Argentina - $205.71
We spent a total of just over fifteen days in Argentina across three separate trips while we criss-crossed southern South America between Argentina and Chile. While in the country we spent a total of nearly $3,150, or $205.71 per day, well above our yearly target of $194 per day. While we were slightly over by the end, our initial stent which involved Buenos Aires and Ushuaia cost us $228 per day, highlighting how expensive capital cities and towns at the end of the world can be. During our subsequent visits to Argentina we spent markedly less per-day but were unable to bring our overall budget for Argentina under our target. Our biggest expenses here were Food & Groceries, Lodging, and our Rental Vehicles. While in Argentina our only $0 category was visas, as Americans aren’t required to obtain a visa or visa on arrival to visit.
We spent over $1,100 on Food & Groceries while in Argentina which was much more than we were expecting to. Based on what we’d read about Argentina before we left, we expected to find reasonable prices for everything when we arrived, but we were sorely mistaken. It seems that between 2023 and 2024 real prices for everything in Argentina have increased dramatically. While Argentina has been dealing with hyper-inflation for years, the effects of this long-lasting issue have seemed to be felt extensively starting this year. Food prices in particular have increased upwards of 50% year over year, after accounting for currency valuations, meaning US$1 goes far less in 2024 than in the last few years. We noticed this most distinctly in Buenos Aires, where eating out felt more like paying for a meal in New York or Los Angeles, than it does in other South American cities.
Our second highest cost in Argentina was Lodging, which we kept to a (somewhat) reasonable $51 per night. We stayed in a mix of Airbnbs and hostels while in Argentina as we found hotels to be too expensive for us in each city. That being said, we were able to find some unique and comfortable low to medium cost Airbnbs in Ushuaia, Buenos Aires, and El Calafate. In El Chaltén, we booked a shared hostel room through Airbnb, but were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to be given a 2 bunk dorm room all to ourselves.
Our third highest expense was Rental Vehicles & Gas, at just over $42 per day. This cost came solely from our second and third visits to Argentina when we rented vehicles to visit El Calafate, El Chaltén, and the Bariloche region. By renting vehicles we were able to cover more ground and maximize our time in these areas, while paying only slightly more than we would have for all the combined bus journeys. With that in mind, we recommend renting a vehicle with your partner or with friends while traveling to this part of the world, as there are so many things to see, spread out over so much ground. Plus, having a rental car gives you the ability to stop for as many photos and rest breaks as you would like, without having to follow the buses’ schedule.
Rounding it off, we had four lower cost expense groups in Argentina, Other Transportation, Flights, Miscellaneous, and Activities. We spent almost $240 across our separate visits on Other Transportation which included a ferry ride from Uruguay to Buenos Aires, a bus ride from Puerto Montt in Chile to Bariloche in Argentina, and many uber trips in the various towns we visited. We spent an additional $220 on Flights in Argentina, which was exclusively from our flight between Buenos Aires and Ushuaia, which we likely paid a bit too much for because we booked it so close to our departure date. We had a little over $100 of Miscellaneous expenses here, coming from eSims, cash, pharmacy visits, and some other minor expenses. Finally, we spent about $40 on Activities while in Argentina, from art gallery tickets, museum entry fees, and park fees at the Perito Moreno glacier. We tried our best in Argentina to find free activities, knowing that our spending was already so high, and luckily there was plenty to do. From markets and free galleries in Buenos Aires, to free hiking in Ushuaia and El Chaltén, Argentina has lots of options if you do your research and work the systems in place.