One Week: Buenos Aires, Iguazú Falls and Uruguay

Why this week needs three separate blocks

This itinerary is built on a single constraint: Iguazú Falls sits roughly 1,300 km north of Buenos Aires, and the only sensible way there is a flight of about two hours from Aeroparque Jorge Newbery or, less often, Ezeiza. That distance rules out any version of this trip where the falls become a long day excursion. Two days at Iguazú — one full day on the Argentine side, ideally a second day touching the Brazilian side for the panoramic view — is the honest minimum, not an upsell. Anyone promising Iguazú as a single day from Buenos Aires is describing a trip nobody should actually take.

The other constraint is geography of a different kind: Uruguay is a separate country. Colonia del Sacramento sits across the Río de la Plata, reached by a direct fast ferry from Puerto Madero in about an hour, but crossing means a passport, immigration formalities at the terminal, and a currency change to the Uruguayan peso. It is close, but it is not a suburb.

With those two facts fixed, the week resolves itself into three blocks: three days getting to know Buenos Aires through San Telmo, Palermo and Recoleta, then a genuine two-day return flight north to the falls, then two days across the river in Colonia. It is a demanding week — three changes of base, two border-adjacent transitions, one flight — and it rewards travellers who like a full itinerary more than a slow one.

At a glance

Days	Block	How you get there
1–3	Buenos Aires: San Telmo, Palermo, Recoleta	On foot, Subte, colectivo
4–5	Iguazú Falls	~2-hour flight from Aeroparque
6–7	Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay	~1-hour fast ferry from Puerto Madero

Day 1: San Telmo and the historic centre

Start where the city itself started. The Plaza de Mayo and the Microcentro hold the Casa Rosada and the Cabildo, and a slow morning walk through them sets the scale of Buenos Aires before the rest of the week gets busier. From there, head south into San Telmo, the city’s antique-market barrio of cobbled streets and colonial-era houses.

a guided walk through San Telmo’s history, bars and tango corners is a good way to get oriented on a first afternoon, especially if the visit happens to land on a Sunday, when the Feria de San Telmo fills Defensa street and Plaza Dorrego with stalls. On any other day, the permanent antique shops and the Mercado de San Telmo are open regardless.

In the evening, San Telmo is also one of the neighbourhoods where street tango is danced for tips around Plaza Dorrego — worth seeing, but distinct from a dinner show or a milonga, and this trip covers the dinner-show version on Day 2.

Day 2: La Boca, Recoleta and a tango dinner

Morning: a short trip to La Boca for Caminito, the painted corrugated-iron lane that is genuinely worth an hour or two in daylight. Stay on the Caminito and Vuelta de Rocha tourist strip — the surrounding streets are residential and not for wandering. Football fans can also glimpse La Bombonera, Boca Juniors’ ground, from the outside.

Afternoon: cross the city to Recoleta, an entirely different register of Buenos Aires — wide avenues, Belle Époque buildings, and the walled Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Perón is buried in the Duarte family vault (unmarked enough that most visitors need the signage to find it). Entry to the cemetery is ticketed for non-residents.

a combined tour covering La Boca, Recoleta and the Obelisk is a practical way to link these two very different neighbourhoods in one day without doubling back across the city on public transport.

In the evening, sit down for a dinner-and-tango show at a San Telmo tango house — the polished, visitor-facing version of tango, distinct from a milonga where locals actually go to dance.

Day 3: Palermo, parks and a last city evening

The final city day belongs to Palermo, split between Palermo Soho’s boutiques and cafés and the green expanse of the Bosques de Palermo parks. a walking exploration of Palermo Soho is a relaxed way to spend the morning among its converted houses and design shops, and a walk through the Palermo Woods parkland covers the lakes, rose garden and open lawns that give Palermo its reputation as the city’s green lung.

Round out the afternoon with a closer look at Recoleta’s Belle Époque streets if Day 2 left time short there, or use the afternoon to pack: tomorrow’s flight to Iguazú leaves from Aeroparque, on the riverfront near Palermo, so this is also the most convenient night to stay near the airport rather than back in San Telmo. Have an early dinner — meals in Buenos Aires run late, but a flight day is not the day to test that.

Day 4: Fly to Iguazú, first look at the falls

Fly from Aeroparque Jorge Newbery to Puerto Iguazú — a flight of roughly two hours. Exact schedules vary by airline and season, so check current flight times rather than planning around a fixed departure; this itinerary assumes a morning flight, leaving the rest of the day for the falls.

a package covering the return flight and the Iguazú Falls visit itself bundles the transfer, accommodation logistics and park visits into one booking, which simplifies a trip that otherwise involves separate flight, transfer and park-ticket arrangements.

Spend the afternoon on the Argentine side’s walkways, working toward the Garganta del Diablo — the Devil’s Throat — where the Iguazú River drops in a horseshoe of spray that is loud and disorienting even from a distance. A full circuit of the Argentine trails takes most of a day on its own, so today is realistically a partial first look rather than the complete visit.

Day 5: The falls in full, then back to Buenos Aires

This is the day the two-day structure earns itself. Spend the morning finishing the Argentine-side circuits not covered yesterday, then — where the itinerary allows — a look at the Brazilian side for the sweeping panoramic view across the whole falls system, which the Argentine trails do not give. Crossing to the Brazilian side is a separate border, so bring a passport and check current entry requirements before the trip.

Fly back to Buenos Aires in the evening. Arriving late is normal on this kind of return leg; keep the evening simple and save any remaining San Telmo or Palermo exploring for another visit, since tomorrow starts the Uruguay block.

Day 6: Ferry to Colonia del Sacramento

Morning: take the fast ferry from the terminal at Puerto Madero across the Río de la Plata to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay — about an hour on the direct service. This is a genuine border crossing: passport control and immigration happen at the terminal on both sides, and the currency on arrival is the Uruguayan peso, not the Argentine one.

a private day tour to Colonia del Sacramento covers the ferry crossing and a guided walk through the cobbled Barrio Histórico, a UNESCO World Heritage colonial quarter shaped first by Portuguese and then Spanish rule — visible in the mixed architecture along its lighthouse-lined streets.

Stay overnight in Colonia rather than doubling back to Buenos Aires the same evening; the town is compact enough that an unhurried second morning is worth more than repeating the ferry crossing twice in one day.

Day 7: Colonia’s Barrio Histórico, then home

A slow final morning around Colonia’s old town — the lighthouse, the Portuguese quarter’s uneven stone streets, and the waterfront — before the return ferry to Puerto Madero. Some travellers extend this block with a look toward Montevideo, about two and a quarter hours away by direct fast ferry, but that addition needs its own night rather than being folded into this day; a Montevideo day trip with lunch and the ferry crossing included is worth considering on a future, longer visit rather than tacked onto this one.

Back in Buenos Aires by evening, the week closes where it opened: San Telmo, Palermo and Recoleta already explored, Iguazú Falls seen properly over two full days rather than rushed, and a second country crossed and recrossed by ferry.

Practical notes for this route

• Currency: pesos in Argentina, Uruguayan pesos in Colonia — carry or withdraw separately for each leg, and treat any quoted exchange rate as a dated snapshot rather than a fixed figure.
• Documents: a passport is required for the Uruguay crossing and useful to carry throughout, even within Argentina.
• Pace: this is a challenging week by design — three bases, one flight, one ferry crossing each way. A more relaxed traveller might drop the Uruguay block to two days in Buenos Aires plus a slower Iguazú stay instead.
• Booking order: the Iguazú flight and the Colonia ferry both benefit from advance booking in high season, since seats on both can sell out around Argentine holiday periods.

FAQ: planning a week combining Buenos Aires, Iguazú Falls and Uruguay

Can Iguazú Falls be visited as a single day trip from Buenos Aires?

Not realistically. The falls are roughly 1,300 km from Buenos Aires, reached by a flight of about two hours each way, and the Argentine-side walkways alone take most of a day. A round trip in a single day would leave almost no time at the falls themselves, which is why this itinerary allocates two full days.

How do you get from Buenos Aires to Iguazú Falls?

By air. Flights leave from Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, in the city near Palermo, or occasionally from Ezeiza, and take roughly two hours to Puerto Iguazú. There is no practical road or rail alternative for a one-week trip.

Is Colonia del Sacramento part of Argentina?

No. Colonia del Sacramento is in Uruguay, a separate sovereign country reached by ferry across the Río de la Plata. Visitors need a passport, go through immigration at the ferry terminal on both sides, and use the Uruguayan peso rather than the Argentine peso once ashore.

How long is the ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento?

About an hour on the direct fast ferry from the Puerto Madero terminal. Montevideo, further along the coast, takes about two and a quarter hours by direct fast ferry and is better suited to its own overnight trip than to a same-day addition.

Should the Brazilian side of Iguazú Falls be included in a two-day visit?

Where time and border requirements allow, yes — the Brazilian side gives a panoramic view of the whole falls system that the Argentine walkways don’t offer. It is a separate country crossing, though, so it depends on having a passport in hand and checking current entry requirements before the trip.

Is this itinerary suitable for a first visit to Buenos Aires?

It works as a first visit, but it is a full week with three changes of base rather than a slow introduction. Travellers who prefer a gentler pace might spend the whole week in and around the city and treat Iguazú and Uruguay as separate future trips.

What’s the best order: Iguazú first or Uruguay first?

Either works, but placing Iguazú in the middle of the week, as this itinerary does, means the flight happens once energy and logistics are already settled from the opening city days, and the Uruguay block closes the trip on a slower, walkable note before the flight home.

Do the tango dinner show and the Palermo walk need to happen on the exact days listed?

No — the three Buenos Aires days are interchangeable in order. What matters is finishing the city block before the Iguazú flight and keeping the Uruguay ferry crossing as the trip’s final block, since both the flight and the ferry are easier to plan around fixed transport days than the neighbourhood walks are.