We are finally back in the U.S. after two weeks in Argentina to kick off the new year. I have so much to share about our trip, so today’s Argentina travel diary is just a tiny glimpse into what I have in store.
So why Argentina?
I wanted to check off another continent on my list, and I’d never been to South America. We have to schedule big trips during the winter for my husband’s job. We both love warm weather, and it’s summer in South America right now. I knew Argentinian food would be especially gluten free friendly (meals are basically meat and red wine! LOL). And I had heard that Buenos Aires felt very much like a European city, and we love Europe.
But I must say Argentina far surpassed my expectations. The country is beautiful, the people are friendly, the wine is to-die for, it is INCREDIBLY cheap for Americans right now, and the overall vibe is just so cool and chill.
Things I learned on this trip:
-siestas are real. Many shops closed from 1-5pm.
-similarly, service is “relaxed” or as some impatient people like myself would say incredibly slow. Think 2 plus hour lunches. But get a bottle of wine and just sit there and embrace it.
-eat Proveleta at every opportunity- it’s grilled cheese…like just straight cheese on a grill.
-a little Spanish goes a long way. I speak horrible Spanish for a person that studied the language for five years, but people there seemed to really respect us trying. Plus ingratiate yourself and you get insider tips on where to go and eat from waiters, taxi drivers, etc.
Argentina Travel Diary
Day One – travel from Dallas to Buenos Aires via Miami
We spent Christmas in Dallas, so it was nice to shorten the flight distance a bit. We flew American to Miami and then Buenos Aires on New Years Eve on a redeye. The flying time from MIA to BA was about nine hours. 
Also, here’s another reminder to be loyal to one airline: one trip down there was in business class and “free” on our Alaska Airlines miles.
Day Two – arrive in Buenos Aires and explore
We arrived in the city first thing in the morning. And our first day in Buenos Aires happened to be on New Years Day. Strangely, BA was like no other city I’ve experienced on New Years Day; it was COMPLETELY shut down until about 3pm.
People here will go out to 5-6am on a big night, and so things actually didn’t open for lunch until 3pm. Straight ghost town.
We stayed at Hotel Fierro in an area called Palermo Hollywood, a district that’s a little more relaxed and young than other places in the city. I would say we stayed a bit further away than was ideal. I would highly recommend staying in Palermo Soho; that’s where all the shopping and restaurants are.
Since the city was shut down, we just hung by and pool and walked around after things started to open.
Day Three – sightseeing and a tango show
We’re not huge sightseeing people. We prefer to just experience the city as if you lived there, but we try to squeeze in the key sights.
Today’s agenda:
El Ateneo Grand Splendid – named the world’s most beautiful bookstore by National Geographic last year. This spot was pretty epic. Boasting world-class al-frescos on the ceiling, it was originally a theater in the early 1900’s. It then became a cinema, showing some of the first sound films in the country before becoming a bookstore in 2000. You can curl up in the old theater boxes and read or have a cappuccino on the stage turned café.
Recoleta Cemetery – visiting cemeteries is not usually on my vacation to-do list, but this place was really cool. It’s not like your ordinary creepy cemetery. All the vaults are above ground, like New Orleans, and feature such ornate and beautiful architecture. It’s strange to say it but it feels a little magical.
This is where Eva Peron (Evita) is buried with her family as well as a number of important Argentinian figures.
Argentinians still come and pay their respects.
And one fascinating thing about Evita’s burial site is it took 20 years for her body to get there. You can read more about it here, but her body was essentially stolen by military officials who forced her husband, the former president, into exile three years after she died. It then went on a WILD journey before settling in Recoleta Cemetery in 1976.
According to that BBC piece: “It probably spent time in a van parked on the streets of the capital, behind a cinema screen in Buenos Aires and inside the city’s waterworks.”
Had a late lunch at the Park Hyatt Duhau. What an epic hotel! Can’t afford to stay here, but a glass of bubbly and a café will do for now.
Later we headed to a tango show for dinner! If you go to Buenos Aires, seeing a tango show is a must. We went to Gala Tango, where you can even take a lesson with the dancers before the show. Highly recommend. We’re pretty much experts now.
Day Four – more exploring the city, a flower shop turn speakeasy and a really cool AirBNB experience
Buenos Aires is a great city to walk around. We spent the morning in Plaza de Mayo, home to the Casa Rosada, which is kinda like our White House. It’s where Eva Peron addressed the masses from the balcony. It’s also painted pastel pink.
Why pink you ask? There’s several theories. One is that one of the presidents, attempting to make piece between two political parties, blended the colors representing each side (red and white). The other is that white paint was simply mixed with cow’s blood, which was a common practice in the 19th century. Ew.
We then found this incredibly cool spot called Floreria Atlantico, which is a flower shop in the day and a speakeasy at night. We grabbed a bouquet to take some pictures for the store before returning to the speakeasy before dinner.
Also stopped by the Alvear Palace’s Rooftop Bar to watch sunset. This is the spot to get good views of the city. Get here right as it opens to get a seat.
For dinner, we went to this awesome AirBNB experience I found online, which was essentially a private supper club put on by a fairly well known Argentinian chef named Fernando Mayoral, who’s worked in Michelin Star restaurants.
It’s a six course tasting menu featuring Argentinian staples and expertly paired wine. This was one of my favorite things that we did. The food and wine was exceptional, and Fernando and his wife were so warm and friendly and helped recommend places to eat and drink all over Argentina.
Late night spot…another speakeasy called the Harrison Speakeasy, recommended by Fernando’s wife. Passcode as of Jan 2020: donde está la bodega? haha. And no pictures are allowed to keep the spot under wraps.
Day Five – a visit to La Boca and a classic Argentinian parrilla
We started the morning by heading to La Boca, one of the most tourist centric neighborhoods in BA. You’ve probably seen the colorful houses and walking street where tango dancers are out performing.
It’s also home to the fútbol (or soccer for you Americans) stadium, La Bombanera, regarded as one of the most intense stadiums in the world. And if you’re a Portland reader, it served as inspiration for Providence Park’s new makeover.
While wandering down the neighborhood alleys, we discovered this incredible dulce de leche shop, Dulce de Leche & Co. I had maybe the world’s most delicious coffee: espresso, milk, dulce de leche and ice. Definitely going to try and replicate this.
Dinner at a classic parrilla (pronounced par-ree-zha), or an Argentinian barbecue. Here you can get every type of grilled meat. We went to Don Julio, one of the more well known parrilla’s in Buenos Aires. It was a two hour wait, but they serve you champagne while you wait, so it wasn’t that hard. haha
Day Six – travel from Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls
Flew out first thing in the morning from Buenos Aires to Iguazu Falls on Aerolineas Argentina. They are a great airline for flying within Argentina and the fares were really reasonable. Iguazu Falls is considered one of the world’s seven natural wonders.
A note on Iguazu Falls: there is an Argentinian side and a Brazilian side to the falls. Together they make up the largest waterfall in the world.
Everyone will tell you something different as to which side is better. We flew to the Argentinian’s sides airport and then drove across the border to stay on the Brazilian side. I was a little nervous about a border crossing, but it was pretty easy and painless.
We stayed at the Belmond Hotel das Cataratas. It is on the pricier side ($$$), but I can’t even tell you how worth it is was. I plan on doing a whole post on our stay there, but this place is incredible.
It’s one of the only hotels inside the national park, which means it’s accessible to guests when it’s not to tourists. So we could experience the falls at sunrise and sunset without fighting with crowds and paying to go in every day. The hotel price was well worth it for that experience alone.
We sat by the pool for a couple of hours before heading to the falls for sunset.
Day Seven – sunrise at the falls, a bird park and sitting by the pool
I guess seeing one of the world’s natural wonders is the only way to get us out of bed to workout at 5:00am, but we ran to the waterfalls to catch sunrise.
After breakfast, we spent some time at Parque das Aves, a bird sanctuary, where you can get up close and personal with flamingos, toucans and macaws. 
Most importantly, we got to learn a lot about how the Atlantic Rainforest is rapidly disappearing, deforestations impact on many endangered species and how bird trafficking is a huge problem. One of the species of parrots we saw has 85% of nests raided by humans hoping to steal baby birds.
More pool time before sunset and a Cachaca tasting at the hotel. How are Caipirinhas not more popular?!
Day Eight – travel to the Uco Valley in Mendoza
Today, we flew from Iguazu to Mendoza via a stop in BA on Aerolineas Argentina. We then had to drive to our hotel in the Uco Valley, about an hour and a half away from the city. Since we arrived just before sunset, we hung out and had dinner at our hotel, a wine hotel called Alpasion Lodge.
Day Nine- wine tasting in the Uco Valley
Mendoza’s wine region is divided into three parts: the Uco Valley (considered the new kid on the block, but most luxurious), Luyan de Cuyo (on the outskirts of Mendoza city and considered the O.G. of Argentinian wine) and Maipu (close to the city as well, but several locals told us not to go because it’s more dangerous so we skipped).
On day nine, our hotel arranged a car to drive us around to the Uco Valley wineries. We started at an organic winery, Domaine Bosquet, before heading to Andeluna for a wine blending class and lunch.
I thought Domaine Bosquet was just ok. However, we had a blast an Andeluna. During my research for this trip, I found that they have this thing called the wine blending game, where you get to blend your own wine. The sommelier takes you through tasting several of their wines before letting you go and mix and match until you make your perfect blend.
Once you’re done, you have to create a name, label and description of the wine before presenting it to the sommelier for the taste. I must say our wine, El Perro Blanco, has to be the best blend in the world! And we got to take our bottle home with us.
We then stayed at Andeluna for a six course wine paired lunch, Incredible and indulgent. All for $55 a person.
After relaxing a bit at the lodge, we headed to Casa de Uco for dinner. Also delicious and look at this view!
Day Ten- wine tasting in the Uco Valley
Another day, another wine tasting. Rough life.
Did at least get up and go for a run in the morning.
We planned on doing just a half day of tasting today so we could sit by the pool in the afternoon. We started at Corazon del Sol, which apparently is linked with a winery in the Willamette Valley called Revana. I really enjoyed their Semillon.
Just a short walk away is Solo Contigo, a winery run by Canadians. Jake particularly liked these wines, while I thought they were just ok.
From there, we had lunch at a hotel called the Vines, widely considered the top luxury hotel in the Valley and it was just named by Conde Nast as one of the top 33 new hotels in the world. According to NY Mag, Bono stays here, so we certainly won’t be staying here any time soon haha, so lunch will do!
They have a restaurant called Siete Fuegos, which is owned by renowned chef Francis Mallman. You may know about him if you watch Chef’s Table. The setting was spectacular, and maybe my expectations were just super high, but I thought it was just decent…especially for the price tag.
Day 11- up to Mendoza city
A much needed sleep-inn after going so many days straight.
We then drove back up to Mendoza city to stay at the Park Hyatt Mendoza for a few days.
Relaxed by the pool…can you tell this is what we like to do on vacation?!
For dinner, we headed to another Francis Mallman restaurant called 1884, which was highly recommended.
Most of the dishes are cooked over an open fire or a clay oven. The outdoor seating is just magical. I want this to be my backyard.
The seasonal salads and starters were tasty. I also really enjoyed a Wagyu beef that I got, but Jake ordered goat (his own fault LOL) and said it was one of the saltiest things he’s ever tasted. We ordered a bottle of a Mallman red blend and that was wonderful. I would say go for the experience and setting, but it might leave you a little disappointed for the price tag.
Day 12- Mendoza bike/wine tour
Our last day in Argentina and what goes better with wine than bikes?
We spent the morning biking through some of the wineries in Luyan de Cuyo: Clos de Chacras and Carmelo Patti, owned by a Mendocinean winemaker who runs his winery out of his garage.
We opted to do just a half day wine tour with Martin’s Bikes, which included just the two wineries because we were a little wined out at this point.
Walked around Mendoza for the rest of the afternoon, stopping for lunch at La Florencia (recommended by several locals) and for ice cream at Helados Michel.
Had a very low-key evening watching the NFL games with such an early flight in the morning.
Day 13- heading home…long layover in Lima, Peru
Started the journey home to the U.S., but our best option was a long layover in Peru. Long layovers are an easy and cheap way to experience a new city and see if you’d want to go back.
Upon landing in Lima, we drove to the Miraflores part of the city. It legitimately felt like Santa Monica and Pacific Coast Highway in Southern Cali.
Found a great market to shop called Mercado Indio. I brought home some adorable bags for myself, my mom and mother in law.
We also went on a quest to find the best Pisco Sours. Our favorites was at our lunch spot, Punta Azul.
By this time, we were pretty exhausted waiting for our red-eye to Dallas, so we camped out in the hotel bar of the J.W. Marriott for a couple of hours.
Day 14
We made it to America! Exhausted, but an amazing journey.
Have so many amazing posts planned for you about travel this year; what do you most want to know about Argentina or travel in general? Let me know in the comments below.
