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South America Route |
 Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:42 pm |
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| I've just started planning a route the world trip and my last 3/4 months will be in South America.
I have been informed that we will have to fly into Santiago as we are arriving from New Zealand. The route I want to cover in South America is Quito and the South through Peru, Bolivia, Chile and then northwards through Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil ending in Rio. Any advice on how to do this when we have to fly into Santiago? Many thanks x |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 2 Posts |
| Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:43 pm |
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| This is my general answer to people asking for route advice about South America. It's geared towards people looking to spend 5 or 6 months there, but you can tweak it to meet your requirements. Fly from Santiago to Bogota, that would be my advice about how to begin.
Firstly, despite what some people will tell you, 6 months is enough to do this. Granted you won't be seeing everywhere as 'in depth' as you would if you had a year, but it's totally do-able. I personally wouldn't start in Argentina though. I'd fly into Quito (well, Bogota actually, but you've said you're unsure about Colombia) and work down. Then my route would go something along the lines of: Quito - Banos - Puyo - Riobamba - Canoa - Guayaquil Galapagos Guayaquil Guayaquil - Lima (some people will say to head to Iquitos, which is your choice, but I'm happy enough doing my jungle stuff in Bolivia). Lima - Nazca (Nazca lines) - Cusco (Inca Trail). See this guide. Cusco - La Paz. See Bolivia Guide for route details. Once at Lake Titicaca, head out of Puno to Arequipa, and then on to Chile. Arequipa - Antacama Desert (Just pick a town) Desert - Santiago - Conception - Puerto Natales (Extreme South), for the Torres Del Paine National Park. Puerto Natales - El Carafate, for the Argentinian glaciers. From there, probably up to Bariloche, then Santa Rosa and Buenos Aires. From here, get the ferry over to Uruguay (Colonia and Montevideo) and then head out up to Foz D'Iguazu to see the falls. Hey presto, you're in Brazil. |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 5217 Posts |
| Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:54 pm |
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| Id spend less time in ecuador and more in bolivia if i were you, ecuador was ok but i didnt find anywhere that spectacular there whereas bolivia was awsome.
Potosi is definately a place id reccommend and santa cruz is a really lovely city, i also liked Sucre. You could go from la paz to santa cruz then sucre, potosi and uyuni to see the salt flats then cross over the border in to chile to san pedro de atecames (or the opposite way around as your flying in to santiago) Personally i didnt like chile very much so id leave as soon as poss if i was doing it and spend more time in the other countries |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 906 Posts |
| Posted: Thu Oct 1, 2009 9:00 am |
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| Thanks for your posts guys.
So is it cheap enough to get an internal flight from Santiago to Quito? I had a quick search and all I could find was around £500 which I think is quite expensive! STA had suggested working our way overland from Santiago to Rio and then overland to Quito but we need to be in Rio to fly back to London ideally! I like the route mentioned above, but any advice on getting from Santiago to Quito would be great. Many thanks |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 2 Posts |
| Posted: Thu Oct 1, 2009 9:21 am |
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| Try flying to Bogota instead, and then coming down to Quito by bus. Should be a fair amount cheaper.
I agree with Niks about spending more time in Bolivia, because you don't have a great deal of time to play with. if you can afford it, try to get to the Galapagos in Ecuador, though. Bolivia was my favourite place in South America. Have a read of my guide (linked in my post) for route ideas when you're in Bolivia. |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 5217 Posts |
| Posted: Thu Oct 1, 2009 7:01 pm |
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| Internal flights in south america are pretty expensive, i only flew twice while i was there once from bogota to santa cruz and from cuzco to quito both flights cost about 500 dollars each.
Deffo agree with Warrick about galapagos it is one of the best places in south america but if you are on a tight budget it is expensive. You can get some good cheap boat deals which is the best way to see the islands but even still your looking at 1000 dollars for just a few days when you count in flights and park fees. Totally worth the money though in my opinion |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 906 Posts |
| Posted: Thu Oct 1, 2009 8:12 pm |
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| Sorry to hijack this thread, but I have 3 weeks for Peru and Bolivia (damn my proper job these days!) I have a route in mind, how would you guys divide that time between these 2 countries? Going at the end of December. Cheers | |
| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 727 Posts |
| Posted: Fri Oct 2, 2009 11:19 am |
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| Two weeks in Bolivia and a week to do the Inca Trail and Nazca lines, personally. | |
| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 5217 Posts |
| Posted: Fri Oct 2, 2009 11:26 am |
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| You'll get flight from Santiago to Bogota for about £350.
Obviously you have to balance this against just toughing it out on a bus for 3 or 4 days. |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 5217 Posts |
| Posted: Fri Oct 2, 2009 6:31 pm |
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| You only need 4 days to do the inca trail so id stop at isla del sol on the way from La Paz to Cuzco.
I liked the floating islands at Puno v touristy but then so is the inca trail! And something you wont see anywhere else. You can do the nazca lines in an hour or so. We arrived in Nazca at 8am that morning flew over them and were back on the road by 11, i couldnt see anything much to stay in Nazca for it looked like a bit of a dump, however if your flying out of Lima you should stop at Huacachina on the way, that was a fab place |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 906 Posts |
| Posted: Fri Oct 2, 2009 9:56 pm |
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| Cheers, yeah Ica/Huacachina are high on our list and will be our first stop out of Lima, the sandboarding looks amazing. We are thinking of giving the Inca trail a miss but still going to Macchu Picchu, with only 3 weeks we thought 4/5 days for it is too much time to spend on 1 thing. That's great info about the Nazca lines, I'm a fan of hit 'n run sightseeing when time is tight, did it in Vietnam a lot! | |
| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 727 Posts |
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