Provincia del Chubut Travel Forum

We are a family of 4 that will travel Argentina for the first time in October-November 2007. Because we will travel with small children (2 and 4 years old at that time) we would like to travel as few as possible. We are thinking of travelling one day or night and then stay at one place for at least 3-5 days. As accomodation we prefer cabanas/apartments/family rooms (in hotels or hostels).

We would like to spend one week (or 5 days) at or near the Peninsula Valdez because we are lovers of marine wildlife.

To further plan our trip we have the following questions:
1. Can you recommend accomodation at or near Peninsula Valdez (Puerto Piramides?)?
2. Is it easy to rent a car to drive around on the Peninsula while we are there or do you need to make reservations ahead?
3. Is it easy to make resevations for whale watching trips while we are there or do you need to make reservations ahead? Can we take our two kids on these trips?
4. Are there busconnections to Mar del Plata and Puerto Deseado or do you need to change buses? Is it doable to change buses or do you need to wait long hours in the dark?

Thanking you in advance!

Familie Van den Heuvel.

Welcome to VT.

1. I would check the Travelguide on VT for Puerto Piramides with some great reviews of accommodations.

2. Assuming you will arrive by plane in Trelew. It is easy to rent a car from the airport; I think it would be better to make reservation ahead. When arriving on the airport without reservations the desks at this (very) small airport will not be manned and you will have to go to town first.

3 Very easy and there is no need to make reservations; just wait for a nice and quiet day. I don't know about the kids. Just 'google' around and ask one of the operators.

4. ??

happy travels
Jaap

Thanks for your fast response, Jaap. Your suggestions help a lot.

One more question: if there are no direct buses from Valdes/Madryn/Trelew to Puerto Deseado, what about driving a rental car south? Can you rent a car from Trelew and hand it in in, say, Puerto Deseado or Calafate? Is it safe to drive ourselves in southern Patagonia or do you recommended public transport?

Thanks again!

Cheers, family Van den Heuvel.

I really can not tell if there are direct busses between Trelew and Puerto Deseado. Looking at the map I think it must be not too difficult to get a bus.
(We almost had - due to a strike of pilotes - to take the bus between Trelew and El Calafate and such a trip will take about 24 hours travelling and changing of buses in Rio Gallegos.)
I think you have to 'google' a lot and will find some connections, Long distance buses are reliable and cheap in Argentina.

Driving in Patagonia is possible, although huge distances and 'rather boring'. But we had a quotation for a one way rental between Trelew and El Calafate and it was exorbitant !
We had a rental car around El Calafate (and Puerto natales) and driving itself was no problem.

By the way: are you Dutch ??

Jaap

Hello Jaap,

thanks again for your reply. I did look around at the Internet and found a blog from somebody who did the reverse trip by bus, so it should be doable. A rental car does sound attractive though, although not when it is too expensive... Any recommendations for reliable rental car companies?

And yes, good guess, we're Dutch. So are you, isn't it?

Cheers, fam Van den Heuvel.

Dan maar een bericht in het NL.

Wij hadden via via ('kennis' in Argentinië) een auto gehuurd bij Hertz Annie Millet in Trelew.
Prijzen zijn redelijk. met dien verstande dat je vaak maar een beperkt aantal km's per dag hebt. Wij hadden 4 dagen x 200 km vrij. Voor ons genoeg om de geplande tochten op Peninsula Valdes te maken en naar Punta Tombo (??) te rijden.
(zoals eerder gezegd is het daar nooit van gekomen door een staking bij de Arg. luchtvaartmij.)
Absoluut geen problemen gehad bij anuuleren !!

Vaak vraagt men behoorlijk wat extra voor extra km's. Dus goed uitrekenenen.
De toeslag voor een 'one way rental' was uitermate hoog (voor ons in ieder geval niet aantrekkelijk en daarom zijn we met het vliegtuig gegaan).

Jaap

We went to Pen. Valdes in Nov. 06 and again in Apr. 07. We made reservations ahead for the whale watching trips (leaving from Pt. Piramides) in Nov. and were glad we did, as the boats were full. A great experience, loved it. We rented a car in April; no problems with the desk at airport in Trelew; but a mid-sized car in the US is a tiny car in Argentina---rates for a larger car were prohibitive. Roads on Pen. Valdes are not paved, so double your time estimate for traveling them. Both trips, we stayed at Estancia La Ernestina, on the tip of Pen. Valdes, and I can't recommend it enough. We did not have small children to amuse or carry along, but in terms of having a great guide and seeing what there was to see (penguins, elephant seals, sea lions, and a surprise visit from southern right whales), it was the best. Time in the Land Rover, & time walking might make this tough with youngsters (or might tire them out?), but we loved it. E mail me if you want more info, & have fun.

Do you have a website of Estancia La Ernestina ??