Summer Vacation Ideas: How to Choose Your Destination in South America
For some families, the right ingredients for a summer vacation consist of beautiful beaches, lots of sunshine, great food and water sports. What if you could venture out and go for a different type of summer vacation this year?
While the United States is experiencing the summer heat, South American countries are entering into winter season. Here are four summer vacation ideas for you and your family to South America:
One: Ski adventure
The ski resorts in Chile and Argentina’s Andes Mountains are open and ready for you from June to October. Fly from anywhere in the United States to Santiago Chile. If you are flying from San Francisco, there are
13 direct flights to choose from.
Flying into Santiago Chile gives you a better option to travel around between both ski areas in Chile and Argentina. The main resorts in Chile are Portillo, Chillan and Valle Nevado. You can rent a car and drive from Santiago to Chillan in the south, driving time
3 hours 39 minutes.
Or drive from Santiago to Mendoza Argentina’s
Las Lenas Ski Resort, the place for extreme skiers and snowboarders. It is only
225 miles from Santiago Chile to Mendoza Argentina.
Other popular ski destinations in Argentina include Bariloche in Lake District and Cerro Castor in Ushuaia in Patagonia Argentina
Two: Wine and food tour
The Andes Mountain ranges provide suitable soil and climate to the regions surrounding Mendoza Argentina and Santiago Chile for the production of wine. In fact Chile is the world’s seventh largest and Argentina is the fifth largest wine producer in the world. Eighty percent of the wine in Argentina is from the Mendoza region.
Wine enthusiasts have the options of visiting hundreds of world-class winery tours in Chine and Argentina combined. You can combine wine and food tours or wine and cooking tours in
Mendoza or the wine regions of Chile or combine the tours in both cities.
Three: Adventure and history tours
Immerse yourself in the history of Peru and learn about the Incan heritage in Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Go on a trekking tour and discover the ancient architecture and art and ritual in this region of South America. Machu Picchu has been named one of the
“new seven wonders of the world.”
You can fly into Lima Peru’s
Jorge Chavez International Airport, with the code LIM served by
24 airlines.
Four: Nature Tour
Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean was the place that inspired Charles Darwin with the theory of evolution. These islands have an array of unusual animals including iguanas and giant tortoises. They seem to rule the land and not humans.
A quick
four hour flight from Miami will get you to Quito, Ecuador’s capital city. Most travelers either take a cruise ship or fly into Santa Cruz Island in Galapagos from Ecuador mainland. Santa Cruz Island is the main tourist hub in Galapagos.
Iguazu Falls consists of 200 falls and is considered the most recognized natural beauty in South America. It is shared by Argentina and Brazil. Visitors can either fly into Buenos Aires Argentina or to Sao Paolo Brazil.
If you are flying from Chicago to Buenos Aires, your flight time is
11 hours 39 minutes. Flight time from Chicago to Sao Paolo is
10 hours 55 minutes.
Depending on where you want to start your tour, either Buenos Aires or Sao Paolo, you can combine an Iguazu Falls tour with city tours to Buenos Aires or Sao Paolo or both. Drive time between Buenos Aires and Sao Paolo is about
25 hours and flight time is
two hours 35 minutes.
There are many options for traveling in South America depending on your budget, comfort level and time. You need to apply for visas or pay a reciprocity fee to most of the countries before arrival.
Here is a list:
Argentina- reciprocity fee of US$160 must be paid online before departure.
Chile- reciprocity fee of US$160 to be paid upon arrival.
Brazil- visa fee US$160 if you are applying for it by yourself before departure. Add a fee if you are using a visa application service company.
This summer take your summer vacation to the south, South America that is. For information on how to plan your vacation, download our free guide called Guide to Using Travelmath to Plan Your Next Trip.
