Family Adventure: Highlights of Argentina

My wife and I just returned from a 13 day argentina tour to Buenos Aires, calafate, Iguazú and Mendoza and we are so sad it’s over. This travel agent's team were exquisite hosts. We had 4 different destinations and at each location we were greeted by members of the team with our name on a sign. Our bilingual guides in Buenos Aires, calafate, Iguazú and Mendoza were all extremely friendly ran through the itinerary upon pick up at the airport and were always on time for all excursion pick ups. They each have their personal recommendations for places to eat in the relevant towns and we must say they were all excellent choices.

Our accommodations were all conveniently located and of high quality especially the hotel in calafate. The view of the bay and the morning breakfast deserves special mention. 

All of our tours, Buenos Aires city tour- excellent and set the mood for our days at leisure knowing exactly what to do, Perito Moreno, two Iguazú tours (Argentina and Brazil side of the falls) and Mendoza three wine tours were all excellent and we wouldn’t have changed any of it. 

The only factor I would change would be our flight time from calafate to Iguazú. We left calafate at 2pm and arrived in Iguazú around 10pm leaving little option for dinner. It may have been better to leave earlier in the morning to facilitate an earlier arrival in Iguazú. 

We had a very good experience with the tour company. The tour designer was very easy to work with and a good communicator. The process to narrow down the trip itinerary was very efficient. Booking the trip was easy. 

As for the trip, we were very happy with our choices of destinations. We enjoyed all the natural attractions- Iguazu Falls, Mendoza, Calafate and Buenos Aires. The falls and the glaciers were amazing to see.

The guides were very good. We particularly liked a guide who showed us the Brazilian side of the falls and a guide who did a great job for us in Mendoza.

The guides were very good. We were disappointed in the amenities at some of the hotels, for example, a hotel website indicated there would be coffee making ability in the rooms, but there was not. When I asked for a coffeemaker in the room, they said no even after I referenced their website. 

Overall, the beauty of the destinations made this one of our best vacations.

We visited 6 different places. In Argentina, Buenos Aires, Bariloche in Patagonia, then Mendoza including a day trip to Aconcagua.  Then Iguazu falls, both the Argentinian and Brazilian side of the Falls.  In Brazil, Rio and a jungle lodge on the Rio Negro (Amazon) 3 hours outside of Manaus.   Our travel specialist at this South America travel agency spent a lot of time with me organizing the trip, picking hotels, deciding on activities.  We had a good mix of planned activities and free time.  The private guides and tours that our agency arranged for us were great.  Our agent was always available if we had any issues or questions - very responsive and helpful.  I would absolutely recommend this company for a South American trip.

We were very hesitant to use an online travel agency that we had no familiarity with but went ahead and hired this travel company located In Buenos Aries. The proprietor picked us up at the airport and drove us to our Airbnb with a stop to change money. The 8 day tour was fantastic and the price was reasonable.  We saw Iguazu Falls, Bariloche and El Calafate in Patagonia.  We saw the best of each place, waterfalls, the seven lakes, several boat trips, the Perita Merino and Uppsala Glaciers with fully guided tours and time between outings to spend time in the towns. He arranged all hotels, transfers, guided tours and air travel to each destination and a ferry ride to Uruguay which is no easy task. The hotels were great, especially the hotel in Bariloche which was a bit outside of town but turned out had the best restaurant in town. When we complained about our hotel in Calafate he stepped up to the plate and immediately transferred us to a better hotel. Whenever we had a question or problem our travel planner always responded quickly and solved it. We had a six hour delay from El Calafate to Buenos Aires which meant missing our ferry to Colonia and losing our prepaid non refundable hotel. Not his fault but again he helped us rearrange our schedule and reserved a wonderful hotel a block away from the ferry to Uruguay the next morning. We will definitely employ this travel company for our next trip. Our travel planner is originally from Ireland so communication was always perfect.  

If you are visiting Argentina, take advantage of the services provided by these agents and their company, and you will be completely satisfied from initial planning all the way to your return home.

They have first hand knowledge of guides, drivers, lodging, air travel, restaurants, shopping, and almost anything else you might want to do.

In the beginning stages, after you have a general idea of where you want to go, schedule a phone session or two with their agent.  We were three couples (two coming from New York and one from Colorado) who traveled (March 5 to March 23, 2016) to Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls and the tropical rain forest, Mendoza wine country and Mt. Aconcagua, and El Calafate and the glaciers) You will find that their agent personally knows hotels and hotel managers, can give advice on minimum lengths of stay, how best to navigate (mostly by plane) through a very large country, give you several choices for each stage of your journey, and even provide advice on exactly when and how to do various excursions (such as visiting Iguazu Falls, trips to Mt. Aconcagua, and visiting glaciers).

Our drivers were always there (at the airport, at hotels) when we wanted them, our boarding passes were delivered personally the night before each plane trip, all our reservations were executed flawlessly for trips, food, wine, and excursions.

All our guides and drivers treated us like friends and family, knew the answers to all our questions, accommodated all our requests, and were unfailingly pleasant and attentive.

When we wanted to walk to a small folk museum in Buenos Aires, our agent was just a phone call away to provide directions.  When we arrived 30 minutes early in Mendoza, a call to our agent assured us our driver was just two minutes away.  At the end of the trip they personally escorted us to the airport to wish us a fond farewell.

These agents, and Argentina—a perfect match for a wondrous journey.