Outside of Buenos Aires: Iguazú

Iguazú consists of between 250 and 350 separate waterfalls, depending on the season, that plunge more than 200 feet onto the rocks below. They are located in the Iguazú River where the borders of Argentina and Brazil meet and also very close to the borders of both these countries with Paraguay. The rain forest around the falls consists of huge pine trees that because of the high humidity and hot temperatures take almost 20 years to mature, three times as much as in other parts of the world, producing very dense wood. The Iguazu Falls are rated as one of the modern wonders in the world and depending on definition might well be the biggest water falls in the world, making them an unmissable part of the best tours to Argentina.

The falls and the lands around them are protected by Argentina's Parque Nacional Iguazú (where the falls are referred to by their Spanish name, the Cataratas de Iguazú), which was created in 1934, making it one of the oldest National Parks in the country. Though there is a big Sheraton hotel in the National Park itself, most visitors choose the nearby town of Puerto Iguazú, with its many lodging and food options as their hub for exploring the falls and surrounding jungle.  

The wildlife in the park includes several endangered species such as the jaguar, the ocelot, the harpy eagle and the Yacare Caiman. Swallows nest in the walls behind the falls and are an ubiquitous sight, even making it into the official park logo. There’s also a large diversity of butterfly species to be found. An environmentally-friendly train runs through the jungle for nearly 5 miles between the visitor centre and the most impressive of all the falls in the park, the 270 degree Garganta del Diablo.

Many people take the opportunity to also visit the falls from the Brazilian side, which offers a more panoramic view of the fall as opposed to being right at them and both locations have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1984.

If you want to spend the night outside of the park, the affordable La Sorgente is a very nice little posada in close by Puerto Iguazu and one of the best options in town. Very close to the 3 borders point with Brasil and Paraguay, it also has a perfect little pool with terrace and an excellent restaurant.

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Buenos Aires Travel Guide: Subways

Though Buenos Aires has a sprawling bus network that runs 24 hours a day and tens of thousands of taxis, for most tourists the subway or Subte offers the best combination of affordability and ease of use during their visit to the Argentine capital. Here’s a short overview of the Subte lines you might use during the best tours to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A line

The oldest line opened in 1913 and connected Plaza de Mayo with Plaza Miserere in Once below Avenida de Mayo and Avenida Rivadavia. Nowadays it goes on all the way to Flores and further expansion towards Liniers is planned in the coming years. It still uses some of the old wooden carriages attracting train enthusiasts from around the world. They will be changed in january and february of 2013, so if you want to get one of the last rides on the original Belgian carriages, hurry up.

B Line

The B Line follows Corrientes Avenue from the edge of Puerto Madero towards Villa Urquiza in the suburbs and is the most widely used subway line passing along the Obelisco but also the large Abasto shopping mall for example. It used carriages that were formerly in operation in the Tokyo subway in Japan.

C line

Opened in 1934 it was the first north-south line to be opened, connecting the A,B,D and E lines, as well as the tow main train stations in the city, running from Retiro towards Constitucion.

D line

Leading from Plaza de Mayo’s Cathedral in downtown towards the upscale neighborhoods of Palermo and Belgrano with their many bars and restaurants plus the Plaza Italia station next to the Buenos Aires Zoo, this is one of the lines most used by tourists visiting the city during the best tours to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

E line

Running almost parallel to the highway on the southern side of the capital, away from most tourist attractions, this line is used almost exclusively by locals getting to and from work in the center.

H line

The newest line and only the second to run north to south, this line is supposed to link the southern urban renovation neighborhood of Parque Patricios all the way to Retiro with a controversial stop being planned directly in front of the Recoleta cemetery, making it a potential hit with foreign visitors from 2014 onwards.

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Outside of Buenos Aires: El Calafate and Los Glaciares

A frontier town of only around 10,000 inhabitants on the windy plains of Patagonia in Santa Cruz Province, El Calafate is nevertheless one of the most important tourist destinations in Argentina, due to its close proximity to the Los Glaciares National Park with its imposing glaciers, including the most famous in the world: Perito Moreno. A visit to El Calafate and Los Glaciares will definitely complete all the best tours to Argentina.

Because of the almost 900,000 visitors who come down to visit the park each year, El Calafate has ample choice in hotels and restaurants and is served by its own El Calafate International Airport, some 12 miles outside of the town itself, helping tourists to easily cover the the 1,800 miles separating it from Buenos Aires.

The Los Glaciares national park, created in 1937, is the second largest in Argentina. Its name refers to the giant ice cap that feeds 47 large glaciers. The ice cap is the largest outside of Antarctica. 30% of the park is permanently covered in ice and it can roughly be divided in two parts, centered around the largest lake in Argentina, Lago Argentino in the southern part and the only slightly smaller Lago Viedma in the north. The northern half has fewer glaciers but includes Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, two mountains that are very popular with both trekkers and serious climbers.

Most visitors however focus their attention on the many huge glaciers around Lago Argentino and in particular the Perito Moreno glacier. One of the few glaciers in the world that is actually growing, at its base it’s almost 3 miles wide with an average height of 240 feet above the lake. Huge blocks of ice break from the glacier wall all the time and fall into the lake below with spectacular noise, making it an unmissable side trip during the best tours to Argentina. 

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