Santiago to Buenos Aires - shore excursion questions

[Jamietravelstheworld]

I just booked Regent Seven Seas Santiago to Buenos Aires for January 2022. Shore excursions open on Sunday and I'm wondering what your must-dos are in some of the ports:

PUERTO MONTT, CHILE PUERTO CHACABUCO, CHILE  LAGUNA SAN RAFAEL, CHILE PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE USHUAIA, ARGENTINA T T

 

Thanks,

Jamie

[AryMay]

On 1/26/2021 at 12:28 PM, Jamietravelstheworld said:

I just booked Regent Seven Seas Santiago to Buenos Aires for January 2022. Shore excursions open on Sunday and I'm wondering what your must-dos are in some of the ports:

PUERTO MONTT, CHILE PUERTO CHACABUCO, CHILE  LAGUNA SAN RAFAEL, CHILE PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE USHUAIA, ARGENTINA T T

 

Thanks,

Jamie

 

Not sure what your interests are, but I can tell you what we did at the ports we visited in 2019 with Holland America. Most of our tours were booked independently.

 

Puerto Montt - This was to have been our first port, but it was skipped due to it being too windy to operate the tenders. 

 

Puerto Chacabuco - Took a ship sponsored tour to the city of Coyhaique. This was a bit of a let-down because we were there on a Sunday and little was open. The tour also included a lunch and a brief stop at the Rio Simpson National Reserve. Probably our least favorite tour of the whole cruise.

 

Punta Arenas - We did a tour to Magdalena Island with Solo Expediciones to see the penguins. Seeing the huge penguin colony on the island was amazing, but I was not happy with the tour group. They overpacked the boat to the point that it was very uncomfortable. My husband did not even have a seat for the long and rough boat ride. I would recommend going, but with a different provider.

 

Ushuaia - We did a private tour with Federico from Anan Tourismo.  We had actually booked the tour with a different provider, but when he had car trouble he arranged for Federico to fill in. This was one of the BEST excursions we did!!! It was wonderful having the private tour instead of being with a huge group. Besides the usual tourist stops, Federico took us to some incredible out-of-the-way places. 

 

I have detailed posts from each of these ports on my blog: My Souvenir Memories. The posts also have links to YouTube videos that I've made. 

 

Good luck on your planning. Hopefully by next year the cruises will be up and running again!

 

 

[Jamietravelstheworld]

32 minutes ago, AryMay said:

 

Not sure what your interests are, but I can tell you what we did at the ports we visited in 2019 with Holland America. Most of our tours were booked independently.

 

Puerto Montt - This was to have been our first port, but it was skipped due to it being too windy to operate the tenders. 

 

Puerto Chacabuco - Took a ship sponsored tour to the city of Coyhaique. This was a bit of a let-down because we were there on a Sunday and little was open. The tour also included a lunch and a brief stop at the Rio Simpson National Reserve. Probably our least favorite tour of the whole cruise.

 

Punta Arenas - We did a tour to Magdalena Island with Solo Expediciones to see the penguins. Seeing the huge penguin colony on the island was amazing, but I was not happy with the tour group. They overpacked the boat to the point that it was very uncomfortable. My husband did not even have a seat for the long and rough boat ride. I would recommend going, but with a different provider.

 

Ushuaia - We did a private tour with Federico from Anan Tourismo.  We had actually booked the tour with a different provider, but when he had car trouble he arranged for Federico to fill in. This was one of the BEST excursions we did!!! It was wonderful having the private tour instead of being with a huge group. Besides the usual tourist stops, Federico took us to some incredible out-of-the-way places. 

 

I have detailed posts from each of these ports on my blog: My Souvenir Memories. The posts also have links to YouTube videos that I've made. 

 

Good luck on your planning. Hopefully by next year the cruises will be up and running again!

 

 

Thanks so much. I’m booked on excursions now, sticking with ship sponsored ones because it’s likely that this will be a requirement post-COVID. 

[matamanoa]

In Puerto Monte, we took the Princess ship's tour to Petrohue River, Fruitillar and German Settlers Museum.  It was a full day tour and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  I don't know what your ship is offering but we enjoyed those points of interest.  Be sure to look for views of the Osorno Volcano which, on a clear day, should be visible from Petrohue River area.

 

In Punta Arenas, we again took a ship's tour to an estancia in Patagonia and also did a drive of the city.  Again, I don't know what is on your ship's excursion itineraries, but we enjoyed this all day tour as well.

 

In Ushuaia, we too a private all day tour to the National Park with Ruben Menenses.   You can reach him at ruben-ushuaia@hotmail.com.  He was a great guide and we had a full day with him

 

Barb