Some tips for traveling on bus through Tucuman, Cafayate, Tafi del Valle, Salta and Mendoza.
-Choose the cama option ALWAYS. For 10 dollars more you won't suffer from a terrible neck ache the rest of your vacation.
-When given a chance to choose a seat it's best to go for the one without a passenger in front and farthest away from the bathroom (stinky and lots of transit by it).
-Tickets do run out on buses so if you have a chance to buy them all at once do so and try to stick to that schedule.
-Bring your own toilet paper while traveling- major lack of it in all public bathrooms.
-Many buses don't offer food or snacks even if it is over an 8 hr ride so I highly recommend buying some stuff before you get on since most buses won't make stops.
-Invest in one of those neck pillows preferably the ones that blow up (they're around 15 pesos or 4 U.S. dollars).
-Take a sheet with you, it gets pretty chilly and it's always nice to be able to snuggle on an 18 hr. bus ride.
-It does matter what bus line you take- I was stuck in the Andes for over 5 hours because I chose the wrong bus and another one of my bus rides broke down because of the AC. All in all about 8 hrs. lost on waiting for the buses to get their act together.
-Bus lines I recommend in Argentina: CATA and Flecha Bus (Cata served champagne- this is the type of buses people rave about BUT be careful they're not all like this).
-Always have some change on you for the people that load and unload your luggage- sometimes the baggage handlers won't give you the ticket label of your luggage unless you hand over a few pesos (often will complain if the amount is too small) and you need this in order to get your luggage at the end of the ride.
-Keep your stuff close to you, no incidents of theft but I made sure to hold on to my stuff while I slept or stuff it under my seat.
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Autobus trips in Argentina can be one tough experience. It is Ok if you are only travelling for 6 hours to get to the Costa Beaches (Costa Atlantica) but if you are heading north like Salta of south like Bariloche, then you could be in trouble. Highways and routes are not safe since Argentine people drive very bad. If you have a very long trip, like let´s say 15 hours, you should make sure that your Autobus has beds to sleep in. Last year I rented an apartment in buenos aires and after that I travelled to Salta. That bed was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Tiffany
I'll have to travel by bus because planes are pretty expensive for foreign people in Argentina. I came across with a Argentina travel guide and after reading along I decided to travel to Bariloche, the only problem is that it will like 20 hours by bus, is this correct?
ReplyDeleteHi Pamy,
ReplyDeleteWe often don't realize how huge Argentina is. Unfortunately, that's correct and I've actually heard it's more like 24 hours to Bariloche and that's if everything goes well. Traveling by plane is incredibly expensive and in fact this year flights went up an additional 30%, but traveling by bus takes forever. I would recommend flying down to the south and then busing through there so that you're not trying to recover from your bus ride throughout your vacation. Riding the bus back, after your vacation is okay since you're so tired that you can just sleep through it. I've slept through an 18 hr bus ride after traveling for 2 weeks. I hope this information helps.