When planning any trip to Argentina, don’t overlook the fact that this is the world’s eighth-largest country. Unless your trip is an open-ended overland excursion, this means choosing among numerous options both as to destinations and means of transportation.

Buenos Aires, South America’s premier urban destination, is compact and easy to travel around, but visiting other high-profile destinations like Mesopotamia’s Iguazú Falls and southern Patagonia’s Moreno Glacier require either two- to three-hour flights or 15- to 30-hour bus trips. Driving (though not recommended in Buenos Aires) is an option, but for most visitors this will mean a rental car from a provincial airport or city.

In a country of Argentina’s size and diversity, there’s an infinity of itineraries, depending on each traveler’s time and interests. The ones suggested in this book can be mixed and matched to create an individualized experience. The assumption is that, for most readers, Argentina is a relatively remote destination that few will visit for less than a week or ten days. Most of those who spend a shorter period will be in and around Buenos Aires, for which Moon Handbooks Buenos Aires can provide more detail. That book is also suitable for extended visits to the capital.

While primarily about Argentina, this book overlaps substantial sections of southernmost Chile. There’s a reason for this—more than any other part of the two countries, the Argentine provinces of Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego, and the Chilean region of Magallanes, form an almost seamless region. International borders seem only an inconvenience, and foreigners in particular rarely visit Santa Cruz’s Parque Nacional Los Glaciares without also seeing Chile’s Parque Nacional Torres del Paine and, as often as not, Magallanes’ regional capital of Punta Arenas (Chile) along with Tierra del Fuego’s capital of Ushuaia (Argentina).

By jet, Argentina is about eight hours from Miami, 10 hours from New York, and 15 hours from Los Angeles—close enough for short-term visitors focused on special interests in specific regions. Since Argentine standard time is only two hours ahead of New York and three hours behind Western Europe, even jet lag is only a minor issue.

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WHEN TO GO

The fact that the Southern Hemisphere’s seasons are opposite those of the Northern Hemisphere, where most foreign visitors live, adds to Argentina’s appeal. Still, it remains a year-round destination, where urban exploration, winter skiing, and desert trekking are all possible.

Buenos Aires’s urban appeal is largely independent of the seasons, but some visitors—and many Argentines, for that matter—would rather avoid the capital’s hot, sticky summer; business travelers should avoid January and February in particular. Activities like the theater and special events, most notably the increasingly popular Festival Buenos Aires Tango, resume near the end of February as the porteños of BA return from summer holidays. The spring months of September, October, and November may be the most comfortable, but the relatively mild winter sees some stretches of warm, brilliant weather.

Because Argentina extends from the southern edge of the tropics to the sub-Antarctic in Tierra del Fuego, seasonality can vary according to latitude, but also with altitude. Neither is an issue in the pampas, but the summer months of January and February can be uncomfortably crowded at beach resorts like Mar del Plata.

Subtropical Iguazú is an impressive sight at any season, but summers there are even hotter, wetter, and stickier than in Buenos Aires. It can get crowded, too, when Argentines take their winter holidays in late July and early August. Nearby Corrientes’s wildlife-rich Iberá wetlands never get really crowded, but the summer heat and humidity can be trying.

In the northwestern Andean highlands, summer is the rainy season. Though that may mean only an afternoon thundershower, occasional downpours can cause flash floods and cut off roads, reducing access to areas of interest; at the highest altitudes, it can even mean snowstorms. Winter’s warm, dry days, by contrast, can be ideal for exploring the backcountry, though nights get cold at higher elevations.

Cuyo’s wineries are open at any season, but March’s Festival de la Vendimia (wine harvest festival) makes that the ideal time to visit the provincial capital of Mendoza. Summer is the time for mountaineering on Aconcagua, while winter is ski season at Las Leñas and other provincial resorts. For fossil fanatics, destinations like San Juan’s Parque Provincial Ischigualasto, La Rioja’s nearby Parque Nacional Talampaya, and San Luis’s Parque Nacional Las Quijadas can get dangerously hot in summer, but the rest of the year is ideal.

Patagonia and its lake district are traditional summer destinations, with places like Bariloche as busy as the beaches of Buenos Aires Province, but it’s also a magnet for fly-fishing enthusiasts from October to April, and the heart of Argentina’s ski industry from June to August.

Elsewhere in Patagonia, the season is lengthening, especially among foreign visitors. El Calafate, gateway to the Moreno Glacier, was once a January–February destination, but now many services stay open October to April, and even for July winter holidays. Patagonia’s Península Valdés is a special case that depends on South Atlantic wildlife—the right whale’s arrival in July brings the first tourists, and they keep coming along with the influx of elephant seals, orcas, and penguins until the end of March.

As an extension of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego is still primarily a summer destination, though it also has a ski season. The city of Ushuaia is the South American gateway to Antarctica, where the spring breakup of pack ice determines the season.

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WHAT TO TAKE

Luggage
What sort of luggage you bring depends on what sort of trip you’re planning, for how long, and where you’re planning to go. For shoestring travelers planning months in Argentina and perhaps neighboring countries as well, for instance, a spacious but lightweight backpack is the best choice; a small daypack for local excursions is also a good idea.

Even for nonbackpackers, light luggage is advisable, even though traveling on airplanes, shuttles, and taxis can be logistically simpler than buses alone–door-to-door service is the rule. Even then, a small daypack for excursions is convenient.

Small but sturdy lightweight locks are advisable for all sorts of luggage, if only to discourage temptation.

Clothing
A good rule of thumb is to bring appropriately seasonal clothing for comparable northern-hemisphere latitudes. Buenos Aires’s climate is mild in spring and autumn, hot and humid in summer, and cool but not cold in winter. Humidity and winter winds can make it feel colder than absolute temperatures might suggest, but frost is almost unheard-of. For summer, then, light cottons are the rule, while a sweater and perhaps a light jacket suffice for the shoulder seasons. A warm (but not polar-strength) jacket and rain gear are advisable for winter.

Much depends, of course, on what sort of activities you will be undertaking—for opera at the Teatro Colón, for instance, formal clothing is obligatory. Likewise, individuals conducting business in the capital will dress as they would in New York or London, with suit and tie for men and similarly appropriate clothing for women. A compact umbrella is a good idea at any time of year.

Travel elsewhere in the country may require different attire, though appropriate seasonality is still the rule. In the high altitudes of the Andean northwest or Cuyo, or the high latitudes of Patagonia, warm clothing is essential; in southernmost Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, additional wet-weather gear is imperative, especially for hikers.

Odds and Ends
Since public toilets sometimes lack toilet paper, travelers should always carry some, even though it’s readily available within the country. Some budget hotels have thin walls and squeaky floors, so earplugs can be useful.

Leg pouches and money belts are good options for securing cash, travelers checks, and important documents. A compact pair of binoculars is a good idea for bird-watchers and others who enjoy wildlife and the landscape.