Argentina Unveiled: Wine Country, Waterfalls, and Patagonian Adventures

Welcome to another episode of The Intrepid Traveler! Join your host Robin Cline, founder of Cline & Co. Travel Consulting, and co-host Abby Laub of Laub Media Group, as they dive into the wonders of Argentina. Fresh from her travels, Robin Cline shares first-hand stories and practical insights about exploring this vast and diverse South American country. From the lush vineyards of Mendoza to the thundering majesty of Iguazu Falls, and the European-inspired charm of Bariloche, discover why Argentina might just surprise you. Find out how the right connections can transform your trip, what to expect when traveling between regions, and why food, culture, and adventure await at every turn. If you’ve ever dreamed of an unforgettable Argentina adventure, this episode is your perfect starting point!

Thanks for joining us on today’s episode of The Intrepid Traveler podcast! If you enjoyed today’s episode, please rate and review our show to help us reach even more aspiring travelers. Don’t forget to check out our website, visit us on Facebook,  Instagram or follow us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on our latest epic travel adventures!

Use the following links when planning your own travel!

TRAVEL INSURED INTERNATIONAL

MEDJET

VIRTUOSO

PROJECT EXPEDITION

Transcript

ROBIN CLINE
0:05

Welcome to The Intrepid Traveler. I'm Robin Cline, your host and the founder of Cline & Co. Travel Consulting. This show is for anyone who's ever dreamed of traveling somewhere extraordinary but wasn't sure where to start. In each episode, I share stories and insights from my own adventures around the world because I believe the best way to help you plan the trip of a lifetime is to actually have experienced Let's get into it. Hello, I'm back. It's been a while. I am excited to be recording again and talk to everybody about all these trips that I've been taking and place— new places I've explored and exciting, exciting things to report.

ROBIN CLINE
0:50

And I'm even more excited to have Abby Laub with me from Laub Media Group in Lexington, Kentucky. Abby and her husband have launched their new group and she is going to co-host for me and prompt me along. So Maybe I'm a little more interesting than I would have been sitting here alone. So welcome, Audie. Thank you.

ABBY LAUB
1:09

Thank you. Well, Robin and I also are neighbors. And so I get to hear about all of her trips on our many dog walks and, you know, hanging out in the neighborhood. And I'm always like a tiny bit jealous. And so it's going to be fun to talk about all these trips that you've been taking, Robin.

ROBIN CLINE
1:23

Yeah. Well, and I keep reminding you that it's the, you know, time in life. I'm a lot older than you are. My kids are grown and gone. So I have the freedom now that you're not quite there yet, but you're, you're You're gonna get there and you'll be doing a lot of traveling too.

ABBY LAUB
1:38

And then by then you'll know all the good places by then. So.

ROBIN CLINE
1:42

Exactly.

ABBY LAUB
1:42

Maybe you're just saving me a little bit of trouble.

ROBIN CLINE
1:45

Exactly, exactly. And that's what I wanna do for the people that are listening to this too, is help, you know, not just tell you fun stories and anecdotes and things like that, but also kind of give you some insight into logistics of certain things and places. And, you know, and that's why I go to all these places so that I can make it easier for my clients I plan their trips. And I just, I like doing this because I want to share that with people, that it doesn't matter if you work with me or not. I want to, you know, help people along because I think that anytime you can travel, it's a good thing.

ABBY LAUB
2:19

Yeah. Yeah. What is the benefit that people get working with you? Say they're going to go to Argentina, which we're going to talk about here in a second.

ROBIN CLINE
2:25

Yeah.

ABBY LAUB
2:25

You learned a lot when you went to Argentina. So just talk about some of those benefits that you do provide people.

ROBIN CLINE
2:31

You know, one thing that working with a travel advisor provides people is the connections. Like, I have the connections at the hotels with the people on the ground. You know, when I plan trips for people, I work with people I've met and I have gone and I've kind of sampled, you know, what they can do, what their services are like, who their partners are on the ground, you know, what their vehicles are like, you know, what the—

ABBY LAUB
2:57

Yeah.

ROBIN CLINE
2:57

The boats are like, the horses are like, the, you know, the connections with the places to go taste wine. What are the hotels really like? I mean, hotels are a big one because, you know, anybody can make pretty pictures of their hotels.

ABBY LAUB
3:10

Yeah.

ROBIN CLINE
3:11

And sometimes you show up and you're like— and you appreciate this being a photographer yourself— like, sometimes I show up and I'm like, wow, that room is really, really tiny. And it didn't look so tiny because they had this massive, great wide-angle lens that made it look like a big room. And it's not, you know. So is the bathroom like, you know, like a You know, marine, you know, tiny little all-in-one thing, stuff like that. So, so those are the advantages. I just, I'm able to do all the kind of the legwork and it takes the leg— me doing the legwork takes the guesswork out.

ABBY LAUB
3:48

Yeah, that's, that's really good. Well, you've been to, I don't even know how many countries in the last year. A lot.

ROBIN CLINE
3:54

Yeah, I've kind of lost count. in the last year.

ABBY LAUB
3:59

Yeah, but I know that South America is a favorite for you just in general, um, in terms of all these countries you've been to. So let's, let's start there because we can't talk about every country you've been to in the last year because that would take like 12 hours. But yeah, um, it'll take us—

ROBIN CLINE
4:14

we'll get through the season, we'll do the whole season, we'll get through the last year.

ABBY LAUB
4:18

I love it, I love it. I'll just live vicariously through you, Robin. So let's start with Argentina because you said you were a little bit surprised by that trip in a good way, specifically with Mendoza. So just talk about What you did on that trip and what surprised you about that trip.

ROBIN CLINE
4:33

One thing to keep in mind is that Argentina is a huge country.

ABBY LAUB
4:36

And it's the largest country in the world.

ROBIN CLINE
4:38

And so the logistics of getting from one place to another, it's kind of like, you know, when we live in the United States and we have friends from Europe that say, oh, we're going to go to, you know, New York and Texas and California and all this. And like, we're going to be there for a week. And you're like, what? You know? And so it's a little bit like that because it's a long way between places, but it's amazing because the different destinations in Argentina provide such different experiences. I mean, you can go all the way to the very southern end of it into Patagonia, the Southern Patagonia and the mountains there, all the way to the north to the salt flats. You can get almost into the rainforest at Iguazu Falls. Of course, you've got Buenos Aires, you've got the flatlands in the Pompeii area. So, I mean, it's just incredibly varied.

ABBY LAUB
5:32

Yeah.

ROBIN CLINE
5:32

Right now, you do have to take a lot of flights to get to all these places, and you almost always have to go back to Buenos Aires to go to the next place. So that may— they don't have the connectivity on their flights that we do here. So that was a surprise from a logistical standpoint. The great surprise for me was how much I loved Mendoza. I wasn't really expecting to love it as much as I did. I kind of thought, well, this is wine country. It'd be sort of like going to Napa or Sonoma. I didn't find it that way.

ROBIN CLINE
6:03

Now, I only went to the area kind of centralized there. I didn't get to the southern part of it or the northern part of the wine, wine country. But yeah, beautiful wineries. We had a fantastic horseback riding experience. The mountains are gorgeous there.

ABBY LAUB
6:18

Mm-hmm.

ROBIN CLINE
6:19

There are lovely hotels and resorts both inside the city or outside the city. Amazing food. culture there. I mean, not just asado, which is really incredible. I mean, we went to a Michelin-starred restaurant one night that was at a winery. The food was amazing. The people were amazing. The, the beauty of the area.

ROBIN CLINE
6:41

So it, it really surprised me in a good way because my attitude had kind of been, well, I'm going to check this out for my clients that love wine and food. But yeah, I really loved it.

ABBY LAUB
6:52

Okay. What was the food like? So I know that Argentina, I mean, there's a lot of beef that comes from Argentina. Is that In the food that you ate, or what is the food like?

ROBIN CLINE
7:01

I think that, you know, regionally it gets, it's a little bit regional, kind of like anywhere. If you're closer to the sea, you're going to get more, you know, seafood options. The beef was, was very good. I like, I like beef and, um, and it was very good. Uh, but the interesting thing I learned about it was that apparently it's just been like in the last sort of 20 years or something that they've been learning that not everybody wants to eat it well done. And so that was, that's kind of surprised me. I learned that along the way. And so, but the, but the food scene in terms of like chefs that are creative and, and, and from Argentina, so they're incorporating a lot of their local, what they grow there into the menus.

ABBY LAUB
7:43

Which is what, what are some of the things? I mean, it's a huge country, so I'm sure there's tons of diversity, but maybe with Mendoza specifically, you know, if they're making wine, what, what type of food are they pairing? Pairing with the wine?

ROBIN CLINE
7:55

Well, I think it's pretty, it's, you know, the typical cheeses, cured meats, fruits, things like that. But it's the preparation of it along with some, maybe some things that grow locally that we wouldn't get here. And it's kind of interesting to me. That's something I find a little bit more worldwide that I think that we in the United States don't maybe do quite as well. I mean, people are like really conscious of using what can be locally sourced and what is indigenous.

ABBY LAUB
8:26

And seasonally too, right?

ROBIN CLINE
8:28

Yeah.

ABBY LAUB
8:28

Yes.

ROBIN CLINE
8:29

And they don't do as much importing as we do. And I think the cost of doing it in other places is so high.

ABBY LAUB
8:37

And true. Well, I guess if you don't need to bring food in, then why would you, right? Exactly. You have amazing options right there. Yeah.

ROBIN CLINE
8:44

And they, and like in Argentina, they've got, you know, all the space to grow what they need, you know, in the different climates and things. So, you know, they have a good variety of things. Cool.

ABBY LAUB
8:55

So outside of Mendoza, this all sounds amazing. I mean, it sounds like you could do an entire trip in that region, probably, right?

ROBIN CLINE
9:01

Yeah.

ABBY LAUB
9:02

But you were there for— yeah, but how long were you there total in Argentina?

ROBIN CLINE
9:07

I was in Argentina for about 2 weeks.

ABBY LAUB
9:11

Oh, wow. So that gives you a good idea of the type of time that you're talking about spending if, if you have to have all these logistics set up. But you need to plan for that because otherwise you're just racing around, right?

ROBIN CLINE
9:22

Exactly.

ABBY LAUB
9:23

So aside from Mendoza, where else did you guys go?

ROBIN CLINE
9:26

Yeah, Bariloche, which is the Lake District, and Iguazu Falls, and of course Buenos Aires. Iguazu Falls is right on the border with Brazil, so you can do the falls either on the Brazilian side or on the Argentinian side. The infrastructure on the Argentinian side is better. Like, there's walkways throughout the whole area, there's different paths. There's like— you could spend 2 days seeing the falls there, and they are like incredible. I've been to Niagara Falls.

ABBY LAUB
9:57

They look beautiful.

ROBIN CLINE
9:59

Yeah, yeah. I've been to Niagara Falls, and this was just so much more. I mean, like, you know, the power of water, any— in any kind of, uh, situation— river, ocean, you know, all of that—

ABBY LAUB
10:11

is Amazing.

ROBIN CLINE
10:12

But this, it really was just incredible.

ABBY LAUB
10:15

Do you know how it does compare size-wise to Niagara Falls? Since probably a lot of people have been to Niagara, does it give a sense of the perspective of how big they are?

ROBIN CLINE
10:24

I think that— I don't know, you know, anything like, you know, square meters or, you know, any kind of like how much, you know, how many gallons of water versus— but what I can tell you is that at Gwazu, there are Like you can walk around and see different falls all in different areas and different plants and things that are growing in different parts of it, you know. Um, some places like these smaller, gentler falls that are in these, you know, go into these beautiful pools. Some places are absolutely like thunderous, you know, it's just, you know, crashing down in a very steep distance.

ABBY LAUB
11:01

Right.

ROBIN CLINE
11:01

And so you get all these different layers of, and then, you know, when you get to the very top and look out, you know, of course you've got this nice big smooth, you know, you look at it and then it all falls over and just changes. It's incredible.

ABBY LAUB
11:16

It does look like it's a little more spread out than Niagara Falls.

ROBIN CLINE
11:20

Yeah.

ABBY LAUB
11:20

It looks so pretty. Well, that's cool. So yeah. What else did you guys do?

ROBIN CLINE
11:24

Then I did a, I was at a meeting in Buenos Aires, which, you know, that's not important to anybody in terms of how they would plan their trip, but that's another way that I meet my partners and people that I might want to work with and learn more about a country and the options that are available in that country. So I was at a meeting for a few days, and then I additionally spent 3 days in Buenos Aires just touring and going to the Recoleta Cemetery, to the opera house, walking around the city, seeing what the architecture is like, the history, learning about you know, the, the history of the, of the city. And, and I always love having a good guided tour, at least to start, because it just gives you such a good foundation. We went to a tango show, of course. Oh, that's so fun.

ABBY LAUB
12:14

Yeah.

ROBIN CLINE
12:15

Did you dance?

ABBY LAUB
12:15

Did you have a dance partner?

ROBIN CLINE
12:16

No, no, I did not dance. Watching them do their thing, I was like, yeah, not happening.

ABBY LAUB
12:21

You're like, you stick to that, I'll stick to travel planning.

ROBIN CLINE
12:23

Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. You're not getting me. Oh, and went, um, went to Uruguay for for the day.

ABBY LAUB
12:29

Okay.

ROBIN CLINE
12:29

So took the ferry, went over to Uruguay for the day, and then to Colonia is the city there that is just like an hour and a half by ferry. Did that, just went over there and walked around the city and then had lunch. We rented a little electric car and drove around just a little bit and then went back, got on the ferry, went back to Buenos Aires. So it's a good diversion. I mean, you know, it's, it is an international you know, crossing. So you have to go through immigration and all of that. That's a thing to consider. But, um, but it was a good, it was a good day.

ROBIN CLINE
13:06

And then also went to Bariloche, which is the lake district. Um, that's like beautiful northern Patagonia. So it's San Carlos de Bariloche is what it's called. And it's a, an area that was heavily settled by Europeans. And, uh, so you have a lot of, uh, German Culture there. And a lot of the homes look, you know, the architecture is, you know, kind of is very European.

ABBY LAUB
13:33

Well, yeah, Buenos Aires too is supposedly, you know, also known for that European-style architecture, which probably might surprise people, I guess, if they're not expecting that.

ROBIN CLINE
13:43

But it's more Spanish.

ABBY LAUB
13:44

Okay. Okay.

ROBIN CLINE
13:45

Buenos Aires is more Spanish. Bariloche is, I mean, obviously Spain. And both in Europe, you know, you get more of that, um, that feel in Bariloche of the German culture, and the food is, you know, kind of more similar. And it says because it was settled more by Germans.

ABBY LAUB
14:06

So yeah. Okay, question, but was it cold when you went to the Lake District?

ROBIN CLINE
14:11

I mean, yeah, yeah, you're in the southern hemisphere in the—

ABBY LAUB
14:15

yeah, in the summer.

ROBIN CLINE
14:16

Right, exactly. So I was there in April, so that was their fall. So they are just finishing summer. And, you know, one day was beautiful and sunny and, you know, just kind of nice fall weather. Another day it was rainy and cold all day. The nights got down to right like around, yeah, 35, 40, something like that.

ABBY LAUB
14:36

Okay.

ROBIN CLINE
14:36

So you'd want kind of a down coat puffer in the morning, but then it would warm up during the day. They do have a ski area.

ABBY LAUB
14:42

Oh, interesting.

ROBIN CLINE
14:43

So they've got ski slopes and a lot of people come to ski there. And then in the, and then in the summertime, it's, you know, boating, hiking. Um, it's very outdoors. So I mean, Veralace would not probably be the place to go if you don't enjoy the outdoors, because that's really what it, what it's all about. There are some beautiful resorts where, I mean, you could just kind of sit and enjoy and be used, but it's really about you know, going out and doing the outdoors.

ABBY LAUB
15:12

Well, that's what the brand Patagonia came from, right? It's like an outdoor adventure brand.

ROBIN CLINE
15:17

Yeah, the like flagship original store is there in—

ABBY LAUB
15:22

Really? That's cool. Okay. Okay, so this is not a place—

ROBIN CLINE
15:26

I didn't go because I didn't want to be tempted. I didn't think my credit card could handle it.

ABBY LAUB
15:30

So yeah, it'd be hard to expense that one, right?

ROBIN CLINE
15:33

Oh yeah, exactly. Yeah, no, I can't do that. I would just eliminate that, that, uh, um—

ABBY LAUB
15:42

Oh, that's funny.

ROBIN CLINE
15:43

Temptation. Yeah, yeah.

ABBY LAUB
15:45

Now, do they grow coffee anywhere in Argentina? Is this, is this a thing, or is it more tea?

ROBIN CLINE
15:51

Good question, but no, I don't think so.

ABBY LAUB
15:54

I think they're too far south. Okay. I know some South American countries have that.

ROBIN CLINE
15:59

I mean, they have, clearly have. You know, coffee, pizza, coffee culture is big there.

ABBY LAUB
16:05

All right.

ROBIN CLINE
16:05

But I think you're— I believe you're gonna find that more Colombia, Ecuador. Um, you know, if they do, it's probably further north in the northern parts of it, closer, closer to the equator, because it all has to do with climate and also with altitude.

ABBY LAUB
16:21

Yeah.

ROBIN CLINE
16:21

Now I know it would be too cold in the southern parts.

ABBY LAUB
16:24

Yeah.

ROBIN CLINE
16:24

Good question. I don't know the answer to that, but I don't think so.

ABBY LAUB
16:27

Yeah. So you can hit really anything. You can, you can get architecture, culture, dance, and you can get hiking, skiing.

ROBIN CLINE
16:37

Yeah.

ABBY LAUB
16:37

I mean, it sounds like you could really do everything in Argentina. That's really cool.

ROBIN CLINE
16:41

When would you recommend— Music is a big part of their culture. I mean, obviously sports.

ABBY LAUB
16:47

Right. Soccer is a—

ROBIN CLINE
16:48

Soccer, you know. Yeah. Football rules there, you know.

ABBY LAUB
16:52

And it's— Isn't Messi from Argentina? Okay. Yeah.

ROBIN CLINE
16:56

Yeah.

ABBY LAUB
16:56

Wow.

ROBIN CLINE
16:57

So that's— yeah. So, so football is, you know, yes, their football is huge.

ABBY LAUB
17:02

Oh yeah. I'm sure it's everywhere. Yeah. Great. When would you recommend that people go? You went in April. Did you find that was a good time to go?

ROBIN CLINE
17:10

I mean, I think that is the lucky thing is it's really a year-round destination. Now, if you want to go to Patagonia, certainly the southern parts of Patagonia, then you do need to go spring, Yeah, sure. Summer in their hemisphere, right? Because a lot of things close down. And I was gonna say, a lot of the— a lot of the properties, resorts, everything, yeah, just shut down.

ABBY LAUB
17:33

It's probably pretty intense in that part of the world in the— in the winter, in their winter.

ROBIN CLINE
17:36

Yeah, yeah, it can get very— it can get snowy, icy, windy. Yeah, no, it's— it's getting close to the Arctic. I mean, that's the launching point for expedition trips to Antarctica.

ABBY LAUB
17:51

Yeah, yeah. I think we in the state, in the US, we, we sort of take for granted how, how big this country is and how far south it really does go. It's, it's pretty wild. You're way down there. Absolutely.

ROBIN CLINE
18:05

I mean, you kind of gotta like, I think that if like the hemispheres, you know, if you can't kind of get it clear in your mind, think about like Northern Canada.

ABBY LAUB
18:15

Yeah.

ROBIN CLINE
18:15

And that's what Southern Argentina is, is the flip side.

ABBY LAUB
18:20

Yeah, so you just think, oh, it's in South America. Well, no, it's Antarctica. Or—

ROBIN CLINE
18:26

yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah, that's precisely—

ABBY LAUB
18:30

Well, that's great, Robin. I love that. Is there anything else that people should know before they plan a trip to Argentina?

ROBIN CLINE
18:36

It's nice for Americans to not have to do a visa. You don't have any kind— if you're going to be there, I think it was 90 days or less, you know, you just get to enter the country. There's no kind of, you know, app. There's nothing, no information you have to fill out other than having your passport. That's nice. Money, you know, a lot of people were— are happy to take American dollars in terms of like tipping or, um, you know, you could buy, you know, something in some of the stores. They're not going to give you American change.

ABBY LAUB
19:09

Okay.

ROBIN CLINE
19:10

But, you know, they're, they're open to using American dollars. But, um, You know, so you don't have to exchange a lot of money, which is nice. You know, I mostly when I travel use credit cards and then just take my, uh, the bank, whatever the exchange rate they give me on it. I try to use credit cards as much as possible, but when I needed cash, I just go hit up an ATM and get what I need. And, uh, but it's a little—

ABBY LAUB
19:35

Sometimes for those fees.

ROBIN CLINE
19:37

Yeah, it's a little weird because you've got like, I mean, I want to say if I remember correctly, like 1,000 Argentinian dollars is worth, or pesos is worth, uh, you know, like a dollar or less, you know. And so I think it might have been like 70 cents, like, for a thousand. So it's one of these places where you're like, oh, this is, you know, 700,000, and our brains are like, what? You know. So they really don't even use coins there because the value of the metal in the coin is more than the coin itself would be worth. So you really don't see coins.

ABBY LAUB
20:17

So did you feel like your money went far there as a royal?

ROBIN CLINE
20:21

Yeah, I think it's— I mean, it's good value for the money. The, um, hotels are going to be pretty similar to, you know, what we would pay for hotels. Um, you know, you're not going to get a lot cheaper rates on hotels. But as far as like food, transportation, things like that, you know, that's going to be a little bit little bit less. Your dollar is going to go farther there, a lot farther than it will in Europe.

ABBY LAUB
20:44

Oh, absolutely. Where is it pretty easy to get around? Like, say if someone went and they were gonna rent a car, I mean, would you recommend that, or would— is it just—

ROBIN CLINE
20:52

Yeah, outside of Buenos Aires, yes. If you were going to be in Buenos Aires, I wouldn't. I'd just add a taxi and Uber there.

ABBY LAUB
20:59

Yeah, okay, that's good to know. All right, well, thanks, Robin. I, I personally would go to Argentina tomorrow. I mean, it sounds great.

ROBIN CLINE
21:09

Yeah.

ABBY LAUB
21:10

With kids, you know, having, having younger children, is it a good place to bring kids if someone does have a family or grandkids that they're bringing?

ROBIN CLINE
21:18

Or— Yeah, I definitely think so. 'Cause there's such a variety of things you can do. It's, I think it really just depends on your tolerance for getting between locations.

ABBY LAUB
21:28

Yeah.

ROBIN CLINE
21:29

'Cause it's not like Europe where you can just take a train.

ABBY LAUB
21:32

Right, right. You gotta hop on a flight.

ROBIN CLINE
21:33

You have to fly. You do have to fly from place to place or rent a car and be willing to do the long-distance driving like we would do here in the United States.

ABBY LAUB
21:44

Cool. Well, thanks, Robin. That sounds great.

ROBIN CLINE
21:46

Thank you. Okay.

ABBY LAUB
21:47

All right. See you next time.

ROBIN CLINE
21:48

Absolutely.