Argentina Southbound

This portion of the route was prepared by Ron Lussier. Please contact him if you have any suggestions for Argentina.

After Brasil, Argentina is the second-largest county in South America, stretching 4,527 km from top to bottom, and we'll be driving most of that length. As we head south towards Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, the climate will get steadily colder, despite the summer reaching it's peak on December 21st.

Unfortunately, Argentina is also reputed to be the most expensive country in the Americas.



Day:	Destination:	Km:	Comments:
5 Dec	Clorinda	70	Cross into Argentina from Paraguay today. There is a road north from Asunción in Paraguay to a concrete span bridge (Puente Remansco) leading to the Argentinian border town of Puerto Falcón. After completing emigration formalities, we'll continue on to Clorinda where we'll spend the night.
6 Dec	Corrientes	215	From Clorinda we'll drive south on Route 11 to the twin cities of Corrientes and Resistencia. We'll take the General Belgrano bridge across the Río Paraná to Corrientes. The main Plaza 25 de Mayo is supposedly one of the best-preserved in Argentina. We'll camp near the bus terminal at the Camping-Club Teléfono.
7 Dec	Parque Nacional Chaco	115	From Resistencia we'll detour northwest (Route 16 to Route 9) to the Parque Nacional Chaco, a preserve containing some of the last remaining eastern Chaco forest and savanna. We'll camp in the park, which supplies free (cold) showers. Supplies are available at Capitán Solari, 6 km from the park entrance.
8 Dec	Reconquista	310	Continuing south on Route 11 towards Santa Fe, we'll stop at this small town for the night.
9 Dec	Parana	349	Continuing south, we'll pass through Santa Fe and take the Hernandarias tunnel to Parana. The center of Parana is on a hill looking out across the river to Santa Fe. We'll try to camp at Viale, about 1/2 hour north of Parana, where we have some amigos de caravana. Judit & Claudio Occhipinti have contacted us and will be driving there themselves, hopefully to see us in Viale. Judit's brother Alexis Aranozich has a campground where we can stay. (T(343) 4-921187.)
10 Dec	Rosario	180	Rosario is the third-largest city in Argentina, and the largest in Santa Fe province. It has a lively arts scene, many discoteques, and quite a few museums. There is supposed to be camping in La Florida, near the river.
11 Dec	Buenos Aires	320	Buenos Aires! With a population of approximately 3 million, this is one of the great urban centers of South America. In Buenos Aires, we'll try to find a reasonably-priced hotel with secure parking. The South American Handbook lists many possibilities.
12 Dec	Buenos Aires		We'll spend an extra day here, resting, seeing the city, and maintaining the busses.
13 Dec	Mar del Plata	407	Starting early out of Buenos Aires, we'll head south again from Buenos Aires, we'll stop for the night in this town, called 'the greatest Argentine resort'. There are supposedly several campgrounds on the road (Route 11) south of town.
14 Dec	Necochea	163	Necochea is the second most famous resort in Argentina, and we'll stop there after a short day's drive today. Necochea has a 24 km long beach. We'll try to camp at Rio Quequén, C 22 y Ribera Rio Quequén which offers campsites on the beach.
15 Dec	Bahia Blanca	331	We'll continue west on Route 228 to Tres Arroyos, and then on Route 3 to Bahia Blanca. This is one of the last major cities we'll encounter before the long drive to Tierra del Fuego.
16 Dec	San Antonio Oeste	430	A long day's drive brings us to this small town. We'll actually stay 17 km south of town on a developed beach called Las Grutas. We'll stock up on provisions in town for the next few days.
17 Dec	Puerto Pirámides	320	A long drive brings us to the Península Valdés. Despite being a rather small peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic, this is the location of the lowest point in Argentina, the Salina Grande at 40m below sea level. Elephant seals and penguins create colonies here, and a gravel road circles the peninsula. Camping is available in Puerto Pirámides at a municipal site, as well as at several hotels.
18 Dec	Camarones	365	We'll spend the night in the tiny town of Camarones (pop. 800). We'll try to stay at Kau-i-Keuken, but there are two other hotels in town. The owner of Kau-i-Keuken leads trips to a nearby penguin colony. Along the way, if there is time, we may stop at the Punta Tombo nature reserve. Punta Tombo is the largest breeding ground for Magelenic penguins in Patagonia. The season runs September through March.
19 Dec	Comodoro Rivadavia	300	With a population of 158,000, this is the largest city in the province of Chubut. From here southbound, prices begin to go up dramatically. Stock up!
20 Dec	Puerto San Julian	428	A long days drive south brings us to this small city, pop. 4,500. We'll try to stay at the municipal campsite on the Avenue Costanera entre Rivadavia y Roca.
21 Dec	Rio Gallegos	406	Another long day's drive brings us to the capital of Santa Cruz province. The town is supposed to be drab, but it's a good stopping point before crossing into Tierra del Fuego.
22 Dec	San Sebastian	311	Continuing south onto Tierra del Fuego, we'll cross into Chile, take a ferry to Tierra del Fuego, and then cross back into Argentina. The border crossings are supposed to be simple if your papers are in order.
23 Dec	Ushuaia	317	Today we finally arrive in Ushuaia! We'll open a bottle of champagne and settle in for the holidays. There are many types of lodging available in town, from camping facilities to luxury hotels.
24 Dec - 1 Jan	Ushuaia		Hang out in Ushuiaia.
2 Jan			Head north!
Total kilometers:		5337

A lock indicates that this date and portion of the itinerary
is considered least likely to change.

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Copyright © 1999-2001 Ron Lussier. All rights reserved.
last modified August 4, 2000