Feb 2025 tour comments
We just completed this tour on Monday, and are staying a few extra days to go Colonnia in Uruguay ( ferry ride from Buenos Aires) , and Iguazu Falls, Argentina side (1.5 hour plane ride ). Numerous posters have discussed the mechanics of this tour, and the timings. If people want me to post the day to day itinerary, I will be happy to.
Impressions- No one can complain that there is too much free time on this tour because there is NONE. No one can complain that Tauck doesn’t cover enough meals on this tour because every meal is covered and you will absolutely go home with a “Tauck ten “ on board. The food was good. The wine was flowing ( with isolated exceptions). For me and my husband, this was an exhausting tour. Really early mornings, which meant really early breakfasts, lunch not until 2 on many days and then dinners after 7:30 - 8 , and not ending until 10or so. For late eaters this was fine, but that is not us, so this was really rough. One can say - just skip dinners. But- dinners were social and fun in wonderful atmospheres, and you don’t want to miss them. The wines were amazing. Do not overpack. You have hot and cold weather and need to be ready for rain. You do not need to dress for dinner.
The sights - beautiful and vast, however, our biggest”WOW” moment was on our own at Iguazu falls. This is probably because we have been to Antarctica, Greenland , New Zealand , etc, and seen many mountain ranges and many glaciers ( albeit none as large as Perito Moreno or Uppsala) . However, Iguazu is just breathtaking. Take the time and go. The Melia on the Argentina side is beautiful and is in the park so you can access the paths directly. Get the rooms with the falls view. You will not regret it. Skip Colonnia. There was a lot of hoorah going through passport control back and forth between Argentina and Uruguay, and the walking tour the hotel ( Sofitel) arranged was expensive and ridiculously brief. It is St. Augustine, Florida on a bit of a larger scale and less commercial. We did a tour of Valparaiso, from Santiago , and a city tour of Santiago before the tour started. We organized them through the concierge at the Ritz. We were glad we did, and have no idea why Tauck does not include anything in Santiago at the start of the tour.
Cudos to Silvana, our tour director. We cannot say enough good things about her. She was absolutely one of the best. Totally loveable and informative, organized and caring. The people on our tour were interesting and well traveled. There were at least 4 couples that had travelled extensively with Tauck ( 40+, 30+, 16+, and 15+ ( x2) tours ), and independently. Interestingly, there were also a number of people for whom this was their first Tauck tour.
There were great things every day on this tour, it was just exhausting for us. We think it was the late dinners that really killed us.
Comments
Mother of Poodles: I know what mean about late dinners. I cannot go to sleep on a full stomach. Most of the time, the late dinners are cultural and that’s how locals dine in that specific country. If I were to have an an ample lunch that late, there is no way, I would like to have dinner late just to be repeated day after day. Im certainly not going to starve on a Tauck tour but I totally understanding socializing and meeting other Tauck travelers. I enjoy that too. There have been many times I skipped dinners just so I can have a couple of hours to relax.
Even though it does seem cultural to have late dinners in this area, our recent tour, not with Tauck, our dinners were earlier, about 7pm. We have also taken the Tauck tour, one thing that we were not looking forward to was the late dinners. as it did not happen. Quite honestly, I don’t understand why Tauck does not have the clout to organize with the locals, earlier dinners. Our group of 11, with an experienced tour director who lives in Argentina, appeared to have no difficulties in achieving this. We were of course in small restaurants where our group took up a good number of the total guests, so I guess it was easier.
It's hard to please everyone w/r to mealtime.
Earlier dinners likely means you've done less activities/excursions during the day.
Later dinners could mean you've had a very full day of activities/excursions/travel.
I prefer to not have later Tauck dinners if the afternoon was 'free time to do what you'd like'. If the later dinner is due to a packed day of activities or travel then I'm good with the later dinners.
We arrived back and were going to dinner maybe a half hour later. In my case I can shower and wash my hair and change in that amount of time.
IMO, you are the exception, not the rule on prep time
When you’ve been a mom, it’s easy!
British - it takes longer if you use soap. 😂
Or a wash cloth. 😀
We have booked this trip for February 2026 and plan to add on Iguazu Falls also. Thank you for posting this information about the trip. One thing I did not see referenced in the itinerary is whether we have the opportunity to see Magellan Penguins. Did you see them? Also, were the bus rides quite long?
No, there is no opportunity to see any penguins on the Tauck tour. We went prior to Covid. There are some long bus rides but the scenery is breathtaking. When we went with another company just a couple of months ago, the tour was longer and more extensive and went further south which is why we were able to see Magellanic and Gentoo penguins on a private island they took us to. It would not be possible to get there on a Tauck tour.
Patagonia is truly one of the most spectacular places to visit which is why we have been there twice.
I found my review of our 2018 tour. Go to the list of posts in Patagonia and look for it in the ones for that time frame. A couple of other people add their thoughts about it too.
The bus rides were generally between 1-2 hrs from the hotels to the sites. The longest bus rides were from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales and Puerto Natales to El Calafate. Those rides were around 4 hours, One involved a customs stop ( between Chile and Argentina) . There were also 2 , 2+ hours plane rides. There is a lot of moving around, but there is help with the bags and the big show is out the windows- the plains, the mountains, the animals. The traveling is not a problem.
We did not see Magellanic penguins. You will be happy you went to Iguazu Falls. You should be able to fly in and out of the city airport (AEP). If you stay on the Argentina side at the Melia, contact the concierge and make the arrangements for the airport transfer. Very reasonably priced. We called and got the room through Melia. It was around $600 and then we added $170 for the upgrade view. Worth every penny. Call for the room rate, because the online rates are more expensive. As I said - there are great and beautiful experiences every day on this trip - it is just exhausting. Tauck really tries to pack everything in, and when you look at a map and see how great the distances are, there is a lot of ground to cover. Also, the viewing places and hikes in the national parks take time to get to. One more recommendation - at The Singular ( fabulous hotel) , try to take the tour of the hotel. They are in the afternoon and you have to sign up in advance. The tours fill up. We were told the tour was full, but our TD , Silvana ( love, love love her) , spoke to the concierge and everyone who wanted to go was included. As for the excursions, people enjoyed the horseback riding a lot as well as the hikes.
We are booked on this trip in December 2026 and we are looking into extending our stay to go to Iguazu Falls. Are we better off making those arrangements on our own, or using a tour company such as Viator for arrangements?
We did the plans for Iguazu ourselves. We took aero argentina RT from AED. We had the Melia do the transfers($35 for a car for 4). The hotel is in the park. You buy tkts on the way to the hotel and then you have them. There are 3 walking paths around the falls. The walking paths originate right off of the hotel grounds. In addition, as a hotel guest , you are allowed into the park an hour earler than the general public. This is very important if you want to take the train ride that goes up to the Devil’s Throat look out, because the train gets very crowded and you have to wait in a crowded line ( sort of a line - more of a mob). We did two of the 3 paths. We could have done all 3 but we enjoyed lazing at the hotel . You can ask for a late check out. The food at the hotel is good and reasonably priced. The hotel is beautiful and the falls are spectacular. We did not do the boat ride or helicopter ride. You can actually see the Belmond ( where Tauck stays for Essence of South America) from the rooms in the Melia. Brazil is on the other side of the falls. Bring mosquito repellant, Malaria was not a problem when we went so we did not need to use malaria prophylaxis.
Mother of Poodles- Did you book the “full board” at the Gran Melia (I.e. including 3 meals)? Are there other nearby places to eat meals? I just reread your advice to call. I booked online and prices were quite a bit higher. I will call to see if prices are lower. Thanks for that advice.
Prices were $300 less than online prices when we called to book online. We did not book full board. There are no other places to eat. Breakfast was included with the rate we booked. We ate all of our meals there. The setting was gorgeous, the food was really good there and it was reasonably priced. In addition, if you book the airport transfers through them, the limo driver (they sent a black Mercedes which easily accommodated 4 people), takes you to the head of the line to get your park tickets. The hotel is in the park so you need park tickets. When we walked into the lobby the four of us said a collective "Wow". For the flights, we just took backpacks. The Sofitel in Buenos Aires checked our luggage overnight so we didn;t have to deal with taking it. We went back to Buenos Aires for another day before we came home and tooled around the city. Be careful with Aerolinea Argentina and the airports. AEP is much closer than EZE. They changed our flights and brought us back through EZE, however we Ubered it back to the Sofitel and the Uber was only $35 for a 40 minute ride. LMK if you have any other questions.
We are on the Patagonia trip 2/5/26-2/15/26 We are arriving a day early but plan to add days at the end for Iguazu Falls. I am reading the Melia is the way to go (vs Belmond?). Are 2 nights there enough? Also did you spend the first night back at the Sofitel and leave following morning? Lot's of questions I know but I am a bit confused. I found flights leaving in the evening of or morning after. Thanks for any help......
Hi Mary. I cannot comment on the Belmond. We heard it was a bit of a hassle getting into the Brazil side from the airport , which is on the Argentina side. We were happy we were at the Melia because the hotel is actually in the park. It is a beautiful hotel.Two nights there is definitely enough. We actually only spent one night : we took an early plane to get there and a late plane back to Buenos Aires the next evening. Yes , we did spend an extra night back in Buenos Aires at the Sofitel after Iguazu. It worked out well because they held our luggage while we were in Iguazu. Our planes back to the US were in the evening so we had another day to explore Buenos Aires. If you have specific questions , you can certainly PM me.
Regarding hotel choice at Iguazu Falls, we stayed 2 nights at the Belmond (Brazil side) on the advice of a travel agent, 1.5 years ago. Apparently just prior to our arrival, the border crossings became more time-consuming, and also there is a 20 minute road detour due to construction that we were told was projected to last 10 years. So it took one and a half hours to get to the Argentina side from the Belmond. Having said that, the Belmond was beautiful, and the food in the restaurant (not buffet) was amazing as well as the cocktails. I would have loved to stay another day. When we pulled up to the hotel and saw the falls across the street, the sight was incredible. Even more jaw dropping than the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. And you see the falls in huge panorama, as opposed to having them close up/in your face on the Argentina side. So to me, it was definitely worth it to see both sides.
The Gran Melia is probably closer to the airport, thought I am not sure.
Another thing to consider: When we went, the park was closed on Sundays, but we could access the Brazil-side pathways from the Belmond any time, even after hours. Best to double check the current hours and access, especially if you plan to be there over a Sunday.
I wanted to add, just for interest, that our guide/driver needed to use a transponder-type device while driving through the Iguazu Falls park, and was allowed to drive no faster than around 30-35 miles per hour. The transponders are scanned at checkpoints, and they could lose their driving privilege if they don't abide. This is what probably made the drive seem longer, although it was interesting to chat with the driver, especially about the Portuguese language and the area in general.