5 places to see in Argentina!

For the Dutch version of this post, please click here!

Yay – the time has finally come!  The Dutch are celebrating their first King’s Day in a very long time. As Willem-Alexander took the crown over from his mother, now princess Beatrix, last year we have changed Queens day into King’s day again. It’s a national holiday full of joy and celebrations, one of the biggest happenings of the year in our little county. As we’d like to celebrate too, we will share our favorite places in Argentina with you. The country where our beloved Queen Máxima is from and where the locals will look at you with a smile on their face when you talk to them about her. A country that stole our hearts and that we believe you should see at least once in your lifetime. Here are our five favorite places to see in Argentina!

1. Los Glaciares National Park
Have you ever seen a movie on the internet where a massive bridge of ice collapses with a big bang? And then thought: “Wow, I want to see that too”? Then it’s time for you to visit Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park. Located in the deep frozen south of Patagonia this is the most famous glacier in South America. Big chunks of ice as high as twenty story buildings break off the glacier as if it’s nothing and make the visitors scream for more (yes, that did happen when we were there, like it was a puppy that you can sit down and beg for a cookie). If you have more than just one day, make sure to go to El Chalten, just 3 hours driving from Perito Moreno. This place is a true mountaineering paradise, you walk right into Los Glaciares from downtown and will experience the most magnificent glaciers and mountain peaks.

2. Iguazu Falls
As we wrote earlier on in our Natural Wonders of the World post, we consider the Iguazu Falls the prettiest waterfalls in the world. There’s about 275 of them, spread out in a range of a little less than 3 kilometers, right in the middle of the jungle. You can easily spend two days here, one on the Brazilian side of the falls, one on the Argentinian side of the falls. Make sure to get into a boat that will take you to the base of the falls, let yourself get soaking wet (poncho’s are for losers!) and after that, make your way to the buffet of the fancy Sheraton Hotel while smelling of river water. That’s the way to do it…

3. Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia
Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaia are typical places where it’s only fun when the weather is good. Last March we were in Ushuaia and we just had pouring rain and believe me, there was not much fun about that. In 2009 we were more lucky though and while we visited Tierra del Fuego (Fireland) the weather was gorgeous. This national park is only half an hour away from Ushuaia and you can easily reach it by bus. We made spectacular hikes, got our passports stamped in the southernmost post office in the world and eventually reached the end of the road, also know as “Fin del Mundo”.

4. The Lakes District
The Lakes District is known as one of the most touristic areas of Argentina and that’s not very surprising. Blue lakes are surrounded by green mountains and make a spectacular surroundings. There are hiking trails everywhere that will lead you to hidden places and in the wintertime it’s a great place for skiing. In case you have had enough of nature, Bariloche is the place to be, there are numerous fine restaurants and cosy cafés. Our Royal family has a 2nd home here and we totally understand why…

5. Buzzling Buenos Aires
A visit to Argentina is not complete without a visit to Buenos Aires. Despite the fact that cities are usually not really our piece of cake, we have experienced BA as a very enjoyable city. Make sure to get an ice cream at Heladeria Cadore, visit the massive cemetery La Recoleta and take a city tour by bike as we did. Wander around the colorful houses of Caminito, take a look at Plaza de Mayo and stroll around the Sunday market of San Telmo. You will never get bored in Buenos Aires!

Do we still have anything to wish for? Sure we do! Argentina is about 70 x the size of The Netherlands so there will always be something left for us to see. We’d love to explore the far north one day, from the wineries around Cafayate to the quebrada’s around Salta. The Aconcagua (the highest mountain in America) close to Mendoza is screaming out to us to come over for a visit and of course we’d love to see the penguins and whales around Peninsula Valdes one day. So … hasta pronto a Argentina!

Have you been to Argentina? If yes, what was your favorite place?

Want to read more about our Argentina adventures? Follow the links below:
– Circuito Chico: on a rainy day in Bariloche
– The we12travel Patagonia alphabet
– A week in Patagonia in pictures

Oh and pssst … sharing is caring!