• Cosmopolitan elegance in Buenos Aires
• Wildlife and wetlands at Ibera Swamps
• Dramatic Iguazu Falls
• Comfortable colonial estancias
• Rugged North-West landscapes
• New World vineyards

12 days / 11 nights

Itinerary

Day 01 Arrive Buenos Aires
Arrive into the ‘Paris of the Americas’ to a private A&K welcome. Settle into your new luxury hotel before an introduction to the city. Visit the old port district of La Boca and drive through the leafy streets of Palermo’s grand residences. You've also time to wander through the famous Recoleta cemetery.
Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt (Deluxe Room)

Day 02 Design Your Day Buenos Aires
A chance to see what makes this sophisticated metropolis tick. Choose your ideal exploration. In traditional Porteno style start the day with coffee and a pastry at Tortoni, one of the city’s true icons before a short ride on ‘el Subte’ (the subway) to the Plaza de Mayo, the city’s historical and political heart. Wander past the Casa Rosada (Presidential Palace), the city hall and the cathedral and on further to the narrow cobbled streets of bohemian San Telmo. Pick up a memento at the Sunday antique market! Lunch today is at El Repecho, one of the city’s most atmospheric restaurants. Plan the afternoon to suit. A private tour of the underground tunnels at t El Zanjon. a 19th Century house in San Telmo, is a fascinating insight into the Buenos Aires of old or for something completely different join word famous tango dancers in the grand residence for a lesson in the seductive art topped off by dinner and a performance of the avant-garde Rojo Tango (B,L).
Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt (Deluxe Room)

Day 03 Buenos Aires-Ibera
A flight north to Corrientes where you drive to the extraordinary floodplains of the Ibera Swamps. Stay on a 12,000 hectare former cattle ranch now converted into an exclusive eco-tourism retreat where a scheme is in place to reintroduce locally extinct mammals to the ecosystem (B,L,D).
Rincon del Socorro (Standard Room)

Day 04 Ibera
Spend today on the estancia with activities including birdwatching, riding, boat and canoe wildlife trips (in search of caiman, marsh deer, capybara, river otter and the more elusive maned wolf, howler monkey and sprocket deer). Cattle mustering on a nearby property is also available (B,L,D).
Rincon del Socorro (Standard Room)

Day 05 Ibera-Iguazu Falls
An hour by light aircraft to Posadas before driving on to Iguazu. Stop en route at the haunting ruins of the San Ignacio Jesuit mission and see plantations of yerba mate (local medicinal herb), manioc and citrus fruits (B,D).
Sheraton Internacional (Falls View Room)

Day 06 Iguazu Falls
The day is spent on the Argentine side of the Falls where travellers get close up to the thundering torrent of water plunging over the steep cliffs. Walk through the jungle to a catwalk for dramatic views of the ‘Devil’s Throat’ cataract (B).
Sheraton Internacional (Falls View Room)

Day 07 Iguazu-Cafayate (1,900m)
Fly to Salta in the north-west via Buenos Aires and take a three hour drive south through rugged scenery to Cafayate. Your lodging tonight is the delightful Patios de Cafayate, a colonial patio style hotel set against the backdrop of the Andes. Cafayate is a sleepy town in the Calchaqui Valley surrounded by vineyards (B,L,D).
Patios de Cafayate (Vineyard View Room)

Day 08 Cafayate-Colome (2,400m)
Time to explore the town, craft shops and a local vineyard before the three hour journey down legendary Route 40 to Colome. Leaving vineyards behind, the scenery transforms into a desolate stony terrain dotted with cacti and thornbush, small adobe hamlets, mountain peaks and rugged gorges. Colome is a surprising oasis in this barren landscape, it is the oldest winery in Argentina and your accommodation is at the stylish Spanish mission style estancia (B,L,D).
Estancia Colome (Junior Suite)

Day 09 Colome
Be as active as you wish in the wild and unspoilt surrounds of the estancia and its winery, available activities include a tour of the biodynamic farm, an introduction to the vineyards with the resident oenologist, riding, hiking, tennis or relaxing by the pool (B,L,D).
Estancia Colome (Junior Suite)

Day 10 Colome-Salta
Most of today spent on the winding road back to Salta. Stop en route to see the poncho weavers at Seclantas and for lunch in the tiny pueblo of Cachi. Spend tonight at the House of Jasmines, a beautifully decorated 130 year old homestead. Dine on fresh home produce before retiring (B,L,D).
House of Jasmines (Superior Room)

Day 11 Salta-Buenos Aires
The morning is yours to relax. Visit the spa, ride around the ranch or take a trip to the colonial city of Salta for last minute shopping. Fly back to Buenos Aires (B,L).
Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt (Deluxe Room)

Day 12 Depart Buenos Aires
Your stay in Argentina comes to an end (B).

Note: Rincon del Socorro closed 30 December 07 – 03 Jan 08. Rates for Design your Day excursions available on request.

Departure Dates & Prices

Tour Departs: Daily