We recently travelled from Buenos Aires, Argentina through Uruguay to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, thanks to Intrepid Travel. It was a fast and fun 17 days with lots of great stops along the way. In this podcast we break down the itinerary with our own comments and give the feedback we feel most important when considering this trip as part of the tour or independently.
The quotes below are taken directly from the tour description on the Intrepid Travel Classic Journeys website, with our photos and annotations below each section.
Day 1 – Buenos Aires
A day just isn’t enough to see Buenos Aires, so make sure you plan another couples of nights here, at the very least. Our hotel was well located, but we were told the area was dangerous at night. That’s kind of true, but we had already walked the area in the late evenings several times over the last few weeks … so its as unsafe as the centre of any city at night.
Day 2 – Colonia
We talked about Uruguay in a recent podcast, so check that for more details on the next few days. Colonia is a beautiful town, and we had enough time to see all the ruins, pretty buildings, and down a few beers on the waterfront or within the town. If you want to relax, this is the place.
Day 3 – Montevideo
The hotel was really well located, which was a major plus considering the limited time we had here. Although we had been in Montevideo before this, we learned some new things from the guide, and found a great little place for lunch — the markets down by the port.
Most people on the tour thought the afternoon was enough, but we felt there was no time to do anything but the most superficial sightseeing. Two days here wouldn’t have added much however; you really need to get under the skin to get a lot out of Montevideo.
Days 4-7 – Estancia Stay
The estancia (ranch) was definitely the hightlight of Uruguay for us, and that’s something we were surprised about! After this finished up, we spent an afternoon at the hot springs in Salto before a long trip up to Foz do Iguazu.
Days 8-10 – Foz do Iguazu
Our time in Iguacu was great! It deserves to be called a natural wonder and, we think, was a highlight for everyone on the tour. Intrepid organised a transfer to and from the park, but we split off from the rest of the group and did our own thing with Urban Adventures’ cheap day tours. It was nice having a rest day here too, with the option of either going to the Itaipu dam (on the Brazilian side) or a shopping day in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.
Days 11-12 – Paraty
Up until now, we had been revisiting places we had already visited (with the exception of the estancia). So, this is where things started getting ‘new’ for us. The next three places we visited were both beautiful and interesting. I don’t know what else you might look for in a destination.
Paraty is a little colonial town, surounded by water and mountains, with nice cobblestone streets, little churches, and a car-free centre.
Nearby are great beaches, plus diving and hiking trips, but we opted for some lazy days around town. We met our friend Washington for dinner one night, and arranged to meet later, in Rio.
Days 13-15 – Ilha Grande
Someone on tour said Ihla Grande was much more like Costa Rica than anywhere she had seen in Brazil. There’s a lush tropical forest that comes down to the sea, with plenty of natural harbours. One side is sheltered and smooth, whilst the other is great for surf. Much of the island is dedicated nature reserves, and there are only a handful of vehicles, run by police and emergency staff. You can hike around, or use water taxis to visit other beaches.
Days 16-17 – Rio de Janeiro
We arrived in Rio for lunch, and had one night’s accommodation included in the tour. Surprising for us, most of the tour group was flying out that day or the next while we had a week or so to explore Rio. Our guide did some research and offered several tour options for everyone so they could see the highlights of the city on that first afternoon. We enjoyed the beach instead (how often are you so close to Copacabana and Ipanema?!) and left sightseeing for another day.
Value, money and time
This is a great itinerary that takes you to lots of wonderful places. We found the time was sufficient for a sightseeing tour without becoming exhausted by the end.
However, it seems too fast to do independently. With Intrepid we had someone else organising accommodation, transport and transfers — as well as giving us a brief orientation and ideas on things to see, restaurants and bars. If we were doing this ourselves, we’d need to do this itinerary over 25-30 days or longer in order to enjoy each place, rather than just be organising all the time.
The cost of the tour, when we did it was approximately US$2,250, or $140 per day; that’s for accommodation and transport, with some meals. We estimate the cost of accommodation and transport was US$750-800; approximately $50 per day. That’s quite a large difference, but comes back to the question of time vs money, and the value you get from it. Independent travellers who want to cover the sights quickly, those on short vacations, and people who don’t yet feel comfortable with travel in South America will all find good value in the tour.
