The Perfect 3-Week Itinerary in Argentina.
Hit the highlights while finding your way far from the crowds in this grand tour of the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world.
I came back to Argentina in March 2025, after having visited the country for six weeks in 2023, this time with my parents. We started our trip by hiking the Tierra del Fuego National Park near Ushuaia, then flew to El Calafate to hike in El Chaltén and see the amazing Perito Moreno glacier. After that, we traveled all the way to the northern part of the country to discover the Iguazu Falls. Our final stop before checking out Buenos Aires was the Quebrada de Humahuaca region, in the northwestern part of the country. The below is a bird’s eye view of our itinerary and a window into how I built it, to help future travelers create their own special Argentinian adventure.
The brief
I traveled to Argentina with my parents, and wanted to make sure they could enjoy the trip as much as possible. They trusted my planing skills, and only had a few recommendations: let’s not spend too much time in cities, but instead focus on seeing nature and going on hikes, and can we please see the Iguazú Falls.
How the itinerary came together
Mountains north of Ushuaia, along route 3.
Argentina is an immense country, the eighth biggest in the world, and as such, there is no lack of places to discover. The first question travelers will ask themselves, after “how much will it cost” (more on that in the Practical Information section below), will be “where to go”.
Given the scale of Argentina and the time constraints, I knew we would have to fly in and out of most of our stops. To give you a sense of scale, driving from Buenos Aires to the Iguazú Falls is an 800-mile (1275 km) affair, and would take about sixteen hours. Driving or taking a bus from the capital all the way down to Ushuaia would take thirty-seven hours without stopping, and total 1914 miles (3080 km). It felt like we could see more of the country if we accepted to fly to most places, and I built an itinerary with that in mind.
Most people considering Argentina as a destination will want to spend some time in Buenos Aires, and if you’re into big cities, it is certainly a must. The city is vibrant, exciting, full of amazing architecture, great restaurants and visit-worthy museums. It will also be your point of entry in the country, which makes a stop there even easier to plan. We did spend three days in Buenos Aires on this tour. I didn’t blog about it because I feel the city has been written about extensively online, and isn’t truly on the roads not traveled. It was nonetheless part of the itinerary.
The view climbing Cerro Guanaco in the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego.
Among all the many places to see in Argentina, I picked these, which made five stops in our 3-week route:
Ushuaia and the Tierra del Fuego National Park, in Patagonia, for the hiking and the fantastic end-of-the-world scenery.
El Chaltén (for world-class hiking) and El Calafate (for the Perito Moreno glacier).
The Iguazú Falls, at the northern tip of the country (with a day trip into Brazil), to witness the sheer size of one of the biggest waterfall system in the world.
Northwestern Argentina to see the Quebrada de Humahuaca and its remarkable colorful mountains.
Buenos Aires, the beating heart of the country and a hub for food, culture and history.
In three weeks, we wouldn’t have been able to see anything else - and this itinerary relied on us flying between destinations to save time.
Are there other places I wished I could have added to the trip? Sure. The region around San Carlos de Bariloche and San Martin de los Andes, with its Swiss-like mountain scenery almost made the cut, and I wondered if I should try to squeeze in a couple of days in Puerto Madryn to see the wildlife.
At the end of the day, the five stops I chose were the best ones given the brief, and there was no way to add anything more, lest we sacrificed experiences I knew I wanted my parents to have.
My first priority, given that “nature” and “hikes” were a prominent part of the program, was to get us to southern Patagonia. I had been there in 2023, on my own, and had loved the sense of isolation and the sheer beauty of the places I visited.
That’s why our first stop ended up being Ushuaia. I also wanted to start there because March is at the end of the summer, and the later we went, the more likely we would encounter rainy weather. We spent four days at the end of the world: one day to travel down from Buenos Aires, get acquainted and visit the town and its outskirts for views over the Beagle Channel, and three to visit the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego. All of what we did in these four days is detailed in this entry, Four Days in Ushuaia and the Tierra del Fuego National Park. The park is home to fantastic hiking opportunities ranging from short and easy to challenging, all of them featuring gorgeous landscapes and scenery.
Sunset over Mount FitzRoy from the Eagles’ view point in El Chaltén.
For budget, timing and planning reasons, I tried my very best to go from one stop to the next closest one. It may not be easy, depending on flight schedules, and these can change from year to year. One example: in 2023, there were only three flights a week between Ushuaia and El Calafate (our next stop in this trip). In 2025, there were at least two flights between the two cities every day. Another example: the flights between Puerto Iguazú and Jujuy, in Northwestern Argentina, are not daily, so we had to fly into Salta on the day we wanted to travel, then drive to Jujuy or face triple the travel time by backtracking via Buenos Aires.
Because Ushuaia is the southernmost Argentinian city (and claims to be the southernmost city in the world, period), our next step would bring us a bit more north, towards another beautiful region of Patagonia, located around El Calafate, the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. Most seasoned hikers know the region for the famous Laguna de los Tres hike, leading to the base of Argentina’s well-known summit, Mount FitzRoy.
Indeed, the two main attractions in the region are the hiking town of El Chaltén, from where the Laguna de los Tres and many other hikes can be done, and the Perito Moreno glacier. Both are located in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, but far enough away from each other that these are considered different stops (it would be extremely hard to do one as a day trip from the other).
We spent four days in El Chaltén, including a travel day to get there from Ushuaia, which involved both a 60-minute plane hop then a three-hour bus ride, but the truth is we could have spent a full week there and leave without having gone on all the hikes on offer. If you’re a really avid hiker, you may want to spend a bit more time in that region, and possibly as well in the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, and make the most of them. That being said, we were able to do the two best-rated hikes as well as a number of shorter ones, to enjoy incredibly varied views over the area. More details can be found in this blog entry, Four Days Hiking in El Chaltén.
To leave El Chaltén, the only practical way is to head back to El Calafate airport, and once you’re there, the Perito Moreno glacier is about 90-minute away, and absolutely worth the detour. It’s one of the most stunning glaciers in the world, for its sheer size and how close you can get to it (some people even choose to hike on it). Find out more about that day-trip in this entry: A Day Trip to the Perito Moreno glacier.
After three days in El Chaltén and one in El Calafate, there were three stops left in our tour: Buenos Aires, the Northwestern region of Argentina, home to various colorful landscapes, and the Iguazu Falls.
The Perito Moreno glacier, near El Calafate.
I decided to leave Buenos Aires for last, given this was where we would fly back from. I liked being there and not have to worry about getting back to the city the day of our transcontinental flights. At the end of the day, the choice was made based on flights costs. It was cheaper to fly first to Puerto Iguazú, and then to Salta, than to do it the other way.
Therefore, on day 11, we boarded a flight to Buenos Aires’ Jorge Newbery airport, where we connected to another flight bound for Iguazú.
The Iguazú Falls are an incredible destination to visit and enjoy, but there is no need to plan more than two days there: one for each side of the border (the river leading to the falls separates Argentina from Brazil). I do recommend checking out the falls from both sides, but don’t advise trying to do this in a day. It’s all explained in this entry, The Falls of Iguazú.
After two days in Puerto Iguazú, we flew to Salta - it would have been better to fly into Jujuy, but there was no direct flight there that day. It made more sense to spend one day exploring Salta than stay in the Iguazú area.
Northwestern Argentina was a revelation. It felt like such a different version of the Argentina everyone hears about (the pampa, tango in Buenos Aires, Patagonia…) that it added a lot of value to the trip, something I didn’t expect to enjoy so much. The write-up on this region is here: Four Days in Northwestern Argentina.
After that, we spent three days in Buenos Aires, checking out most of the famous neighborhoods and landmarks, from Recoleta to El Caminito and getting to Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay, for a day, to escape the hubbub of the city.
The final product
A portion of the Iguazú Falls seen from the Brazilian side.
Day 1: travel and arrival into Buenos Aires Ezeiza airport (EZE) in the evening.
Day 2: fly down to Ushuaia (USH) and discover the city and its immediate surroundings.
Day 3-4-5: Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego for hiking.
Day 6: fly to El Calafate (FTE) and take a bus to El Chaltén, with one short hike at the end of the day.
Day 7-8-9: hiking in El Chaltén, and bus ride to El Calafate on late afternoon of day 9.
Day 10: day trip to the Perito Moreno glacier.
Day 11: fly to Buenos Aires (AEP) and onwards to Puerto Iguazú (IGR). It basically took the best part of the day.
Day 12-13: visit the Iguazú Falls, first from Brazil (day 12) and then from Argentina (day 13).
Day 14: fly into Salta and visit Salta in the afternoon.
Day 15: drive to the Quebrada de Humahuaca, settle in Tilcara and visit the village and its surroundings.
Day 16: Humahuaca and the Mountain of Fourteen Colors.
Day 17: Purmamarca and the Mountain of Seven Colors.
Day 18: Salinas Grandes salt flats and drive down to Jujuy to fly to Buenos Aires (AEP) in the evening.
Day 19: Buenos Aires (Recoleta, Retiro, Casa Rosada, San Telmo).
Day 20: day trip to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay (a UNESCO World Heritage Site).
Day 21: Buenos Aires (El Caminito, Microcentro, el Congreso) and departure from EZE airport.
Practical information (updated as of May 2025)
Mountains in the Quebrada de Humahuaca.
When to go
Your only real option if you want to visit Southern Patagonia is to go during the Austral summer, between November and March. We opted for March, at the tail end of the high season, for fewer crowds and lower prices, although the weather might have been a bit better in January. We didn’t suffer from this at all, and only had one half-day of intense rain in El Chaltén.
Iguazú wasn’t as hot as we feared at that time (but it gets much hotter later in the year) and we got up early to enjoy the relative coolness of the mornings.
I was told March may not have been the best time to visit Northwestern Argentina, but in fact we enjoyed four days of unmitigated sunshine, and nice temperatures during the day.
Buenos Aires is also great to see in March: it is usually past the hottest months of summer and before the city weather turns cold for Austral winter.
The cost of the trip
Although Argentina was a relative bargain in 2023 when I first went, the peso has strengthened a lot recently and I would say the country is now pretty much on par with an average US city in terms of food or lodging costs.
The total per-person cost of the trip was around $3,000. If this seems low, that’s because of choices we made:
airfare from Europe cost about $1,500 a person, and the cost would be fairly similar from the US.
Flights within the country would have cost north of $1,000 per person (probably my biggest surprise after finding cheap flights galore back in 2023), so I used miles to soften the blow (I’ll explain below).
Accommodation cost us $1,500 for three weeks (so that would be $500 per person), but we chose economical options and usually booked one room for the three of us. None of the accommodations were luxurious, but they ranged from 2-star to 3-star hotel equivalents (and we enjoyed them a lot).
Car rentals and bus rides totaled another $500.
Food costs were low at $500 a person: first, going on hikes, the only meal that made sense to bring with us was sandwiches, and these weren’t expensive, and then we tried to cook our own food most days.
Finally, don’t forget the cost of access to Argentinian national parks. We picked an annual pass, which made sense for us even how many parks we visited, and it cost about $220 a person.
Domestic flights in Argentina
In 2025, given the peso strength, domestic flights were expensive, but I very quickly realized I could save on flights by using miles.
Aerolineas Argentinas, the country’s main carrier, is a member of the Skyteam alliance, which means you can technically redeem miles earned on Delta Airlines, AirFrance or Virgin Atlantic on flights within the country.
I chose to burn AirFrance miles, for the simple reason that AirFrance shows award availability for Aerolineas flights online, unlike Delta, where you have to call. If you don’t have AirFrance miles to spend, know the airline is a transfer partner for US credit card issued by Chase and Capital One, and it’s fairly easy to replenish your AirFrance miles balance that way - that’s what I did.
For reference, the USD cost of my flight from El Calafate (FTE) to Puerto Iguazú (IGR) via Buenos Aires was $422 and it cost only 22,000 AirFrance miles plus $20, a great deal when miles are usually valued at $0.01 each.
Renting a car
Ah, Argentina. The wide open spaces, the endless roads through fabulous landscapes… and some of the pushiest car rental agents I have ever met (although I think agencies in Costa Rica are worse, but that is for another post). Your biggest danger is really falling for insurance scams at the rental counter. Beware of the high franchise costs that may be presented to you then.
Most Western travelers usually rely on their credit card’s rental protection and decline the rental car’s CDW at the counter. Argentina isn’t a country where this is a problem, but of course rental companies make a lot of money on these, and will try as hard as possible to get you to buy some of their own guarantees. I almost got tricked by this in Salta. At the counter, the agent told me that if I were to decline their CDW, I would have to accept a pre-authorization of USD15,000 on my credit card, which was close of the full value of the car. First of all, many people don’t have such a big credit line, and second it makes you pause for a bit - what if something happens, and these dollars suddenly evaporate from my account? Of course, this is a scare tactic. It is extremely unlikely that you’re going to total a rental car in Argentina, and for a minor incident, the rental company will most likely charge you a much smaller amount, which your credit card coverage will eventually refund you. I knew of all this, and yet I hesitated. $15,000 is a lot of money. Just don’t fall for this, as I almost did.
Beyond that, roads in Argentina are well maintained, signs are plentiful, as are gas stations. I would only discourage you from driving in Buenos Aires, where it is claimed that a majority of dwellers share Italian ancestry. What they say about Italian drivers might be a cliche (after all I am French, and can tell you the Parisian drivers are in a league of their own), but I can’t help but correlate that with the sheer madness of motorists in the Argentinian capital. Besides, you really don’t need to get a car when public transport infrastructure is top-notch, safe and very affordable - also, Ubers are plentiful.
Safety
The US State Department labels Argentina as a level 1 country, meaning “Exercise normal precautions” when you travel. In fact, Argentina as a whole is extremely safe, even if the country’s economic situation has resulted in more precarious living for the poorest portion of the population in the past years. Strikes are possible, and demonstrations are common around the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace, in Buenos Aires.
A few words on Buenos Aires, the only major city we visited: imagine you’re in Paris or New Orleans or any big, touristy destination, use common sense, do not venture in less safe areas especially at night, do not flash expensive jewelry or cameras, and take and Uber (or Cabify) if you have any doubt as to where you’re going. Beyond that, check out the sights, walk as much as you want or can, take public transit, which is extremely cheap, and just enjoy la vida the Argentinian way.
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