Argentina…Don’t cry for me Argentina! Argentina is the country of passion, tango, the best beef in the world, Maradona and of course beautiful scenery including Patagonia! Jannet and Ralf visited Argentina (with small trips to Brasil and Uruguay) for about three weeks and showed that backpacking here can be quite expensive . Take a look at their overview of costs to travel in Argentina and their tips!
This article is part of the Money Matters series in which we ask travelers to keep their expenses for Bunch of Backpackers. Real travelers, real expenses.
COSTS 23-DAY ARGENTINA TRIP*: 1350 EURO (1850 USD)
DAILY TRAVEL EXPENSES*: 59 EURO (81 USD)
*These daily travel expenses are per one person per day. Excluding international and domestic flights. Note: In contrary to the other Money Matter overviews we have decided to exclude the domestic flights in the above mentioned costs (because these are not representative due to last minute booking). Including all tours, souvenirs, lodging, food, drinks, entrance fees, tips etc.
EXAMPLES OF PRICES IN ARGENTINA:
These prices are per person unless stated otherwise.
One night in a hostel dormitory: 10 euro (17 USD)
A bottle of water (0,5L) at the store: 0,7 euro (1 USD)
A local beer at a bar/restaurants: 1,7 euro (2,3USD) (750cc Quilmes)
Lunch at a local restaurant: 2,7 euro (3,7 USD)
1 night in a 2p room in a hostel: 28 euro (38 USD) (per room)
One big mac: 1,9 euro (3,6 USD)
Domestic flight (Return Buenos Aires – Iguazu): 450 euro (617 USD) (booked lastminute)
Domestic flight (Return Buenos Aires – El Calafate): 400 euro (548 USD) (booked lastminute)
Taxi airport to city center BA: 18,50 euro (25 USD) (per taxi)
Nightbus Buenos Aires – Mendoza (Cama Suite): 70 euro (96 USD)
Entrance Iguazu National Park Argentina: 15,70 euro (22 USD)
Entrance Iguazu National Park Brasil: 20,3 euro (28 USD)
Tour Perito Merono: 22 euro (30 USD)
Entrance Perito Merono: 10,8 euro (14,8 USD)
Torres del Paine: 450 euro (617 USD) (4 days/3 nights including accommodation, transfer, meals, boat and sleeping bags)
Bus Mendoza-Maipu: 0,6 euro (0,8 USD)
Winery visit in Mendoza: 9,7 euro (13,3 USD)
Boat Uruguay-Montevideo: 140 euro (192 USD)
SOME DETAILS ON THIS TRIP:
About the backpackers: A couple
Destination and travel period: Argentina in October 2013 for 23 days.
Visited places: Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Maipu, Iguazu, Perito Moreno, Torres del Paine, Estancia La Portena, Montevideo
Type of trip: Independently
Accommodation: budget, mostly 2 p rooms in mainly hostels / guesthouses
Transportation: standard (mix of transportation)
Food: budget (local places and cheap western places)
Exchange rate at the time of travel: 1 euro is 10,8 Argentine Peso
SOME FINAL TIPS FOR ARGENTINA!
1. Take the bus! Buses are available in all sizes and price classes and will take you to every corner of Argentina.
2. Book you domestic flights on time! Oke, this may seems obvious, but flights can get really expensive in Argentina. So if you have relatively little time (too little time for those long-distance busses) you may want to plan some flights in advance.
3. A great way to save money and to get to know the country is to work in an Estancia. In an Estancia you will take the guests horseriding during the day (hardly can called work ;)) and in the evening your will help making and serving dinner. However, you can stay their for free and you’ll quite some free time to explore the surroundings.
4. Eat local! Local restaurants are cheaper and the food is better!
5. General tip: Visit the Argentina and Brasil side of the Iguazu falls in one day.
6. General tip: Stay at the Hostel Inn Iguazu. According to Ralf and Jannet this was the best hostel on their trip: A clean hostel with a beautiful pool with sun beds. The hostel also has a cosy common space and a cheap, but excellent restaurant.
Book your Argentina hostel through Hostelworld.com or Booking.com
I work at a travel agency in Argentina and travel a lot around here and wow… this is not really low-cost travelling. A ticket to Iguazu Falls for 450 Euro´s??? The normal price is 250 Euro´s (round trip), El Calafate can be done about 350 Euro´s (even in high season). The Hostel Inn is indeed very popular =)
Anyway, it can be a lot cheaper trust me =) ps. Buses are great in Argentina but the country is big… Taking the bus from BA to Iguazu takes about 17 hours. From BA to Mendoza 14 hours, from BA to Bariloche 30 hours. Besides that they are not always cheaper than a flight…
Hi Milene, thank you for the comment and useful additions :)! We know you can travel cheaper, but we intended to give an honest insight in the costs and expenses of a 3-week trip of a couple in Argentina (including the setbacks ;))! See you on the road! Manouk
Well of course, it´s a great list and very open! Luckily for me, I´m kind of bankrupt, it is possible to travel cheaper =) Hope you had a great time in Argentina though =)
This post was written by 2 friends! Argentina is still on my wish list :)! Hope your ‘bankrupt’ status will improve soon ;)! Have fun in Argentina Milene!!
Argentina is in our plans for later this year… so thanks a lot for the tips! :)
Hi Zara! Great :)! Glad that it was useful! Manouk
Reading your post reminded me about our trip to Argentina. We started our round the world trip in Patagonia, and although we were prepared to finding an expensive country, it was worse than our expectations. All the prices for transport, tours, etc.. costed 50% more than in the latest Lonely Planet (which was already expensive), so we were thinking that with these prices our travels not gonna last much:)) . Fortunately the rest of the country was not so expensive. Thanks for this useful article!
Thanks, yeah in these money matters series we try to give accurate ideas of the costs including ‘setbacks’ and stuff :)!
Nice post, Argentina seems pretty expensive! Someone told me the further south you go (Patagonia way) the more expensive it becomes, not sure if it’s true!
59 euros per day? That’s insane.
If you arrive to Argentina with a big stash of USD and exchange them at the Black Market, you can live and travel like a king for the equivalent of 40 USD per day (which is 400 AR pesos if you exchange it at the Black Market). At least in Buenos Aires, there are no significant entrance fees for the attractions so the only expensive fee is the one at Iguazu.
Cool, we started in Buenos Aires!