Good Food, Great Wine, and…
We spent 25 days in Argentina and 7 days in Uruguay, July 27th to August 27th. We enjoyed the food (but it got repetitive after a few weeks), the wine was spectacular and affordable, and… well, that’s about it. We left Argentina and Uruguay feeling “meh.” We were a little disappointed because it felt very average (aside from the food and wine). Of course, there were parts we enjoyed, but we had a hard time getting excited about travel while in these two countries. We never got in the travel groove and always felt a little uncomfortable or rushed or underwhelmed – just off. We’d like to visit again, maybe during a different time of year, because we felt like we should have really liked it.
We had a great beginning to Argentina in Tilcara and a great ending in Mendoza, but everything in between was not great for us. Iguazu was beautiful, but so crowded that it detracted significantly from the experience. Buenos Aires and Uruguay both had terrible weather, but beautiful architecture. Cordoba had better weather, but we still couldn’t find a groove. Had we to do it over again, we would have skipped over everything east of Salta (Iguazu, BA, Uruguay) and focused on the route between Tilcara and Mendoza.
Throughout both countries, money was a huge stress. Prices for transportation and accommodation seemed unreasonably high and we didn’t feel like we were getting much for our money. It’s not that we were willing to spend the money, we just couldn’t find the right price to comfort ratio to fit our needs.
1. Go
Our transportation in Argentina and Uruguay was dependable, comfortable, and safe but VERY expensive. A huge portion of our budget was spent on long distance bus rides and plane flights.
Total traveling distances:
- Plane – 1,343 miles
- Bus – 2,654 km
- Shuttle – 42 km
- City Bus – 38 km
- Metro – 21 km
- Ferry – 60 km
- Taxi – 21 km
- Bike – 24 km
- Foot – 540,000 steps
2. See
There are some great things to see in Argentina and Uruguay, and we loved the ones listed here. However, it was much easier to pick our favorites this time around since there weren’t nearly as may highlights. Here are some of our favorites from Argentina and Uruguay:
Favorite Museum:
- Museo Fortabat, Buenos Aires – We picked this museum because it had a piece by Pat’s favorite artist, J.M.W. Turner, but it turned out to be a beautifully organized collection of fine and modern art.
Favorite Sights:
- Cemetario de la Recoletta, Buenos Aires – The crummy weather added moodiness to our charming and eerie stroll through the crypts.
- Caminito Street, La Boca, Buenos Aires – Although the weather was crummy, this pedestrian walkway in the neighborhood of La Boca was still colorful.
Favorite Outdoors:
- Iguazu Falls – The falls were really impressive and awe-inspiring. As we’ve mentioned before, the crowds and the coaties nearly ruined the experience for us.
Argentina – Iguazu Falls – Devil’s Throat
- Tilcara countryside – Tilcara was our very first stop in Argentina and it impressed us in so many ways. The arid desert mountain landscape was strange and familiar at the same time.
Argentina – Tilcara
3. Eat
Although the food in Argentina and Uruguay was delicious, it was also very heavy – lots of meats and sweets. I don’t know how anyone stays remotely thin living here.
Favorite Foods:
- Dulce de Leche – The caramel like spread was on everything. Nearly all cakes and pastries had it and there were jars of it at breakfast to put on bread. Delicious.
- Medialunas – These sweet mini croissants became part of our daily coffee stop. They are cheap and satisfying.
- Meat – Obviously. We had some of the best steaks of our lives in Argentina as well as chorizo, milanaise, sandwiches…
Argentina – Buenos Aires – San Telmo grill
- Alfajores – How have these not become a thing in the States? The great thing about alfajores is that they vary greatly from region to region. Typically, it’s two cookies with dulce de leche in between (a cookie sandwich). But we’ve had cookies made from quinoa, cornmeal, blue corn, and shortbread. Some are soft like cake while others are crunchy like graham crackers. Most are filled with dulce de leche, but sometimes we’d find jam, chocolate mousse, cayote or honey. Sometimes they are covered in a chocolate shell or white frosting shell.
- Store-bought fresh ravioli – Ok, this sounds strange, but every grocery store had ready-to-cook ravioli. You now, the kind in the refrigerated section? Tons of varieties and all delicious. We cooked in a lot and had ravioli more than a few times.
- Locro – This is mainly in and around the Andes. It’s a thick stew typically with beans, meat, and corn but different regions add different things.
4. Drink
Ok, this one’s going to be pretty obvious… wait for it… oh yeah, red wine, duh.
Favorite Drinks:
- Malbec – Before coming to Argentina, malbec was one of our favorites, and now even more so. It’s fairly cheap, but reliably good. We stuck to $5USD bottles and nearly all were great.
- Tannat – Uruguay’s national wine is tannat. We’ve only seen it on it’s own in Uruguay – it’s usually in a blend. It’s fun on it’s own, but better as a blend (we had a really nice syrah-tannat blend)
Argentina – Mendoza – Wine
- Coffee – Every street is dotted with cafes that serve delicious espresso and americanos.
5. Sleep
This was another category that was tough on the budget. We often felt that we didn’t get a lot of value for what we paid. We were struggling so much, that we stayed in dorms a handful of times. Overall, the dorms are fine, but we value our privacy too much to make it a habit. We felt like we were rolling the dice with each new accommodation – some were fine while others were seriously lacking. Uruguay was the first country were we switched hostels in the same city. Also, notice that our favorite sleeps were in our favorite towns.
Favorite Sleeps:
- Malka Hostel, Tilcara – This is the most expensive place we stayed in all of South America. We arrived really late at night and just needed a room, so we said yes. The staff was super friendly and the breakfast was one of the best in Argentina.
- Hostal Lao, Mendoza – We splurged a bit on this room with a private terrace (where we enjoyed dinner and wine every night). The staff was super helpful with helping us plan winery tours. The breakfast was also particularly good and changed from day to day with new breads and pastries.
6. Move
People love to work out in Argentina and Uruguay. We found great running trails in every city and saw tons of other people out running and getting fit.
Favorite walking/running spots:
- 3 de Fevoro Park, Buenos Aires – This park had a 1-mile loop around a pond. Every 100 meters was marked and it was sectioned off from vehicles. There were plenty of other runners as well as a few bicyclists and rollerbladers.
- Parque de San Martin, Mendoza – A maze of running trails winds throughout this huge park.
Favorite Activities:
- Wineries by Bike – A truly Mendozian experience.
Argentina – Mendoza – The Biking Crew – Tom, Pat, and Lindsey
7. Etcetera
As we’ve mentioned before, our rough budget for this trip is $100 a day (for two people). Our daily average in Argentina was $143.79 and Uruguay was $124.21. We expected to be over in these countries but we were hoping to keep it as low as possible. We struggled mightily to stay anywhere near $100, but transportation and lodging were just too expensive to make it work. Technically, we could have probably made it closer, but we would have had to sacrifice a lot of our comfort and sanity to get there (cheap dorm beds, no wine, and bad food).
Check out all our photos from Argentina and Uruguay on Flickr and our post, Colors of Argentina and Uruguay.
Also, check out our weekly posts from Argentina and Uruguay:
Nomadic Cadence 