{"id":2246,"date":"2014-10-10T16:04:45","date_gmt":"2014-10-10T16:04:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/?p=2246"},"modified":"2020-01-24T10:09:39","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T10:09:39","slug":"south-america-flyer-under-the-microscope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/2014\/10\/south-america-flyer-under-the-microscope\/","title":{"rendered":"South America Flyer under the Microscope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tucan Travel have launched a new Adventure Tour called ‘South America Flyer<\/a>‘, In just 11 days, you will be able to\u00a0admire colossal natural wonders and get to know Latin America’s most electrifying cities as you\u00a0travel across the continent from Santiago to Rio de Janeiro<\/a>. Encompassing South America’s principle gastronomic region, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to sample world class cuisine and taste some truly exceptional wines.<\/p>\n

Day 1 – Santiago<\/p>\n

Today, Santiago is a bustling cosmopolitan capital, but in the past it has been the backdrop for dark, dramatic events in the nation’s history. Just walk past the Chilean presidential palace, the ‘Palacio de la Moneda’ in the city centre, and you will discover\u00a0bullet holes that can still be seen on certain lamp-posts and buildings around the Plaza de la Constitucion.\u00a0In the 1970s, with the then-President Salvador Allende Gossens still inside,\u00a0the palace was bombarded by the Chilean Air Force during the military coup d’\u00e9tat, ushering in a dark period in Chile\u2019s national history in which the civilian government was abolished and Augusto Pinochet ruled a brutal dictatorship.<\/p>\n

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Palacio de la Moneda, Santiago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nowadays, Santiago is a modern metropolis, and the best way to see it all is on a walking tour through the city centre. You will pass the Plaza de Armas, bordered on one side by the impressive Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago,\u00a0the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, an impressive fine art gallery housed in a colossal neo-classical building,\u00a0and the city’s most renowned markets, such as the Mercado Central, one of the best seafood markets in the world.\u00a0For the best views of the city, take a cable car or hike to the top of San Cristobal Hill, where the Statue of the Virgin overlooks the sprawling capital and the distant Andes that tower over the beautiful cityscape below. On San Cristobal, you can taste some of Chile’s best wines and seafood dishes in restaurants that offer exceptional views, especially at dusk.<\/p>\n

Days 2-4 – Mendoza<\/p>\n

Mendoza is the epicentre of Argentina’s wine country. Rebuilt on a grid system after a devastating earthquake flattened the city in 1861, \u00a0the resulting tree-lined avenues and beautiful green plazas are reminiscent of certain European cities like Lyon, and make for a perfect aimless wander.\u00a0Situated on the foothills of the Andes, the city is a great base to explore the surrounding countryside. For the adrenaline junky you can go white-water rafting, rappelling and horseback riding, the latter finishing with a steak BBQ and campfire that offers some great opportunities for star-gazing.\u00a0But of course no trip to Mendoza would be complete without touring the surrounding vineyards. You can hire bikes and cycle the \u2018Ruta de los Vinos’ (wine route), visiting both ancient bodegas and working commercial wineries, tasting some of the best Malbecs in the world.<\/p>\n

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Vineyards in Mendoza, Argentina<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Days 5-7<\/p>\n

Buenos Aires, known as the ‘Paris of South America’ due to its lovely green parks, plazas and wide boulevards, is home to quirky local neighbourhoods where European and Latin American influences have mixed together to create a city like no other. Stroll down Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest avenue in the world, spotting the impressive Teatro Col\u00f3n, an opera house that offers some of the best acoustics in the world. You can also visit the famous Casa Rosada, Argentina\u2019s presidential palace, from where Juan and Eva Per\u00f3n famously addressed the crowds gathered on Plaza de Mayo in 1945. Argentina\u2019s capital city is a great destination for culture lovers, with the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes boasting an impressive collection including original works by Monet, Renoir and C\u00e9zanne. You can also learn about the national heroin \u2018Evita\u2019 at the Museo Eva Per\u00f3n.<\/p>\n

Buenos Aires has a variety of craft markets, and if you stroll through them at the weekends you may come across live bands, barbecues, make-shift bars and practising tango dancers for a truly atmospheric Latin-American experience. San Telmo is the best market for antiques, while the market at Recoleta has great hand-made craft items. The nearby Recoleta Cemetery is also worth a visit \u2013 it has beautiful marble tombs and Eva Peron\u2019s family tomb can be found here. No visit to Buenos Aires would be complete without a stroll around the upmarket boutiques and caf\u00e9s of the Palermo district, and the contrasting bohemian barrio of La Boca, where poor inhabitants of the area used left-over paint from the nearby shipyards to paint their humble houses made of scrap metal in bright, block colours.<\/p>\n

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Painted Houses in La Boca, Buenos Aires<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The city is also world-renowned for its incredible night-life, with many nightclubs, bars, restaurants and cinemas open all night. Go to any club at the weekend and you will see why ‘porte\u00f1os’ (people from Buenos Aires) are known to party hard. You can\u00a0see an authentic tango show in the city where the dance originated, and this usually includes a tango lesson and a traditional Argentinian dinner – and yes that means some of the best steak in the world!<\/p>\n

Days 8-9 – Iguaz\u00fa Falls<\/p>\n

Iguaz\u00fa Falls is one of the most magnificent natural wonders in the world. Unlike most other waterfalls that have just one or two cataracts, at Iguaz\u00fa Falls there are 275 cataracts in a colossal 3km-long U-shape that can be visited from both the Brazilian and Argentinian sides.\u00a0Visiting the Argentine side of the falls offers the opportunity to get up close to the many cataracts by walking on steel walkways that jut out of the rocks and take you through the surrounding rainforest. You can get so close to the falls that you’ll be covered in spray as the Iguaz\u00fa\u00a0River tumbles over the edge of the Paran\u00e1 Plateau to become the Lower Iguaz\u00fa\u00a0River.\u00a0Visiting the Brazilian side of the falls will give you a completely different perspective, as you come to understand the sheer size and power of the falls by walking on platforms that offer views of the whole panorama.<\/p>\n

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Iguaz\u00fa Falls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Days 10-11 – Rio de Janeiro<\/p>\n

Incredible Rio de Janeiro<\/a> needs no introduction. There are countless things to see and see in the ‘Marvellous City’ full of beautiful people. A highlight for many would be to experience the majestic gaze of Christ the Redeemer at the top of Corcovado, the breath-taking panoramic views from Sugarloaf Mountain, and the vibrant coloured tiles of the Selar\u00f3n staircase. You can walk from the edgy Lapa district to the cobblestone hill-top neighbourhood of Santa Teresa, where you can take the old tram across the famous white viaduct into the historic centre of the city. Here, you can admire Rio’s old colonial mansions and government buildings built when the city was the former capital of Brazil. Alternatively, you may like to visit the Botanical Gardens, or the beautiful Rodrigues de Freitas Lagoon. You can’t leave Rio de Janeiro without dining out at one of its famous ‘churrascarias’, where different cuts of meat are seasoned and barbecued to perfection, or at one of its ‘rodizio’ buffets where you pay by the kilo! End the experience of a lifetime by watching the sun set behind the Two Brothers mountain from Ipanema Beach, making a toast to your next adventure with a well-deserved ‘Caipirinha’ in hand.<\/p>\n

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Ipanema Beach and the Two Brothers, Rio de Janeiro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About the Author:<\/strong> Marcus Hunt is Marketing Assistant for Tucan Travel. He has travelled independently throughout Europe and North, Central and South America, and has studied or worked in France, Italy and Brazil. You can find him on Google+<\/a> or read his other contributions here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tucan Travel have launched a new Adventure Tour called ‘South America Flyer‘, In just 11 days, you will be able to\u00a0admire colossal natural wonders and get to know Latin America’s most electrifying cities as you\u00a0travel across the continent from Santiago to Rio de Janeiro. Encompassing South America’s principle gastronomic region, you’ll have plenty of opportunities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28,8,35],"tags":[99,72,100,101,102,103,104,74,105,13],"yoast_head":"\nSouth America Flyer under the Microscope - Tucan Travel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tucan.travel\/blog\/2014\/10\/south-america-flyer-under-the-microscope\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South America Flyer under the Microscope - Tucan Travel Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tucan Travel have launched a new Adventure Tour called ‘South America Flyer‘, In just 11 days, you will be able to\u00a0admire colossal natural wonders and get to know Latin America’s most electrifying cities as you\u00a0travel across the continent from Santiago to Rio de Janeiro. 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