BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi my gf and I are planning to travel around South America in Jan 2009, We are wanting to go for 6 months however our problem is the route we should take. Below are the countries we wish to visit and the lengths of times we wish to visit for.

Argentina 1 month
Brazil 5 weeks
Bolivia 2 weeks
Venezuala 3 weeks
Ecuador 3 weeks
Paraguay 1 week
Chile 3 weeks
Uruguay 1 week

Which route do you guys think we should take?
we obviously want to do Angel Falls, Galapagos Islands, Patagonia, and are considering going to les Roche?

Thanks for your help,

Chris

Glean the South America boards for "Best of" posts. I have seen one at least for Argentina. Without seeing Peru and not on a backpacker budget, the world is your oyster, which means less time on buses. You could fly into Patagonia to start, and take a bus northbound through Argentina to the different places you'd like to see. From there, ferry it to Uruguay, return to Argentina and fly out to La Paz, Bolivia. You can get over to Brazil via bus or plane, and from Brazil, quite frankly, I'd skip Paraguay and Venezuela, and spend that same amount of time in Colombia, then cut over to Ecuador and fly back home.

PS I hear the Brazilian visas are easier to obtain down south near the Iguazu border...so wait on the Brazil visa until then. Don't forget your yellow fever shots!

I:
As soutyh America have lany interesting points... but they are so far each other that sometimes make no sense to take buses (even.. they are veeery comfortable. You can sleep very well), I send to travellers this info about an air pass to visit 5 countries:
Mercosur Air Pass
I a product that offers preferential prices to fly in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay on the main airlines of those countries:
Conditions:
- Valid only for the holder of an international ticket from a non South American country to any of the countries included in the Pass.
- Applicable to travel on economic class only.
- Sale and Issuance: Outside South America.
- Stay Period: between 7 days from the day after the itinerary start and 45 days
- Up to 8 coupons can be purchased.
- Prices: these prices are applied based on the accumulated mileage from the complete MERCOSUR AIRPASS itinerary.
Accumulated Mileage USD
1200 - 1900 295
1901 - 2500 375
2501 - 3200 455
3201 - 4200 585
4201 - 5200 695
5201 - 6200 825
6201 - 7200 955
7201 - 8200 1075
8201 - 9200 1195

- Baggage Allowance: the reference is the allowance of the international transportation arriving to the first destination of MERCOSUR AIRPASS.
- Stay Stops: a maximum of three stay stops in each country shall be allowed not including MERCOSUR AIRPASS origin and destination points.
- Surcharges: a USD 30 security fee shall be charged for the whole itinerary.
- Discounts: Routes must include at least two countries in the applicable area and they are limited to a maximum of four (4) coupons per country.
- Devolution due to Cancellation and Not Turning Up for the Flight: Can only be done before the flight and it includes a USD 50 charge. No devolution after flight departure.
- Reservation or Route Changes: USD 50 per operation

I'd do an anti-clockwise loop - fly into Caracas ,and back from Rio / Sao Paulo (or vice versa).

Why aren't you going to Colombia? It has much more to offer than Venezuela (personal opinion of course).

Why Colombia is better than Venezuela in almost every single way