"A few years back, my then girlfriend, now wife took a trip to Chile for a month as a way to get away from work for a while and try to learn some Spanish. During that trip we travelled all over and even took a trip into Mendoza, Argentina for a weekend. It was then that we decided that we would need to make a trip back to explore the rest of Argentina at some point in the future.
A few years later, we were planning our honeymoon, tossing around different ideas, when we thought going to Argentina as a honeymoon. As a couple we are very into nature type trips and excursions. We go hiking and camping on a regular basis and have taken several trips around the USA to different national parks, state parks, etc.
We started looking into what Argentina had to offer. We knew we were not looking for your typical honeymoon on the beach. My wife did a bunch of research and found several natural sights that we were interested in seeing. At first we thought we would be able to plan the trip ourselves but as wedding planning/house buying/work started piling up, we realized that we would need some help (not to mention that our Spanish is very far from perfect). It was around that time that we contacted a few tour groups to see what services they had to offer.
Of all the groups we contacted, Fred at Argentina Explorations was by far the most responsive, most well-reviewed, most customizable, and best price.
From the very beginning of the planning process, Fred met and exceeded our every need. He planned a personalized itinerary for the length of stay we wanted (12 days). We were recommended the best places to stay, sights to see and places to go based on our interests. He set up a personalized website showing us all our trip options and updated accordingly as we discussed and planned. He even saved us some money by letting us know ahead of time that the Argentine Airlines we would be flying within the country would be raising their prices and helped us book that piece before the increase.
Prior to our trip, Fred prepared a detailed travel book personalized just for our trip. To describe the book as detailed is actually an understatement. This book (which we received both hardcopy and softcopy) contained everything we would ever need to know about our trip – from a daily itinerary, to contact information for each hotel, to flight numbers and times, to average weather in each city, clothing recommendations, restaurant recommendations in each city, details of our excursions, local customs, and safety advice.
In addition to providing the book, Fred also provided information about the Argentina reciprocity fee as well as prepared documentation and how guide relating to obtaining our Brazilian visa (as we would be spending one day in Brazil).
We were super-prepared and everything went according to plan getting down to Argentina. Upon our arrival, we were greeted at the airport by a taxi driver holding a sign with our name, who was friendly and brought us to our first hotel. At the first hotel, we were welcomed with a care package from Fred welcoming us to Argentina which contained some champagne and candies. From then on out, every detail was perfect. Every hotel was booked, every airport transfer was on time, we were pre-checked in for every flight, every excursion was fantastic (and with English-speaking tour guides), all of our fees were pre-paid, and while nothing went wrong, we had multiple points of contacts in each city, just in case. Fred even left us a voice message at our first hotel welcoming us and letting us to know that we could call him should anything come up.
Each of the cities and excursions we went on were fantastic and lived up to the hype we had been building up in our minds. The Iguazu Falls were spectacular. Ushuaia was beautiful, El Calafate was awesome, Bariloche serene and relaxing, and Buenos Aires was a blast. Fred’s restaurant recommendations were spot on. Every meal was delicious. We ate some of the best steak of our lives and the Patagonian lamb was fantastic. Not to mention, the awesome (and inexpensive) wine we had at each meal.
While we did have to get up early each day for the excursions, the afternoons and evening were very relaxed and we felt we had time to enjoy the places we were staying. Since they don’t eat dinner in Argentina until 9-10pm, we had some time to relax, take a nap or explore the city after each day’s excursion before heading off to dinner.
While all of the excursion were a lot of fun, our favorite had to be trekking the Perito Moreno glacier. It was something we had nothing done before and definitely won’t soon forget. The glacier is huge and walking around on the ice with crampons while stopping to take a sip of the drinkable glacial water is amazing. It was definitely a highlight of our trip and everyone we tell and show pictures to can’t believe we did something like that.
We could go on and on about how great this trip was but in short, it was unforgettable and one of the best vacations we have ever taken.
Thanks to Fred and Argentina Explorations for making our honeymoon unforgettable but also allowing us to relax and enjoy ourselves and take the work out of planning such a large and detailed trip."
