Argentina Chile Super Detailed Strategy Guide
San Diego
Chile's capital, a beautiful city, is very suitable as a transit point.
Attractions:
Weapon Square: Similar to Tiananmen Square, the San Diego Cathedral in the square is a famous pilgrimage church, where the body of "Yage" is buried. It is very interesting on weekends and Sundays.
Dining:
Lu Ding Ji: A restaurant opened by Sichuanese people, mainly serving Sichuan cuisine, hot pot and grilled fish. I have been there twice, the taste is okay, the price is slightly high, around 200 yuan per person.
Accommodation:
Lindo Hostel: located between the Weapon Square and the station, a very nice hostel with a convenient location. It's about 1 kilometer from the airport bus stop and costs 6000 pesos per night.
Transportation:
To get to the airport: There is an airport shuttle bus at the airport entrance. Take the CentroPuerto airport shuttle bus to Los Heroes, where you will arrive in the city center. The airport shuttle bus passes by the bus station and train station, and costs about 2000 pesos.
Interprovincial and international transportation: the station is called Terminal Alameda Santiago. The interprovincial and international stations are separate and can be reached on foot or by taking the subway to Universidad de Santiago and getting off there. International tickets can be purchased to Buenos Aires, Cordoba, and Mendoza in Argentina, and even to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It takes about 7 hours to get to Mendoza, with many departures available in the morning and evening. You can choose according to your own schedule.
Mendosa
A small town on the border of Chile and Argentina, a wine-producing region in Argentina with many vineyards, and of course, the Andes Mountains.
Attractions:
Andes Mountains Day Trip: There are many local travel agencies organizing day trips to the Andes Mountains, with various options available. The most popular itinerary is to visit the highest peak in South America, Aconcagua, which includes one lunch and costs around 1800 pesos for a day trip.
Winery half-day tour: usually departs from 2pm to 3pm, visiting three different wineries. There will be a tour guide to introduce the process of making red wine and the use of some equipment. Finally, everyone will be able to taste the winery's red wine, and if they like it, they can purchase it at a very cheap price, basically around $5-10 per bottle.
Accommodation:
There's no special recommendation, you can check out Booking.
Dining:
Nothing special, there are many restaurants on the pedestrian street, with cheap prices and good taste.
Transportation:
By land: Bus tickets to Cordoba and Buenos Aires can be purchased at the bus station, but the travel time is relatively long.
Plane: Taking a taxi from the city to the airport costs about 200 pesos. Cheap tickets to Buenos Aires are often available for purchase. I bought mine for 300 yuan, including luggage.
Iguazu Port
Of course, coming here is to see the waterfall, one of the three largest waterfalls in the world.
Attractions:
Iguazu Falls: This is of course the main attraction. You can take a bus from the station in Iguazu Port for 500 pesos round trip, and it's available at any time. The entrance fee for Iguazu Falls is 700 pesos, which includes the small train inside the scenic area.
Iguazu Falls National Park is very large, and it takes at least two hours to walk around and take pictures in every place. It is recommended that you do not take the small train in the first section, because there are many people taking the small train in the first section of the park, and you have to queue for a long time. It takes about 15-20 minutes to walk from the first station to the second station, where there is a restaurant, but there are a bunch of instant noodles ready to be snatched at any time, so be mentally prepared.
On the second stop, you can start visiting most of the attractions of Iguazu Falls. It takes about two hours to play and take photos, and there are two routes in total that can be played one by one. After finishing the second stop, you can return to the station and take the train to the third stop, which is the Devil's Throat. After taking photos at the Devil's Throat on the third stop, you can take the train back to the entrance of the scenic area, and then take a car back to Iguazu Port.
PS: Remember to bring a raincoat, umbrella, and waterproof cover for your bag. It tends to rain unexpectedly in the scenic area.
Accommodation:
Not much difference, no special recommendations.
Dining:
All are similar, with Western cuisine as the main focus.
Transportation:
Let's mainly talk about crossing Brazil by land: at the Iguazu Port bus station, there are buses to Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The ticket costs 80 pesos or 8 reais. The bus will stop at the Argentine customs, where everyone gets off to get their passport stamped before returning to the bus to continue to the Brazilian customs. At this point, please note that most people going to Brazil do not need to get their passport stamped, so it's very likely that you will be the only one getting off the bus to do so. The bus will not wait for you, so after getting your passport stamped, return to the station and wait for the next bus (usually within 1-1.5 hours). You don't need to buy a new ticket, just show the previous one to the driver. Of course, you will see many taxis at the customs, so if you don't want to wait, you can take a taxi directly.