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.

i have done some of the west coast. my missus if from guayaquil in ecuador (hence the name) so go there a bit. there are some great places in ecuador. tana and banos are good for the activities, quito is worth checking out, some pretty good clubs there, but not cheap and cuenca is a really good town. its worth going up chimborazo too, which would mean a trip to riobamba. not much to do in riobamba, but we thought it had the potential, so could be worth a weekend there, rather than the weekdays that we stayed. obviously, guayaquil is worth a visit, but i found the smaller towns both better value for money and more welcoming but still with lots to do.

you can also get over the boarder into peru. its an experience going thru boarder control at night, but its like anything, be sensible and you'll be safe. peru i found is a bit more rebelious than ecuador. they don't seem to get on at the best of times, and there was a bit of animosity. northern peru though seems to be a bit of a party area. we went to mancura and had a cracking time. very cheap, hostels clean and mostly safe...we did get robbed on the full moon party evening, but i suspect we could have been a bit more careful. they are only interested in stuff they can sell though....left english money, credit cards, passports etc, just stole usd's and electicals. that happens most places in the world though, so don't let it put you off

if you are over on the west coast, go and see the galapagos, as they are starting to put a limit on the amount of tourists going out there, so could be worth doing while in the area. again, not cheap, but once in a lifetime opportunity.