Most travelers to southern South America will arrive in Buenos Aires and begin their trip from there. Although many profess wanting to tour Argentina, it seems one of the first places most wish to visit is Torres del Paine National Park. There is no question that Torres del Paine is a spectacular park, but the fact is it is in Chile and not Argentina and so it’s best to decide whether one may not be better off to trek Cerro Torre and Mount Fitz Roy in Argentina rather than Torres del Paine.

Though to fly from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, in the heart of Argentine Patagonia, and overland from there, is geographically straight and shortest way to get to Torres del Paine, the transportation to the park is not exactly convenient nor overabundant and if time is of essence this may be an issue. There is public bus from El Calafate to Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas one can catch and hop off it at the park’s entry, and private transfers are available as well though not plentiful nor cheap.

Without a doubt the best access to Torres del Paine is from Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales, south of Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia. Of course this poses a bit of a dilemma if starting from Buenos Aires. To get to Punta Arenas can be done either by flight via Santiago de Chile or by going to Bariloche in the heart of Argentine Andes first and from there overland across the Andes Lakes District to Puerto Montt and fly to Punta Arenas from there.

If going to Punta Arenas via Santiago may seem like a cumbersome detour, then add a stop and break up the trip by visiting Mendoza first. Mendoza is an easy flight from Buenos Aires and on the way to Santiago. In Mendoza you can tour the best wineries of the region, sample local dishes, lodge at some wonderful hotels, and after three or four days continue on to Santiago.

A better alternative is indeed to forget Torres del Paine altogether, tailor it into your itinerary on a future trip focusing on Chile only, and instead proceed from El Calafate to El Chalten, a base town for treks into the wilds of the incredible Cerro Torre and Mount Fitz Roy. If you are on a limited time, from El Chalten you can head back to El Calafate and return to Buenos Aires from there.

To add more stops you need more time. With ideally two weeks, you can add two more stops on your tour of Argentina. After touring Retiro, Palermo, downtown of Buenos Aires, Puerto Madero, San Telmo, Recoleta and La Boca, and seeing at least one tango show, you can then fly to Puerto Madryn to see whales and penguins. Peninsula Valdes is definitely the place to see and it is also half way down to Ushuaia in Southern Patagonia, the second stop you can add.

Ushuaia is your starting point for a full day excursion of trekking and canoeing in the Tierra del Fuego National Park. To make best of your trip to Southern Patagonia, you need two days there minimum and on your second day go on a navigation tour of the Beagle Channel.

Your last stop could either be a trek in Torres del Paine or at least a visit to Punta Arenas and Puorto Natales, for your glimpse of Chilean Patagonia and that’s it, you will be out of time – you definitively do not have time to tour Chile beyond.

Alternatively, from Ushuaia you could fly to El Calafate and from there make a rewarding excursion to Perito Moreno Glacier. The next day you could visit Upsala and Onelli Glaciers and return to Buenos Aires after that.

For a change in scenery, feeling you may have had enough of Patagonia after your stops in the very south, you could head for the extreme north of Argentina to the magnificent Iguazu National Park, and tour the Argentine as well as Brazilian sides of the impressive Iguazu Falls.

All in all four, maximum five stops, is all you can do with 14 days in Argentina. Keep on mind that the fifth stop will definitely add to your overall tour costs, and your trip will also be more hurried. Best keep your trip to Argentina to four stops only and you will get more enjoyment from your journey. To see more there is always next time.

Of course it could be you crave to see the magic of Machu Picchu up close at last, and maybe even trek the Inca Trail, then you have your decision made already, go to Peru.

On the other hand, if on your one and only trip to Mexico you were bit overwhelmed and experienced bit of the Latino culture shock, then best ease your way into South America on your first trip.

There are two countries which stand out of the norm of South America travel, where you’ll unlikely feel the culture shock, and that’s Argentina and Chile. And for a simple reason –either of the two countries will feel more like a slice of Europe than of Latin America.

For one, there is hardly any native population left, meaning the indigenous Indian, Kechua cultures having been annihilated by the Spanish and Portuguese at the time of their conquest during colonial era beginnings. Though on one hand the lack of the native cultures provides for less color and diminishes the cultural makeup that is so fascinating in countries such as Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, and which is precisely the reason what makes those countries so fascinating, in Argentina and Chile the absence of these ethnic cultures gives those countries semblance of more affluence.

Additionally, cities such as Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile are more like a cross between Paris, Rome, Barcelona and Madrid than a typical Latin American metropolis style Lima, Quito, La Paz, Mexico City or Tegucigalpa.

In fact after you explore Argentina, for example, and you start traveling north from Buenos Aires to Uruguay, only a ferry boat across the bay, you will immediately start noticing the more traditional South American cultural mix as you get to Montevideo, where you first come across the Caribbean cultural presence, which in Argentina is essentially nonexistent, and with the change there will also be more poverty.

Needless to say, South America is vast and there are so many fascinating corners to explore, so by now you will be eager to sample all of its cultural riches and nothing will deter you.