How Long Would It Take To Drive From Washington DC to Argentina in South America?

Question

I plan on driving, there and need to know how long it will take...

Answer 1

A long, long time.  Costs and environmental issues have and are preventing a stretch of the Pan Am from being built through an area in Panama called the Darien Gap.  You will have to plan other means of traveling from Panama to Colombia.

Answer 2

your going to ...drive to south america...........you do know theresthat thing of water in your way

Answer 3

From Washington DC to Corpus Christi, Texas, the distance is about 1500 miles and another 700 miles or so from Corpus to Mexico City.  The distance from Mexico City to Argentina is 4,589 miles.  You're talking about roughly 7000 plus miles because the roads, of course, will not be straight.  Supposing that you have no mechanical problems, if you drive 12 hours a day at 30 miles per hour, it would take you around 19.4 days to drive the distance.  Of course there is always Murphy's law, so it might take you forever, especially when you will be dealing with all the banditry, thievery, corruption and occasional kidnappings that are prevalent in South America.

Answer 4

It would take approximately forever.  You'll have to stop to get visa's for each country. Some countries depending on thier current situations may not want to issue a visa at all. You'd also have to deal with issue's like whether or not they'll accept an int'l driver's license, etc...  Sounds like fun, but not likely practical.

You are in DC though, so all the embassies should be there. Good luck.

EDIT

Just because the Pan American highway is not complete doesn't mean there are not other roads to take.FYI everyone.

Answer 5

Crono, there's no water between N. & S. america! lol look at a map...

*But it's true you can't drive from one to the other just because the panamerican highway cuts off in panama & resumes again in colombia (the darien gap)...

People I talked to have driven by motorcycle from N. to S., and crosses the gap by getting their bikes lifted on helicopters - so try that!

Answer 6

You can drive most of the way, though it verges on the foolhardy to do so. There is a gap, the Darien Gap in Panama on the South American side of the canal, where it is necessary to put the car on a boat to Colombia because there is no road passable for cars.

Depending on where you are going in Argentina, I would allow not less than 2 months, though it can probably be done a bit faster. Some of the roads are excellent, some are passable, and in a few places barely count as roads. Take lots of stuff for minor car repairs and allow lots of time for damages like broken headlights and windshields to be repaired. Allow lots of time for border crossings and sometimes, though not recently, long detours have been necessary because of insurgent activity and military roadblocks. And allow lots of time because you will be passing through beautiful and fascinating country with lots of interesting things to see, food to taste., etc.

Buenos Aires is quite a bit closer than the absolute end of the road at Ushuaia. If you plan to drive to that point, add another 2 weeks.