Hi!
I'm a portuguese biker planning to arrive in Argentina next January 2014. I'm shipping my bike from Portugal to Buenos Aires.
Questions:
-best time to ship the bike because of Christmas holidays and local celebration of New Year
- best route to take from Buenos Aires to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia, Chile, Lake Tititaka, Peru... Colombia?

I believe it's the route that makes us, not the other way round.
Any suggestions?
Anybody interested in joining?
Thanks!
Gonçalo

Hi Gonçalo! Hope to see you down here.

I do Buenos Aires - Rio Gallegos every summer and for me the "Ruta 3" is the most boring but the easiest. The ruta 40 has the best scenery and now it's mostly paved.

Hi!

I live (and ride) in Peru. Don't go up the Panamericana on the coast. Nothing to see (even Nazca is not much), prices and traffic are higher, and you want to stay away from Lima! Come up the central Andes.

Visit me (and my shop) in Huanuco, Peru! What moto are you riding? Would be glad to fix anything that might be needing fixing.

Toby

Hi

Actually, i am leaving the 8th of November from Mar del Plata , where my bike is stored and have the same dilemma, how to get to Ushuaia!
So do you think to get to Ruta 40, go through Neuquen, or go more south and take 23 west to Valcheta and then continue west probably on an unpaved road towards Ruta 40 , by passing Sierra Colorada, Maquinchao on ruta 23? I would prefer ruta 23 to hit ruta 40, till someone tells me different!

__________________
Ronald Janssen
http://utilamoto.blogspot.com/

I shipped my first motorcycle to Argentina from Portugal as well ;o)

If i were you, i would leave the bike in El Bolson, and take a bus or a plane to Ushuaia. I m not sure the scenery to the most southern point of America is worth adding 4000 km to the bike forth and back. But then, the 40 up to Bolivia is definitly the road to go, and Bolivia is even more beautiful.

Ruta 3 is resoundingly boring...but fast. Ruta 40 is much more interesting and has the better side trips. Ruta 7 in Chile is the best of all for the section it covers. Don't forget you'll be riding back from Ushuaia too, so what you really want is two routes with little duplication.

I respectfully disagree with Vorteks: there is a lot to see by bike south of El Bolson--easily worth a month's riding. Bus travel in that area is limited, therefore confining. Of course it's true that there is also a lot of boring slogging along in crosswinds.

Mark

I agree with markharf.

I would do Buenos Aires - Ushuaia through ruta 3. Ushuaia - Porvenir - Punta Arenas all the way up through Ruta 7 (Carretera Austral) and then I would enter to Argentina (Bariloche, El Bolson, Esquel,etc), Ruta 40 all the way up and then, going back to Chile. From there, I would get into Peru

Hi Goncalo,

I've been down to Ushuaia from BA and then up to Peru. Knowing what I know now, and if I had a few hundred dollars to spend, I would go -

- BA to Mendoza, then down the 40 (actually more the side roads in the mountains) to San Martin de Los Andes.

- Cross into Chile to Puerto Montt.

- Take the Navimag ferry to Punta Arenas. If the weather is good, it is meant to be an amazing trip through the islands and fjords.

- Miss out Ushuaia, riding up the 40 (via Torres del Paine) until Baja Caracoles, then cross into Chile on to Ruta 7.

- North up the 7, either direct to Puerto Montt or via Argentina through Futalefu, El Bolson, Bariloche.

- North through Chile, via the Lakes, to Santiago (best place to get work done on the bike, buy stuff you realise you need but didn't bring).

By doing this, you effectively do a 'figure of 8', get lots of Ruta 40 and 7 (the Carretera Austral, NOT to be missed) and most importantly, you don't cover any ground twice.

If the Navimag isn't an option, just put your head down and blitz Ruta 3 to the south, accepting the the real riding starts when you get there. I did BA to Ushuaia in 8 days, and could have done it in 6 at a push. 700km a day on Ruta 3 is perfectly feasible if your moto likes long road sections (I'm on a 660 Tenere) - dead straight, not much traffic, not much anything!!

- From Santiago, back into Arg and up the 40 to Salta, with the option of zigzagging back into Chile via Paso Agua Negra or San Fransisco to visit the Atacama. (San Pedro to Salta via Paso Sico, 300km of dirt and virtually no other vehicles.)

- Into Bolivia from Salta, do all the good stuff there, and then into Peru via Titicaca.

- Onwards north via Cusco, Ayacucho etc, through the mountains.

It's nearly all epic. Loads of dirt roads through the mountains and avoiding the major routes. As a rule, the coast is dull. The mountains are amazing. Bring a tent and good sleeping bag!!

Hope that helps. You'll LOVE it here.

Paul

Hi Gonçalo,
As I am planing something similar (although not from Portugal) I was wondering what is it you pay for transfering your bike to BA? Air or sea?

kind regards
valente