[Dvorak]

I have to go to Buenos Aires for work (1 week) and I'll be taking a couple of weeks off afterwards to travel around.

I'll probably be in Buenos Aires for 2 weeks. Working one week. The second week I'll probably be touring around in the region a bit.
Thinking about taking the ferry to Uruguay and visit Colonia and Montevideo for a couple of days. Then head back to Buenos Aires for the weekend. Probably try to catch a football game and a tango show, and eat some prime steaks.

The third week I'll go to the waterfalls of Iguazu, probably for a day or 2. Then I'll head to Florianopolis (beaches) for 4-5 days, spend the weekend there.
After that I'll probably spend a couple of days in São Paulo (fly there) and then fly back home from there...

I can speak Spanish fluently and a bit of Portuguese (portunhol). I'm not expecting much action in Argentina considering the reputation of the women there, I'm hopeful about Floripa...

Anyone have any experience in the region? Any tips? Something I'm missing?
I'm considering visiting Curitiba and Porto Alegre as well, but don't know if it's worth the effort/time?

Cheers, thanks in advance.

[DiogoFC]

There'ss plenty of info on respective threads.

Best women of Curitiba and Porto Alegre will be in Floripa and other beaches nearby (Garopaba, Camboriú) at this time of the year, that's for sure. But then you're in for high prices, hours of traffic bellow hot sun to move around... gotta choose.

[ascotpudding]

Colonia is a tourist trap and not worth a visit, IMO.

Better to go to Punta del Este, even though you're well past peak season. Beaches will still be nice to visit and there will be enough chicas to have fun if you have realistic expectations.

If you'd rather not do beaches or visit Brazil, stay inside Argentina and visit Mendoza (wine region, plus great weather, scenery and good restaurants).

Or go to Iguazu Falls, really cool to see in person, no photos do it justice. Be sure to see both Arg. and Brazil sides of falls if you go.

BA itself will be pretty dead through the end of February as it's high summer there, hot, humid and empty.

[Kendrick]

(01-22-2017 04:23 PM)ascotpudding Wrote:  

Colonia is a tourist trap and not worth a visit, IMO.

Better to go to Punta del Este, even though you're well past peak season. Beaches will still be nice to visit and there will be enough chicas to have fun if you have realistic expectations.

If you'd rather not do beaches or visit Brazil, stay inside Argentina and visit Mendoza (wine region, plus great weather, scenery and good restaurants).

Or go to Iguazu Falls, really cool to see in person, no photos do it justice. Be sure to see both Arg. and Brazil sides of falls if you go.

BA itself will be pretty dead through the end of February as it's high summer there, hot, humid and empty.

If Punta del Este is past prime and Buenos Aires is still dead for another month, where do the portenos go? Mar del Plata all of February? Pinamar? Or is Floripa still good in February and many go to Brazil?

[ascotpudding]

February is family time in Punta and Mar del Plata, the raging party scene ends by mid-January.

I personally would never go to MdP, even in prime time. Beaches aren't great and it's a big, ugly city. Clubs can be good but skew very young (18 and under).

The Portenos with money leave BA and visit places like Patagonia, Miami, Thailand, Brazil, etc. in the summer.

Or, they go every weekend to their country places. No, you're not going to be invited to their weekend homes unless you know some locals well.

Of course since BA is a big city, you can still find action, particularly with US and Euro tourists. But if you can wait til March, that's when BA really comes alive.

Not only are Portenos back, but all the universities start up again, plenty of fresh new talent in town. Not just from other cities in Arg., but other countries in Latin America.

And the weather is usually good in March/April, too.

[Tenerife]

Buenos Aires is pretty dead currently. Many of the best clubs are closed and massive number of people are at the beaches until March. Some clubs don't reopen until April. There are still some decent parties though.

I'm currently in town.

[wp_sniper]

Hey Dvorak,
I'm flying into Montevideo on Jan 31 since it's Carnaval season and I'm hoping girls are more DTF than in BA. I was thinking of spending a few days in BA though, and also Floripa. Lets meet up.

[Mekorig]

There is still some action in Punta, at least until half of february. You get a little more activity in Bs As, but yes, for full activity you need to wait for mid-march or april.

Mar del plata is like Bs As with an ugly beach, but you will find some porteñas there. Villa Gesell and Pinamar are also good options.

[Dvorak]

Hey guys, thanks for the tips already!

Sorry, I didn't specify my time period, I'm actually going at the start of April to BA. Travelling north and probably leaving from Sao Paulo 3 or 4 weeks later.

So, sorry Sniper, I won't be able to meet up. Have fun there!

Reading the comments BA should be busy again, and Floripa won't be overly crowded. So, everything sounds good so far :-)

Just spoke to a friend, he was raving about Balneário Camboriú, which is a small city close to Floripa. Probably check that out as well...

[Tenerife]

I'm curious about february in brazil. Is sao paulo dead in the summertime like buenos aires, or would february in sao paulo be more packed?

[Stakes Is High]

Floripa is a gold mine this time of year. Lagoa da Conceiçao is where you want to be at. AirBnb near Praia Mole, spend time on the beach during the day. Party it up on Rendeiras at night.

[wp_sniper]

Thanks for the tips Stakes is High!! I didn't know where to stay in Floripa.

I'm going to be in south America until roughly April 22nd when i head to the motherland.

[brazilsurftours]

(01-25-2017 07:14 PM)Stakes Is High Wrote:  

Floripa is a gold mine this time of year. Lagoa da Conceiçao is where you want to be at. AirBnb near Praia Mole, spend time on the beach during the day. Party it up on Rendeiras at night.

This is completely true.

[shotgun]

(01-25-2017 06:50 AM)Tenerife Wrote:  

I'm curious about february in brazil. Is sao paulo dead in the summertime like buenos aires, or would february in sao paulo be more packed?

February is all about Carnaval in Brazil.

In Sao Paulo, you have the afternoon street parties called "Blocos", which congregate everyone willing to party. They take place on the weekends leading up to Carnaval week. A lot of hooking up goes on. Don't bother with night clubs, at least during weekends. They will be empty, because everyone will either be tired from partying at the Bloco for the whole day, or resting to party at the Bloco the next day.

When Carnaval itself arrives, most people will leave the city and flock to the beach towns (Maresias, Guaruja, Ilhabela), or to other States (Rio, Salvador, Florianopolis, Minas Gerais countryside), so the city becomes fairly empty.

[Dvorak]

Anybody's been to Bonito?
http://wikitravel.org/en/Bonito_(Mato_Grosso_do_Sul)

Apparently some waterfalls there and you can do snorkling, hiking etc (heart of eco-tourism). Was a tip given by a Brazilian, but it seems like a bitch getting there. From iguazu falls I'd have to take a bus to Campo Grande

[Dvorak]

I'll give a small recap. Argentina was cool, but I kinda felt like I was in Southern Europe. Nothing too "exotic" compared to the rest of South America. Buenos Aires is very big and has a lot of stuff to do and see. Spent a couple of days there. Saw a football game (Boca), walked lot, did some museums, city tours etc...
Then I took a bus to Cordoba (10 hours). It's a nice (student) city. Nothing spectacular to see, mostly known for hiking and the nature outside of the city (which I didn't do). Saw some VERY pretty girls there. Especially the faces are like cover-girls.

I didn't really go out in these 2 cities. Was a bit unlucky with the hostels and the people I met, so I didn't find anybody willing to go out with me.
I know, a lot of excuses: jetlagged, tired, I know nightlife starts very late and I honestly didn't feel like it that much... Gave it a try one night and met up with a (wingman I thought) guy which I met on couchsurfing, but he turned out to be gay so that was a bit awkward.

Afterwards I flew to Iguazú falls, that was REALLY spectacular. I was lucky and met some great people in my hostel. Hung out for 2 days with a nice German girl (30 yo backpacker). I didn't try anything (not really my type) but I got the feeling she was into me ("we look like a couple in our pictures together")... Spend a day on both sides (Argentinian and Brazilian side), go slow and enjoy the views. You can do a couple of other things around there (bird park, big dam...) but I think 2 or 3 days is enough...

Afterwards I took a bus to Floripa, which was a bit empty already. Again a bit unlucky with the hostel (only 40 yo brazilian bums there), had nice weather for 2 days but a bit rainy the other two days. I had lined up some tinder dates there but my phone broke down just when I arrived in Floripa, which sucked ass. Supposedly was gonna meet up with a Brazilian friend from way back, but he flaked on me (has happened a few times already, I don't think Brazilians are really trustworthy)... Was a bit frustrated with the phone situation but in the end I bought a new one (very expensive in Brazil).

Then I flew to SP, where I stayed from Tuesday till Sunday. Not that much to see there, just concrete and people everywhere. Definitely felt like a gigantic city, a lot of different neighbourhoods (e.g. Villa Madalena) but none were that great imo. European prices I'd say. I was lucky and met some great people in the hostel and hung out with them.
Followed them to some parties on Thursday and Friday to some alternative/gay neighbourhood, but that was pretty dirty/shitty.
Meanwhile I was tindering and had a lot of matches and chatting a bit with them in Portunhol. Met up with a tinder date on Saturday for a coffee. Her father was Chilean so she spoke decent Spanish. My Spanish is quite good so the conversation was flowing nicely. We went to a bar afterwards and kept drinking. Then I had a burger, and we had some more beers afterwards. She took me back to her place around midnight (decent place very near to Paulista so I guess her family has some money). Great body (ass) but we were both a bit drunk and tired haha. Felt good to have a notch without even putting in much effort. She genuinely liked me and was even paying for her own drinks, didn't have to ly or play any games/tricks.
I might have gotten more success had I gone out more or actually put in some effort to meet some of my other matches. Problem was that takes a long time to move around in the city... Next day I flew back to Europe.

Had a pretty good trip overall I'd say. Game-wise I'm a bit disappointed in myself. Next time I either have to bring a wingman or just suck it up and go out alone.