Argentina Cultural Heritage
12 DAYS / 11 NIGHTS
Valid from Jan to Dec 2012
Except International Congresses, National Holiday Weekend, Harvest, Easter, Christmas & New Year.
ITINERARY
Australis Cruises
DAY 01 - BUENOS AIRES (-/-/-)
Meet and greet at Ezeiza International Airport. Transfer to selected hotel. Arrival, check-in and 3 night accommodation, including breakfast.
DAY 02 - BUENOS AIRES (B/-/D)
After breakfast you will visit the most important sites of the city during a city tour (3 hours). This sightseeing will allow you to discover the magic of this cosmopolitan city, capital of Argentina. The magnificence of the Northern Quarters, Palermo and the beauty of its parks and buildings, Recoleta with its French style architecture, bars and cafes; the imposing Colon Theater, one of the five most important opera houses in the world; Plaza de Mayo (May Square) surrounded by the Government's House (The Pink House), The Old Cabildo (Town Hall) and the Metropolitan Cathedral; San Telmo, residence of the aristocracy until the turn of the XIX century. The colors of La Boca, pictures quarter of Italian immigrants; and the fashion area of Port Madero with its many bars & restaurants round off this excursion. PM at leisure to walk around the city. A visit to our emblematic 'Cafe Tortoni' is a must!! Buenos Aires nightlife provides its own inhabitants and visitors with numerous entertainment possibilities. This evening you will attend an unforgettable tango show performed by the best dancers and singers, while enjoying a delicious meal. This is the perfect way to live Buenos Aires, the city of tango. Return to the hotel.
DAY 03 - BUENOS AIRES (B/-/-)
Day at leisure. We suggest one of the following optional tours:
Tigre and Delta Only 30 km from downtown Buenos Aires, the city of Tigre constitutes the access to know the Delta of the Parana River , a group of islands and streams that open up like a fan and offer an attractive natural scenery ideal for recreation and rowing, skiing, sailing or fishing. This 4 hour tour includes sailing along the different canals of the Delta and goes through the northern residential area of Buenos Aires suburbs, where the President's Major House is located.
Gaucho's Festival The typical landscape of the Argentina humid Pampa, one of the most fertile natural prairies in the world, famous for its meat and cereal production, may be appreciated by the tourist in this tour that includes a reception with 'empanadas' (meat pies) and 'asado' (roast meat) and good Argentinean wines, a show with folk songs and dances and an exhibition of the gaucho's abilities with riding, taming and the use of the lasso.
DAY 04 - BUENOS AIRES - MENDOZA (B/-/-)
Transfer to the domestic airport to board flight to Mendoza. Reception at Mendoza Airport and transfer to selected hotel. Check-in and accommodation for 3 nights including breakfast. PM city tour of Mendoza that allows us to know the history and the culture of a city founded by the Spaniards more than four centuries ago. Visit to Independence Square, main avenues and the civic area, the foundational area, the Aquarium, General San Martin Park and the Cerro de la Gloria, from where we have a panoramic view of the city. Evening at leisure.
DAY 05 - MENDOZA (B/L/-)
Mendoza -being one of the most appropriate regions in the world for the production of wines of excellent quality- has won a remarkable fame worldwide. This circuit allows us to know the work of man who dominated the desert and has allowed the extraction of the best fruit on earth. Wonderful 'fincas' surrounded by the magnificent landscape of the Andes Mountain Range welcome visitors to test the excellent varieties of wines, since Mendoza leads the production with 70% % of Argentina wines. We visit different productive oasis of the region and see the wine making process.
Lunch at Familia Zuccardi Restaurant in the middle of the vineyards where we'll also taste the different varieties of olive oil and enjoy a typical food with magnificent wines!!
Back to the hotel for a nap. Evening at leisure.
DAY 06 - MENDOZA (B/-/-)
Early departure from Mendoza City to the west to enter the Andes Mountain Range through an excellent mountain road towards the border with Chile, admiring among other attractions the superb view of Mount Aconcagua - the highest peak in America - Along the road we visit Chacras de Coria, Potrerillos Valley, Uspallata Valley, Penitentes Ski Resort, the striking Inca's Bridge, a natural formation made of rock and sulphur (thus its golden color) and the border village of Las Cuevas. Weather and road conditions permitting, we go up to 4,200 meters above sea level, where the image of Christ the Redeemer is located. Return to the hotel by late afternoon.
DAY 07 - MENDOZA - SALTA (B/-/D)
Breakfast, check-out and transfer to Mendoza Airport to board flight to Salta. Arrival at Salta Airport and transfer to selected hotel. Check-in and 3 night accommodation with breakfast. PM City Tour. Salta City is outstanding amongst other Argentinean capitals due to its colonial past, reflected in its traditions and architecture. We'll visit its churches and most remarkable historical monuments and colonial houses, the Old Cabildo (Town Hall), the Cathedral, San Francisco Church, San Bernardo Convent. From San Bernardo Hill the group will enjoy a panoramic view of the city and the Lerma Valley. Visit to San Lorenzo ravine, summer borough located 12 minutes drive from downtown. On the way back, visit of the handicraft market, a local exhibition of handicrafts from different cultures of the region. Welcome dinner at Folk House 'La Vieja Estacion', where the most traditional groups perform every evening to delight visitors with local music and dances.
DAY 08 - SALTA-HUMAHUACA-SALTA (B/-/-)
Full day excursion to HUMAHUACA, we will visit many interesting sites with incredible beauty and rich in history. About 2 hours drive from Salta City to the north, we'll arrive at San Salvador de Jujuy, the capital of Jujuy province (1593), which between 1810 and 1822 was invaded eleven times by royalist troops. Individual visit to its Cathedral (1750) with its Baroque pulpit carved in wood by the Indians led by the Jesuits; the Cabildo (old Town Hall) (1864); Lavalle Museum and the Government House with the Room dedicated to the Flag created by Manuel Belgrano. In the same building sculptures made by artist Lola Mora can also be appreciated. Our next stop will be at PURMAMARCA (2274 m above sea level) town of Pre-Hispanic origin where a dazzling show of reflected light earns the mountains the nickname 'Painter's Palette' due to its incredible combination and variety of colors. Visit the Cabildo (old Town Hall), the Handicrafts Market, the Church (from 1648), the many centuries old 'Algarrobo' (carob tree), below which General Manuel Belgrano rested one afternoon in 1814 during his Northern Campaign.
Without doubts the village of Purmamarca is the most remarkable in this area, with its chapel under the avocation of Santa Rosa de Lima with its melancholic aspect of loneliness, is another appropriate setting of this landscape, perhaps due to the native style of building with a muddy substance extracted from the marshy lakes, which appears to be splashed on the adobe mud-walls. We will continue our trip to TILCARA, a village built chiefly of sun-baked clay brick (3500 m) with its Pucara ('fortress') 70 meters above the river Grande, from which the whole region can be admired. You will be able to see how this old civilization lived, visiting on your own the Archaeological Museum, to understand the practices and customs of that time. We will take once again route n 9, passing through HUACALERA, with its monolith showing the 'Tropic of Capricorn'.
We will arrive in UQUIA, old aboriginal settlement. The Chapel of Uquia, declared National Historical Monument is simply outstanding. We will finally arrive at HUMAHUACA ( 2.940 Meters above sea level), an old omaguacas Indians settlement. Humahuaca is a traditional village founded about four hundred years ago by the Grande River , surrounded by hills. Visit to the Cathedral built by Spaniards in 1641 adorned with carvings and paintings, Monument to the Independence (1950) in which a running 'chasqui' (Indian courier or messenger) is represented, the Handicrafts Market and sightseeing around its typical streets and adobe houses.
Return to Salta City along National Route 9 by late afternoon.
DAY 09 - SALTA-CAFAYATE -SALTA (B/-/-)
Morning departure from Salta City. Outside city limits we will be driving thru typical villages like Cerrillos, El Carril, Coronel Moldes, Ampascachi, Talampaya, Alemania to reach River Las Conchas Gorge declared 'Natural Monument ' by the UNESCO due to the strange formations and colors of the hills. The wind and water erosion have carved the mountains creating different formations, such as the Devil's Throat, the Amphitheatre (it receives this name due to the great acoustic, many singers had performed there), the Toad, the Friar... Another stop is in the Tres Cruces (Three Crosses) vantage point, which will allow us to admire a spectacular panorama. You can not miss this landscape as it is absolutely amazing!! . Arrival at Cafayate. This village is located in the southernmost part of the Calchaqui Valleys, 190 km from Salta city and 1660 meters above sea level. This is 'the grape growing area', as many vineyards are only three blocks from the main square. In this village we will find many industrialized wineries that can be visited, and others that still make wine with the old fashioned methods. Within the urban area it is the parish church, whose special characteristic is that it is one of the few earthquake-proof religious buildings with 5 naves. Other interesting places are the Handicrafts Market in the square, the Wine Museum and the Archaeological and Colonial Museum. Back to Salta by late afternoon.
DAY 10 - SALTA - IGUASSU FALLS (B/-/-)
Transfer to Salta Airport to board flight to Puerto Iguazu. Arrival at Puerto Iguazu Airport and transfer to selected hotel. Check-in and 2 night accommodation with breakfast.
DAY 11 - IGUASSU FALLS (B/-/-)
Visit to the Argentinean Side of Iguassu Falls, located 24kms from Puerto Iguazu. Arrival at the Visitors Center , an interpretative building with giant panels showing the importance of the biodiversity of the subtropical humid forest. To get to the catwalks overlooking the falls, visitors will board a gas-propelled train that will take them to the Upper Falls Circuit and the Devil's Throat. The walking tour takes place through the lower circuit catwalks with duration of 1 hour and the upper circuit catwalks with duration of approximately 50 minutes. To visit the Devil's Throat, visitors should board the train at the Cataratas Station, close to the Upper Circuit. Once at the Devil's Throat Station, visitors will take a walking tour on a flat catwalk built over the Upper Iguassu River, with an extension of 1100meters that lead visitors to the balconies for an amazing panoramic view of this magnificent fall: The Devil's Throat.
Total duration of the tour: 6 hours approximately.
DAY 12 - IGUASSU FALLS - HOME (B/-/-)
Early departure to visit the Brazilian Side of the Iguassu Falls . Arrival at the Visitors Center, located 10 kms from the heart of the Park. Visitors will be transferred on specially conditioned buses to the catwalks for a walking tour of approximately 1 kilometer of extension, where they will admire the falls from different viewpoints.
At the end of the catwalk you will find a fantastic close-up encounter with the Devil's Throat and main falls.
Duration of the Tour: 3 hours approximately.
In the afternoon, transfer to Foz do Iguacu (IGU) or Puerto Iguazu (IGR) Airports to board flight to your next destination.
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