Argentina Travel Guide — Routes, Weather, Money & Where to Stay

Argentina is the eighth-largest country on earth, and it feels like it: glaciers and granite towers in Patagonia, 275 waterfalls in the subtropical northeast, red-rock canyons and high-altitude salt flats in the northwest, and one of the world's great capitals in between. Few countries mix scale and contrast as effortlessly — this is a place you plan around its distances.

Most travelers move along a single spine: Buenos Aires, then south into Patagonia (or north to the falls and the wine country) connected by cheap domestic flights and long, comfortable overnight buses. This guide breaks Argentina into practical sections — weather, money, transport, cities and deep dives — so you can route your trip with confidence.

Argentina rewards a fly-first strategy: domestic flights (Aerolíneas Argentinas, JetSMART, Flybondi) cover the long jumps — Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, El Calafate or Iguazú — while long-distance buses with full-recline 'cama' seats handle everything else, often overnight to save a night of accommodation. Rental cars unlock the northwest and Ruta 40, where public transport thins out.

Argentina spans from subtropical jungle to sub-Antarctic islands, so the best time to visit depends entirely on where you are going. Patagonia is a November-to-March destination, the northwest and Iguazú are best outside the summer rains, and Buenos Aires works almost all year — with March and April a golden compromise everywhere.

Argentina runs on a famously unusual money system: a gap between the official peso rate and the 'dólar blue' street rate. Bring USD $100 bills in good condition, get your pesos changed at recommended cambios or via a Western Union transfer, use cards where cash discounts don't apply — and always count your money twice.

From the tango temples of Buenos Aires to the end-of-the-world port of Ushuaia, the wine cellars of Mendoza and the trekking huts of El Chaltén — these are the cities and bases we recommend building your route around. Each one is the springboard for a region: the falls, the desert northwest, the Lake District or Patagonia proper.

Argentina rewards a south-to-north strategy: fly into Ushuaia or El Calafate first, when Patagonia's weather is at its most settled in early summer, then work your way north through the Lake District, Mendoza, the capital and finally the falls — leaving the northeast's humid summer behind. The reverse works in the shoulder seasons, and the northwest is best added in autumn (March–May) or spring, when the high roads are dry. Below are time-boxed routes from one week to a month.

Every route uses domestic flights for the long jumps (Buenos Aires–Ushuaia, Buenos Aires–Iguazú, Salta–Mendoza) and buses or rental cars in between — see the Getting Around section for the details.