Me and 5 friends are looking into travelling around South America for 3 months next year ( November, December and January )

I've been doing research on the internet and reading different forums to get as much info as i can. I know some people on here have travelled around so has anyone done the South America route ?

Cheers for any help

I found Chile to be a lovely place. Never made it to Santiago but Valparaiso and Vina Del Mar are worth a visit.

Try the Columbian Rainforest

Columbia is pretty nice

Let me know if you are planning on bringing back any interesting duty free items

Went to a few places with the navy, liked Uraguay, Peru and Chile (Valpraiso), but found Columbia (Cartagena) and Rio not very nice.

I've done the 'South America route' as you say. I don't claim to have seen it all, but been to 6/7 countries.

Best advice I can give you is probably ignore the lonely planet. Speak to people that have done it, but only speak to the ones that are similar to you, share same interests etc. Lonely planet will tell you not walk with any valuables, even in groups, and don't talk to people etc. I walked along the copacabana beach on a Saturday night at around 11pm to meet somebody and I had no problems at all. I staggered out at bars in Buenos Aires at 7am, and also had no problems. I was at a River and Boca game in the ultras end, and I even had banter with them, and they were fine.


I found the people in the whole continent to be extremely friendly, and I regret that my Spanish was so poor, but most that speak English jump at the chance to talk to you.


I was only at Uruguay for 2 days (a quick boat ride from Buenos Aires), but the women seemed even more beautiful than the Argentinians. I don't really know what sort of things you want to know, but Steaks in Argentina are a must and the cheapest country by a country mile is Bolivia, where a 3 course meal is around 4/5 pound, and you can get your shoes polished for 10pence.

Inca Trail is expensive, and it needs to be booked in advance, but I think it's Febuary that they shut it all together. Also, there are semi naked women serving you coffee in the coffee shops in Santiago. That is a must.

Anything I've missed?

Second last place on earth I ever wanted to visit was South America, but having seen this thread a few days ago and had a poke around on the net, I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised.

So, no, I don't know anything about South America, or have any experiences of there, but it just goes to show that sometimes, the Sin Bin can be useful.

Done Rio, Iguacu Falls, Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

I'd go back tomorrow given the chance.

Thanks everyone for the info.

What route did you take ? Also did you use trains to get around each country or bus ?

4 off us have done Thailand, Laos, Vietnam etc for the last couple of years so are use to hostels if you have any info on those ?

We want a mixture of nice beaches, good nightlife, nice women and "the must dos" in South America.

Thanks for the help again.