Chile, Argentina & Brazil with Rio Add-on

Day 1: UK/Santiago
Depart on your scheduled flight to Santiago, via Paris.

Day 2: Santiago
After arriving in Santiago, the capital of Chile, you’ll transfer to your hotel where we include early check-in and a two-night stay. The city of Santiago lies in a lovely setting beneath the majestic Andes and is a city of wide boulevards and delightful parks and gardens.

This afternoon we’ve included a city tour, allowing you to see the Presidential Palace and visit the city museum, and see the residential districts of Las Condes and Providencia, famous for their beautiful homes. You’ll finish on San Cristobal Hill, where you’ll enjoy a spectacular view of the foothills of the snow-capped Andes.

Day 3: Santiago
Today you’ll be free to explore the city further, or you can join our pre-bookable optional excursion, journeying through dramatic mountain ranges and the colourful orchards and citrus groves of the region, to a wine-tasting at the Veramonte vineyard, where award-winning wines including pinot noir and sauvignon blanc are produced. You’ll travel on to Viña del Mar, the ‘Garden City’, for a tour which will introduce you to the unique Flower Clock, palm-fringed avenues, the Fine Arts Museum, the Municipal Casino and the beautiful Rioja Palace. The tour continues to the coastal city of Valparaíso, where you’ll enjoy lunch before seeing more of the city. You’ll follow the only road, Alemania Avenue, to traverse the famous hills on which the city is built, and enjoy panoramic views of the impressive port. You will also visit La Sebastian, one of the former homes of the laureate Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda, plus Fisherman’s Wharf, Plaza Sotomayor, and the Naval Academy.

Day 4: Mendoza
You’ll depart Santiago by coach for the drive to the border with Argentina, a journey over the Andes offering views of Mount Aconcagua, at 23,000ft, the highest peak in the Americas. You’ll retrace the steps of Native Indians, Incas and the first Spanish settlers. After crossing the border into Argentina you’ll continue to Mendoza, where we have arranged a two-night stay.

Day 5: Mendoza
Mendoza lies at the foot of the Andes, in the heart of the country’s wine region. You’ll enjoy an included tour of Argentina’s wine capital, which produces more than 60% of the country’s wine. In the afternoon you’ll have the option to visit one of the many vineyards, where you can enjoy a tasting. The grapes from this region are used to produce white wines including chenin blanc and reds such as cabernet sauvignon.

Day 6: Buenos Aires
After transferring to the airport, you’ll fly to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. On arrival, you will be transferred to your hotel for a three-night stay.

This afternoon we include a city tour of Buenos Aires, dubbed the ‘Paris of the Americas.’ Highlights include visits to Plaza de Mayo, where the Casa Rosada (Government House) is situated. Also in the square is the Cathedral of Buenos Aires where the tomb of General San Martin, the hero and liberator of Argentina, is located. You will also visit the La Boca District, renowned for its brightly painted houses, and now an artists’ colony. A visit will be made to the Recoleta cemetery, famous for its beautiful family tombs and as the burial place of Eva Peron.

Day 7: Buenos Aires
Today is free for you to spend as you wish. Alternatively, why not join our optional morning excursion on the Tigre and Parana Delta – a labyrinth of magnificent waterways fed by the Parana River. Explore this maze of riverside villas, islands, Victorian docks and pretty, English-style gardens from the comfort of a traditional riverboat. This evening you can enjoy an optional dinner and tango show.

Day 8: Buenos Aires
Today you can take an optional full-day tour to the heart of Argentina’s Pampas, to experience a typical ‘estancia’ (ranch). You will see the gauchos displaying their superb horsemanship skills, and enjoy a typical Argentine barbecue.

Day 9: Iguaçú Falls
You’ll transfer to the airport for your flight to Iguaçú Falls. On arrival, transfer to your hotel on the Argentinian side for a two-night stay. This afternoon, there will be time to relax by the pool at your hotel.

Day 10: Iguaçú Falls
Today, we include a full-day excursion into the Iguaçú National Park, taking the small train that leads through the jungle to the Argentinian falls. Situated at the meeting point of three countries (Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina), the falls are one of the world’s largest natural wonders. Higher than Niagara, wider than Victoria, Iguaçú consists of 275 separate falls.

Day 11: Rio de Janeiro
Enjoy a free morning before your flight to Rio. Alternatively, join an optional pre-bookable excursion to the Brazilian side of the Falls. From this side, it is possible to see the full panorama of the falls and also to walk across the famous platform virtually into the Devils Throat, the most famous of the individual falls. In early afternoon, you’ll transfer to the airport for your flight to Rio de Janeiro, where you’ll stay for two nights.

Day 12: Rio de Janeiro
Brazil, the world’s fifth largest country, is a land of warm sun, bright colours, irresistible rhythms, unsurpassed natural beauty and captivating contrasts, and the city of Rio de Janeiro is unique – simply bursting with energy, excitement and entertainment. It is beautifully situated beneath Sugar Loaf Mountain, and blessed with magnificent, world-famous beaches such as Copacabana and Ipanema.

To introduce you to Rio, you’ll take an included visit to Corcovado, home to the famous statue of Christ. To reach the statue it is necessary to ascend in a small cog railway which winds up the mountain for superb views over Rio and Sugar Loaf Mountain.

The afternoon is free for you to explore Rio further, or you can join our pre-bookable optional excursion to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain via cable car.

Days 13 – 16: Rio de Janeiro extended stay
Extend your stay with an extra three nights in Rio de Janeiro and experience more of what this fabulous city has to offer. You will depart Rio on day 16 for the return flight to the UK, arriving on day 17. Available on all dates.

Day 17: UK
Arrival in the UK.

Please note
This holiday includes walking in areas of rough ground, gradients and steps.

Accommodation throughout is in hotels of a comfortable standard, typical of the hotels you will stay in are:

4-star Torremayor Hotel in Santiago
4-star Huentala Hotel in Mendoza
4-star Pulitzer Hotel in Buenos Aires
5-star Hotel Amerian Portal in Iguaçú Falls
4-star Windsor Excelsior in Rio de Janeiro
All rooms feature en suite facilities, air-conditioning, TV and telephone. Hotel facilities include a restaurant and bar and, in Iguaçú, a pool and gardens.

All hotels will be confirmed in your final documentation.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Included excursions and visits

Santiago tour (half day)
Mendoza tour (half day)
Buenos Aires tour (half day)
Iguaçú Falls visit (full day)
Rio tour, to Corcovado and Statue of Christ (half day)

Optional excursions

Valparaiso & Viña del Mar tour (full day)
Estancia ranch tour (full day)
Mendoza winery tour (half day)
Tigre Delta river tour (half day)
Buenos Aires dinner & tango show
Iguaçú Falls visit, to Brazilian side (half day)
Rio tour, to Sugarloaf Mountain (half day)

Your holiday includes

Scheduled flights and internal flights
Overseas transfers and other transportation
3 nights’ accommodation with breakfast
The services of a Travelsphere Tour Manager and Local Guide
11 nights’ accommodation with breakfast
Hotel porterage (one bag per person)
All airport taxes and security charges
UK Airline Passenger Duty
All state and local taxes

With 50 years’ experience in arranging escorted tours to exciting destinations across the globe, Travelsphere have built an excellent reputation founded on quality and value.

By choosing a Travelsphere escorted holiday you can travel with confidence, knowing that every aspect of your holiday has been carefully planned and arranged from start to finish. Further to this they are ATOL bonded and members of ABTA.

Travelsphere’s thorough planning of travel arrangements, itineraries and accommodation combined with the unique insight of their knowledgeable Tour Managers and Local Guides will enable you to experience the culture, traditions and hidden away places less accessible to other travellers.

Our Opinion
“Travelsphere are one of the biggest names in the Escorted Tour market. Finely tuned over the last 50 years their tours have been tried, tested and refined by thousands of customers.”