Argentina is a huge country. It streched through half of the South-American-Continent. 3 weeks are by far not enough to see all of it, even when you are backpacking. So do your research about where to want to go and plan your traveling-route accordingly. Keep in mind, that you might need to look up the availabilty of flights or bus rides first. Also check the weather conditions for the time you are planning on going, since there could still be snow in some part of the country. In this blog post I am going to tell you all about the places I visited while backpacking through Argentina and for how long I stayed in each of them.
WEEK 1
Ushuaia
The morning after I arrived in Buenos Aires I already boarded the next flight. The plane took me to Ushuaia, one of the most southern towns in the world. In october it can still be very cold in Ushuaia. Temperatures were around 6 degrees Celcius. I reccomend to spend at least 2 days here. On the first day I went on a hike to the Laguna Esmeralda and on the second day I went on a boat trip in the canal and took the train to Terra del Fuego.
El Chalten
From Ushuaia I flew to El Calafate and took a bus to “The Hiking Capital” El Chalten. The bus ride took about 3 hours and I arrived when it was already dark. From here all the hikes to the famous Mount Fitz Roy start. I was lucky enought that the weather was perfect on the day I went on my big hike. The other 2 days were cloudy and rainy. I planned on staying for 3 days with the hope, that at least one of the days would be sunny and nice and I was in luck.
WEEK 2
El Calafate
After 3 days in El Chalten I took the bus back to El Calafate. From here you can go see the Perito Moreno Glacier. But not only that, there are over 800 glaciers in this region. I only had time for the most famous on. The other day I went on a tour to the Walichu Caves and to the Laguna Nimez Reserva where you can see a lot of different birds, including Flamingos.
Puerto Madryn
I went to Puerto Madryn to see the whales. During winter and spring the Right Southern Whales come here with their newborn babys because the waters are warmer than further south. So one day was filled with a trip to Peninsula Valdes and a boat trip. Since there is not much to do in Puerto Madryn I went to see the penguins on the second day. There’s a huge colony of penguins about 1.5 hours south of Puerto Madryn.
WEEK 3
Iguazu
After a one-night-layover in Buenos Aires I arrived in Iguazu to see the waterfalls. It really doens’t matter it you stay on the Argentinan- or Brasilian-side of the waterfalls but I reccomend to see them from both sides. I stayed on the Argentinan-side and crossed the border on the second day but came back in the evening. 2 days is really all you need here.
Buenos Aires
Back in Buenos Aires at last and I had 3 whole days here. In my opinion, this was almost too much time, so I decided to go on a day trip to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay on one of those days. This was a perfect little getaway when Buenos Aires feels too busy after 3 weeks in the wilderness.
