Traveling South America

[nvzublman]

Ok i have a question not quite like the others but almost. I just travelled Europe this summer and experienced the wonderful travelling networks of the train system there. I was also aware of the cheap airlines that fly europe and bus a bout that also help to ease travel around Europe.

But my question is, after travelling with such ease around Europe, how do you think my travelling experiences would be in South America compared to Europe? Is it going to be like night and day? I speak spanish so i am not worried about the language, i just dont want to spend my time trying to get settled and then have to leave because it took me so long to figure the system out.

Basically i am asking if it is worth it for a student travelling on some kind of a budget to endure the travelling experience latin america has to offer now or should i wait when maybe my finances along with my travel time are more stable and in surplus of spending.

I want to see about 4 countries in about 3 weeks this coming summer. that is the plan.

Thank you, Mike

[jabroni79]

Talking to other traveler that have been through south america, most of the travel is by bus. You could travel from one country to another by plane, but it is more expensive than traveling by plane through Europe. The bus system is cheap.

What countries do you plan to visit?

[nvzublman]

well first colombia will be our hub because my friend has family there. So we wanted to see santiago, chile, brasil maybe sao paolo and rio, and then probably buenos aires, argentina and then maybe even lima, peru since it is so close to colombia. Thats just an idea since those are i guess the main hit places.

Is the bus rather safe to travel by?

[jabroni79]

If you plan to go to Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, your best bet is to fly. It would take you too long to travel to all of those locations by bus. You should look into talking to a travel agent. They have offices in San Diego and may be able to find some type of airfare deal, like a south american airpass, so that you can fly to all these places.

[nvzublman]

exellent i appreciate the help i will look into that. thanks again

[Veron14]

I just got back from Buenos Aires (I'm from Texas) and was completely blown away by the the tours created for your MP3 player (mptours.com) that allow you to walk different areas of the city. I should've downloaded them before I travelled since it was tough to find a computer with the USB cable that connects to my MP3 player, but I luckily was able to find one. Don't miss it.

I also recommend the Tortoni Cafe. Before we knew it, we were watching people dancing Tango right beside us!

[Machiavelli]

4 countries in 3 weeks sound way too ambitious to me. You won't really see any of them.

The countries are a lot bigger than in Europe.

Whilst there is no real train network in South America, the buses tend to be pretty good. Take a look at the following bus times to get an idea of some of the journey times.

[gastoncerndas@gmail.com]

let me recommend [link] those guys rocks!!

[rreyes]

Four countries in 3 weeks is really ambitious. I'm guessing you've probably made it there already, so you should let us know how it went! I went to Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile in 12 days - I had a round trip ticket to Montevideo so I went to Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, then back to Buenos Aires and Montevideo. It was exhausting to do it like that so if you can fly into one place and leave out of another, I would recommend that but it's going to be more expensive. From Montevideo to BA by bus was about 8 hours overnight - saved on hotel or hostel for the night. You could also take a more expensive ferry that's about 2 hours each way. From BA to Santiago was 22-24 hours. It was a beautiful bus ride though - I enjoyed it.

If you want to see several countries in a few weeks, stick with countries close to the country you fly into unless you fly to all your destinations, which can get very expensive. I recommend that Brazil be done on a separate trip for a couple reasons: The major destinations are on the coast, which is very far from western countries like Colombia or Chile and it would be a very long trip to travel from Colombia to Sao Paulo by bus. If you wanted to visit the rural marshlands on the west side of the country, that would be fine but Sao Paulo is just too far. Also, you'll need to get a visa before you leave to go to Brazil if you're a US citizen and you need a copy of your plane ticket to apply. You can get a visa without a plane ticket, but it will be more difficult. Also, Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world - a few days out of your trip won't do it justice. The bus system in Brazil is great and there are so many places to see.

So I've never been to Europe, but I can tell you that for at least the countries I visited in Latin America, the bus system was great. It probably isn't as nice and convenient as you're used to, but it will be a great experience if you're up for it. I'd say stick to countries close by and go ahead and take the bus unless you have thousands of dollars to spend on plane tickets. The countries aren't as close as you think and you'll enjoy yourself more if you spend more quality time in a few countries than trying to get around all of Latin America in just a few weeks.

Happy travels!

[titodito99]

Well, you say you know Spanish so I´ll rather write to you in Spanish.
Soy de Colombia, y pues he tenido la oportunidad en primera instancia d recorrer casi toda Colombia por Tierra. Y he estado en Mendoza Argentina y Santiago desde donde he viajado hasta la X región.

Lo primero que hay que saber es donde se estarían en Colombia. Si llegan a quedarse en bogotá, saquen tiempo para conocer la ciudad, su centro histórico. Dense una pasada por Café Y Crepes. de la 109 o de la 83. No duden en visitar la sabana de bogotá y porque no si alcanza el presupuesto en ir a Andrés Carne de Res. En chía a 20 min de bogotá. La ciudad se recorre bastante bien en Transmilenio que tiene un precio de 1500 pesos es decir como de 75 centavos de dólar el trayecto.

Si piensan viajar a la costa es útil que esten mirando en la página de avianca colombia, muchas veces hay promociones de vuelos desde bogotá ida y vuelta a cartagena o santamarta por 175000 pesos que son como 80 dólares. De estas dos preferiblemente elegir santamarta.
Dentro de Colombia vale la pena visitar la región cafetera que no queda muy lejo de bogotá y un viaje por 3 días por persona por tierra puede salir por 400000 pesos es decir 200 dólares.

Ya para viajar a santiago, es bueno mirar LAN y AVIANCA las promociones fuera de temporada son buenas de 350 dólares ida y vuelta bta'santiago-bta. Que es mucho mejor que en Bus por aquello del tiempo.
Chile tiene mejores vías que colombia por lo que es más fácil moverse entre una región y otra. Una comparación es que el viaje de 1100km entre bta y cartagena por tierra tarda 20 horas y vale 50 dólares y el viaje entre santiago y pucón que son 850km tarda 7-8 horas.

Santiago buenos aires fuera de temporada puede salir ida y vuelta por 80 dólares. Definitivamente más recomendable Buenos Aires que Santiago.

Espero que sea de su ayuda.