Argentina, Why You Should Go!

Argentina! Oh my!

Little by little, location by location, scenic delight by scenic delight, our enjoyment of this country soared to a crescendo of travel bliss–we love this country!

Tips, Suggestions, and Observations

• South America Travel
  I love planning my own trips because I love doing the research and choosing our activities. BUT I am so happy I let South America Travel plan on Argentina trip.  Why? It’s so personalized and full of surprises and adventures. How does it work? A travel consultant will curate a unique custom made tour for you with mini-adventures at each destination. Jason Mayo, our consultant helped us pick and choose our destinations and activities. Perks include airport pickups and deliveries, boutique hotels, local guides, and fascinating excursions. All combined to make this one of our best vacations ever! I highly recommend this company.
• Currency Exchange and ATMs–Super Important! The first time we withdrew money from an ATM, we were in shock! It didn’t allow us to take more than $100 and it charged us a $10 fee. At first, we thought it was the bank we chose, but this proved to be true at every ATM. My recommendations are to bring cash to exchange, pesos, or use credit cards. The good news is Argentina is the country where our American dollar is the strongest right now. This is due to unfortunate economic circumstances causing the devaluation of their currency. Therefore, the prices are unbelievably cheap for U. S. citizens.
• Getting around: Argentina is huge!  The domestic airlines are fairly reasonable and frequent. I highly recommend flying from city to city. Most taxis are also reasonable.
  Cleanliness: This country is pristine in so many ways. First of all, I was amazed by how clean it was. Rarely did we to see any trash on the streets. Also, the natural sights are not trampled or marred. Particularly in Bariloche–I did not even see one scrap of paper on the ground. There is a deep respect for the environment.
• Food and Wine in Argentina: This is a meat-eaters’ paradise. Because of the gaucho culture (Argentinian cowboys), the majority of the restaurants are steak houses. The next most popular restaurants are Italian. Amazingly, Argentina has the biggest population of Italians outside of Italy. They comprise almost 50% of the population. Empanadas, pie-like pastries filled with beef, chicken, or vegetables, are a national treasure. Each Argentinean city claimed to have the best empanadas, but we would have to award that honor to Salta in Northern Argentina.
  Our guide recommended we split our meals because the portions are huge. We did this without fail and we always had leftovers. The strangest food we sampled was llama stew in the Andes Mountains.
  Wine-sublime–enough said!

• Tips, Literally! How Much? For restaurant waiters, leave 10%. We were told to pay our bill by credit card, and then to leave a cash tip. The waiters seemed to really appreciate this. You do not need to tip taxi drivers, but it’s polite to round up the bill. For hotel housekeepers, leave $1 per night or more. Tip group tour guides between $5-$10. For private tour guides, tip $10-$20. It should be noted that on our group tours, sometimes we were the only ones tipping that we could see. However, if you enjoyed the tour, you should reward the guides.
• Spanish in Argentina: Read on if you plan on practicing your Spanish here. In Mexico, the “y” or “ll” is usually pronounced as “y.” So llama is pronounced “yama.” In Argentina it is pronounced as “ch.” So llama is pronounced “chama.” It takes a little while to get accustomed to.