Compare From Argentina to Chile with Lake Crossing in 12 days by Qwerty Travel Argentina vs Patagonia 2021 by Tauck

Day 1: Buenos Aires

Arrival at Buenos Aires airport and transfer to your accommodation. Rest of the day at leisure

Day 2: Buenos Aires – City tour

During the morning visit the city of Buenos Aires. This tour gives you the emotion of a multiple Buenos Aires. We will see the symbol of our city: the obelisk. We will visit different squares such as Plaza de Mayo, Plaza San Martín, Plaza Congreso. Avenues like Corrientes, Mayo, 9 de Julio, among others. Historical neighbourhoods: La Boca, San Telmo, Montserrat. Elegant neighbourhoods such as Palermo and Recoleta, and the most modern: Puerto Madero. Parks such as Lezama and Tres de Febrero. We will also visit financial and commercial areas and a Football Stadium.

Day 3: Buenos Aires

Day at leisure to discover this amazing city by your own or enjoy some suggested optional excursion

Day 4: Buenos Aires – Bariloche

Transfer to the airport. Flight to Bariloche. Arrival and transfer to the hotel. 

Day 5: Bariloche – Short Circuit

Circuito Chico is a Scenic Tour on which to enjoy good food as well as the beautiful views. The scenery is magnificent along the whole drive, and there are several natural lookouts, such as López Bay and “Punto Panorámico” panoramic lookout. Cerro Campanario, a hill standing “in the center of the landscape” (Km 17), has a chairlift that will carry you up to “the heights of amazement” to enjoy the most beautiful view in the area.

Tasty specialties at several tea houses and restaurants along the way add flavor to the scenic tour. Hotel LlaoLlao and San Eduardo Chapel, opposite Puerto Pañuelo, are unique tourist attractions. If you have time, the easy paths through Llao Llao Municipal Park provide an opportunity for a peaceful walk through the forest. Another alternative is to drive a few more kilometers to the traditional village Colonia Suiza with its unique atmosphere of a historical old rural settlement.

Other attractions along Circuito Chico are regional craft products including knitted garments, woodwork, candles, pottery and cosmetics, among others. Don’t miss the Small Circle Scenic Tour!

Day 6: Bariloche

Today you have a free day to enjoy and spend on your own or enojoy some suggested optional tour.

Day 7: Bariloche – Lake Crossing – Puerto Varas/Puerto Montt

Trasandino Crossing. This pioneering journey quickly became one of the attractions of Lake Todos los Santos and Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, the first national park in Chile and the second oldest in America. The circuit offers travelers the opportunity to marvel at the nature of two national parks Andean environment, the Pérez Rosales in Chile and the NahuelHuapi in Argentina, “surf” the Andes through lakes and rivers, visit places magic, as Puerto Blest and Peulla, and enjoy, in the headwaters of the course, two beautiful cities: Bariloche and Puerto Varas.

Day 8: Puerto Montt/Puerto Varas

Day at leisure to discover this amazing city by your own or enjoy some suggested optional excursion.

Day 9: Puerto Montt/Puerto Varas – Santiago de Chile

Transfer to the airport in Puerto Montt. Flight to Santiago de Chile. Arrival and transfer to the hotel.

Day 10: Santiago de Chile – City tour

The city tour is a tour of the historical, commercial and zones.- tour and outer courtyards of the Government Palace “La Moneda” (visit determined by the activities of the President), view the historic center with the Plaza de Armas areas Cathedral, Central Post Office, City Hall, etc. It then passes through the main avenue of the city “La Alameda”, Santa Lucia Hill, Forest Park, Museum of Fine Arts, the bohemian Bellavista neighborhood and then continue to Cerro San Cristobal, natural view of the city.- We follow the modern residential and commercial areas, sectors that reach the foot of the Cordillera de los Andes. New neighborhoods such as Santa María de Manquehue, Las Condes and Vitacura, Bicentennial Park, mixed with areas of advanced architecture as in the Barrio El Golf For those who wish may end the tour in a modern shopping center or return to the hotel.

Day 11: Santiago de Chile

Day at leisure to discover this amazing city by your own or enjoy some suggested optional excursion.

Day 12: Santiago de Chile

Transfer to the airport for your departure flight.

Day 1 Arrive Santiago

Tour begins: 6:00 PM, The Singular Santiago. We’ll meet you at the airport. A transfer is included upon arrival from Santiago International Airport to The Singular Santiago, a five-star luxury hotel in the city’s Lastarria district – an intimate, "green"-designed oasis in the heart of a sprawling metropolis set against stunning backdrops of the Andes Mountains. Join us this evening for a welcome reception and dinner at the hotel.

MEALS : D

LODGING : The Singular Santiago

PORTOFCALL : Santiago, Chile

Day 2 Travel to Puerto Natales

Fly this morning from Santiago to Punta Arenas, deep in the southern tip of the continent, near Tierra del Fuego. This “city of red roofs,” established in the 19th century as a penal colony and coaling station for steamships, is usually a jumping-off point for Antarctic expeditions, but today it’s a leg on your Patagonia travel adventure to the otherworldly landscapes of Torres del Paines National Park. From here you travel by land to Puerto Natales, a town on the shores of the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) Sound. Named by a 16th-century Spanish explorer who became lost in the maze of channels and fjords while searching for the Strait of Magellan, the area was later settled by European immigrants as a shipping port for the local wool and meat-packing industry in the early 20th century. Arrive in late afternoon and check in to your accommodations at the Singular Patagonia hotel, formerly a waterfront factory built in 1915, now a luxury resort with dramatic floor-to-ceiling views of the sound and mountain ranges. This region of rolling plains and turquoise lakes is frequented by an anomalous assortment of wildlife, in a panorama bordered by ice-capped Andean peaks.

MEALS : B, D

LODGING : The Singular Patagonia

PORTOFCALL : Puerto Natales, Chile

Day 3 Cruising Patagonia's Fjords

A cruise on the Ultima Esperanza Sound introduces you to the labyrinth of fjords, inlets, and channels that winds through this mystical landscape for miles: scenes of mountains, cliffs and caves, colonies of sea lions, plunging waterfalls, and ice-floes. Disembark at O'Higgins National Park for a hike to Serrano Glacier. Then cruise past waterfalls and Balmadeda Glacier for spectacular views of the fjords and surrounding mountain vistas that change color with the light. After lunch at an estancia and a sheep-shearing demonstration, return to the hotel. Following a late-afternoon historical tour of the Singular Hotel – converted from a waterfront factory built over a century ago – enjoy a four-course wine-pairing dinner at the hotel this evening featuring some of Chile's famous varietals.

MEALS : B, L, D

LODGING : The Singular Patagonia

PORTOFCALL : Puerto Natales, Chile

Day 4 Torres del Paines National Park

Journey north from Puerto Natales to the heart of one of South America’s most spectacular nature preserves, a photographer’s paradise of glacier-carved fjords and valleys, steppes, and sub-polar forests, dominated by the grandeur of Torres del Paine, a range of twisted granite peaks sculpted in startling curves and serrated edges that includes a trio of rock formations known as Cleopatra’s Needles. The vivid colors of the lakes, shades of emerald and turquoise, are caused by rock flour settling from the restless grinding of the mountains by glaciers, a palette offset by rolling plains covered with red wildflowers. The rugged landscape is populated by foxes, pumas, guanacos, rheas, and large birds of prey, which you’ll have a chance to view on frequent photo stops, rest stops, and short hikes. After lunch at a local restaurant, continue touring the park throughout the afternoon. Head back to the hotel for dinner at your leisure this evening.

MEALS : B, L, D

LODGING : The Singular Patagonia

PORTOFCALL : Puerto Natales, Chile

Day 5 Puerto Natales as you like it

Spend the day as you please at the resort – a variety of activities* are included, such as kayaking, biking, condor-watching, hiking, cave exploring, and horseback riding. The Singular hotel is officially a national monument for its significance to the heritage of the region, so in addition to its amenities it harbors a museum of fascinating exhibits on local history and restored machinery from its factory days. You can also visit the town, to learn about its unusual mix of European and indigenous cultures, where there’s also a wide choice of cafes and drinking establishments that cater to international tastes; or embark on a half- or full-day excursion to explore more of Torres Del Paines National Park. This evening, dinner is served family style at the hotel's restaurant.

MEALS : B, L, D

LODGING : The Singular Patagonia

PORTOFCALL : Puerto Natales, Chile

Day 6 El Calafate and Lago Argentino

Your Patagonia travel adventure continues as you cross the border into Argentina this morning and arrive at El Calafate in time for lunch. A small, picturesque village on the shores of Lake Argentino, El Calafate is named for a wild bush with yellow flowers and blue berries that flourishes here; it is also known as the “Village of the Glaciers,” the gateway to Glacier National Park. Lunch in the town, which retains some of its original character as a pioneer outpost for wool-traders. Then continue on to your accommodations at Xelena Hotel & Suites. Check in, then pay a visit to a local museum, the Glaciarium, dedicated to the science of glaciers and the geological history of the area, an entree to the astonishing world you’ll meet in Glacier National Park.

MEALS : B, L, D

LODGING : Xelena Hotel & Suites

PORTOFCALL : El Calafate, Argentina

Day 7 Estancia Cristina and Upsala Glacier

Board a private boat at Punta Bandera for a cruise on Lake Argentino. The vast freshwater lake is fed by runoff from dozens of glaciers in the Southern Patagonian Icefield. You’ll sail by one of the largest of them, Upsala Glacier, a towering wall of ice (100 feet higher than Niagara Falls) that meets the water and stretches for miles through an alien landscape of wildly sculpted granite peaks and icebergs, and a startling palette of colors; the green of the lake beside the vivid blue, white and gold hues of the mountains, forests and ice offer dramatic photo ops like nowhere else on earth. Disembark at Estancia Cristina, a cattle and sheep ranch founded by an English immigrant in the early 1900s (and named after his daughter). Board a 4x4 and climb to a high vantage point for a short hike that brings you to a stunning panoramic view of Upsala Glacier. Then get a close-up look at life on the ranch, including a visit to a museum dedicated to Argentina’s ubiquitous cowboys, the gauchos. You’ll also enjoy a lunch of local cuisine, and learn the art of making mate tea (the national drink), traditionally brewed and served in a calabash gourd with a metal straw. Marvel again on the scenic return trip to your hotel for an evening spent as you wish.

MEALS : B, L

LODGING : Xelena Hotel & Suites

PORTOFCALL : El Calafate, Argentina

Day 8 Perito Moreno Glacier

Drive into Glacier National Park to witness one of South America's most breathtaking natural wonders, Perito Moreno Glacier. Fronting Lake Argentino for three miles, rising 240 feet from the water in dense clusters of jagged white skyscrapers, Perito Moreno is one of the few glaciers in the icefield that is advancing, its restless movement unseen but sometimes heard in its eerie groaning, cracking, and rumbling. From high walkways on the shore opposite the glacier, you can appreciate its overwhelming scale and even have the chance to see an iceberg calve away from the ice wall, collapsing like a tall building in an explosion of thunder and water. Return to the hotel this afternoon for time at leisure, or explore the shops and markets in the center of El Calafate; enjoy an included dinner tonight at your choice of three local restaurants in El Calafate.

MEALS : B, L, D

LODGING : Xelena Hotel & Suites

PORTOFCALL : El Calafate, Argentina

Day 9 Fly to Buenos Aires

Travel today on a flight from El Calafate to the cosmopolitan excitement of Buenos Aires. You’ll get an orientation tour of the “Paris of South America” en route to the Alvear Art Hotel, a stylish retreat in the middle of Retiro, a neighborhood filled with art galleries, high-end shopping, and tree-line boulevards near Plaza San Martin, one of the city's oldest squares. Dine at the hotel this evening.

MEALS : B, D

LODGING : Alvear Art Hotel

PORTOFCALL : Buenos Aires, Argentina

Day 10 Silversmiths, Gaucho and Tango

An excursion takes you to the lush farmlands outside the city, and the artists’ community at San Antonio del Areco. In this town of charming Spanish colonial-style houses and streets, you’ll meet members of the Draghi family, world-famous silversmiths who have crafted treasures for all walks of life, from gauchos to heads of state and Hollywood stars; visit their shop and studio, where you’ll view their exquisite silver and saddlery, which evoke the cowboy culture and heritage of the region. Next up, naturally, is a private lunch and “gaucho fiesta”, where cowboys of the Argentine outback demonstrate their legendary equestrian skills: acrobatic riding, herding, ring-racing and horse dancing. Return to the hotel to freshen up, then join us for a farewell dinner and tango show in the city, where this once-scandalous dance form was born and elevated to an art.

MEALS : B, L, D

LODGING : Alvear Art Hotel

PORTOFCALL : San Antonio de Areco, Argentina

Day 11 Journey home

Tour ends: Buenos Aires. Checkout time is noon. Transfers are included from Art Hotel to Buenos Aires International Airport. You should allow 3 hours for flight check-in.

MEALS : B

PORTOFCALL : Buenos Aires, Argentina