Why Argentina
The country stretches three thousand seven hundred kilometres from north to south, which gives it tropical waterfalls at one end and glaciers at the other. Patagonia and Iguazú are in the same country and five hours apart by plane.
Buenos Aires is an untidy European capital on a continent that is not one: Haussmann-style buildings, century-old cafés, a bookshop inside a theatre, and a nightlife that starts at midnight. Dinner is at ten at night, and that is not an exaggeration.
Getting around
The long-distance bus is excellent and it is the country's real network: cama seats recline fully and overnight journeys replace a hotel night. Buenos Aires–Bariloche takes nineteen hours and it is done.
Flying is unavoidable for Patagonia and Iguazú, where the road is measured in days. Rail survives only on a few lines. In the city, the metro and the buses run on the SUBE card, bought at a kiosk and topped up.
Money
This is the most changeable point in the country. Argentina long had two exchange rates, the official and the parallel, with a considerable gap between them; the situation has changed a great deal and continues to move. Get information on arrival rather than following last year's advice.
Inflation remains high: a price noted in a guidebook means nothing a few months later. Think in euros or dollars, and check on the spot.
Before you go
The hours shift everything: restaurants open at nine at night, bars fill at midnight, clubs at three. Arriving at a restaurant at eight means being there alone.
Patagonia closes out of season: from April to October, many refuges, agencies and bus connections stop, and El Chaltén or Ushuaia run at half speed. The wind there is constant and strong all year.
Mate is shared and drunk in turn through the same straw: refusing is not a problem, but saying thank you on the first sip means you do not want to be served again. It is the one common misstep.