Argentina: Currency Chaos and the 20-Hour Bus
Two things dominated three weeks in Argentina and neither was on my list beforehand: the money, which behaved unlike anywhere I have travelled, and the distances, which I had badly underestimated.
The money
I am deliberately not going to give numbers, because the exchange arrangements changed twice while I was in the country and anything specific I write here will be wrong by the time you read it.
What held true throughout:
Check the current position days before you travel, not months. Argentine currency policy has been through repeated changes and traveller advice from even six months earlier can be actively misleading.
ATM limits are low and fees are high. I was withdrawing small amounts repeatedly and paying a fixed fee each time, which added up meaningfully over three weeks.
Carry some clean US dollars. Undamaged, unmarked notes, as a fallback. This has been sound advice in Argentina for decades through several different regimes.
Ask other travellers on arrival. Hostel staff and people who arrived last week know the current reality better than any article.
The distances
| Route | Distance | Bus |
|---|---|---|
| Buenos Aires → Bariloche | 1,600 km | ~20h |
| Buenos Aires → Mendoza | 1,050 km | ~14h |
| Buenos Aires → Salta | 1,500 km | ~19h |
| Bariloche → El Calafate | 1,400 km | ~28h |
Argentina is the eighth largest country in the world. I had mentally filed it as a South American country and planned as though everything was a few hours apart.
I did Buenos Aires to Bariloche by bus — twenty hours — deliberately, to see whether it was as bad as it sounded. It was not. Argentine cama buses recline nearly flat, serve meals, and the overnight leg replaced a hotel night. It was more comfortable than most short-haul flights.
But twenty hours is still twenty hours. For the Patagonia legs I flew, and I would do that again.
What I did
Buenos Aires, five days. Longer than most itineraries give it and not long enough. San Telmo on a Sunday for the market, Recoleta cemetery, a football match if you can get a ticket safely, and steak that justifies the cliché. The city has a European bone structure and an entirely non-European atmosphere.
Mendoza, four days. Wine at the foot of the Andes, and cycling between bodegas in Maipú, which is exactly as pleasant and slightly more dangerous than it sounds.
Bariloche and the lakes, four days. Alpine, chocolate shops, and the Circuito Chico drive.
El Chaltén, five days. The Patagonian highlight — trails leaving from the village, free, and Fitz Roy visible on three of my five mornings. Five days there meant I saw it properly; two would have been a gamble.
Costs
I am not giving a daily figure for the reason above. What I can say relatively: accommodation and food were cheap by European standards, domestic flights were the largest line, and Patagonia was noticeably more expensive than the rest of the country.
Eat where the menú del día is posted. Argentine portions are large and the set lunch is the best value meal.
What I would change
Fly the Patagonia legs, bus the rest. The overnight buses between the northern cities are genuinely good; the 28-hour Patagonian legs are not a good use of a trip.
Three weeks minimum if Patagonia is included. Two weeks means Buenos Aires plus one region.
More time in El Chaltén, less in Bariloche. Both are beautiful; only one has walking that starts at your door.