the evening.
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This full day excursion explores one of the world’s great national parks by road, visiting lagoons, lakes, waterfalls, glaciers and mountains. The park is dominated by the magnificent granite Paine massif, and there are wonderful views of the towers and the horns throughout the park. The Southern Ice Field flows into the park, with many glaciers throughout the area. Apart from the spectacular scenery, the area is home to much wildlife, including guanacos (wild llamas), rheas and condors. If you are very lucky, you may also spot one of the pumas which live in the park. This excursion visits some of the most impressive view-points in the park, and it includes a few short walks, including a visit to the Salto Grande Waterfall. A packed lunch is provided. This excursion visits Lago Grey, where you have time to walk on the lake shore or take the Boat to Grey Glacier excursion described separately.
As part of the Torres del Paine excursion, you can add a cruise on Lago Grey, where you sail to the glacier. You sail among floating icebergs before arriving at the face of the 40-metre high glacier, where you can listen to the ice breathe and maybe watch chunks of the glacier crash into the lake. You then have a drink with ice from the glacier before sailing back. The navigation takes approximately 2 hours.
You trek from the hotel, following the River Ascencio up the valley, with dramatic views. The trail continues through beech forest and finally reaches a glacial moraine, presenting the most difficult part of the trail. The granite towers do not reveal themselves until the top of the climb, but the wait is worth it, as the views are truly fantastic. You then descend to the valley. The excursion takes approximately 7 hours and is of moderate-high difficulty. A packed lunch is provided.
This full day guided trek begins with a short drive to Pudeto, where you take a 30 minute catamaran ride across Lake Pehoe to the start of the trail. You follow the shores of Lago Grey and get a close view of the impressive Grey Glacier which flows into the lake. Continue to walk to Lake Skottberg before ascending the Valle del Frances where you will be rewarded with magnificent views of the Paine massif. Once you get to the feet of Monte Paine Grande you will be able to rest in front of the French Glacier. You then descend to the valley and re-cross Lake Pehoe before returning to the hotel by road. The excursion takes approximately 10 hours and is of moderate difficulty, and is only available between November and March. A packed lunch is provided.
This half day excursion visits the principal areas of Buenos Aires, starting with the Plaza de Mayo in the centre, where you can see the Pink House, from where ‘Evita’ Peron addressed the masses. Then visit the historic area of San Telmo, and La Boca, the old port, with colourful painted houses, where the first immigrants arrived in the city, and where locals sometimes dance tango on the streets. You also visit La Recoleta, one of the most elegant neighbourhoods of the city. The beautiful cemetery here houses the tombs of many famous Argentineans.
Tango has had a resurgence in recent years in Buenos Aires, and a visit to a tango show allows you to appreciate the elegance and sensuality of this dance. Our excursion visits the Esquina Carlos Gardel theatre, with musicians and singers playing classic tango while professional dancers perform complicated routines on stage. A good dinner, with wine or soft drinks, is included at your table. You are collected from your hotel in the evening and taken back after the show.
This three-hour excursion takes you across the Patagonian steppe by four wheel drive vehicle. You drive past estancias before ascending the east face of the Cordon Huyliche to 1,100 metres, from where there are wonderful views of the granite Mount FitzRoy and Lake Argentino. Then continue driving, stopping to admire the strange rock formation and the vegetation of Patagonia, before returning to El Calafate.
This excursion includes an English speaking driver. For groups of up to 12 people the vehicle used is a Land Rover; for larger groups up to a maximum of 24 people, a larger off road vehicle is used. Previously, only Land Rovers were used. This excursion can be with people of different nationalities. As some of the excursion is off road, this can be very bumpy.
You are collected from your hotel and drive for an hour to the port of Puerto Bandera, where you board your ship for a boat ride across Lago Argentino, sailing among the icebergs. You visit Estancia Cristina, a ranch built by an Englishman in 1914, beautifully located in the shadow of the mountains and close to glaciers. Here, you visit the farmhouse and the small museum in the old shearing shed. Then take a four-wheel drive tour along mountain roads to a lookout point to see the impressive Upsala glacier, where there is time for a short walk. You return to the farmhouse before sailing back to Puerto Bandera and arriving in El Calafate in the evening. A packed lunch is provided. This excursion is carried out with tourists of other nationalities. The guides are provided by the Estancia Cristina. The transfer coach from El Calafate to the port does not have a guide on board.
A morning excursion visiting the Argentinean side of the falls. You take the visitors train to the one- kilometre walkway over the River Iguazu, where you see the mighty Devil’s Throat Falls from above. You then walk the upper circuit, from where you see many of the other falls from above, before descending to the lower circuit, where you see the falls from below. The tour lasts about 4 hours. You have free time in the area to explore some of the trails by yourself or you can also take an optional, adrenalin-filled (and drenching) boat ride to the base of the falls.
Take our Historic Buenos Aires, Tango Dinner Show, Patagonia Four Wheel Drive, Estancia Cristina, Vinyard & Valparaiso and Torres Del Paine excursions for a special price.