day one

Welcome to Argentina!

Arrival at Ministro Pistarini International Airport, also known as Ezeiza International Airport, and meet your guide in Argentina for your private transfer to your hotel. 

Buenos Aires (“good airs” in Spanish), the vibrant capital of Argentina, pulses with energy and captivates with its blend of European grandeur and Latin passion. As you stroll the city’s broad boulevards, you’ll discover an architectural tapestry that tells a tale of the city’s rich history, from colonial buildings to neoclassical monuments. In the heart of the city, the rhythm of tango spills from hidden milongas, inviting you to dance along to its sensual beat. 

Throughout your time here, you will sample world-class steaks in traditional parrillas, explore the colourful streets of La Boca, and immerse yourself in the bustling antiques market in San Telmo. As the sun sets, the city transforms into a buzzing hive of nightlife, with restaurants, bars, and clubs coming to life. This captivating city, affectionately known as the “Paris of South America,” is a melting pot of culture and experiences that leave an indelible mark on every visitor.

Tonight, venture to the Fogon Closed-Door Asado Dinner Experience with Premium Wine Pairing. This is a 3 hour experience which includes a welcome cocktail, Asado tasting menu with soft drinks and coffee and premium wine pairing, and roundtrip transfers.

From the creators of The Argentine Experience and the chefs of Uco Restaurant in Buenos Aires and Butterfly in Bariloche, Fogón is a new way of living the traditional argentine asado. Discover the Asado tradition, served with a twist. At Fogón, they created a closed-door dining experience that explores new ways of serving Argentine Asado classics. While seated at the bar you’ll see, feel and experience different grill cooking techniques, up close and personal. The aim to create a memorable evening for each guest, beyond your regular steakhouse expectations.

The Asado Tasting Menu – Dinner: Every Argentine’s Asado is unique but always includes the best cuts of meat available and fire roasted seasonal vegetables. The chefs have designed the tasting menu to combine new grill techniques with tried and true Argentine recipes, that elevate the Asado to new heights. The optional wine pairing menu has also been designed to best enhance the flavours of the ingredients, while presenting you with some of the best boutique wines from Argentina. Dishes include Argentine empanadas, caramelised provoleta cheese, glazed pork belly, three cuts of Argentine grass-fed beef and Dulce de Leche pancakes made fresh in front of guests and served with flame-cooked coffee. Please note this experience is for those aged 13 years and over.

Overnight in Buenos Aires.

Suggested hotel: Sofitel Buenos Aires Recoleta

The Sofitel Buenos Aires Recoleta Hotel offers a luxurious, authentic and exclusive experience in the heart of the Recoleta neighbourhood. The hotel offers easy access to the city’s main tourist attractions and boasts elegant and spacious rooms, a heated pool, fitness centre, meeting rooms, outdoor garden and modern art exhibitions in the lobby. Sofitel Buenos Aires Recoleta Hotel is opposite the Patio Bullrich shopping mall and just one block away from the prestigious Alvear Avenue.

day TWO

Buenos Aires sightseeing tour

Today, head out on your private guided tour of Buenos Aires (duration 6 hours). You’ll have a three-course lunch with soft drinks and wine included, as well as mineral water in the vehicle and an English-speaking guide. 

Buenos Aires is one of the most fascinating cities in both Latin America and the world. Be it for its splendid and varied architecture, with its old Colonial buildings, French palaces and state-of-the-art skyscrapers; for its vibrant nightlife and endless cultural options; or maybe just for the rich identity of the Porteños, who proudly bear the European heritage of their ancestors, more and more visitors are coming to visit.

Visit Plaza de Mayo, the city’s foundational site and witness the country’s political history, before carrying on to visit the Pink House, the Presidential Palace, the Cabildo, the primitive town hall, and the Neoclassical-style Metropolitan Cathedral, the final home of Argentina’s founding father, José de San Martín.

Next, explore the sumptuous French palaces again in Palermo Chico, an area best known for its large parks designed by celebrated landscape architects, such as the illustrious Frenchman Charles Thays.

In Retiro and Recoleta, learn about the dream of local aristocrats in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when they sought to build a small-scale Paris in the heart of Buenos Aires. After visiting the impressive Plaza San Martín, where Jorge Luis Borges used to take his walks, stroll down Avenida Alvear, chosen by the world’s most distinguished brands to install their exclusive boutiques, looking up to see the many wonderful French-style palaces which nowadays house a number of embassies.

Then, visit the Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, one of the city’s oldest churches, which dates to the Colonial era. Finally, we’ll admire the celebrated Recoleta Cemetery, a true labyrinth of ornate mausoleums. Make a stop at Eva Peron’s grave, one of the country’s most recognisable icons.

Visit Puerto Madero, the latest addition to the city’s barrios. In 1991, its huge warehouses and silos where remodelled and redesigned, to finally integrate the river to the city and to create a new corporative, residential, hotel and gastronomically district, which has become the playground for the pretty Porteños and the international jet-set.

Head for San Telmo, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires. It used to be the residential district favoured by the upper class until the late 19th century when a yellow fever epidemic caused the wealthier families to leave northwards. The area was marginalided until the 1970s when many artists and artisans came to San Telmo to install their workshops. Nowadays, thanks to its amazing architecture and hip atmosphere, this ancient neighbourhood is really blooming. Walk its cobbled streets, where the city’s Colonial past seems to come back to life, making a stop at Plaza Dorrego, best known for its traditional antiques fair, held every Sunday.

Continue southwards to La Boca, one of the city’s most authentic and charming neighbourhoods. It is a working-class district, heavily shaped by Italian immigrants who came to the country in large numbers during the last quarter of the 19th century. Here, make a special visit to the mythical Caminito Street, which sums up everything that gives La Boca its distinctive spirit: the strong passion for soccer, the heavy presence of art and colour, and the Tango-esque atmosphere.

Enjoy Lunch at a traditional restaurant, a typical “bodegón”. In Argentina, in addition to having national dishes and desserts, there is a “traditional Argentine cuisine”, which is a mixture of Italian, Spanish and German dishes, all together in the same menu. This characteristic is due to the strong emigration that the country had in ancient times. This feeling of “belonging to the city”, is transmitted through the abundance and accessibility of its food, and also by its environment. Each bodegon in Buenos Aires that lasts is a space of living history, that is why sitting at their tables is one of the best ways to get to know the city.

Optional: explore the El Zanjon de Granados Tunnels & Mystery, a magical space where poetry, history and myth coexist. Some historians point to the Zanjón de Granados ravine as the site of the first settlement of Buenos Aires in 1536. The remains of the city were never found, but we have been left with the testimony of Ulrico Schmidl, the first historian of the River Plate. A section of the old Zanjon was found under a historical XIX century building which extended over the whole square. Other sections of the Zanjón were unearthed including the ruin of foundations, old walls, floors, water wells, sewage pits, which were built and destroyed between 1730 and 1865.

Optional: visit the emblematic Colon Opera House, one of the most important opera houses in the world. The Colon Theatre keeps secrets in every corner and to live the experience of a Guided Tour is to know a portion of its history of more than one hundred years at the service of the Argentine and world culture. Touring the Hall, the Main Foyer, the Gallery of Busts, and the Golden Hall, visitors can absorb amazing details about the architecture, the stairs, their sculptures, ceilings or vitreaux during the 50-minute visit.

Tonight, enjoy dinner and a show at Rojo Tango, a cabaret designed by Phillippe Starck. Expect passion, madness and glamour in this legendary experience that seduces all the senses combining sounds, fragrances, colours, movements and flavours.

Overnight at Sofitel Buenos Aires Recoleta.

day three

Welcome to El Calafate!

After breakfast, check out and meet your driver for your private transfer to the airport for your domestic flight to El Calafate. Upon arrival, meet your guide and transfer to your next hotel. 

El Calafate is a small town in the Argentinean Patagonia, situated in the southwest part of the Santa Cruz Province, at 2,083 kilometres from Buenos Aires. It is an important tourist destination as the hub to visit different parts of the Los Glaciares National Park, including the Perito Moreno Glacier (one of the most visited Glaciers in the world), the Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy. Its name is derived from a little bush with yellow flowers and dark blue berries that is very common in Patagonia.

Once you have settled in and unpacked, venture our on a guided tour of the local lakes and caves. The Argentino Lake is the third biggest lake in South America. Surrounded by mountains and fed by giant glaciers, this lake astonishes local and foreign visitors with its immensity and special colour. It was exactly that light blue colour, the mountains covered in white and the light blue sky what motivated Francisco P. Moreno to name it “Argentino”.

This Nativo Experience is a 4×4 activity through the Argentino Lake’s shore, with an anthropological approach that tours man’s presence over the years in this region. The aim is to rediscover the first expeditions of the brave ones who dare to go into the unknown and how their first interaction with the natives was. Thus, among cliffs and views to the Andes Mountain, one personally feels the Tehuelche world along 20km. Stopping to take pictures will help to go even deeper in typical flora and fauna details, as well as trying to understand the legacy left by those natives through their cave paintings. Imagination will be set free among chenques and awnings, immersed in thousands of years of history.

On the lake’s shore, there are millennial caves where Tehuelche culture left its mark printed on the rocks to be read. After visiting them, finish the tour with lunch or dinner inside another big cave.

Overnight in El Calafate.

Suggested hotel: Esplendor by Wyndham El Calafate

In the Heart of the Argentinean Patagonia stands the Esplendor El Calafate Hotel. The property is located in the centre of the city with a marvellous view of the magnificent “Argentino” lake and the “Calafate” Hill. The identity of this four star hotel lies in its contemporary design in the midst of wild Patagonian elements; constructed using natural materials that blend perfectly with the amazing environment. Its 57 rooms offer a wonderful view or the lake and the comfort for a pleasant stay. 

day four

Explore Perito Moreno Glacier

Arrive Today, head out on a full day (8 hour) tour the Perito Moreno Glacier. Located 80km from El Calafate, The “Perito Moreno” is “Los Glaciares” National Park’s host, where visiting its catwalks is truly a unique experience.

From the beginning, the trip holds pleasant surprises. On the village outskirts, it is possible to see the Argentino Lake on the right and its shallowest part, Redonda Bay (Rounded Bay), populated by a large variety of birds like black-necked swans, flamingos, steamer ducks, coots and Magellan gooses surrounded by yellow fields, due to the “coirones”, typical grass of Patagonian steppe.

The first 40km on the trip runs through Patagonian steppe until getting to the National Park access gate. Over the next 26km, it is possible to appreciate the timberline formed by “high deciduous beech” trees, white oak trees, “low deciduous beech” trees and some cinnamon trees. Flowers of several colours can be appreciated too, being the “fire bush” the one that stands out the most due to its deep red colour. All of them are typical Andean-Patagonian Forest species.

Facing the glacier, every aspect is majestic. The catwalks are divided into three circuits: Central Balconies: 600mts (1.968 feet, including 1st balcony, 2nd balcony and Northern balcony); Lower Balcony: 1.100mts (3.609 feet, including Lower balcony) and Coast’s Balcony: 1.117mst (3.665 feet, from parking area up to the Northern Balcony), all of them alternating with resting and panoramic balconies. The route of the visit will be closely related to weather conditions and participants’ willingness and physical conditions; the available time to walk through and visit the catwalks is one to three hours. There is an elevator available for disabled persons that leads to the First balcony, the point where the Accessible Pathway begins, extending to 565mts (1.854 feet).

Next, set sail on a safari boat for a Sailing Rico Branch experience. The tour is a voyage of one hour by the Rico branch of Argentino Lake to appreciate the majestic south wall of the Perito Moreno Glacier. This glacier ice wall is about 60m high and 100m below lake level. The boat comes about 200m from where the glacier touches the Magallanes Peninsula and then goes at length (about 3km) south wall allowing you to enjoy the landslides that occur daily and the magical beauty of its seracs, cracks and intense blue.

Optional (for those aged between 8 and 65 years): minitrekking adventure – walking on the Perito Moreno Glacier! This excursion begins in the embarking pier located in “Bajo de las Sombras” port, about 6 km before the glacier Balconies- where you embark for 20 minutes navigation across the Rico Arm, enjoying breathtaking views of the Perito Moreno glacier’s front wall.

Disembark on the opposite shore, where specialised bilingual mountain guides welcome you and lead you to a small shelter. Groups of not more than 20, follow their guides along the lake’s shore towards the edge of the glacier. Once on the ice, the guides put each participant a pair of crampons on, and explain how to use them. The two hours circuit that follows introduces you to the fascinating landscape of the glaciers: streams, small lagoons, gullies, crevasses and plenty of ice formations of the most incredible blues. The trekking is moderate. The ice surface over which you walk is irregular but firm and safe. You will receive explanations about flora, fauna and general glaciology of the region and also about the particular phenomenon that happens in the Perito Moreno Glacier and eventually produces its rupture. After the walk, a stroll through the forest brings you back to the shelter. Finally, the program includes 45 minutes free to enjoy Glacier’s catwalks.

For dinner tonight, enjoy the Serafina Closed Door Dinner Experience. 

Overnight at Esplendor by Wyndham El Calafate

day five

Glaciers Gourmet Experience

This morning, head out on a full day (11 hour) tour of the Patagonian ice field, the largest ice concentration on the planet outside the Polar Regions. Its glaciers descend from1,500 to 200 metres above sea level, which allows a unique chance to access them and enjoy the most amazing views.

Los Glaciares National Park offers a magnificent combination of forest, lakes, mountains, ice and steppes with more than 200 glaciers. The most renowned amongst them are Spegazzini with its face rising 135 meters above water level, Upsala covering an entire valley with an approximate extension of 765m2 and a length of 52km, and Perito Moreno constantly flowing forward and carving, offering breathtaking spectacles.

Glaciares Gourmet is a full day journey to one of the most wonderful places in Southern Patagonia. Sailing aboard exclusive Cruise María Turquesa will enjoy the highest standard of comfort and gourmet cuisine, for a truly memorable experience.

Embark at the company’s private dock “La Soledad” in Bahía Tranquila (Paraje Punta Bandera) and sail Northwest on Lago Argentino to Punta Avellaneda, Boca del Diablo and Upsala Glacier. Sailing Southward on Lago Argentino towards Canal Spegazzini and Spegazzini glacier, enjoy your Gourmet box lunch. Land at Puesto de las Vacas for a guided hike and navigate back through Brazo Norte to the company’s private dock for disembarkation.

Overnight at Esplendour by Wyndham El Calafate

day SIX

Welcome to Mendoza!

After breakfast, check out and meet your driver for your private transfer to El Calafate Airport for your flight to Mendoza, via Buenos Aires. Upon arrival into Mendoza, meet your guide for your transfer to your next hotel.

Mendoza is the capital city of the homonymous Province, in Argentina. It is located 1,037 kilometres from Buenos Aires, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. This beautiful city is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the country and it is surrounded by the largest wine producing area in Latin America. As one of nine cities worldwide in the network of Great Capitals of Wine, Mendoza offers the perfect destination to enjoy the best Argentinean wine while exploring a few of the hundred wineries and dazzling landscapes of this region.

Overnight in Mendoza.

Suggested hotel: Entre Cielos Luxury Wine Hotel & Spa

Entre Cielos offers 15 individually designed luxury-class rooms, surrounded by land which produces one of the world’s finest Malbec wines – as such, wine is celebrated in each one of its rooms. This begins with the descriptions, which pay tribute to the rich aromas of the local produce, continues in the colours and shapes employed in the interiors, and is epitomised in the understated sophistication and sensual appeal of the accommodation.

day seven

Explore Mendoza 

Spend the day exploring Mendoza today. 

Begin by creating your own blend at Lamadrid Estate with a blending session. This 6 hour experience includes instructions on local techniques, a multi-course lunch at the winery restaurant, a visit to Lamadrid winery and tasting and a special bottle of your customised blend to take home and enjoy!

The activity invites you to discover the joy of mixing and matching flavours. Through creating your own work of art, by combining different varietals, you will learn to love the challenge of being a winemaker. You will be guided in the challenge of blending red varietals to make your own tailor-made blend. Enjoy stepping into the shoes of a winemaker for a day and along the way discover yourself and your palate in this unique experience in Lamadrid winery, founded by Guillermo García Lamadrid, who came from Cuba to Mendoza in 2000 in search of a unique terroir to create great wines. The winery was named in honour of his maternal surname, Lamadrid. The winery has a mansion originally built in the late 1800s, recycled and maintained in optimal conditions so that visitors have an unforgettable experience.

Afterwards, you can choose to visit more wineries in the area, or head back to your hotel for an evening of relaxation.

Overnight at Entre Cielos Wine Hotel & Spa

day eight

Continue exploring Mendoza

Today, you have a full day tour of the Uco Valley, including visits to Gimenez Riili and Piedra Infinita Wineries. 

At the south of Mendoza, combine two of the best wineries, top-quality tastings, and a harmonised lunch in a winery restaurant with one of the best views of the Andes. Among several wineries in the region, today’s visit will be to family projects such as Giménez Rilli and Zuccardi Piedra Infinita.

After walking through beautiful streets adorned with trees, colours, and mountains, arrive at the first winery: Giménez Riili. This family business is currently run by the third generation, and its mission is to make excellent wines that highlight the unique conditions of each terroir. Here, enjoy nature harmonised with the tasting of wines made with love for work, care for the land, and, above all, a lot of passion and patience.

Continue towards Zuccardi Piedra Infinita in the Uco Valley, a tribute to the austere and solemn mountain that defines the climate and soils of the region. The construction “emerges” from the ground and really “belongs” to it because it is made with natural elements: limestone and local, white concrete. Imposing stone walls and concrete tanks protect the wines. Here, combine your visit with a tasting of Zuccardi wines. Each line of wine represents a concept, a belief, a tribute, and a faithful expression of the vine where the grape was born.

Overnight at Entre Cielos Luxury Wine Hotel & Spa

day nine

Fly back to Buenos Aires

After breakfast, check out of your hotel and meet your driver for your private transfer to Mendoza airport for your flight back to Buenos Aires (approximately a 1.5 hour flight).

Upon arrival, meet your driver for your transfer back to your hotel for one final night in Argentina. 

Overnight in Buenos Aires. 

Suggested hotel: Sofitel Buenos Aires Recoleta

day ten

Depart Argentina

Sadly, your Argentina adventure has come to an end. After breakfast, check out of the hotel and meet your driver for your private transfer back to the airport for your onward flight back home.