Okay so we are thinking of having a holiday to South America, we’ve ALWAYS wanted to go, but there are so many countries, options. What to do? where have you been? what can you recommend? Oh and what’s the best time of year to visit South America?
Thanks!

I’ve been looking at cycling/bikepacking options towards the very south – Patagonia. Weather-wise, being Southern hemisphere the climate is the opposite of ours. So, December-January is summer. Flights costs are currently holding me back from booking.

I haven’t looked a flight costs…what are they then? were you planning on doing it yourself or with a company?

I’m considering both options – self-propelled and organised. I reckon the former would be more of an “adventure”, the latter would let me relax more and just take it all in. Looks like I’d need 3 flights each way – all would have their own bike carriage surcharges too. 😥

Have you found any companies yet? MMM interestingly just got the film “Patagonia” out from Love Film… see if that sparks my desire. Just want to go to ANYWHERE in S. America, always loved the place…

Autumn (shoulder season) is always nice in the southern hemisphere. Heat but not so wet as spring. It’s a big place and depends on what you’re into: very personally, I’d acclimatize to the jet lag with 10 days drinking and dancing in Buenos Aires and then go hiking in Torres del Paine NP. I’ve been to Rio a few times and it’s worth seeing but they were largely cachaca fueled trips… Journey Latin America know their stuff.

Bolivia, just an amazing country and stunningly beautiful and more raw than, say, Peru, which is also extraordinary. Chile and Argentina are more ‘Europeanised’ than the Andean countries further north, but I guess it depends on what you’re looking for from your trip. For Peru and Bolivia, South American winter is prime season – July/August when you get very settled dry, clear conditions in the mountains. Colombia is amazing, but needs more care when travelling.

If I had to go pick one country though, it would be Bolivia for the mix of mountains, indigenous culture and sheer, insane wow factor. That and Cusco, which despite being one of the few tourist honeytrap destinations has somehow retained a sense of wonder.

And if you like mountaineering/trekking, again Bolivia and Peru. Oh, and Ecudaor is sort of bite-sized Andes with a bit of everything in a relatively compact country.

Chile and Peru are great but very different from each other.

My niece went to Columbia about 18 months ago and was raving about it.

Look up Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. 😀

I’ve been lucky enough to have had 2 trips out there, 1st to Peru & Bolivia, 2nd to Chile & Argentina. Could easily recommend any of them!! .. but have to agree with BadlyWiredDog, Bolivia is pretty bleedin’ amazing!!
1st trip was built around the fact I wanted to do the Inca Trail.
2nd time I wanted to do the ‘W’ trek in Patagonia.
I can recommend organising your own trip, extremely easy to get about in any of the countries i’ve visited, can tailor every detail to what you want to do, not tied to an itinerary so if you like somewhere can easily just stay an extra day or 2! .. added benefit, you save a load of cash to spend on the hol!
If you get hold of brochures from some of the big companies offering overland trips in South America the itineraries give you a good idea of what there is to do and will give you an idea of routes & timescales required to cover all the highlights of a particular country/countries.

How much time do you plan to spend there? Because this will dictate where you can realistically go.

I was lucky enough to spend 3 months travelling in SA in 2010. I loved it all though if you are travelling cheaply it can be hard work. Buses are tiring and often dangerous (relative to UK standards) and few people speak English relative to other world destinations. And the food can sometimes be awful, though the Steak in Argentina and the Guinea Pigs in Peru are to die for!

As another posted mentioned up there, Argentina and Chile are very familiar in many ways. But more than that they are sodding huge countries. I did 3 bus journeys in Argentina of around 24 hours. A whole day on a bus is a draining experience. But if I were to do it anywhere it would be in Argentina as their buses are amazing.

Iguazu Falls in Argentina (and Brazil) is awe inspiring. Its a days bus travel from Buenos Aires though. I think you can fly.

Chile I used a minibus tour type company to travel to the north from Santiago. It was fun but again it took a long time to get about.

Bolivia is special. Its very cheap which is good too. I spent time in Uyuni (salt flats and The Andes), Potosi (highest city in the world maybe), Cochabamba (great food), Santa Cruz (hot, jungle), La Paz (stunning and a chance to ride the Worlds Most Dangerous Road) and Lka Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is great. Isla Del Sol is well worth a visit.

We also crossed the Andean Altiplano from Chile into Bolivia and this is the single most stunning experience of my whole world trip.

Again Bolvia suffers from travelling time, and their buses are a bit hairy, the air con often doesn’t work and chickens often roam the aisle.

And remember that most of Bolivia is at altitude. I suffered with altitude sickness for a good 10 days before my body adapted. I was in a world of pain.

Peru is stunning. It is worth going their just to see Cusco and then travel the Sacred Valley (Pisac, Olantaytambo etc) and then going to Macchu Pichu. Do it in that order.

Peru has some good bus companies too so Northern Peru is worth considering. I saw Kuelap in the north which was quite something.

I also did a week in Mancora and a week in Hunachaco. I wouldn’t suggest you go but they are quite cool places in a surfy kind of way.

I also did a few days in Uruguay and the people I met were lovely and the scenery was great. I wish I had seen more but I had to rush back to Buenos Aires to see River Plate play footy. Thats an experience!

But whilst all of these countries were great, endless other travellers could not stop harping on about Columbia. I wish I had gone but I didn’t have time. Consider it.

And I was reading about Venezuela yesterday. Sounds great too.

I miss South America. Its special. 🙂

Forgot to say, consider just buying a flight and winging it. It easy to do. Especially if you speak a little Spanish.

Had a climbing holiday in Bolivia seven years ago. Based out of La Paz I thought it was great. People were really friendly even if the air was a bit thin.

+1 for Bolivia

Was there on a medical research expedition into altitude sickness in 2003 and I’d go back in a heartbeat. Most beautiful country I’ve ever been to.

+1 iguazu falls amazing place.

Another +1 for Bolivia.

I took a school trip there in 2006 and we’re thinking of doing the same in 2014. Truly spectacular place with perfect weather when we were there in July. Warm during the day though very cold at night, especially up in the mountains (-15 to -18C). The Cordillera Real are very close to La Paz and the trekking there is brilliant, particularly if you pay for a guide, cook, mules and llamas (depending on your group size).

Also visited the Salar de Uyuni in the south and took a flight down to Rurrenabaque in the north for some river paddling (fish for pirhanas, see capybaras etc.)

Amazing country.

Tell me you have seen the top gear bolivia special. If ever there was a country i wanted to go and see its bolivia based on the back of that alone.

+1 for Bolivia. Amazing landscapes and wonderful people. A lot better now Snr. Morales is president. Viva la revolucion !

MMMM Bolivia sounding good! cheesy thought it may sound I have still always wanted to go to Macchu Picchu though …. could we squeeze both in or is that stupid?

Oaky so if we did Bolivia where are the musts? How long do you recommend (obviously 3 months isn’t an option!!!).

Easily I would say if you dont mind a bit of travelling.

Maybe fly to Lima in Peru. Travel by bus to Cusco, maybe via the Nazcaa Lines. In Cusco you can do the Sacred Valley finishing with Machu Picchu.

Then travel to Copocabana in Bolivia on Lake Titicaca and spend a day walking on Isla Del Sol. Stunning!

Then bus to La Paz and use that as your base for Bolivia.

That way you kind of build up to the altitude of Bolivia.

From La Paz you can easily* move on to the rest of Bolvia.

* = easy as in buses are cheap as chips and only slightly unsafe.

You may be able to fly back to Lima from LaPaz too.

Or if you are looking to do a longer period from Potosi in Bolivia you can travel south and cross the Altiplano (which is beyond words) to Chile and then head south to Santiago.

I wrote a blog of my time and if you want the link drop me an email.

Wow all sounds brilliant stuff, I’ll drop you a line ref the blog. However a night out and now thinking about doing West Coast Pacific highway on motorbikes instead …. and saving S American for another day, oh decisions!

When we were in Bolivia we limited ourselves to a couple of mountain areas. Condoriri is a lovely spot with good hiking. If you fancy a shot at climbing a fairly high peak then Huyana Potosi is good. Visit Illimani region as the road to get to it from La Paz is really sketchy!! I really enjoyed the market area in La Paz. Great shops on alleyways, no hassle from the shopkeepers and a wonderful array of brightly coloured lounge wear.

Athgray – did you get yourself a Llama Foetus in La Paz? They were hung in the doorway of most shops and stalls when I was there. Very weird.

The motorbike thing is a great idea. I met an American chap in Peru who was travelling south on the Pan American Highway. He just pitched up in Columbia, bought a bike and set off. He was just driving into the mountains whenever the mood took him. He was waiting for the bike to be repaired when we met him. Sounded like great fun and the Pan American Highway is a great road!

Obviously thats still SA but its another idea.

I was lucky enough to spend 3 months travelling in SA in 2010

So did I! We thought Bolivia was great, but it depends what you want from a holiday. Accommodation, transport and food tends to be pretty basic, so if you are looking for a relaxing two week break, you might head somewhere a little more familiar – Argentina and Brazil would be good choices. Anyway, highlights from Bolivia:

Mountain biking down the world’s most dangerous road (from La Paz)
Salt flats (salar de Uyuni), including bathing in natural hot springs at nearly 5,000m!
Jungle at Rurrenebaque (light aircraft from La Paz or never ending bus trip down dirt road)
Silver mines at Potosi
Lake Titicaca/ Isla del Sol (can cross to Peru)

And we get annoyed when Americans talk about Europe as if it’s one place… 🙂

The road from cafayate to Catchi in Salta province Argentina this summer .Rio was nice

Somewhere on the Alitplano in Bolivia

Isla del Sol – Lake Titicaca

On the way to cycle The World’s Most Dangerous Road

Machu Picchu

mbl1, I didn’t get a llama foetus. Thought about it as a present for the mother in law. Got a pair of purple pantalones and a cowboy hat with llamas on it though. The ‘herbal’ tea was another highlight. We had a great taxi driver called Pacifico who kept opening the glove compartment and shovelling coca leaves into his mouth from a carrier bag. He said it helped with the altitude.

Been up and down the coast of Peru a few times, from the northern border as far down as Nazcar.

Its a rather harsh desert wilderness and there are some interesting ancient sites that are not that well known. If you are into surfing it is very very good for that.

Throughly recommend a trip to peru.
Started in lima, down the coast and then upto to lake titicaca
Then made our way to cusco spend couple of days there
then made our way across to macchu picchu.
Of which we had sightings of llama foetus from one of
the markets next to the railway.

Also a self guided trip round the yucatan peninsula mexico.

Both brilliant experiences.

If you go to Peru, head north from Lima to the cordillera blanca (stay in Huaraz). Spectacular mountain trekking – we did a 3 night trip and barely saw a soul. It’s a bit brisk camping at that altitude though – we had ice on the inside of our tent.

My wife and I cycled the Carretera Austral in March this year and loved it. There was a political “situation” in Chile at the time so there was a fuel shortage. We only saw 2 or 3 vehicles on the road each day.

Real “wild” touring with about 3/4 days between the tiny towns. Really recommend it if you’re after big mountain, offroad riding, your own space and freedom.

If you want to encounter high altitudes and culture go to Yunnan or Sichuan in China. The Carretera was pretty devoid of much interesting culturally though we did stumble across a pretty cool rodeo with hundreds of gauchos trying to out macho one another.

Would recommend Bariloche as a place to visit.

Email in profile if anyone wants more chat.

If you want to avoid tourists and experience a place that is really not like anything else go to Boliva.

We have some pictures you can see next time we get together if you like. I would go again for sure. We can also give you the details for hiring a driver and 4×4 all to yourself.

This my friends company he knows a great deal about the Andes worth a look and give him a call http://www.andes.org.uk

Been to South America around ten times. Married one of the **** so I know enough to tell you this:

Travel ultralight if you can and by that I mean have all your kit in a bag no heavier than 10kg. Place your bag in a rice sack. You can get them over there and carry that over your shoulder. You will never get robbed trust me.

If you go tackled up looking like bling you’ll last a week! I have met a few like that. If you can carry your belongings on the buses and not stowed below you’ll be happy larry. Hit Peru, Ecuador and Columbia and you wont be disappointed.

Dont fall for the smiles coz they are out to rob. Drink from bottles and watch your back. Never get leathered and keep your wits about you. Helps if you can speak spanish too.

I painted a pretty grim picture and It can be grim if you go unprepared. I’ve been robbed twice but I was buying weed and only 18. Learnt lots since then. Rice sack and a cheap ass poncho and nobody will touch you.The poor kids wont even ask for money. You can then travel in bliss.

To provide balance I spent 3 months looking like a Western backpacker and I never got mugged or felt remotely theatened. Of all the other westerners I met, I only heard of one person being mugged. This was in Mendoza in Argentina.
I was at times well off the beaten track too.
Begging kids didn’t bother me either anywhere in SA.
I then returned home and a scumbag threatened to kill me with 5 days. Hey ho.