Chile/Argentina on a budget? Or other ideas?

[wildrice]

My H and I want to take a big trip next summer, probably starting the first week of July. I think we will have the time to go up to 2 weeks. We have friends who are temporarily living in Santiago, so we thought perhaps we'd go see them and then travel on to Argentina and/or something else in that area. I really have not planned anything at all, so I am starting from scratch.

However, I have no idea what kind of money we will have for this trip. Things are tight right now and it's been hard to save. My H is finishing his PhD at the end of June (hence the timing and desire for a big trip) but we don't know what his job situation will be like and may not really know until it gets closer to the time we go on the trip. Ideally he'd start working immediately after, but there is no way to really plan for that (and he might even do a post doc, which would likely mean not working at all in July/August so no income). I am not a last minute planner so I really don't want to wait until June to decide what we're doing, not to mention I have a feeling we'll pay higher prices and have less options if we wait until last minute.

So. My question is this - if you have gone to Chile/Argentina, what kind of budget did you have? Do you find it to be quite affordable, medium range, or expensive? I think we can use CC points for at least one of our plane tickets (which I see are running around 1k) and perhaps some of our hotels. We can also stay with friends while we're in Santiago, but IDK how long we'll want to stay just there. 

I don't know what our budget will be, but I am hoping under 3k (excluding flights)? Is that unreasonable? Can you find hotels for under $100 a night? We are not fancy and are fine with eating mostly cheaply (as long as we actually do get to experience local foods!), don't need fancy hotels, etc. But we are not backpackers/campers either and won't want to miss out on seeing things because they cost money. 

If not - any suggestions for places to go that might fit that budget and would be ok in July? We don't need hot weather (I assume it would not be hot in Chile/Argentina and that's fine). We've been to Thailand and Costa Rica recently. We would prefer international but I guess it's possible something domestic could work. We would be flying from Baltimore.

[ESF]

I have not been to either, though I've attempted to plan a trip to both. The challenge I ran into is that they are huge countries, and the main tourist attractions requires flights to get around. From what I understand, the Argentine airline is not terribly reliable, which could screw up a carefully planned itinerary. So it can get very expensive very quickly, and if your goal is to really use your two weeks to explore and travel, and not simply just relax in one or two spots, you are probably going to find it challenging to do on a tight budget.

I did Peru on a very tight budget many years ago, and I found that to be pretty easy, as there's a ton to see and do near the Cusco area, and there are tour operators at a variety of price points, which would give you the flexibility to scale up or down as your budget allows.

[emilyinchile]

TLDR: I don't think $3k is enough for 2 weeks in Chile and Argentina. I would look at somewhere in Central America so that you spend less on flights and have more money to spend there.

Also, I had to laugh at the phrase "something else in that area." Nothing is in our area, Chile is a looooong country that's very far away from pretty much everything else!

As PP have mentioned, both Chile and Argentina are big, so I'm not sure if you have specific ideas of where you want to go, or if that's shorthand for Santiago and Buenos Aires. Personally, with 2 weeks to spend I'd want to see more than just those two cities, but I don't think your budget will cover it. From Santiago you can take day trips to the coast and to wine country relatively cheaply and spend 5-6 days total in Chile (2-3 for Santiago, 1 each for the side trips), staying for free with your friends. Even if you stretch it to a week, with more time to just hang with your friends in Santiago, that leaves you with a full week in Buenos Aires, and you don't need a week to see the city. But if you try to go to more places, of course you're adding flight costs (or ferry costs if you go over to Uruguay from BA).

Broadly speaking, Chile is relatively expensive, and Argentina is cheap. I very much doubt you'll find a decent hotel in Santiago under $100/night. BA is possible. Again - not sure if you're looking at those two cities or elsewhere, but let's go with those. Eating out in Santiago is on par with the US for "regular" meals, although fine dining is still less expensive here. Realistically you're looking at $20-50 per lunch/dinner for the two of you in Santiago. I haven't been to BA in a couple years, but I'd estimate it's more like $10-30 there. I mean, obviously ask your friends how much things cost, you know them personally and have a better idea of their tastes than you do of mine, but I think they'll say that Santiago is not a cheap place to be.

Now, CAN you do this trip on your budget? For sure. If you stay with your friends for free and cook at their place, then find a good hotel deal in Buenos Aires and are happy to do a fair amount of just wandering around the city, I'm sure you can. When you start looking at $150/night hotel rooms and the potential of spending $100/day on food though, you've used your entire budget in 12 days without any money spent on getting around or doing anything. Personally, I would save this trip for another time with more to spend and add in another destination (Patagonia? Atacama desert? Mendoza?) and really do all the things I wanted to in each place without stressing over the cost.

Also, the weather is going to be cold and gray and gloomy. I live here, and I try not to be here in July!

[Vespasia]

Not what you were asking about but out recent Mexico City was super cheap. Tickets were points + $200 taxes/fees on SW, 6 night AirBnb for $350, and then cheap cheap cheap food. Museums were free or around $8. 30 minute Uber ride to/from airport was $10. I don't know that you would want to spend 2 weeks there but we barely covered half of what I wanted to do with 5 full days. We were being incredibly lazy though.

I was also going to suggest Peru. United has flights that are low points from DC and the weather would be good that time of year.

[wildrice]

emilyinchile I don't know why, but I thought you moved back to the US! Lol. You are right my reference about "something in the area" was silly. I guess I meant something in that part of the world I figured we'd have to fly to get to multiple places, but I guess I hadn't really thought about what that meant in terms of cost. TBH, I've seen beautiful pictures from others' vacations in that part of the world, but I have very little concrete idea of what I'd actually want to see. I've always thought it would be fun to visit both countries someday, but they honestly weren't this high on my list until our friends moved there and we thought maybe it would be fun to visit. However, I also did not realize it was going to be COLD. They moved there in July and their pictures looked like light jacket weather I have only briefly talked to them about visiting (it's a close friend of my H's from college and he's not great at staying in touch, though he loves her dearly and I know she'd love us to visit).

Anyway, all that said, I think this thread and chatting with another friend via email earlier, I might want to hold off on this trip. I don't mind it being not-summer weather, but I want to be able to enjoy being outdoors so if it's rainy and we need heavy coats I think I'd rather visit another time of year. Perhaps there is somewhere cheaper we can go now.

Thanks everyone! This will definitely be on our someday list if anyone else wants to still comment!

[alleinesein]

We did Santiago on a budget and even with free plane tickets, we spent just under $1500 for 6 nights/7 days. We found a hotel for around USD $100 a night but that was 9 years ago and prices have definitely gone up. We went in June and while the daytime temps were similar to winter in San Diego, it got down into the low 30s at night. It will be cold in July. We spent about $100 a day on food and that was with having breakfast each morning at the hotel.

[scout8]

I was in Chile a few years ago and we did it on a budget. I know we found hotels under $100/night. Food was cheaper than in the US, but not super cheap. Argentina was extremely inexpensive when I went, but that was over 10 years ago. I don't know if that is still the case. As others have mentioned, everything is so far away from each other there, so you are going to spend a lot on flights. In my opinion, that is what will make it hard to do this trip within your budget. If Argentina is still pretty cheap, maybe you could divide your time between BA and Patagonia. Then you wouldn't be flying around too much.

I will also put in a plug for Mexico City and central Mexico. It is so easy to get there and so cheap. We have done 4 trips to central Mexico now because it is so easy. Once on our own, then two times with parents, and most recently with two other couples. Everyone that we have brought along with us loves it. You can easily spend a week in Mexico City as there is so much to do. Then you could bus to other places--Guanajuato, Puebla, Oaxaca would all be good options. Really cute colonial towns. The bus system in Mexico is wonderful. If you book premier or first class, the bus will be the nicest bus you have ever been on. And it's cheap. Food is also incredibly cheap. I know that hardly one from the US goes to Mexico (outside of the beach), because it is "so dangerous", but we have never had any issues at all. There are lots of tourists there, just not from the US. It is this close, easy destination that is completely overlooked by the US.

[scout8]

Another recent trip that we did which was surprisingly inexpensive was several countries in Eastern Europe: Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. With the exception of Croatia, everything was very cheap. We were there in the off-season and stayed in airbnbs and small hotels. Many of our accommodations were under $50/night and they were nice!! Food was inexpensive. We took the bus between cities and the buses were cheap and nice. Pretty much every city had some version of "tours for tips" so we did a lot of those. Different part of the world, but if you are looking for a budget friendly trip, that's another one I would recommend.

[emilyinchile]

Dec 19, 2018 6:51:52 GMT -5 scout8 said:

I was in Chile a few years ago and we did it on a budget. I know we found hotels under $100/night. Food was cheaper than in the US, but not super cheap. Argentina was extremely inexpensive when I went, but that was over 10 years ago. I don't know if that is still the case. As others have mentioned, everything is so far away from each other there, so you are going to spend a lot on flights. In my opinion, that is what will make it hard to do this trip within your budget. If Argentina is still pretty cheap, maybe you could divide your time between BA and Patagonia. Then you wouldn't be flying around too much. 

Two important things to note here: Chile has gotten significantly more expensive over the past few years, and you can't go to Patagonia in the middle of winter (Not picking on you, scout, just making sure OP has the most relevant information!)

wildrice, it will be in the 40s and 50s during the day in July, but it feels colder than the same temps in the US because a) it's a damp cold that gets in to your bones and b) a lot of places don't have central heat, so you're just cold all day instead of only being cold when you're outside. I'm from CA, so you and I probably have different definitions of "cold", but a friend from Canada always says she finds winter in Chile worse than -30 in Edmonton! And believe me, so many people don't have an idea of the sheer size of South America, so you wouldn't be the first one to think that for example Colombia is just right next door to Santiago (people are usually shocked when I tell them it's a 6 hour flight to Bogota).

Your statement that you're inspired by people's beautiful pictures of these two countries for me solidifies that this is a trip for another time. Chile is SO gorgeous, but you need to travel a ways to get those typical landscapes that you're probably talking about. Better to come when you can do it the way you have it mind!

[scout8]

Dec 19, 2018 7:17:20 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

Dec 19, 2018 6:51:52 GMT -5 scout8 said:

I was in Chile a few years ago and we did it on a budget. I know we found hotels under $100/night. Food was cheaper than in the US, but not super cheap. Argentina was extremely inexpensive when I went, but that was over 10 years ago. I don't know if that is still the case. As others have mentioned, everything is so far away from each other there, so you are going to spend a lot on flights. In my opinion, that is what will make it hard to do this trip within your budget. If Argentina is still pretty cheap, maybe you could divide your time between BA and Patagonia. Then you wouldn't be flying around too much. 

Two important things to note here: Chile has gotten significantly more expensive over the past few years, and you can't go to Patagonia in the middle of winter (Not picking on you, scout, just making sure OP has the most relevant information!)

wildrice , it will be in the 40s and 50s during the day in July, but it feels colder than the same temps in the US because a) it's a damp cold that gets in to your bones and b) a lot of places don't have central heat, so you're just cold all day instead of only being cold when you're outside. I'm from CA, so you and I probably have different definitions of "cold", but a friend from Canada always says she finds winter in Chile worse than -30 in Edmonton! And believe me, so many people don't have an idea of the sheer size of South America, so you wouldn't be the first one to think that for example Colombia is just right next door to Santiago (people are usually shocked when I tell them it's a 6 hour flight to Bogota).

Your statement that you're inspired by people's beautiful pictures of these two countries for me solidifies that this is a trip for another time. Chile is SO gorgeous, but you need to travel a ways to get those typical landscapes that you're probably talking about. Better to come when you can do it the way you have it mind!

Ha! Yes, you definitely don't want to go in the winter. I was freezing at times in Patagonia and we were there in the spring. 

[keweenawlove]

I loved Chile but a big reason for that was Patagonia and as PPs have said, July isn't a time you'd want to go there. We stayed a Valparaiso for 3 nights and did a day trip to the wineries in the Casablanca Valley. I liked it but not enough to want to make it a stand alone trip if there's better places you can go. I do have a fairly detailed spreadsheet of our costs for this past spring and I pass on if you want. We paid $75/night in Santiago (it was a hostel but we had a private room and bathroom). Valparaiso was on points but I think it would have been around $150/night.

I thought Colombia and Peru were a lot more affordable than Chile so that might be worth looking into. I loved Cusco and that area is so cool to explore even if you're not backpacking. Other end of the world but Vietnam was amazing so super cheap (like less than $50/night for a nice hotel and $1-5 meals).

[wildrice]

Dec 19, 2018 9:43:13 GMT -5 keweenawlove said:

I loved Chile but a big reason for that was Patagonia and as PPs have said, July isn't a time you'd want to go there. We stayed a Valparaiso for 3 nights and did a day trip to the wineries in the Casablanca Valley. I liked it but not enough to want to make it a stand alone trip if there's better places you can go. I do have a fairly detailed spreadsheet of our costs for this past spring and I pass on if you want. We paid $75/night in Santiago (it was a hostel but we had a private room and bathroom). Valparaiso was on points but I think it would have been around $150/night.

I thought Colombia and Peru were a lot more affordable than Chile so that might be worth looking into. I loved Cusco and that area is so cool to explore even if you're not backpacking. Other end of the world but Vietnam was amazing so super cheap (like less than $50/night for a nice hotel and $1-5 meals).

I was thinking I should message you Your pictures of your trip were some of those that inspired me to want to go. It looked gorgeous! However, I know you are a lot more athletic and experienced with backpacking and such (I have no experience with that, lol) so some of what you did might be hard for us to access. 

I would love to go to Vietnam. I'm afraid July will be too hot though (opposite issue from Chile, I guess!). We were melting in Bangkok in February so I can't imagine going in the summer, though I guess different regions have different weather so perhaps there are parts of Vietnam that would be ok.  I wish we didn't have to go in July. There is just no way we can go sooner.

I may have to look more into Columbia and Peru. Someone else I was talking to mentioned Ecuador too. Perhaps we can still figure out a South American trip but save the southern parts for another time. 

[wildrice]

Dec 19, 2018 7:17:20 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

Dec 19, 2018 6:51:52 GMT -5 scout8 said:

I was in Chile a few years ago and we did it on a budget. I know we found hotels under $100/night. Food was cheaper than in the US, but not super cheap. Argentina was extremely inexpensive when I went, but that was over 10 years ago. I don't know if that is still the case. As others have mentioned, everything is so far away from each other there, so you are going to spend a lot on flights. In my opinion, that is what will make it hard to do this trip within your budget. If Argentina is still pretty cheap, maybe you could divide your time between BA and Patagonia. Then you wouldn't be flying around too much. 

Two important things to note here: Chile has gotten significantly more expensive over the past few years, and you can't go to Patagonia in the middle of winter (Not picking on you, scout, just making sure OP has the most relevant information!)

wildrice , it will be in the 40s and 50s during the day in July, but it feels colder than the same temps in the US because a) it's a damp cold that gets in to your bones and b) a lot of places don't have central heat, so you're just cold all day instead of only being cold when you're outside. I'm from CA, so you and I probably have different definitions of "cold", but a friend from Canada always says she finds winter in Chile worse than -30 in Edmonton! And believe me, so many people don't have an idea of the sheer size of South America, so you wouldn't be the first one to think that for example Colombia is just right next door to Santiago (people are usually shocked when I tell them it's a 6 hour flight to Bogota).

Your statement that you're inspired by people's beautiful pictures of these two countries for me solidifies that this is a trip for another time. Chile is SO gorgeous, but you need to travel a ways to get those typical landscapes that you're probably talking about. Better to come when you can do it the way you have it mind!

I actually would really love to go to Patagonia someday, so you are probably right that we should wait until we can include that in our trip. Our friends were actually just there, and it looks beautiful! But it's summer there right now so that makes sense that they are there now!

I definitely cannot put up with lack of central heat if I'm cold. That's crazy to me if it gets that cold! We are so spoiled in the US. Thanks for all the information!!!

[wildrice]

Dec 19, 2018 6:59:05 GMT -5 scout8 said:

Another recent trip that we did which was surprisingly inexpensive was several countries in Eastern Europe: Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. With the exception of Croatia, everything was very cheap. We were there in the off-season and stayed in airbnbs and small hotels. Many of our accommodations were under $50/night and they were nice!! Food was inexpensive. We took the bus between cities and the buses were cheap and nice. Pretty much every city had some version of "tours for tips" so we did a lot of those. Different part of the world, but if you are looking for a budget friendly trip, that's another one I would recommend.

This is a good idea! I'm not opposed to Europe. Neither of us have been to the Balkans so that would be fun, plus I am guessing the weather will be pretty good in July. I definitely want to visit this region at some point, so being on a tight budget this might be a good option for this time!

[keweenawlove]

It sounds like you've decided against Chile/Argentina for now but just so it's out there for the future, you would probably enjoy the Argentinian side of Patagonia more. Specifically, I loved the town of El Chalten. You've got a view of Fitz Roy right from town and there's nice day hikes you can do right from there while staying in a reasonably priced hotel. Torres del Paine in Chile was amazing but the options if you weren't camping were either dorm-style hostels or $$$ hotels so I was glad we were backpacking. You can make it to a lot of the places we saw on day hikes but the hike to the towers especially was no joke. We were a rental car and I was so happy we did because the buses were very limited there.

I'm not sure on the weather in Vietnam that time of year. We were in Phuket in April and it was crazy hot and humid but that's one of the hottest times of the year there. That whole region seems so variable. 

Medellin is known as the city of eternal spring so you might like that!

[ESF]

I'll ditto the Mexico suggestion. Mexico City is incredible. One of the best cities I've ever visited. I went for work, and loved it so much that I went again less than a year later with H and my best friend. The art, the history, the food. It's so good. And super cheap. You can find a basic hotel in a central area for under $75/night. Its in the mountains, so it likely won't be uncomfortably hot in the summer.

[rupertpenny]

Dec 19, 2018 10:41:55 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Dec 19, 2018 9:43:13 GMT -5 keweenawlove said:

I loved Chile but a big reason for that was Patagonia and as PPs have said, July isn't a time you'd want to go there. We stayed a Valparaiso for 3 nights and did a day trip to the wineries in the Casablanca Valley. I liked it but not enough to want to make it a stand alone trip if there's better places you can go. I do have a fairly detailed spreadsheet of our costs for this past spring and I pass on if you want. We paid $75/night in Santiago (it was a hostel but we had a private room and bathroom). Valparaiso was on points but I think it would have been around $150/night.

I thought Colombia and Peru were a lot more affordable than Chile so that might be worth looking into. I loved Cusco and that area is so cool to explore even if you're not backpacking. Other end of the world but Vietnam was amazing so super cheap (like less than $50/night for a nice hotel and $1-5 meals).

I was thinking I should message you Your pictures of your trip were some of those that inspired me to want to go. It looked gorgeous! However, I know you are a lot more athletic and experienced with backpacking and such (I have no experience with that, lol) so some of what you did might be hard for us to access. 

I would love to go to Vietnam. I'm afraid July will be too hot though (opposite issue from Chile, I guess!). We were melting in Bangkok in February so I can't imagine going in the summer, though I guess different regions have different weather so perhaps there are parts of Vietnam that would be ok.  I wish we didn't have to go in July. There is just no way we can go sooner.

I may have to look more into Columbia and Peru. Someone else I was talking to mentioned Ecuador too. Perhaps we can still figure out a South American trip but save the southern parts for another time. 

The thing about SE Asia is that it is always super hot. The big question is whether or not it will also be rainy. I've been to Vietnam in July (and also April, May, and December) and it wasn't that bad. Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi will probably be comparable to Bangkok, but the coast is really nice, especially in the Da Nang/Hoi An area. 

That said, if I were you I'd do Mexico City. I'm dying to go there but it is too far for me to trek with little kids right now. It is at the top of my list for when/if we move back to the US.

[GilliC]

I know we've moved on in terms of locations, but I also wanted to throw out there that Argentina has seen some huge fluctuations in currency and buying power. My first visit in 2011 was relatively cheap, but when I visited the same places a few years later (around 2016, I think?) it was noticeably more expensive.

Dec 19, 2018 20:19:49 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

Dec 19, 2018 10:41:55 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I was thinking I should message you Your pictures of your trip were some of those that inspired me to want to go. It looked gorgeous! However, I know you are a lot more athletic and experienced with backpacking and such (I have no experience with that, lol) so some of what you did might be hard for us to access. 

I would love to go to Vietnam. I'm afraid July will be too hot though (opposite issue from Chile, I guess!). We were melting in Bangkok in February so I can't imagine going in the summer, though I guess different regions have different weather so perhaps there are parts of Vietnam that would be ok.  I wish we didn't have to go in July. There is just no way we can go sooner.

I may have to look more into Columbia and Peru. Someone else I was talking to mentioned Ecuador too. Perhaps we can still figure out a South American trip but save the southern parts for another time. 

The thing about SE Asia is that it is always super hot. The big question is whether or not it will also be rainy. I've been to Vietnam in July (and also April, May, and December) and it wasn't that bad. Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi will probably be comparable to Bangkok, but the coast is really nice, especially in the Da Nang/Hoi An area. 

That said, if I were you I'd do Mexico City. I'm dying to go there but it is too far for me to trek with little kids right now. It is at the top of my list for when/if we move back to the US.

Ditto this. It's worth looking at climate graphs to get an idea of the seasons in various places.
www.holiday-weather.com/ho_chi_ming_city/averages/
www.holiday-weather.com/hanoi/averages/

Temperatures in southern Vietnam remain relatively stable year-round, while the north sees a much more noticeable drop in the winter. But both places have a marked difference between dry season and rainy season, with July seeing some of the highest rainfall of the year. Depending on what you're looking to do, it can still be enjoyable to visit in the rainy season, and I've read plenty of accounts from people who love SE Asia in the rainy season. You just need to be aware of the climate and how it will affect your plans.