Great Circle

Detailed Itinerary

Day One – Start of Your Holidays to Argentina

Your holidays to Argentina begin today with arrival in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina and one of the world’s great cities. On arrival we’ll meet you and take you to your hotel in the centre of town. You’ll be having a full city tour tomorrow, but you’re just a few blocks from all the main sites, as well as from restaurants and cafes, so you’re perfectly placed to head out and start soaking up the unique atmosphere of Buenos Aires.

Day Two - City Tour of Buenos Aires

After a free morning to relax after your journey, we will take you for a tour of the major sights in the city. We will visit the historic centre, including the famous Plaza de Mayo where the demonstrations by mothers of the ‘disappeared’ against the military government took place, as well as the Casa Rosada from whose balcony Evita addressed the crowds below. We will also visit the beautiful Cathedral before heading to the tango districts of San Telmo and La Boca, also home to the famous Boca Juniors football team. We will also visit the exclusive Palermo and Recoleta areas, with their leafy avenues and grand houses, superb restaurants and boutique shopping before ending up in the riverside district of Puerto Madero to enjoy some superb Argentinean cuisine with views over the river. (Breakfast included)

Day Three – Free Day in Buenos Aires

We have left you with a full free day in Buenos Aires, so you’re not rushing around too much. There’s so much to see and do here that those who like to stay busy can explore the historical and cultural sights while others can sit back with a glass of wine or perhaps some excellent Argentinian ice-cream and relax in one of Buenos Aires' fabulous cafes... (B)

Day Four – Travel to Puerto Madryn

This morning we’ll pick you up and take you to the airport for a short flight south to the city of Trelew. Here we’ll meet you and take you on to the town of Puerto Madryn. This was one of the centres for the Welsh colonization of Patagonia, but today it’s the base for heading back out to sea to see some of Argentina’s rather larger inhabitants... (B)

Day Five - Whale Watching at Peninsula Valdes

After breakfast today, we will head down to the harbour to catch a boat out into the ocean to enjoy the awesome sight of the huge southern right-whales in the waters just off the coast. These majestic creatures arrive here every July to mate and give birth, and stay until the end of the year before heading back into the southern ocean. Seeing these enormous creatures as they leap above the waves is an unforgettable experience. (B)

Day Six - Penguins at Punta Tombo

We will visit another of the coast’s most popular inhabitants today, as we head to the beaches of Punta Tombo to see the massive colony of Magellan Penguins who make their home here from September to April. After a walk along the shore with these beautiful creatures we will drive to the nearby town of Trelew where you can visit the museum of Palaeontology if you wish to learn a little more about some of the species found along this stretch of Patagonian coastline. There will also be some free time to enjoy a traditional welsh afternoon tea before we return to Puerto Madryn later today. (B)

Day Seven - Fly to El Calafate

After breakfast this morning, we will pick you up and take you back to Trelew for your flight on to El Calafate. This lovely little town on the shores of Lake Argentino is the perfect base for exploring Argentinian Patagonia. We’ve left the rest of the day free for you to enjoy the beautiful views of mountains, flower-rich meadows and the flamingos grazing in the lake shallows as you get used to the higher altitude. (B)

Day Eight - Perito Moreno Glacier

After breakfast today we will travel out into the Los Glaciares National Park to visit the colossal Perito Moreno glacier. This enormous river of ice is 3km wide and up to 70m in height, with colours ranging from brilliant white, through to exquisitely pure blues and turquoises. We will walk along several different paths to give us views from above and alongside the glacier, and finally from below the enormous wall of ice itself. In the tranquility of the surrounding countryside, you can actually hear the slow grinding of the ice as the glacier moves. It’s an unforgettable experience and one of the highlights of any holiday in Patagonia. (B)

Day Nine - Free Day in El Calafate

We have left the whole of today free for you to relax or to enjoy some of the many activities possible from El Calafate: you could do some walking in the surrounding area, take a boat trip on the lake, do some horse-riding with your very own gauchos, or perhaps rent a bike and head out on the many trails into the Patagonian countryside... (B)

Day Ten – North to Bariloche

This morning we'll take you back to the airport for a short flight north to the lovely lakeside town of San Carlos de Bariloche. In the first half of the last century, Bariloche had a large number of German immigrants and you could be forgiven that you’d landed in a small town in the Black Forest for all the wooden chalets and chocolate shops you find here – there’s even a resident St. Bernard in the main square! The town offers some excellent walking possibilities and is many people’s favourite destination in Argentina so it will be your base for the next few days: a perfect chance to relax, enjoy the lovely countryside, and perhaps the occasional chocolate or two... (B)

Day Eleven - Cruising on Lake Nahuel Huapi

Today we’ll take you down to the port of Puerto Pañuelo to board a catamaran for the short trip across the lake to Isla Victoria. This beautiful, densely-forested island lies right in the middle of the lake and once we arrive we’ll take a chair-lift up to the summit of the island for some fantastic views back across the lake. We’ll then walk back down to the harbour and sail around to the Los Arrayanes National Park, on the Quetrihue peninsula. Arrayan is Spanish for ‘myrtle’ and this myrtle forest is a beautiful, tranquil place, home to deer, guanaco, condors and eagles. After an afternoon exploring the Park, we’ll return by boat to Bariloche in the evening. (B)

Day Twelve - Free Day in Bariloche

We have left today free for you to relax and enjoy exploring Bariloche. There are a range of gentle walks available from the town itself, whether along the lakeshore or into the hills around the town, or you can just enjoy the cute shopping streets and quiet plazas of Bariloche, while you sit back with views of the lake and get those postcards written. (B)

Day Thirteen - Last Day of Your Holidays to Argentina

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and today will be the last day of your holidays to Argentina. You'll have some free time this morning to say goodbye to Bariloche, before we pick you up and take you to the airport for a short flight to Buenos Aires, where you'll arrive in plenty of time to catch your international flight home. (B)

What's Included?

The standard price for our "Great Circle" holidays to Argentina is £2950 per person, which is based on two sharing a double or twin room in our standard hotels.

That price includes all your accommodation, internal transport, transfers, tours, guides and entrance fees, plus lunch on your Perito Moreno, Nahuel Huapi and Wine Tasting tours, and breakfast every day.

We don't have any "local payments" or sneaky charges: everything you have read about on this itinerary is included in that price. And because everything we do is tailor-made, we don't have fixed departure dates or minimum numbers for our trips. Outside of national holidays or other special events, this price is valid for the whole of 2020.

International flights

So with the exception of a few meals, everything on your holiday is included. What we don't include as standard is your international flights, because with these you have a huge range of options depending on the date you want to travel, the route you want to fly, and your preferred departure airport in the UK.

We aren't tied to any particular airline, and we will be delighted to discuss all options with you, or you can even book the flights yourself if you prefer: it's totally up to you.