Argentina
Bariloche
Sitting on the banks of the massive lake Nahuel Huapi, this large-ish Patagonian town with a population of around 150,000 is one of the more northern “Patagonian” towns that offers tourists lots to do. We rented a car and felt that it was very worthwhile, but if you plan on doing all your activities with tour guides, it may not be necessary and we did speak to some younger travelers who said they were using Uber a lot!
Downtown Bariloche has one main strip that feels extra touristy, and the remaining town that feels very local and busy with tour and city buses running through it. We enjoyed downtown only for making some gear purchases, buying some of the famous chocolate from one of the dozen or so Chocolaterias, participating in a walking tour, and a quick bite to eat at a cafe. Otherwise, we preferred the quieter feel of Playa Bonita where our lodging was located.
Speaking of lodging, during our research we found a lot of reviews indicating both hotels and AirBnB’s were in desperate need of updating. We felt very lucky to find this one offered by WaOne, on the shores of Playa Bonita, away from the noise of the main street, and still with a good amount of privacy! It was a little more expensive, but we were delighted. As of early 2026, we believe the building has 6 units for rent - 2 on the ground called “Agua 1 & 2”, 2 on the middle level called “Tierra 1 & 2” and 2 on the top called “Aire 1 & 2”. We were on the bottom level and you can see pics below.
Bariloche offers a variety of activities but we picked a few that piqued our interest most:
- Hike to Refuguo Frey
- Hike one of the many short hiking trails close to the famous Hotel Lao Lao
- Rent e-Bikes and ride the Circuito Chico circuit
- Join the “German Footprint & Nazi Presence” walking tour
- Drive (a portion of) the famous 7 lakes route
- Visit the Arrayanes National Park (and the cute village of Villa la Angostura for some window shopping!)
- Take a dip in the Nahuel Huapi lake and enjoy the sunshine on its shores
We didn’t end up kayaking, SUP’ing, or horseback riding this visit, but only because we ran out of time!
Buenos Aires
We visited Buenos Aires only in 2020, and our time there was cut short by 1 day due to a flight delay as we were trying to leave Denver. BUT…we still managed to do a great Free Walking Tour through downtown, rent a sailboat for a private sunset + wine & snack sail with a local captain/guide, and go to Esquina Homero Manzi for a traditional Tango show!
Free walking tours are our favorites - and this was no exception. The guides are always motivated to make it a great tour, so you tip them well at the end! It was a great introduction to some of the past and more recent history of Argentina.
During our private sailboat ride, we got to chat with 2 locals about the current state of affairs, in addition to enjoying watching the Buenos Aires skyline fade into night.
And finally, the Tango show was exceptional. We opted out of the round-trip bus transportation, though it looked like it would have been very easy and convenient to use it. We also opted out of Dinner, as it was served at about 10pm! Instead, we ate on our own, and took a taxi to/from the show. The neighborhood around the show didn’t appear to be super safe, and we were warned by staff members to keep our phones and wallets out of sight.
Our overall impression of Buenos Aires (from the short time we were there), is that it felt like a large industrial city, with the same good/bad areas you can find in any big city around the world.
El Calafate
El Calafate is an easy 3hr 15 min flight from Buenos Aires, or just over 1hr from Bariloche. You’ll likely go through El Calafate to access El Chalten, OR, if you plan to rent a car and drive across the border to Chile in order to visit Torres del Paine National Park. Hop on over to the Chile page to read more on that piece of our 2020 and 2026 trip. Rental cars are available on site and are easy to book!
This bustling little town has a plethora of gift shops, ice cream & coffee shops, bars and restaurants lining the main street. We found some excellent food including Pura Vida, Mako Fuegos & Vinos, Patagonia Brewing Company, and Olivia coffee shop (with tasty breakfast). There are a number of other great-looking food options in town, which was good since there were numerous tourists there at the same time as us!
The highlight of El Calafate is visiting the Perito Moreno glacier inside the Los Glaciares National Park. In 2020 we went with Mil Outdoor as the trip guide, although there were numerous companies offering this excursion. The Mil Outdoor guides have a base shop just a stone’s throw away from the lake where we’d be kayaking. They provided an overview of the excursion, and got us all geared up before walking us down to the shoreline. A great little lesson followed, and off we went, as a group, kayaking as close to the glacier as was permitted (for our own safety). The water was calm and the views of the glacier (including some calving) were incredible. By the time we were getting back toward shore, the wind had picked up, as had the waves, so the timing was perfect to get off the water and enjoy some hot beverages provided back at the base shop. In 2026 we opted just to drive ourselves into the Park and enjoy the elevated walking platforms for watching the Glacier calve for a few hours!
Lavandería y Tintorería De la Mancha was great when we used them in 2020, and still in business when we were there in 2026, but there are plenty of places to drop off laundry and pick it up a few hours later.
There were also 2 sporting goods stores - and one of them had reasonably priced hiking poles, which we purchased for our next stop - Torres Del Paine. We had planned on doing this so that we wouldn’t use up luggage space…and then we made some fellow hikers very happy when we gave them the poles for free when we were done with the hiking portion of our trip!
We’ve now stayed in one hotel (Hotel ACA) and one AirBnB. Be aware that between about the 12th and 20th of February every year, El Calafate hosts The National Festival of the Argentine Lake. It includes live music every night and can be heard clearly through the walls of the ACA hotel - and likely other nearby hotels as well! We recommend bringing ear plugs or booking lodging on the opposite side of town if you’re there during these dates (but go check it out - it’s a family friendly event!).
El Chalten
El Chalten is a much smaller town than El Calafate. It almost has the feel of a small, casual Colorado mountain town. We loved our room at the Hosteria Senderos in 2020 (convenient location, lovely breakfast, clean rooms with hot showers!), and we found a cute little single family home (1 bedroom) for rent on AirBnB for our 2026 trip - click here to check it out. Along with plenty of other hotels and AirBnB’s throughout town, there were also dozens of camper-vans & tents set up in designated camping areas throughout town, if roughing-it is more your style.
In reality, El Chalten is a backpackers and rock-climbing paradise. The famous Fitz Roy mountain is accessible from here, along with numerous other day hikes that would allow for you to return home to your comfy bed and a nice bottle of wine in the evening. We highly recommend doing the nearly 15 mile Fitz Roy hike (Sendero de los Tres) all the way to Laguna De Los Tres, but there is also a shorter 6 mile loop that starts on the same trail and still has fantastic views.
Hikes we can recommend - with links to AllTrails:
- Sendero de Los Tres - This is the famous “Fitz Roy Hike” which takes you to the lake at its base
- Laguna Torre
- Piedras Blancas (requires a vehicle, hitchhiking, or town shuttle which may be irregular to get to the start)
- Los Condores & Las Aguiles loop
- Chorillo del Salto
- Loma del Pliegue del Tombado
We enjoyed a couple of great meals throughout town, including La Tapera, Maffia, La Vineria Grill and Pasta, and Patagonia Rebelde for some live music and drinks. Dozens of other restaurants are available, though most seem to have a similar menu - Soups, Empenadas, Salads, Sandwiches, Burgers, and Pizza.
We would highly recommend a stop in El Chalten if you have any interest in hiking or rock climbing.
2020
2026
Ushuaia
During our 2026 tour of South America, we made our way to “El Fin del Mundo” (the end of the world) - Ushuaia, Argentina. Many Antarctic cruises depart from this town, though we opted for a shorter 4 night cruise from Ushuaia, Argentina to Punta Arenas, Chile via Cape Horn and the beautiful Fjords in-between. Since all but the first couple of hours were actually part of Chile (not Argentina), click here to see our reviews of the Australis Cruise on our Chile page.
The cruise made the border crossing very easy on us as we simply handed them our Passports, and they took care of having the Chilean Authorities validate everything!
The town itself has one main tourist street a block from the harbor where all the boats depart. There are plenty of AirBnB’s, Hotels or Hostels to choose from, along with dozens of bars and restaurants. We rented a car so had easy access to the Tierra del Fuego National Park, where we took the Coastal Trail that starts from the old “End of the World Post Office” (no longer operating), and takes you along the shoreline of the Beagle Channel. We chose not to take the “End of the World Train” as it seemed very touristy, but we did stop by the train station to have a look. We also completed the popular trek to Laguna Esmeralda which was about a 25-30 min drive outside of town. Though the lake at the end was gorgeous, the buy-in to get there was the first 2.5 miles of picking your way around ankle deep mud pools.
Overall we wouldn’t recommend Ushuaia for more than a day or two, and only if you’re catching a Cruise from here!
Summary
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed all our time in Argentina and have found it to be a relatively easy and safe place to get around! We’ve preferred the small cities over Buenos Aires, and although we haven’t visited, we’ve heard great things about the Mendoza Valley (wine region) AND, heard that it’s easy to do a day trip or quick overnight trip from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, Uruguay - so if we found ourselves with extra time in Buenos Aires, we’d likely add that to our itinerary as well. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Argentina to family and friends!
“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.”
– Jack Kerouac