Travel To & Around the Argentina Ski Resorts
The country of Argentina is vast and the roads not always great, so accessing the Argentina ski resorts generally requires a regional flight considering their geographic remoteness from major international airports such as Buenos Aires in Argentina and Santiago in Chile.
Gateway/Regional Airports for Argentina Ski Resorts
Major gateway airports for the main Argentina ski resorts are:
Mendoza Airport (El Plumerillo International Airport)
- For Las Lenas
- receives flights from airports such as both Buenos Aires airports (see below), Bariloche, Santiago in Chile, São Paulo/Guarulhosin Brazil
- Malargue Airport is another gateway airport for Las Leñas, and receives charter flights on weekends
Bariloche Airport (Teniente Luis Candelaria Airport)
Chapelco Airport (Aviador Carlos Campos Airport)
Esquel Airport
Ushuaia Airport (Malvinas Argentinas International Airport)
- For Cerro Castor
- Receives flights from both Buenos Aires airports
Flying Into Buenos Aires
Whilst it’s possible to get a flight from Santiago to Mendoza (to get to Las Lenas) or Bariloche (some days), many skiers and snowboarders heading to Argentina will fly via Buenos Aires. There are two main Buenos Aires airports.
Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport (EZE)/ Ministro Pistarini International Airport is located in Ezeiza, 22km from downtown Buenos Aires. It is the main hub for many international flights including those from outside of South America.
Buenos Aires Aeroparque/Jorge Newbery Airport (AEP) used to primarily be a domestic airport but now it’s an international airport for other South American destinations as well. It’s located 2km northwest of downtown Buenos Aires.
When looking for flight options on
Skyscanner (or use google flights) to the regional gateway airports from your departure city, check which airports the flights are arriving and departing from. If an airport change is required in Buenos Aires, it necessitates an hour long (or more) transfer via bus or taxi between the international airport and the domestic airport. This can be a bit inconvenient, although many flight schedules warrant an overnight stay in one of the
hotels in Buenos Aires (and the city of
Buenos Aires makes for a great stop-over), and then the inter-airport transfer becomes less of an issue.
Travel Around Argentina
The country of Argentina is vast and the roads not always great, so flying into the gateway airport near your target ski resort/s is ideal. Once you’ve arrived at the regional airport, here are some tips for getting around Argentina.
Argentina Ski Tours
If you want to sample multiple ski resorts, there are various
Argentina ski and snowboard tours where transport is included, as well as hosting and guiding to get to the best powder stashes. Going on a tour takes away all the stress, and you can save your energy for skiing or boarding. Hopefully you’ll also meet some new ski buddies.
Private Shuttles
There are various Argentina ski packages that include transport with a private driver. This can be far preferable to driving yourself, especially if your Spanish language skills are somewhat lacking. Putting chains on the car may be a big hassle, and driving up some of the ski resort access roads can be a little daunting, so having a driver means you can sit back and relax.
Argentina Car Rental
You can rent a car at the major airports. Costs are relatively high in Argentina, particularly in Patagonia, possibly because some of the roads are so bad that cars deteriorate quickly (we remember renting an astronomically expensive car in Esquel that had only 10,000km on the clock and it was a bomb!). You can look at
car rental options here. Alternatively some local firms provide rock bottom prices but may or may not provide good service (we recall an inexpensive car rental place in Bariloche where the “office” was only open when they felt like it).
To rent a car in Argentina you need to be over 21 or 25 depending on the agency. We’d recommend having an international driver’s license. When you rent the car, you’ll need a physical credit card (ie not the wallet on your phone) and your passport, and you’ll probably need plenty of patience too because their paperwork processes can be sooooo slow.
Rental cars are often only manual transmission, so hopefully you know how to drive a stick shift, especially if you usually drive on the left hand side of the road and your right hand now has to do the work.
Note that not all car rental contracts have unlimited kilometres, so keep an eye on whether there are extra charges per kilometre. If you’re driving one-way, drop off fees can also be pretty high in Argentina. If you want to drive into Chile, check that the car rental company will allow this, and if so, some paperwork is required (and considering this is Argentina the paperwork can be slooooow).
Driving Around Argentina Tips
In Argentina they drive on the right hand side of the road, so the same as North America and Europe.
Like most of the world, speed limits are based on the metric system. Some of the expressways have speed limits of up to 120kph, but there are plenty of crazy drivers that have little respect for the speed limit. Some regional roads are really bad, even if they’re paved, and you might not be able to drive the speed limit without your head feeling like it’s going to fall off your shoulders. That won’t stop a crazy driver from overtaking you on a blind corner with double lines.
To counteract your speed, sometimes there are ridiculous speed humps in the strangest places on the highway, with no warning. The dogs trying to chase your wheels also seems to be a bit of deterrent from driving too fast.
Even if your rental agency didn’t require an international drivers license, there are lots of police road blocks, and they sure like you having an international license. The police also like it if you have your lights on during the day.
When driving in the city, keep windows closed and doors locked.
The last tip is to keep your wits about you. Particularly in the lakes district, the scenery is so gorgeous that it can distract you whilst driving!
Taxis & Ride-Sharing
There are different types of taxis in Argentina and each region has its own variations. Taxis have meters and in cities in particular, you want to check it has a functioning meter. Remises will operate with a fixed rate, and are generally cheaper for regional trips or longer trips.
Some places have shared taxis (taxis colectivos) that run on fixed routes and have multiple passengers.
In the larger cities you can use Uber, which is particularly nice if your language skills are lacking or you’re worried about a taxi scam. Uber tends to be cheaper, except during peak/surge times. The legality of Uber in many of parts of Argentina is a bit grey, so you might have to sit in the front seat or you might need to change your Uber settings to pay cash rather than credit card, although most international credit cards seem to be OK.
For a while there, the Uber app was blocked near Ezieza Airport so you had to walk away from the terminal to get the app to work. Hopefully this issue has been resolved and that the turf war between the government backed taxi drivers and Uber is easing, as it has in many parts of the world.
There are also various other ride-share apps in operation in Argentina.
Buses
The intercity bus network in Argentina is extensive, and because some of them cover massive distances (e.g. Buenos Aires to Bariloche) there are many buses with fancy roomy seats. For long legs (yes pun intended) you can purchase different class seats such as luxury ejecutivo with wide seats that fully recline, or semi-cama seats that semi recline.