"When our son decided to spend a college semester studying abroad in Buenos Aires, we thought it would a great opportunity to tour Argentina with him after his classes completed. None of us had been to Argentina previously; after doing some research, it became quite clear to us that it was a big country with many different and unique areas - we had no idea how to even start planning our visit! Our goal was to see and experience as much of the country as possible in 12 days without doing too much or too little.
We found Exploration Journeys online and chose them after lots of Internet searches - we really liked the ability to choose from the various itineraries/excursions listed and modify for our interests. From initial contact, Fred was always so quick to respond to our questions and provided helpful recommendations as we developed and put the final touches on our itinerary.
Our trip started in Buenos Aires (we relied on our son to be our "tour guide" there), and then we went on to visit:
Iguazu: Took a private tour of the Argentinian side of the falls, including a boat ride close to the falls - thrilling! Due to high water levels, our originally scheduled boat tour was cancelled, but Fred provided complimentary upgrades so we could start the boat ride in a different area of the falls to make sure we did not miss out on this experience.
Ushuaia: Our tour guide on the Hiking and Canoeing to the Ends of the Earth Tour was very personable and the views were spectacular. They provided lunch, well earned after our morning hike, was excellent and fueled us for our afternoon canoe trip in the National Park.
El Calafate: The Multi Adventure on the Perito Moreno Glacier was one of our favorites - trekking on a glacier was exhilarating!
Bariloche: The Panoramic Images of Bariloche and the VIP Navigation in the Lakes Regions tours proved once again how beautiful Argentina was. Note that Bariloche also has amazing chocolate shops - not to be missed.
Communications from Fred during our trip could not have better - each excursion, hotel, and transfer were provided flawlessly and we were always kept informed of pick-up times and any changes along the way (including currency rate changes that occurred while we were there when Argentina installed their new President). Airline web check-ins/boarding passes were completed for us, when possible, and we had some unique requests that were also executed perfectly - it was wonderful to be taken care of so well! The travel booklet Exploration Journeys put together for us that included our hotel information, excursions, flights, tips, etc., was invaluable.
We are so glad we used Exploration Journeys to help plan our trip to Argentina, and highly recommend them - we could not have put such a comprehensive and well organized trip together by ourselves without their expertise. Exploration Journeys did everything they said they would do, and more!"