South America - Argentina
Date: December 18, 2022 – December 21 2022; January 3, 2023
Tour: Self Guided
Table of Contents
Flights
Hotels
Activities
Trip Video and Photos
Tips
Flights
Delta flights from Atlanta to Buenos Aires were expensive. Instead we flew via a separate ticket from Atlanta to Miami and then COPA Airlines out of Miami to Panama CIty, Panama and onward to Buenos Aires. Finally we cought our flight to Ushuaia, Argentina via Argentineas Aerolinas.
Note: There are two airports in Buenos Aires, EZE and AEP. EZE is newer, services more international flights, and if you arrive for a domestic transfer you most likely will ahve to switch airports to AEP. This is a 50 minute drive and cost us $50 via Uber when we landed around midnight.
Thoughts: This was a pretty brutal itinerary to get there, but it was the cheapest.
There: ATL->MIA->PTY->EZE->(Taxi)AEP->USH (37 hours)
In Miami, COPA told us our booking was not permitted with too short of a layover to switch airports in Buenos Aires, but a supervisor overrode it after 1.5 hours in line. They did escort us right to plane through security like VIPs though.
Return:USH->EZE->PTY->ATL (26 hours)
On the return we had an 8 hour layover at EZE and COPA only opened the check in counter 2 hours before the flight. We stayed at the McDonalds, but could have been at a lounge if we had not needed to switch terminals and recheck-in at EZE, since they are not connected airside. COPA lost one of Julie’s bags (it went to Columbia?) but sent it via UPS 6 days later.
COPA was certainly an adiquate airline and the Panama CIty, Panama hub was fine four the 4 hours layovers each way, but the 7.5 hour trip from PTY->EZE was done on planes with just your phone for a video screen for their onboard films. (The WIFI does not mean internet, just for their DVR). For the Ushuaia leg the Argentineas Aeroleneas planes were showing their age with a dated cabin. All flights were more or less on time.
COPA Airlines at Panama Airport
Leaving Buenos Aires at 1AM
hotels
For our first three nights we stayed at the Hotel Canal de Beagle. We highly recommend this hotel. It’s near shops, restaurants, and the taxi stand. It was budget friendly considering how expensive lodging is in Ushuaia. Plus, if you are going onto a GAdventures or Intrepid Adventures trip to Antarctica, it is right near the bus loading area for ship departure and the post-trip baggage holding area, so easy to retrieve your bags and walk a half block to your hotel.
The night before our Antarctica trip, Intrepid booked us at the Hotel Del Glacier. It is high up and away from the town. We did not like this hotel because it was a taxi ride from everything and just seemed very quiet (I’m assuming the off season for this hotel). Perhaps for the cost of the Antarctica trip Intrepid wanted a “premium hotel,” but we preferred the Hotel Canal de Beagle.
Hotel Canal de Beagle
View from Hotel Del Glacier
Activities
We Recommend the Following Activities
SCUBA Dive the Beagle ChaNnel
Dive the frigid water and see seals, king crab, kelp forest, and more!
Guide: Ushuaia Divers
Half-Day: 9AM-1PM
We reserved the trip via email and met Carlos at the docks for a morning dive. He drove us out on a small zodiac for a two tank dive around the Bridge Islands. We are both PADI certified dry suit divers, but Carlos can train you there. Their equipment was top notch and we preferred their drysuits to the ones we were trained on. The drysuits kept us warm on the boat. The kelp forest was amazing, and we saw crabs and sea lions.
Getting out there with drysuits is a lot of effort and we were hoping for a three tank dive but, after the second dive, we were both getting cold and we can see why a two tank dive is the perfect amount. The dive shop is walkable from the Canal Beagle Hotel thanks to an under construction shortcut across the bay.
Vinciguerra Glacier Trail and Laguna de los Témpanos
6.5 Mile out and back trail to beautiful glacier and lake
Guide: Via Viator
Full-Day: 9AM-4PM
We rented boots from Cumbre Rental since we could not fit them in our luggage to Ushuaia. The guides provided us with lunch and one pole each. They picked us up and returned us to our Hotel. There were about 8 people in our group: some spoke only Spanish, others only English, and others both. All instructions and nature information was given in both English and Spanish.
The trip had an easy start, but quickly got steep for the remainder (what they call the “Two Steps”). We had a “hot day,” but were told the weather can turn cold on short notice. The hike was absolutely beautiful and culminated with lunch at the glacial lake.
This could be done without a guide, but there are two places where the trail is not marked well and you could lose a lot of time hiking up the wrong steep incline (our guide yelled at several groups that were trying the wrong way). As there is no parking at the trail entrance we would recommend a guide to avoid having to arrange logistics, though cell service was available at the trail head.
Beagle Channel and Island Tour
Guide: Via Viator
Time: 4 Hours
This was a nice boat ride to see the iconic Ushuaia Lighthouse (at the end of the world), seals, birds, and even a whale! It ended with a quick hike around an Island in the Beagle Channel.
If you are going to Antarctica, you could skip this as you will see much of it on the boat on the way out and may be better served with a trip to Tierra Del Fuego National Park (we heard the train is not worth it, just take the car tour as you get the same view).
Trip Video
Tips
Bring U.S. Currency
Argentina is currently dealing with a currency crises. It was difficult to withdrawl large amounts of Argentinian Pesos from ATM’s due to currency shortages/limits. Most tour operators will prefer U.S. Dollars. It was easy to pay with Credit Card at restuarants ect. However, do note there is the “official” exchange rate by the argentiniam government and the “global” exchange rate. Check and make sure which one your credit card will use. For one of my VISA cards I was changed the much more expensive government rate, but then automatically refunded to the correct global rate a few days later.
Stay in the City Center
Taxi’s are cheap (only some take credit cards), but we much preferred staying the the Canal Beagle Hotel on the main streat of Av. San Martin. If you stay up higher out of the city it will be a drive for any activities and anything outside of the hotel restaurant.
Book Flights out of Miami or George Bush International Airport in Texas
These airports generally have the best deals to South America. We saved $1,000 a ticket just by booking the start of our trip from Miami instead of Atlanta (but flew back to Atlanta). We did this with a One -Way FLight ATL->MIA then Multi Destination from MIA->USH->ATL.
Note: We flew COPA which does not open check in at Beunos Aeres until tw hours prior to the flight, so we could not get into the lounges in Buenos Aeres Airport.
It is Easy to Navigate Speaking Only English
While English is not that all spoken outside of Hotel Staff and Tour Operators, Google Maps and Google Translate go a long way.
Beware of “Siesta Time”
This is a traditional break that effects banks and stores as they close during some mid-day horurs (give and take 11-2 which varies by store). Confusingly, the effectled lunch places which sometimes made things tough to find a open place easily.
Internet/Wifi is Widespread
Cafes, Hotels, and Restaurants will have Wifi, but note it will be slow. Occasional outages seemed to be common. Cell service was largely 4G with some 3G (T-Mobile Phone)
Fly In Early
If you are flying in for Antartica like we did with Intrepid Adventures, come at least one day early. Many people on our trip were delayed a day (which may have been complicated due to the World Cup win). It is not worth missing your entiure trip to save a day. Ushuaia is a great town and we thought we alloted the perfect amount of time for it (1 Recovery day due to no sleep for 37 hours of flight, 1 around town day, and 2.5 days for activities).