From all the countries I have been to thus far, Argentina took me the longest to plan and was definitely the most complicated. The complications mostly stem from the country’s vast size, its complicated money matters and its somewhat unreliable airline carries. Although complicated, a trip to Argentina is well worth the time and effort. In fact, it’s in my top 3 countries that I have visited. This post covers 10 steps you must take when you plan a trip to Argentina. Following these steps in the sequence outlined will definitely ensure that you make the most of your time in Argentina.
1. Determine the Number of Days
Your first step in planning a trip to Argentina is to determine the number of days you have to spend in the country. Argentina is HUGE and you probably need a life time to spend in the country but since no one has time like that, you need to make some decisions. How many days you have in Argentina will determine your itinerary. If you can, spend at least 2 weeks in Argentina. A month is probably ideal if you want to see all the major places to visit. However, if 1 week is all you got, then you can make a visit out of a week too.
2. Figure Out Where you Want to Go
Figuring out where to go really depends on 4 things. 1. How many days you have 2. You interests 3. What time of the year you plan on visiting and 4. Internal Transport. I covered the number 1 above, so let me explain 2, 3 and 4 a bit more. There really is something for everyone in Argentina!
If you are a big city person, you will love Buenos Aires! After all, is it dubbed the Paris of the South. If you love nature and the outdoors, Patagonia is an absolute must do! Salta and the province of Jujuy will be different to most places you may have been before and of course Mendoza is a must for wine lovers!
What time of the year you are visiting will also greatly influence where to go. For example, places like Patagonia, especially if you love to hike are summer/warm weather (Nov to March) destinations. Whereas, places like Iguazu are all year around destinations.
How you get from one place to another will also influence where you will visit. Argentina has a few airlines that operate in the country but there are not a lot of direct flight to most places outside of the capital. If you are going from Patagonia to Mendoza for example, you will likely have to connect via Buenos Aires. Not having direct flights mean you have to account for connection times, which in turn adds to unnecessary time trying to get from one place to another. Based on this, you may decide that it may not be worth to go to certain places.
3. Narrow Down the List
Once you have narrowed down a list of places you want to visit, start researching what you want to do in each place. This will determine how many days you have to spend at each place within the overall days that you have to spend in Argentina. Don’t make any hotel, car rentals or plane bookings until you figure out what is there to do in each place and what YOU want to do based on the list of things to do.
4. Understand Money Matters
This is a very important step in planning a trip to Argentina. Argentina has an official dollar rate called the white dollar and an unofficial rate called the blue dollar. The white dollar can be obtained by going to a bank or ATM and exchanging dollars for pesos BUT this is a bad idea. This is because you actually get more pesos to the dollar if you get the blue dollar rate. So, how does one get the blue dollar rate? You can either withdraw money at a Western Union or exchange money with “money exchangers”. Some hotels, restaurants and businesses may also be willing to exchange dollars for a high peso rate than the official rate. You can see the white and blue dollar rates HERE
If you have a visa credit card, you can get what they call the MEP rate, which is very close to the blue dollar rate. The conversion will show up automatically and almost immediately in your card statement online. You can calculate it HERE. Mastercard also gives you the MEP rate but their conversion is not immediate. They take a few days to adjust. One callout is that your card has to be swiped in pesos to get the MEP rate. So make sure you are paying in pesos and not dollars.
So why do Argentinians do this? It’s because inflation is sky high and the peso is very volatile. They prefer to hold on to dollars, paying even a higher rate for the dollars verses. keeping pesos. One callout is that the dollar bills that you bring for exchange must be crisp, unmarked and the brand new hundred dollar bills with the blue line. Argentinians will not exchange the older, folded or marked notes.
5. Download WhatsApp
If you don’t use WhatsApp, now is the time to download it. You will need it to book things like rental cars to tours and everything in-between. I even got a discount once when I booked a tour via WhatsApp rather than book via the website.
6. Book Internal Flights
Figuring out internal flights is a very important step when you plan a trip to Argentina. As I mentioned in step #2, depending on where you are going, you will have to connect via Buenos Aires most of the time. Tickets are generally cheaper the earlier you book, but schedule changes are not uncommon. If you book early, keep an eye on the schedule to make sure there are no changes. You may not be prompted (via email), so you will have to check on your own periodically.
7. Book Hotels
I always recommend booking hotels via booking.com because 1. You can select cancellable hotels if plans change and 2. You can really search for the amenities you want. The best way to still get a good dollar rate even using booking.com is to use a visa card to pay for your hotel. You will get a rate very close to the blue dollar rate and this way, don’t have to carry cash around to pay for hotels. This being said, some hotels may require you to pay by cash (especially in places like Patagonia), so make sure you read the requirements.
8. Book Rental Cars
I have found that both in Chile and Argentina, especially outside of the capitals, that it is often easier to book cars via local car rental agencies than the bigger name rental companies. Do a general google search for “car rental companies in *inset location here*” and Google should pull up a list with ratings. The other way is to search on Google maps itself. Another advantage of doing this, especially in Argentina is that you may be able to take advantage of the blue dollar by paying in pesos in-person verses dollars online.
9. Reserve Tours
If you are doing things that require tours, try as much as possible to contact the local operator and see if you can pay in pesos instead of dollars. If you pay in pesos, it comes out to be less because you can take advantage of the blue dollar. Even if you pay with a credit card and not hard cash, just make sure you can pay in pesos and not dollars. Make sure you book in advance if you are traveling during the summer, especially to places like Patagonia.
10. Make Reservations for Restaurants
If you are looking to eat at a popular restaurant (especially the highly rated steak houses) in Buenos Aires or you have your eyes set on one of Mendoza’s top wineries, you should definitely book these in advance. WhatsApp will be your friend here once again. If you try to book things online and cannot find a reservation, try WhatsApp. I got several reservations via WhatsApp when it showed fully booked online.
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