Planning

In the years since we last travelled the world I’ve become an almost obsessive planner, both because I enjoy planning but also because it allows us to spend more time enjoying a destination and less time faffing about. It also helps to save a lot of money. I’ve done a poor job of pasting in the itinerary I have planned for South America but as you can see it’s all very planned out!

My planning formula is the basis for A Plan To Go – it’s been tried and tested in dozens of countries worldwide, now it’s time to see if it works in South America.

	Date	Where?	How?	When?		Where to stay?	Notes	How much?
	Date	Where?	How?	Dep	Arr	Where to stay?	Notes	How much?
Thu	30-Aug	LHR to Lisbon	TAP 363 TAP 22	11:20	14:05	Bahiacafe	Arrange airport pickup	T A	£328 £21.54
Thu	30-Aug	Lisbon to Salvador	TAP 363 TAP 22	16:45	21:20	Bahiacafe	Arrange airport pickup	T A	£328 £21.54
Fri	31-Aug	Salvador				As above		A	£21.54
Sat	01-Sep	Salvador to Manaus	Gol 1808	16:45	21:30	Local Hostel	Pay R$98.60 on arrival	T A	£147.80 £12.11
Su-Mo	2-3 Sep	Amazon				Jungle lodge	Amazon Eco Adventure tours		£219.00
Tue	04-Sep	Manaus				Local Hostel	Pay R$98.60 on arrival	A	£12.02
Wed	05-Sep	Manaus to Rio	Gol 2105	15:25	20:25	Villa 25		T A	£82.16 £17
Th-Fr	6-7 Sep	Rio				As above		A	£34.00
Sat	08-Sep	Rio to Jacarei Jacarei to Ihla Grande	Bus Boat	06:15 10:00	08:45 10:20	Biergarten Hostel	Costa Verde bus	A	£24.13
Sun	09-Sep	Ihla Granda				As above	Cancellable. R$399.5 to pay	A	£24.13
Mon	10-Sep	Ihla Grande Angra dos Reis Angra dos Reis to Paraty	Boat Bus	10:00	13:00	Pousada Casa do Rio	R$ 166,25 to pay	T A	£17.25
Tue	11-Sep	Paraty				As above		A	£17.25
Wed	12-Sep	Paraty to Sao Paulo	Bus Reunidas Paulista	13:40	19:20	Royal Jardins	R$38 to pay at hotel	A	£25.23
Thu	13-Sep	Sao Paulo to Foz do Iguacu	Gol 1172	16:00	17:40	Che Lagarto Hostel		T	85.77 £10
Fri	14-Sep	Foz do Iguacu to Puerto Iguazu
Sat	15-Sep	Puerto Iguazu
Sun	16-Sep	Puerto Iguazu to Cordoba	Flybondi 5433	18:05	20:05	Kube Apartments		T	£42.25
Sun	16-Sep	Puerto Iguazu to Cordoba	Flybondi 5433	18:05	20:05	Kube Apartments		A	£24.13
Mon	17-Sep	Cordoba				As above
Tue	18-Sep	Cordoba to Mendoza	Andesmar	22:15				T	£40.00
Wed	19-Sep	Mendoza			07:00	Diplomatic Hotel		A	£41.44
Th-Sa	20-22 Sep	Chacras de Coria				Lares de Chacras		A	£132.86
Sun	23-Sep	Mendoza to San Antonio de Areco	Chevallier	16:00				T	£41.00
Mon	24-Sep	San Antonio de Areco			06:30
Tue	25-Sep	San Antonio de Areco to Buenos Aires				Palo Santo Hotel		A	£40.85
Wed	26-Sep	Buenos Aires				As above
Thu	27-Sep	Buenos Aires to Colonia
Fri	28-Sep	Colonia
Sat	29-Sep	Colonia to Montevideo
Sun	30-Sep	Montevideo
Mon	01-Oct	Montevideo to Punta del Este
Tue	02-Oct	Punta del Este
Wed	03-Oct	Buffer
Thu	04-Oct	Punta to Montevideo
Fri	05-Oct	Montevideo to Colonia
Sat	06-Oct	Colonia to Buenos Aires
Sun	07-Oct	Buffer
Mon	08-Oct	Buenos Aires Retiro to San Martin de los Andes	Via Bariloche	16:00				T	£63.00
Tu-We	9-17 Oct	San Martin de los Andes/Villa La Angostura/Bariloche			12:10
Th-Sa	18-20 Oct	Bariloche				Charming Luxury Lodge & Private Spa		A	£103.00
Sun	21-Oct	Bariloche to San Antonio Oeste	Overnight train	17:00			MUST take this train on Sunday (arrives Monday)	T	£57.53
Mon	22-Oct	San Antonio Oeste to Puerto Madryn		15:10	07:14 18:50
Tue	23-Oct	Puerto M/Peninsula Valdez
Wed	24-Oct	Peninsula Valdez
Thu	25-Oct	Puerto Madryn to Esquel		20:15
Fri	26-Oct	Esquel			06:30
Sat	27-Oct	Esquel to El Calafate		17:00
Sun	28-Oct	El Calafate			13:00
Mo-Sa	29 Oct-3 Nov	El Calafate
Sun	04-Nov	Buffer
Mon	05-Nov	El Calafate to Ushuaia
Tu-Fr	6-23 Nov	Ushuaia/Antarctica							######
Sat	24-Nov	Buffer
Sun	25-Nov	Ushuaia to Punta Arenas
Mon	26-Nov	Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales
Tue	27-Nov	Buffer
We-Sa	28 Nov-1 Dec	Torres del Paine
Sun	02-Dec	Puerto Natales
Mon	03-Dec	Puerto Natales					Check in to ferry 09:00-18:30	T	£580.65
Tue	04-Dec	Pto Natales to Pto Montt		06:00

Fri	07-Dec	Puerto Montt			08:00
Sat	08-Dec	Pto Montt to Castro (Chiloe)
Sun	09-Dec	Buffer
Mon	10-Dec	Castro (Chiloe)
Tue	11-Dec	Castro to Pt Montt				Hotel Cabaña del Lago Puerto Varas		A	£44.34
Tue	11-Dec	Pto Montt to Pto Varas				Hotel Cabaña del Lago Puerto Varas		A	£44.34
We-Sa	12-15 Dec	Pto Varas				As above		A	£177.36
Sun	16-Dec	Pto Varas to Cochamo				Refugio Cochamo	http://www.cochamo.com
Mo-We	17-19 Dec	Cochamo
Thu	20-Dec	Cochamo to Pto Varas
Thu	20-Dec	Pto Varas to Valdivia
Fri	21-Dec	Valdivia
Sat	22-Dec	Valdivia to Pucon				Apart Hotel del Volcán		A	£44.30
Su-Sa	23-29 Dec	Pucon				As above		A	£313.80
Sun	30-Dec	Pucon to Santa Cruz				Hotel Boutique Vendimia		A	£43.45
Mon	31-Dec	Santa Cruz				As above		A	£43.45
Tue	01-Jan	Santa Cruz to Santiago				Hotel Plaza San Francisco		A	£76
We-Th	2-3 Jan	Santiago				As above		A
Fri	04-Jan	Santiago to Cajon del Maipo				Lodge Andino El Ingenio	Pay US$261.80 at property	A	£50
Sat	05-Jan	Cajon del Maipo to Algarrobo				Cinque Colori	Via Casablanca	A	£110.00
Sun	06-Jan	Algarrobo				As above
Mon	07-Jan	Isla Negra to Valparaiso				Hotel Fauna		A	£56.23
Tue	08-Jan	Valparaiso				As above
Wed	09-Jan	Valparaiso to Zapallar	Car hire			https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/24137328		A	£95.25
Thu	10-Jan	Zapallar	Car			As above
Fri	11-Jan	Zapallar to La Serena	Car			Enjoy Coquimbo		A	£167.67
Sa-Su	12-13 Jan	La Serena	Car			As above	Cerro Tololo observatory
Mon	14-Jan	La Serena to Calama Calama to San Pedro De Atacama	JetSmart	11:16 13:00	12:56 14:30		Calam to San Pedro transfer reserved, pay $12000 at desk		£51
Tue	15-Jan	Buffer
Wed	16-Jan	San Pedro de Atacama to Uyuni	Tour
Th-Fr	17-18 Jan	Uyuni
Sat	19-Jan	Uyuni to La Paz	Plane	08:40	09:25
Sun	20-Jan	La Paz to Copacabana	Bus	08:00	12:00
Mon	21-Jan	Copacabana to Puno	Bus	09:00	19:00
Tue	22-Jan	Puno
Wed	23-Jan	Puno to Cuzco
Th-Fr	24-25 Jan	Cuzco
Sa-Th	26-31 Jan	Salkantay Trail
Fri	01-Feb	Buffer
Sat	02-Feb	Cuzco to Lima	VivaAir	08:05	09:44				£37.69
Sun	03-Feb	Lima to Quito
Mo-Fr	4-8 Feb	Quito/Otavalo/Cotapaxi
Sat	09-Feb	Quito to Galapagos
Su-Fr	10-15 Feb	Galapagos
Sat	16-Feb	Galapagos to Guayaquil
Sun	17-Feb	Buffer
Mon	18-Feb	Guayaquil to F Lauderdale	Spirit	00:59 13:54	05:30 18:21				294.00
Mon	18-Feb	Fort Lauderdale to Barbados	Spirit	00:59 13:54	05:30 18:21				£112
Tue	19-Feb	Buffer
We-Sa	20-23 Feb	Barbados				Sugar Cane Club Hotel And Spa			£143.54
Sun	24-Feb	Barbados to St Lucia	LIAT	17:05	17:45	Stonefield Estate Resort			£226.84
Mo-We	25-27 Feb	St Lucia
Thu	28-Feb	Castries				Harbour Vista Inn	$71.50 payable at property		£56
Fri	01-Mar	St Lucia to Dominica	Ferry	07:00	11:15	Calibishie Cove			£167.72
Sa-Tu	2-5 Mar	Dominica
Wed	06-Mar	Dominica to Guadeloupe	Ferry	12:15	14:30	Habitation Grande Anse			£137.86
Sa-Su	7-9 Mar	Guadeloupe
	10-Mar
Mon	11-Mar	Guadeloupe to NYC	Norwegian D84900	08:20	13:00	The Blakeley		T	£145.20
Mon	11-Mar	Guadeloupe to NYC	Norwegian D84900	08:20	13:00	The Blakeley		A	£119.74
Tu-We	12-13 Mar	New York
Thu	14-Mar	NYC to LGW	Norwegian DI7016	23:30					£174.90