Argentina Travel Reports

In Argentina, during my 5-week trip to Chile, I primarily explored South Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. I was particularly impressed by the small town of El Chaltén with its numerous hiking opportunities and large glaciers (Perito Moreno, Upsala, Spegazzini, ...) near El Calafate.

Ushuaia, with its beautiful Tierra del Fuego National Park, captivated me. You can't imagine a more beautiful end of the world.

Wait, that's actually Cape Horn. I explored Cape Horn on an expedition cruise through the fjords of Patagonia.

Here you will find all travel reports with valuable tips and information for Argentina.

I am Katrin, always on the go, and a true travel expert!

I want to explore the entire world with a campervan or backpack. To share my experiences and adventures with you, I started this travel blog!

Here, I've summarized a few things that are useful for your travel planning.

The currency in Argentina is the Argentine Peso (ARS). 1 Peso equals 100 centavos (c). 114 Argentine Pesos are approximately 1 Euro. It's best to use an app like Currency (iPhone) to convert the currency.

I withdrew cash directly upon arrival in Argentina using my credit card. Withdrawals and payments in local currency went smoothly thanks to my DKB Bank credit card.

Whenever possible, we paid with a credit card to avoid carrying too much cash. However, in some places, there is no internet (not always in El Chaltén), so everything needs to be paid in cash. Find out in advance if you can make a money transfer (for accommodations) or if you need to carry cash.

Currently, the best free credit cards for travel are the DKB Bank Debit Card, GenialCard (Hanseatic Bank), and the Mastercard Gold from TF Bank. With a setup of at least 2 of these cards, you can almost always withdraw money from ATMs and pay on-site without incurring foreign fees for currency exchange!-> Here you can find all my tips based on my experiences for the best travel credit cards.

Let me be clear: In Argentina, you are at a disadvantage without basic knowledge of Spanish. If you want to communicate with locals, I recommend learning some key phrases before your trip. However, Argentine Spanish can often be hard to understand and sounds quite Italian. I found it quite unusual in Patagonia that for example, Jamon (ham, pronounced Chamon) sounded more like Schamong. It took me a bit longer to get used to this slang.

You can quickly learn the basics through an online course with Babbel. With Babbel, you can learn the most important words in Spanish in a short time. This way, you can communicate on-site and won't be completely lost. Don't rely on people speaking English in the area. In larger tourist areas, you might get by with it.

Most visitors arrive in Argentina by plane. The largest international airport is located in the capital, Buenos Aires. We only traveled in Patagonia and crossed the border into Chile several times by rental car.

The cheapest flights to Argentina are from Amsterdam (with KLM), Paris (with Air France), or Madrid (with Iberia).

Currently, Iberia is the only airline that flies directly from Europe to Guatemala. With other airlines, you have to change planes in the USA or Mexico. For flights via America, you need an ESTA visa.

FLIGHT BOOKING ✈️ We always search for cheap flights at Kayak. Here you can find my tips on booking cheap flights. Make sure to specify if you need checked luggage, as basic flights only include hand luggage. This will initially skew the price and make it appear lower.

For a classic tourist visa, you do not need to apply for a visa before your trip. You receive your visa on arrival when entering at the airport (or, as we did, when coming from Chile by land). This allows you to stay in the country for 90 days. Make sure there are enough blank pages in your passport in case you (like us) leave and re-enter Argentina multiple times. My passport ended up completely full and I was quite lucky.

The best time to travel to Argentina, in my opinion, is the South American summer from November to March. Specifically for Patagonia, I recommend you visit from November to March, as this is when you can undertake beautiful hikes. In these months, trips to Antarctica usually take place, most starting in Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego).

High season: The city trip to Buenos Aires is most pleasant from September to November (spring) and from March to June (autumn). For the wine regions, it's later spring and summer (October to April). The Iguazú Falls are best visited from August to October, when temperatures are lower and the waterfalls are fuller.

From late September to February is the high season in Patagonia.

Low season: Buenos Aires is least crowded in January and February when locals flee to vacation spots along the Atlantic and in Córdoba Province to escape the city's oppressive heat. It's ideal to combine with a trip to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

In northern Patagonia, many accommodations close in April and May, and in southern Patagonia, many are closed during the winter months of June to August (including hiking trails). Between December and February, it is extremely hot at the Iguazú Falls.

Our recommendation: If you are traveling to the Lake District or Patagonia, consider going in the low season in November and March to save.

I found Argentina to be a safe travel destination. Especially in the south, where the population density is very low, no one will bother you. However, there are also poorer neighborhoods in the capital, Buenos Aires, that you should avoid. Get information locally about which neighborhoods exactly to stay away from.

For Argentina, I recommend the English Fodor's Essential Argentina and the DuMont Travel Guide to Argentina.

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