Travel advice & practical information for travelogue:

'Bicycle Vacation Argentina'

Usefull addresses

New York

Consulate General of Argentina
12 West 56th Street
New York, NY 10019
(Between 5th and 6th Avenues)
Tel : 212-603-0400
Fax : 212-541-7746
E-mail: cnyor@mrecic.gov.ar
Web: Argentinian Consulate General

London

Argentine Embassy
27 Three Kings Yard
London, W1K 4DF
Tel.: 020 7318-1340
Fax: 020 7318-1349
E-mail: visas@argentine-embassy-uk.org
Web: Argentine Embassy, Consular Services

Paris

Embassy of Argentina
6, rue Cimarosa
Paris
Tel.: 01-4405-2700
Fax: 01-4553-4633
E-mail: efran@mrecic.gov.ar
Web: Embassy of Argentina

Travel schedule

Date	Leg	Distance	Incline	Average speed	Details
3-11	Amsterdam-Buenos Aires
4-11	Buenos Aires				Waterfront, Playo de Mayo, Cementerio
5-11	Buenos Aires-Zarate	99			Bicycling through the outskirts of Buenos Aires went fine. Garmin directed us sometimes to quiet roads, sometimes to through-roads. A short distance on a highway; some distance on an unpaved road in bad condition.
6-11	Zarate-Baradero	71	241	15,4	The shortest route goes over unpaved roads and through a swamp area, we didn't take it. In hindsight, knowing more about the roads, I would have done it. Only the last part of our route had unpaved roads. It was very doable.
7-11	Baradero- Ramallo	82	175	16,9	Short distance on highway; the rest on quiet secondary roads, mostly paved.
8-11	Ramallo-Rosario	101	252	18,5	Strong tailwind, lots of rain. Roads rather busy in the second half of the leg, with heavy industry.
9-11	Rosario
10-11	Rosario-San Genaro	104	167	19,4	Long straight road. Initially (40-50 kilometers) lots of traffic; later on it got quieter.
11-11	San Genaro-El Trebol	68	139	18,5	Via Las Rosas. Relatively quiet road.
12-11	El Trebol-Las Varillas	118	336	19,3	Hotel in Alicia was closed; we kept bicycling to Las Varillas; quiet road.
13-11	Las Varillas-Villa del Rosario	94	126	18,3	Quiet roads.
14-11	Villa del Rosario-Cordoba	81	73	20,7	Route nice and quiet (Sunday).
15-11	Cordoba
16-11	Cordoba-Ascochinga	61	666	16,8	First part along airport rather busy, second half quiet. Nice route.
17-11	Asco-Estaciansa Santa Catqalina-Jezus Maria-Ascochinga	57	404	15	Largest part unpaved, sandy and washboardy. A stunning area. Both locations are worth visiting (church, museum).
18-11	Ascochinga-Le Cumbre	40	1025	9.0	We start at 710 m: highest point 1,610 m; destination at 1,140 m. First half hard climb, bad road. Beautiful surroundings; no other traffic.
19-11	Le Cumbre Icho Cruz	72	600	18,6	Destination at 740 m. Good but busy road. Villa Carlos Paz: crowded. In Icho Cruz a nice river with beaches. Several accomodations, some closed.
20-11	Icho Cru-Alta Gracia	43	710	15	Destination at 614 m. Highest altitude: 1,191 m.; We crossed two hills. Incline 7-10% for a few kilometers. Pretty route, good road, not overly busy.
21-11	Alta Gracia				Jesuite church/museum; Che Guevara museum. Relaxed town
22-11	Alta Gracia				We stayed one day longer because of the rain.
23-11	Alta Gracia Cordoba via Desperandero.	85	280	19,4	First part beautiful, quiet road; unpaved part is okay for bicycling. Second part not too busy and still beautiful.
24-11	Cordoba				Guided tour of church and university.
25-11	Cordoba				We missed the bus to Salta, so we spent another day in Cordoba. We left for Salta in the evening. Altitude Salta: 1,190 m.
26-11	Cordoba-Salta
27-11	Salta
28-11	Salta-Alemania	100	368	19,2	Altitude destination: 1,150 m, highest point route: 1,264 m. Nice, quiet route and rather level. The hotels on Google Earth and Mapear don't exist. At kilometer 100 there are cabanas and a restaurant.
29-11	Alemania-Cafayate	90	859	18,9	Altitude destination: 1,630 m, highest point: 1,636 m. Wonderful route, quiet roads. No food or drinks available on the way. Cafayate is a pleasant and friendly town.
30-11	Cafayate- Amaicha del Valle	68	550	18,3	Altitude destination: 1,990 m = max. altitude. Very quiet road; initially along vineyards, later 'desert'. There are several hotels in Amaicha.
01-12	AdV-Tafi del Valle	54	1150	12,1	Altitude destination 2,020 m; max. altitude 3,042 m. 0-10 km: 4,9 % stijging; 10-20: 2,9%; 20-30 km: 2%. Sheer descent after 30 km to 50 km. Beautiful route. Roads partly in very bad condition.
02-12	TdV-Conception	90	85	21,5	Altitude destination: 393 m; 0-45 km sheer descent. Road is reasonably good; parts are very bad. Beautiful route through tropical landscape along meandering stream.
03-12	Conception-Termas del Rio Hondo	115	nihil	Unknown	Via La Madrid; nice and quiet road; no food or drinks available, except a little past La Madrid at gas station.
04-12	TdRH-Santiago del Estero	85	+/- 200	Mb	Bicycled RN 9. Not ideal. Alternative: unpaved road a little north of RN 9.
05-12	Santiago del Estero
06-12	Bus to Buenos Aires
07-12	Buenos Aires
08-12	Buenos Aires

Money

If you know which places you are going to visit, you can find out online if and where there are ATM's that you can use with MasterCard and Cirrus or Visa

Safety and security

Traveling in some countries or regions can be dangerous. That isn't always a reason not to go there, but part of preparing well for a trip includes finding out about possible risks.

The CIA World Factbook: Argentina is a good place to look. Of course you always should consult your own country's Foreign Department web site.

Health

Find current information on the web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Argentina. Always consult your family doctor and your country's Health Department web site.

Plan your trip to Argentina online

Through online reservation systems like À la Carte Vacations you can book airline tickets, hotels, rental cars and holiday houses. You can build a fly-drive itinerary with maximum flexibility, book a flight plus a hotel hotel for a night or weekend. Without the limitations of package deals from travel organisations and most times for a much better price.