Australia to South America

[Bella]

First of all can i say THANK YOU for this extremely informative site Mark - I have been blindly searching the net for weeks to find a helpful forum such as this and you have so much knowledge; thanks for sharing

Myself & my partner are travelling to South America for 3 months from early Feb 2010, (probably flying into Buenos Aires) and are trying to travel between countries as cheaply as possible whilst enjoying everything S.A. has to offer at our leisure. I have a few questions:

- I understand that in larger cities over Carnaval that accomodation & living expenses sky-rocket; I would love to have the full experience of Carnaval without the price tag and i am told smaller towns are the way to go. Are there any you would suggest? I am told Paraty & Ouro Preto are good, yet affordable; would you agree?

- I am looking for a cheap airline that will fly from Australia (most fly from Sydney, which is fine) to ANY country in South America, which ever is the cheapest; is there any airlines you could suggest? Aerolineas Argentina is the cheapest I have found, but I am told they are prone to rescheduling and "you get what you pay for" - are they still recommended; Or is there another you could suggest?

- As for getting around the different countries, would you suggest an "Airpass"(paying a set price and being able to travel around for up to 30days to a number of destinations)? Is this the cheapest option or should we just book flights as we go?

- We are very keen to visit Machu Picchu and i have read that it is quite expensive - can you provide a rough estimate of a price? Perhaps the approx charge p/night in budget accomodation, and what expenses (at what rate) we should expect?

- We would like to end our visit to South America with a brief visit to Mexico and head up to Las Vegas and fly home to Australia from North America. Are there any airlines you would suggest that are reasonably priced to fly us from S.A. to North America (Mexico)?

Sorry for the millions of questions, I thank you for taking the time to answer them. Great site, thanks again.

[Mark]

Thanks very much for the kind words! You'll have a wonderful time in South America. I'm going to cover your questions one by one.

Carnaval Accommodation
Prices for accommodation during Carnaval not only sky-rocket in every city, you also have to book well in advance to get a room. I have been in Paraty and Ouro Prêto and my choice would be the latter to enjoy Carnaval. Paraty is a very, very small coastal town. Ouro Prêto, on the other hand, is a very beautiful, picturesque town with wonderful churches. Do book accommodation well in advance. This is something you will have to plan to make it a success.

Flights from/to Australia and in South America
I'm from Belgium and can't give you sound advice about flights from and to Australia or North America. Aerolineas Argentina has had some issues lately but this does not mean the airline is unreliable. Maybe you can check matters with the ticket provider to see if there have been re-scheduling issues lately.

Air Passes
I have found excellent information about air passes that you should check out here.

Machu Picchu
The enigmatic Lost City of The Incas should not be missed. There are 3 possibilities to go to Machu Picchu: Train, Inca Trail or Lares Trek

Train
There are daily trains from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes. In Aguas Calientes you can either hop on the bus for the steep route to Machu Picchu or do the climb on foot.

Inca Trail
Due to the impact of mass tourism on Machu Picchu only 500 permits per day are issued for the Inca Trail. This permit should be booked well in advance. The permit is about AUD310/person. The trail is closed during the month of February for maintenance.

Lares Trek
The Lares Trek offers an alternative, but equally breathtaking, hike to Machu Picchu. You do not need permits for the Lares Trek.

If I know which of the 3 possibilities you're interested in I can give you a rough price of the overall cost.

[Bella]

Thanks for your words of wisdom Mark!

As for Carnaval, I think Ouro Prêto sounds like the way to go for the party atmosphere, so i will take your advice! Any idea roughly how much we should expect to pay per night over this period for budget accomodation? And in your opinion how long (approx) do you think we should stay here to get the full experience of Carnaval?

Thank you for your info about Machu Picchu, i think if possible we would still like to do the Inca Trail. How long will we need to complete this, and if you could give some info about rough prices for it that would be awesome - we need to ensure it fits into our budget.

Also, do you know of any cheap airlines to fly from South America over to Mexico, or Northern America?

Thanks again!

[Mark]

For accommodation it would be around US$50 per person/night. Carnaval is really a lot of fun. Try to spend at least 3 days. This will be an experience of a lifetime.

The Inca Trail is a 4 day, breathtaking, unforgettable adventure. You can have an idea of the cost at the site of our travel service partner here.

I can't help you with airlines. Maybe someone else can help you out with that.

[Bella]

Thanks for all your info Mark, you've been very helpful. If I have any more questions I might post again if thats ok keep up the good work! - Bella.

[Bella]

Hi Mark, finally got all the flights booked - thank you for your sound advice!

Unfortunately it would appear that i've taken too long and I am struggling to find accommodation over Carnaval; are there any websites you could suggest which will give me a complete list of hostels in Rio de Janiero and surrounding cities?
We had planned to spend Carnival in Ouro Preto but I am struggling to find any hostels with availability... Can you suggest any other small towns close to Rio that will have a good party atmosphere over this period? We fly into Rio on Feb 9th and want to be at our "Carnival destination" by the 11th/12th so something reasonably close is preferred. Any suggestions?

Thanks for all your advice!

[Mark]

You can also try Paraty (2 hours from Rio) or Olinda up North.

We have 2 hotel booking engines on the site. You can view availability of rooms and book online:
http://www.travel-amazing-southameri...ca-hotels.html