Great Rail Journeys of South America
Immerse yourself in the culture and geography of South America. Featuring the great train journeys that span this great continent –
• The picturesque valleys in Salta (Train to the clouds)
• The scenic mountain range of the Andean region, (Train to Machu Picchu) (Andean Explorer across the Altiplano)
• The wonders of nature across Patagonia (End of the World Train)
• The Chubut Mountain range (Las Trochita Train)
• Devils Nose Train across the Avenue of the Volcanoes mountain range
• Chasqui Antawa Train (Messenger Train) to the valley of Otavalo.
• Vistadome Train to the famous Machu Picchu Ruins
• Andean Explorer train across the Altiplano to Lake Titicaca
Apart from the fabulous train journeys, the tour will highlight the metropolitan city of Buenos Aires, Salta, Ushuaia, the glacier district of El Calafate, the lakes District of Bariloche and Puerto Varas, the Andean city of Quito, Lima, the Inca Capital of Cuzco and Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca.
Departure : 04 April 2011 - SOLD OUT
26 September 2011
*** This tour will run as an independant tour in 2012. If you are interested in this tour please contact us for dates.
31 DAYS
Day 1: Australia (Melbourne /Sydney / Brisbane) – Buenos Aires
* * *PLEASE NOTE* * * Entry Request Fee to Argentina:
When entering Argentine Territory, the nationals of the following countries must pay a "reciprocity fee" in accordance with the following chart:
• Australian: U$D 100 - • Canadian: U$D 70 - • American: U$D 131
The payment of this "reciprocity fee" is NOT a Visa:
Payment methods: • Argentine Pesos, • United States Dollars, • Credit Cards,
• Traveller’s Checks.
On arrival in Buenos Aires, you will be met by our guide and transferred to your hotel. (Private service)
Day 2: Buenos Aires (B D)
Half Day City Tour of Buenos Aires
DINNER & TANGO SHOW: “Esquina de Carlos Gardel” (Seat in coach service)
Day 3: Buenos Aires (B)
Half Day Tigre Tour with Delta Cruise and Coast Line train
This four hour tour takes you through the elegant northern riverside suburbs of Vicente Lopez, Olivos, where the President's Residence is located, San Isidro and its gothic Cathedral and San Fernando before reaching Tigre.
Day 4: Buenos Aires - Salta (B)
Departure transfer
You will be met at the hotel foyer and transferred to Aeroparque domestic airport. (Private service).
Flight to Salta.
The northwest of Argentina is an area with the most abrupt changes of climate and landscape in the country. Hispanic
culture has left a strong mark here, adobe homes and modest churches in can be found in nearly every community,and the remains of pre-Hispanic culture are everywhere
On arrival at Salta airport, you will be transferred to your hotel. (Private service with guide)
Day 5: Salta (B)
Full Day Tour: Humahuaca Gorge
Full-day excursion to Quebrada de Humahuaca and pre-Hispanic towns.
Accommodation: Altos de Balcarce.
Day 6: Salta - Tren de las Nubes (B)
A 438km long journey to the impressive Polvorilla viaduct (224m long, 63m high) It
takes about 13 hours.
Day 7: Salta - Buenos Aires - Ushuaia (B)
Departure transfer
You will be met at your hotel foyer and transferred to the airport.
Flight to Ushuaia.
USHUAIA , the hub of tourism in Tierra del Fuego, lies in the far south of the island. Dramatically located between the
mountains - amongst them Cerro Martial and Monte Olivia - and the sea, the town tumbles down the hillside to the wide, encircling arm of land that protects its bay from the southwesterly winds and occasional thrashing storms of the icy Beagle Channel.
Arrival transfer
Our guide will meet you on arrival and tansferred to your hotel. (Private driver only service)
Day 8: Ushuaia (B)
Train Ticket for the End of the World Train
At the Pipo River's valley, we can find the Southern Fuegian Railway Station, after a brief visit of its buildings we will start the train tour that will take us visiting part of the old railway used by the prisoners of the Old Prison.
Day 9: Ushuaia - El Calafate (B)
Departure transfer
You will be picked up and transferred out from your hotel to the airport. (Private service).
Flight to El Calafate.
EL CALAFATE is the centre of the tourist network in the deep south of mainland Argentinian Patagonia, and is one of
the country's most-visited tourist destinations.
On arrival at Calafate airport, you will be met by our guide and transferred to your hotel. (Private service, English
speaking guide.)
Day 10: El Calafate (B)
Full Day Perito Moreno Tour (Private service)
Departure from El Calafate bordering the southern arm of the Argentine Lake to get to Los Glaciares National Park (90 km away).
OPTIONAL: Navigation closer to the Glacier Walls and mini-trekking on the glacier, directed by experienced guides.
Return to hotel for overnight.
Day 11: El Calafate - Bariloche (B)
You will be met at your hoteL foyer and transferred to El Calafate airport. (Private service)
Flight to Bariloche.
Approaching from the north, you can appreciate the mountain backdrop of the holiday capital of Argentinian Patagonia, BARILOCHE, or San Carlos de Bariloche, to give it its full title, spread along the dry southeastern shores of Lago Nahuel Huapi.
On arrival at San Carlos de Bariloche airport, you will be met by your guide and transferred to your hotel downtown.
(Private service)
Day 12: San Carlos de Bariloche - Esquel (B)
Transfer to Esquel
Esquel, it is the most important tourist center of the Chubut mountain range standing over a beautiful mountainous valley.
Accommodation: Hotel Tehuelche.
Day 13: Esquel- Las Trochita - Bariloche (B)
OLD PATAGONIAN EXPRESS "LA TROCHITA"
Half day excursion.
Declared to be a National Historic Patrimony, this steam engine train of a 75 cm wide track, travels across patagonian
steppe, pulling small wooden wagons heated by "Salamandras", iron stoves that keep going by passengers adding wood to it. Transfer to Bariloche
Day 14: San Carlos de Bariloche (B)
Day at leisure.
Day 15: San Carlos de Bariloche - Puerto Varas (B)
Full Day Lakes Crossing: Bariloche - Puerto Montt*
(Includes transfer from hotel in Bariloche to Lakes Crossing Office, and transfer from Lakes Crossing Office in Puero
Varas to Puerto Varas Hotels). Full day crossing where you will experience the majesty of the Argentinean and Chilean Lakes District. The land of
snow capped volcanoes, emerald green lakes, set amid beautiful mountains, spectacular waterfalls and friendly villages, this trip is renowned for its beauty.
Day 16: Puerto Varas - Quito (B)
Departure transfer
Our guide will meet you at your hotel and transfer you to Puerto Montt Airport.
(Private service with English speaking driver only)
Flight to Quito.
Quito is the capital of Ecuador and of Pichincha, the country's most populous Andean province. Situated 116 miles from the Pacific coast at an altitude of 9,350 feet, just south of the equator, it has a pleasant climate that can be described as "permanent spring".
Upon arrival into Quito airport, you will be met by our guide and transferred to your hotel.
• Private service
Day 17: Quito (B)
Half Day City Tour of Quito & Middle of the World Monument
Day 18: Quito - Devils Nose Train - Rio Bamba (B)
2 Day/1 Night Devil's Nose Tour - "Riobamba by Train" (Seat in coach service)
(Only operates: Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday)
Day 1: Quito - Baños - Riobamba
After boarding the train you will be going through the Andes along the Avenue of Volcanoes on the way to Ambato and Baños. Baños is a quite Andean town, surrounded by snow-capped volcanoes and with wonderful hot springs. We will visit the zoo, the Sanctuary of the Holy Water Virgin, and the beautiful waterfalls like ‘El Manto de la Novia’ by cable car. In the afternoon we will be arriving to Riobamba, located at the foothill of the Chimborazo volcano.
Day 19: Rio Bamba - Quito (B)
Riobamba - Devil's Nose Train - Quito (B)
Board the train to the scenic ride to Alausi (ticket included), and then after a 2 hour trip you will be going through “The Devil’s Nose” way to Huigra . Return by train to Alausí, and then by car to Quito.
• Tour includes: Transfers, accommodation in Riobamba (breakfast included) and train ticket.
Day 20: Quito - Chasqui Antawa (B)
Full Day Tour: "Chaski Antawa" & Otavalo Market
The Chaski Antawa Train (messenger train) rides on the railroad built at the beginning of the 20th century connecting the northern highlands with the tropical coast
Day 21: Quito - Lima (B)
Departure transfer
Our guide will meet you at the hotel foyer and transfer you to the airport in Quito.
Flight to Lima.
Lima is situated in the coastal desert district between the Pacific Ocean and the western hills of the Andes mountains.
Day 22: Lima - Cuzco (B)
Flight to Cuzco.
Cuzco or Qosqo, was the capital of the Inca empire – one of the greatest planned societies the world has ever known – from the 11th to the early 16th century. Standing at 3310 metres above sea level, Cuzco has around 280,000 inhabitants, mostly descendants of the Quechua tribes. The city is remarkable for its many colonial churches, monasteries, convents and for its extensive Inca ruins.
On arrival to Cuzco city, you will be collected from the airport by our guide and transferred to your hotel. (Private service)
Day 23: Cuzco - Sacred Valley (B L)
Full Day Tour to Sacred Valley - Pisac Market & Ollantaytambo (Private service including lunch)
• Tour includes: Land transportation, English speaking guide, entrance fees & lunch (Tour duration: approx. 8 hours)
Day 24: Yucay - Machu Picchu (B L)
Railway transfer
You will be met at your hotel foyer and transferred to the Ollantaytambo train station. (Seat in coach service)
2 Day/1 Night Machu Picchu Package - Inti Inn
An early morning transfer to Ollantaytambo railway station where you will board the train to the Aguas Calientes station
and then a bus to Machu Picchu, the fabled city of the Incas.
• Package includes: Land transfers in Cuzco & Aguas Calientes, return Vistadome train tickets, guided tour through
Machu Picchu Citadel by bilingual guide, and accommodation in Aguas Calientes.
Day 25: Machu Picchu - Cuzco (B)
In the morning you can visit Machu Picchu once again, enjoying another aspect of Machu Picchu in the early morning tranquillity. In the afternoon take the tourist train back to Ollanta or Poroy Station, Cuzco. (Please note that the entrance fee to the park is not included for this second day.)
Day 26: Cuzco (B D)
Half Day City Tour of Cuzco (private service)
• Tour includes: Return hotel transfers, English speaking guide & entrance fees
Farewell Dinner & Show at typical local restaurant in Cuzco
Dinner at Tunupa Restaurant or similar. This evening you will be able to sample some of the local dishes as well as enjoying the Andean music and folkloric show. Dinner and transfers included.
Day 27: Cuzco - Puno (B L)
Railway Transfer
You will be met at your hotel in Cuzco, and be transferred to the railway station in Cuzco for your onward train trip. "Andean Explorer" First Class Train journey between Cuzco and Lake Titicaca. The Andean Explorer is exquisitely decorated in the fine manner of the great Pullman trains of the 1920’s and boasts a full fleet of refurbished coaches including dining cars and an open-air observation bar car, which is unique in South America.
• Includes three-course lunch aboard the train.
Puno was the territory of the Tiahuanacos (800 A.D. – 1200 A.D.) who were the highest cultural expression of the Aymara people that established themselves in what is today Peru and Bolivia. The Incas took over these lands in the fifteenth century, and the Spanish, attracted by the mining industry developed there, left an important Colonial legacy throughout the entire area.
Day 28: Puno (B)
Half Day Uros Islands Tour (Private service)
Half day tour to Uros Islands to experience the Andean culture. The lives of the Uros Indians are dependent upon thetortora reeds. You will note that their boats, their houses and their islands are even made from these reeds.
• Tour includes: Return transfers & bilingual guide.
Accommodation: Casa Andina Tikarani.
Day 29: Puno - Lima - Santiago - Australia (B)
Departure transfer
Our guide will meet you at your hotel in Puno and will be transferred to Juliaca airport. (Private service)
Flight to Sydney via Santiago.
Day 30 In flight
Day 31 Arrive in Australia (to Melbourne / Brisbane)
END OF SERVICES
PACKAGE (Land and Air):Price on application
TOUR INCLUDES:
- International economy airfares ex MEL/BNE/SYD
- Internal flights within South America
- Accommodation in tourist superior class hotels with private facilities
- Meals as indicated (B= breakfasts, L= lunches, D = dinner)
- Return economy Vistadome train to Machu Picchu
- Train journeys as per itinerary.
- Transport by air conditioned vehicles
- Comprehensive sightseeing and excursions
- Meeting service and airport transfers
- English speaking local guides
- Tour Escort (minimum 6 people)
TOUR EXCLUDES:
- Air taxes (taxes invoiced as tickets are issued
- Departure taxes (paid locally at airports)
- Tipping