Three to four places to visit in South America?

Question

Next year I'm wanting to take my wife, her mom and one of our friends to South America. We want to go to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires for sure, are there any other destinations that are a must or would be interesting to explore? Medellin or Bogota? Caracas? Santiago? Lima or Cuzco? Monteviedo? Any information is appreciated.

If you know of any websites where they do multi-country or multi city tours it would be appreciated. I'm in Dallas, TX USA. Thanks!

Answer 1

You will love Peru.

Peru has a very rich culture and lots of places to visit.

You can go to:

Cusco (Macchu Picchu)

To Ica (Paracas Reserve and Nazca Lines)

Lima (The capital city lots of fine restaurants with delicious food and good night entertainment). There are also good city tours. Also good shopping malls.

Northern Peru Coast, beaches (Mancora and Punta Sal).

Northern Jungle (Iquitos, Moyobamba, Cajamarca)

Southern Virgin Jungle (Reserve of Manu).

And lots of places more...

For more info Visit:

http://www.peru.info/perueng.asp...

http://www.enjoyperu.com/

http://www.justperu.org/

http://www.livinginperu.com/

Have fun :)

Answer 2

Macchu Pichu - hands down!  Go to Cuzco (not Lima) and then you can get to Macchu Pichu from there. I've never been, but it's a dream of mine.

Answer 3

-Ushuaia in Argentina (the most southern city in the world)

-Bariloche in Argentina (one of the most beautiful cities in the continent)

-Cartagena in Colombia (I have never been there but this is a beautiful city and Colombian people are very friendly)

-Punta del Este in Uruguay (wonderful beaches)

Answer 4

Well personally I think that you shouldn't limit your travel sites to SOuth America. Have you ever considered, say, Nicaragua? or Panama?

Nicaragua is unlike anything you have eer seen. It is beautiful and the people are very friendly. There is a lot of tourist sites and tourist help available. Definitely worth visiting. Maybe not this trip, maybe some other time..or maybe now..WHy not? But i cannot begin to describe the amazing experiences i have had there!!

Answer 5

RIO

IGUAZU

BUENOS AIRES

BARILOCHE

USHUAIA ( and maybe take a cruise to Antarctica)

Answer 6

Argentina and Chile. Wine paradise.

Answer 7

well, if you are going to Colombia i would better recommend Medellin because its safer then Bogota, and its more calmed, its a really beautiful place because of its train, its just beautiful, also go to north of Colombia like, Santa Marta, cartagena, these are beautiful places with great weather that you will truly enjoy, i am jealous, hope you have fun!

Answer 8

Arenal Volcano, Monteverde , and Punta Leona are all in Costa Rica and are all amazing to see. I would recommend all of them! though Punta Leona is more resorty.

Answer 9

Hola colombia is a country beautiful the beaches mas pretty of latinoamerica estan in colombia and brasil.

In colombia this san andres islands, the city of cartagena considered historical patrimony of the humanity, holy marten you go to tayona pretty mas is of colombia clean beaches white and very calm sand.

In colombia also you can find snow in the covered with snow saw of holy covered with snow or the snow-capped mountain of the ruiz.

You can vistar bogota the capital the persons are very nice, medellin and cali the very nice happy persons and have beautiful landscapes, rivers, mountains, the park of the coffee, lagoons etc

Argentine and brasil also they are very pretty countries.

If you need info of colombia I I can offer you, a few Australian friends were in my country 1 month 9 man and they are very nice and happy we did nice friendship they remained in the house hotel of my sister.

medellin or bogota = MEDELLIN

Answer 10

My dad lived in Chile for six months and loved it! He NEVER likes anywhere, NEVER wants to stay anywhere for long but, he wanted to stay there for good but, had his wallet swiped and lost access to his bank account and all that lovely stuff and my moronic sister didn't send him the information fast enough, but that was his only problem was getting pick pocketed. He said it was friggen awesome, the people are REALLY friendly, just don't try to drink a chilean under the table cus they'll whoop you! Also the spanish they speak there is really fast and full of slang he met people that have lived there for years and still had issues understanding it. I've never been there but judging on how much he raves about it, how clean it is (you have to purchase toilet paper in the "public" bathrooms just so you know) and how nice the people are, the food is really fresh and the air is clean. He was outside of the capital somewhere not quite sure where. He also went to Argentina once and liked it there a lot said the coffee was really good...obviously. Well have a great trip, make sure you put wallet, money etc in your FRONT pocket and keep an eye out for pick pockets.

Answer 11

San Andres,Colombia!!! beautiful island... the people there are really friendly... its very very beautiful!!!

Answer 12

All of the cities that interest you are beautiful.  In Colombia, I would include Cartagena, which is on the Caribbean side.  Santiago is great, scenery, food, wine... Caracas...I don´t care much for at the moment because of Chavez...I went there a few months ago and felt harassed by immigration officers and police in general, always wanting ´coimas´.  Also, there is a big problem with the highway to the international airport that collapsed and traffic was awful.

In Peru, definitely Cuzco!

Other destinations that are nice are Panama, where you can see the Atlantic and Pacific oceans the same day...they are 1 hour away and there is a beautiful train that runs right along the Panama Canal.  Lovely and lots to see!

Answer 13

Cartagena, Colombia, really beautiful place to go..i am sure you will love it..plus, in Cartagena you can go to islas del rosario. 2 hours away is Santa Marta, also really beautiful, and you can go to tayrona park. Barranquilla, the four largest city of Colombia is also 2 hours away from Cartagena. Santa Marta has the second most beautuful beach in the world. bogota is also good to go. very cultural city and very secure

Answer 14

I cannot tell you much about the other cities you mentioned but I can share about my favorite places of interest in Peru.

Now , you have picked two cities in Peru: Lima and Cuzco. First, I don't know what your interests are so I will mention some broad choices then you can decide which you like best. Lima is very crowded and traffic is chaotic. But if you go to the places off the Pacific Ocean, it has a great Ocean view! We were driven by a friend to the handicraft market in Miraflores. Sorry, I cannot recall the name but it is a large market selling all kinds of handicrafts from all over Peru. The women in your group probably would love shopping there!

If you mention "El Mercado de Artesania en Miraflores" (=The Artesian market in Miraflores) to your Hotel clerk, he/she may be able to give you directions or if on tour, a guide might be able to take you there. Enroute there we ate at a restaurant with a great view and good food! It is at a Mall by the Pacific Ocean. It's called "Vista al Mar". We tried a dessert called "Tres Leche Keke" (=3 milk cake) - deeeelicious!!! The seafood is good there.There is also Old Lima with the Cathedral. It is good to visit the cathedral and buy ticket (10 soles, their money) so there will be a guide to tell you its history. Very interesting. The Spanish architecture in this part of Lima is pretty. (2 yrs ago, it was USA$1= 3 soles)

Cuzco is a wonderful city to visit because it is the Springboard to see many places of interest. Around and in Cuzco, there are things to see. Historical places and so on. But you can join a tour that would take you along the Valle de Sagrado (Sacred Valley) where there are ruins of civilizations past and more markets. Markets are everywhere. This is where you buy Peruvian things to take home. At Ollantaytambo, you can see a traditional Inca home.We also took a train from Cuzco to Machu Picchu. Be prepared to set aside a whole day for this. At the base of this mountain fortress ruins, you board a bus that will take you halfway up the mountain and then you climb the steps all the way to the top. When you reach the top, the view is breathtaking! You can borrow the walking stick they provide (like a hiking stick) at the entrance to the climb. It helped me go up (I have an arthritic knee but made it to the top!) This is a must-see if you go to Peru! The train ride passes through nice scenery: lovely mountains, herds of Llamas and Alpacas.

Places of interest in the Cuzco area are:

1) Sacsayhuaman: ruins of a walled fort that has a zigzag appearance. The Incas built their buildings, rock upon rock, hewn to fit like a puzzle, with no mortar in between

to secure them together. Yet they lasted through centuries. It's amazing!

2) another Great Cathedral in Plaza de Armas

3) Qorikancha/Santo Domingo Convent. This is a convent built over an Inca temple . Beautiful Spanish architecture.And some History (I love History)

These are just a few places.

One word of caution: if you go to Cuzco from Lima or anywhere from a lower altitude, you must take Altitude sickness prevention medication which you need to ask your USA doctor to prescribe. I took them the day I flew out of the USA and I was well but we flew from Lima (lower level) to Puno in the Andes (Cusco is also in the Andes area) and my companions suffered from altitude sickness for one and a half days! They had headaches and nausea and my roommate could not even get up to comb her hair. They might give the sick person oxygen to breathe from a tank, but relief is temporary. The hotel personell offered us Coca Tea, which the locals swore would prevent this but my friends drank it and still got sick. Another friend took along the medication with her but ate it on the day before the flight to Puno. It did not help her. The medicine must be taken earlier. The pharmacist would/should advise you. I hope this helps.