South America Travel Itinerary – Tours, Ideas and Routes
South America is huge! Allow a good amount of time travel around the continent, dont try and fit to much in or you will regret it. We started in Caracas, travelling south through Venezuela down through Brazil along the Amazon to the east coast. We then travelled south down the east coast of Brazil crossing into Argentina by Iguazu Falls. We then travelled down to Buenos Aires and then north up into Bolivia. We looped through Bolivia up into Peru as far as Lima. The route we did was all over land using buses – except from Salvador to Rio de Janerio which we flew, this was only because it was actually cheaper to fly than get the bus.
We spent 4 months on this route and it was just about the right balance of having time to spare when you wanted to and not feeling like you havent seen enough. I would highly recommend this route to anybody thinking of going travelling.
View South America Backpacking Route in a larger map
June 10th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Hi Benedict,
I am planning on backpacking from Caracas to Salvador, Brazil this August. Is there a special route you took? Did you fly or take a bus? What places did you stop on the way. Any helpful info would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Robin
June 10th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Hi Robin, we traveled by bus and boat – by bus down through Venezuela into Brazil, then by boat along the Amazon then by bus along the Brazilian Coast to Salvador.
I will write a post detailing the route and places to go as soon as I can.
June 24th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Out of curiosity, do you think that in two months time my boyfriend and I could enjoy backpacking through South America and if so, what are the places you would highly recommend? Also, is it fairly easy to find places to stay? Do you shack up at a hostel or do you have connections? Sorry for all of the questions, but we are very excited to begin planning for the trip and are trying to figure out the logistics!
Thank you and safe travels!
Eli’
June 24th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Hi Eli
It entirely depends how many places your planning on visiting. If you try and fit too much in I don’t think you’ll enjoy it as much, so make sure your not over stretching yourself. It also depends which countries your were thinking about visiting, obviously getting through Brazil takes a lot longer than Uruguay.
We stayed mainly in hostels and guest houses and found places when we got there, going on peoples recommendations and those in the guide books.
I’d highly recommend going to Bolivia (it was our favourite country), its very cheap and there’s a lot to see. We also loved north Argentina and Buenos Aires, The coast of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro (our favourite place), and the Inca areas of Peru.
If you’d like any more detail of places we went to in each country just let me know.
PS I’m very jealous!
June 26th, 2008 at 5:53 am
Hi!
I was hoping you could help me out in finding a bus company i can look up in venezuela to travel to brazil so I can estimate costs.
If you dont mind my asking how much money did you need to bring in order to get you through your 4 months?
Thanks!
Sara
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:05 am
Hi,
Me and few friends are booking a trip to south america in Nov. Start in mexico then head over to cuba, then down into south america? Which route do you suggest, sites, and any festivals or carnivals in certain countries that we shouldnt miss.
Please let us know,
July 24th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Hi Omar,
If you traveling down from Central America I’d recommend the route we took, passing through Venezuela, down into Brazil then down the Brazilian coast across into Argentina then up through Bolivia and Peru.
Make sure you visit Bolivia and Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina if you’ve time.
We didn’t specifically go to any festival or Carnivals though we stumbled across quite a few on our way. If Carnivals are what your after then you couldn’t go wrong with Brazil. Cities like Olinda and Salvador have Carnival like atmospheres all year round with music and parades in the streets an everyday occurrence.
Hope that helps, if you need more details about Carnivals and dates this looks like a good resource.
Enjoy your trip, let me know how you get on
July 24th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Hi Sara,
Sorry for delay in replying, I couldn’t find any of my old bus tickets, I did find this bus companies website, seems like a nice one http://www.aeroexpresos.com.ve You can look up prices on it which is helpful a trip from Caracas to Ciudad Bolivar will set you back Bs62.400 which is about £14.50, not bad for 591km on a pretty nice looking bus!
July 31st, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Hi~
Im heading to Peru in Jan and was wanting to touch up my spanish before going further. Have you heard of any good courses or do you have any recommendations?
amanda
August 1st, 2008 at 9:32 am
Hi Amanda,
I just took a spanish course at my local college and learnt the most while I was away, i’m sure there’s lots of online resources, I know the BBC Spanish is meant to be good but it may be a bit basic. Anyone got any suggestions/recommendations?
September 24th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Hi,
Omar again, plans changed. We are looking to arrive in Argentina on 17th Jan, spend some time there before heading over to brazil for carnival. Looking to stay in south america for around 6 months before flying out of chile. With that in mind, which route would you recommend. Also, on average a day how much do you think is needed?
Any MUST visit places??
Thanks so much for your help…
October 7th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Hello Amanda,
I’ve a lot of friends who have come to visit me in Peru (I’m peruvian but used to live in the States) and many of them didn’t really know any spanish at all, but they picked it up along the way so don’t worry too much, besides in Peru people do make an effort to try to understand visitors. I would recomend just learning some common phrases but nothing too complicated. Hope you have fun around Peru.
Luis
October 10th, 2008 at 1:03 am
Hello Benedict,
I’m a very eager Canadian rock climber, snowboarder and sightseer and I am just beginning the process of planning our South American tour. We are looking to spend about 6 months in your favourite continent. I have a couple of novice questions; fist and foremost how much should we realistically be banking on spending? Do you need several Visa’s, if any at all, to pass that much time there? Which were your abosolute must stop, can’t miss favourite, maybe not so popular small places to see/visit?
I really appreciate any advice you can pass my way.
Thanks so much in advance.
Rebecca
October 14th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Hi guys..
Im arriving in Sao Paulo on the Dec 10th and planning on spending 3 months backpacking through South America, Benedict… im pretty much doing the second leg of your trip… Sao Paulo – Rio – Iguazu Falls – Salta then through South Bolivia – La Paz – Lake titicaca – into Peru – Cusco – Lima then back down through chile as far as Santiago or even Osorno – Bariloche – Mendoza Argentina -Finally to B. A –
Doing all this in 3 months? is it possible on $4000 ? do you have any advice on cheap but comfy hostels… cheap busses? and great sights??
Thanks a mill…
Kyle
October 14th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
@Rebecca – For getting an idea of budgets I would recommend you have a look in some recent guide books, they usually have suggested budgets depending on how luxuriously you want to live. Add a bit to these amounts as they are usually on the conservative side. It also really depends on lots of other things, what excursions your planning to do and how cheap your willing to go for food and accommodation.
Of the countries I visited we only needed a Visa for Venezuela. As your Canadian you’d need to check visa requirements specifically for your country. It also depends how long your planning on spending in each country.
As for highlights of the top of my head:
Venezuela – Angle Falls, Merida… Brazil – Jericoacara, Praia de Pipa, Olidna, Salvador, Foz de Iguasu, Rio de Janiero… Argentina – Buenos Aires, Salta, Tilcara…. Bolivia – Tupiza, Sala de Uyuni,Sucra, Lapaz….Peru – Lake Titicaca, Copacabana, Cusco…
November 26th, 2008 at 5:23 am
Hi Benedict, am planning a four month trip to south america, flying into Buenos Aires and leaving from Buenos Aires. I'm planning on travelling around from there (to chile for more than a month) but will i need a visa for Argentina since i'm going to be in south america for more than 3 months even though i wont be in Argentina for all of that time?
thanks
Ted
December 30th, 2008 at 5:02 am
Hi Benedict,
Happy Christmas! If you are in England I sympathise – I am so sick of this cold! Anyway, i'm lucky enough to be taking a 2 month sabbatical and want to travel for 5 weeks. I would really love to go to South America but am a little concerned about being a lone female traveller – what is your take on this? I'm 28 and have travelled before but only in Europe . Do you think SE Asia would be safer? In the 5 weeks which countries/sights in S America would you recommend?
Cheers
Sarah
January 1st, 2009 at 2:44 am
Hi Sarah
We met a number of girls travelling on their own that had experienced no problems at all. It'll cost you a bit more to travel alone but staying in popular hostels your bound to meet people going your way and there's websites full of people looking for people to travel with. I'd recommend pre booking you first couple of nights, there's nothing worse than getting somewhere and not knowing where you going. We met less travellers in S America but the ones we met seemed to be a buit more friendly, I guess as there's less.
In general we found most people in South America were more honest and less likely to rip tourists off than in South East Asia. Of course if your travelling alone take the usual precautions you'd take in any country, checkout the guidebooks for specific advice for where's safe to go and when in each place you go to. The only time we got caught out was wandering around early on a Sunday morning, don't scrimp on taxi's if your not sure, or its dark or early or late!
Favourite countries where Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia.
Have a great time, let me know how you get on!
January 1st, 2009 at 2:49 am
Sorry Ted, not too sure about that one, you probably need to talk to your government and investigate Argentina's requirements.
January 5th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Hi Benedict!
I'm just planning my next trip on july…now i wanna backpack in south america, but i'm not sure yet. "cause i've traveled to europe, but its completly diferent……talking about transport, safety, etc.
I'm 24 y/o, female,brazilian… and i'm going to travel to alone. I'm thinking about going to Peru or Chile, which of these countries u liked most? I need tips of places to go, hostel, food, transport.
Ah! u've been in Brazil also, which city did u like most? plz, don't tell me sao paulo or rio de janeiro, both of them i already know.
Tka care, see ya!
January 6th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Sarah,
You on Facebook?
Cheers,
TJ
February 11th, 2009 at 5:27 am
Hi Adam,
Leaving for a trip through South America starting in Santiago. I was just speaking to someone who told me that i would require an onward ticket before i would be allowed into each country? Would you be able to help with this? Thanks,
Steven
February 15th, 2009 at 12:24 am
Hey,
super interesting site. Planning to go to Venezuela early March, and then go clockwise around SA…inc. Guyana and Suriname…why did you guys not go to these places? Are they expensive? Also, like Steve above, I wasn't planning on booking a ticket home until I knew where i was to finish up after 5 months…are they hardcore about onward travel plans? They weren't in Asia.
February 15th, 2009 at 11:01 am
@ Steven & Flynn, We flew in to Venezuela, with a ticket to fly out of Peru 4 months later, we we're slighty unsure if this was gonna be okay but there wasn't a problem.
@Flynn We didnt have time to check out Guyana & Suriname, after meeting someone from Guyana it sounded like a great place to visit, I do have a feeling its a little more expensive than the other countries in South America but I might be wrong.
February 19th, 2009 at 9:43 am
You can go to Puerto Ordaz from Caracas via AeroExpresos Ejecutivos (http://201.210.232.212/). Don't worry much about the money in Venezuela. The trip would cost you Officially 32US$ one way less than the half with unofficial rate (see below).
You could take advantage from the parallel exchange of money. If you change at local official rate you'll get 2,15 Bolivares per US$ But if you find friends (i've got loads that would love to make a deal) you can exchange as high as 4,50. Our currency is stuck in 2,15 since 2.003 via the government and honestly the US$ is higher than that.
Regards and have a nice trip!
February 19th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Better find some spanish speaking person in your area and practice a bit!
Me and wife are in Brighton, a pint will do to sharpen those skills =)
April 13th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Hey Ben, Cuanto crees que necesite para viajar por 6 meses mas o menos en el mismo viaje que tu hiciste? espero que no te moleste la pregunta
gracias
May 6th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Hey,
Me and my girlfriend have booked our tickets for South America flying into and out of Santiago. We have booked for 6 weeks but are able to change the departure date for a minimal fee. We were thinking of heading straight up to Bolivia and check out La Paz, and then straight to Peru for the Inca Trail. Then maybe a tour into the Amazon and then over to Rio. After that i was thinking of meandering down the coast towards Argentina and then across back to Santiago to fly out again. Is 6 weeks enough to do this or will we be pushing it?
Cheers
May 6th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I think you’ll be fairly pushed with that amount of time, you’ll have to miss a fair bit out and take a fair few night buses and maybe a flight if you want to go to Rio. As long as you accept that it wont be a relaxing holiday you’ll have a great time.
One thing I’ve concluded though from past trips trying to fit too much in is that its far more rewarding to take your time and really see each place. You can always come back!
June 17th, 2009 at 7:07 am
4 months! What a fantastic trip! I have gone to travel in South America 4 times, and each time was an experience I’ll never forget. Especially Peru and Brazil.
November 17th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Hey,
I just had one quick question.
I am looking to do something exactly like what you did.
How much did the whole trip cost you in total?
Cheers
December 8th, 2009 at 1:11 am
Hey
I will be flying into Santiago, Chile in early March and flying out from Rio, Brazil 5 weeks later. I no this isnt really long enough for such a huge continent but was hoping you could recommend a good route on a backpacker budget? Any places I def shouldnt miss? Any I could skip?? Ideally I was also hoping to do the Inca Trail as well! Any Help would be appreciated!
Dan
January 16th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Hey guys,
I am planning on backpacking around South America for about six weeks in June-July. We are having trouble picking outes because we don’t want to try and cram too much stuff in, but do want to see a lot. We are in our early-mid 20s and are looking for an awesome time. Any route suggestions? We would like to see Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil, but don’t know if all of that is realistically possible in 6 weeks for relatively cheap…
January 19th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I think your going to struggle to fit all that into 6 weeks, with the size of South America you’ll probably have to budget in a few flights which will make it difficult to do for cheap.
For 6 months I would suggest either just going to Brazil or just Peru and Bolivia, you could probably fit in a quick visit to BA as well.
IMO its best to see a country properly (although its very hard even with months in a country) so better to under estimate, you could always have a plan A and B keep the trip flexible depending on how your getting along and enjoying each place you visit.
March 4th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Hey Travelers…..so I have 4 weeks in july and I’d love to go to Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay. Chile was in the mix but I’m having a hard time finding flights there. I’m a Peruvian who lives in the states, so I have family in Peru and people i know everywhere! I was hoping to go by bus as much possible and fly if needed. I’m going with a friend and know our time is limited but not impossible…..what are the must see places….and any good routes????