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[cj33414]

Hi everyone,

I feel so lucky I found this forum!

My husband and I will be traveling to Argentina in November. We plan on doing one week in Buenos Aires and then see Mendoza and Iguazu.

Right now our tentative itinerary looks like this:

BS AS - Mendoza
Mendoza - Iguazu
Iguazu - back to airport (AEP), then go to EZE for flight home. I hear that they're about 1 hour apart. How many hours would it be smart to allow for delays/unexpected, etc.?

We don't care whether we see Mendoza first or Iguazu first - whatever would make the most sense.

We were planning on taking planes to all the legs, but I did see someone here recommend buses in some cases.

-Would it make sense to take a bus from Iguazu to Mendoza instead of a plane?
-How much (about) would it be, and how long would it take?
-What are some well-known bus companies?

Thank so much in advance!
CJ

[kathryn77]

Hi CJ,

Welcome to the forums I'm so jealous you are off to Argentina!

How much time do you have for your trip? That might help with the bus or plane advice. I travelled everywhere by bus, and the buses in Argentina are great. You also get different types of seats, the most expensive recline right back like a bed.

From BA it's about 14 hours to Mendoza or 18 hours to Iguazu by bus. Going direct by bus from Mendoza to Iguazu, it's about 36 hours, so if you have time and were going to do that, it might be better to go via Córdoba or Salta then across.

Bus companies are FlechaBus but the website is in Spanish; Crucero del Norte; Andesmar All the prices are in Argentinean money.

If you are just going 3 places, it doesn't make much difference which way you go, but I'd recommend taking the local bus across to the Brazilian side of the falls too - it's close, and the local bus is very cheap, though you might want to check your visa situation for Brazil depending on where you are from.

I'm afraid I can't help you regarding flights - I'm not even sure of the airport codes you've used, sorry.

Let us know how long you're going for, as that will likely help the advice you get.

Cheers
Kathryn

[cj33414]

Hi Kathryn,

Thank you so much for your feedback.

I can't believe I left off the details of how long were were going for. We are going from 11/4 to 11/18 - with the first 7 days in Bs As, the rest split between Iguazu and Mendoza (right now our tentative itinerary has us 4 in Mendoza 3 in Iguazu, just because I have a feeling we're going to love Mendoza). Does this seem like a good time to spend in each? (would give us time to do the Brazil thing too).

I had heard about the 14 hours to Mendoza - which is why we were going to do planes only...BUT...as someone mentioned in a different post, the 14 hours aren't so bad if you make the trip at night and sleep through it (so that you're not wasting a day).

So...would it work well to do

Bs As to Mendoza by bus
Mendoza to Iguazu by plane (although we have to go through Bs As for this right?)
Iguazu back to Bs As by plane

Still, just not sure the bus is worth it, it still seems like it takes more time than doing it all by plane...unless we do it for the experience, since the buses sound pretty cool! And is the scenery between Bs As and Mendoza part of the reason for doing it?

We're probably staying in La Recoleta...which bus stop would be closest?

CJ

[kathryn77]

Hiya, no worries

Depending on the flights you get, you could do 5 days in Mendoza and 2 in Iguazu. I 'think' you'd fly into the Brazilian side, and you can see that in a few hours, then take the bus to the Argentinian side with no need for staying over in Brazil. You will need a whole day for the Argentinian side to get the best out of it. If possible, I'd recommend the Brazilian side first, as it's the panoramic view of them, while Argentina offers trails up, over, under, you name it...! To be comfortable though, 3 days may be better. Other things to see are the Hydroelectric water plant on the Brazilian side, and the view from the Argentinian side of Paraguay and Brazil crossing, with just a river separating the 3.

I mainly did my bus journeys overnight for the reason you mention - not wasting a day, and sleeping through (saving a nights hostel accommodation as I was travelling at the time). As you just have 14 days, I'd probably recommend the plane. The bus is an experience, yes, and go for it if you want to, but you're not going to see any scenery at night, so don't do it for that. (If you are still interested though, there is one big bus terminal in BA - no matter where you are staying

Cheers
Kathryn

[cj33414]

Good point about not being able to see the scenery at night!

Well, it sounds like a plane might be the way to go, then...

Thanks so much for all your help.

I'm sure I will have more questions (about everything!) so I will be back here...we're just beginning to make sense of the itinerary, settling on hotels, etc.

CJ

[mmbcross]

If you are going to do a bus segment, and I recommend it for the experience, do the Buenos Aires/Mendoza section on an overnight sleeper. As Kathryn says, the seats convert to full-length beds and are extremely comfortable. The trip is less than 12 hours, so you leave in the evening from Retiro and arrive next morning at the central bus station in Mendoza. They even feed you on the way, and the price just can't be beaten. We did our trip on CATA:
http://www.catainternacional.com/prueba/index.php

Here is a great site that covers everything you need to know about transport in Argentina:
http://www.argentinaturistica.com/2transpbsas.htm

By all means fly the Mendoza/Iguassu/Buenos Aires portions. Just Iguassu/Buenos Aires is around a 20-hour haul.

Here's the link to our Argentine holiday a couple of years ago
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/mmbcr..._2005/tpod.html

[cj33414]

Vagabond,

OK - you put us back to the drawing board! I just showed my husband the buses and he's totally into doing that.

I couldn't find a price on the CATA website, and it looks like it won't let me reserve past September. I tried to contact them via their website but the form doesn't seem to go through. Do you by any chance recall about how much it was per person?

I'll check out your Argentine holiday posts.

Thank you again for the help and info.

CJ

[mmbcross]

It was about US$ 20.00 each way. Indeed the online booking system doesn't seem to work. Never fear, CATA alone has 5 schedules a day, and there are a few other companies who operate this route too. We purchased our ticket from a travel agent when we got to Buenos Aires. It's not like planes, if they run out of places they just put on another bus.

[cj33414]

OK - great - looks like we don't have to book that from here then...

Another question (let me know if you'd like me to start a different thread) - I'd like a map delineating the neighborhoods in Buenos Aires - do you know where I can find one? I found some that show each segment by itself - but I want to see them all together on one map.

[mmbcross]

Ask, and you shall receive.

Interactive map. Click on each portion to zoom in.

http://mapa.buenosaires.gov.ar/sig/index.phtml

[cj33414]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[kiwi_surfer]

thanks for shearing your very informative travel blog on Argentina mmbcross.

I would love to see that arg movie your talking about(the name escapes me) but cant seem to find it anywhere.

car on the lake photo was classic!

[mmbcross]

The film is "Camila". Netflix has it, so does Blockbuster