South America Honeymoon Itinerary: Argentina & Chile in 16 Days

Fly into Ezeiza International Airport and get ready to fall in love with one of the most captivating cities in the world. Buenos Aires hits you immediately with its energy, its beauty, and its unmistakable European elegance layered over a deeply South American soul. Check into your hotel, freshen up, and spend your first evening getting oriented. The city runs on a late schedule, so do not be surprised when restaurants do not fill up until 9 or 10 p.m. Lean into it. Head to Don Julio for your first proper Argentine parrilla experience and let the trip begin.

Today is for getting under the skin of Buenos Aires. Start with a private city tour that takes you through Plaza de Mayo, the colorful streets of La Boca, elegant Retiro, and finally Recoleta, where you can spend time wandering the extraordinary cemetery that reads more like a miniature city than a burial ground. In the afternoon, lose yourself in the boutiques and cafes of Palermo Soho. In the evening, head to El Preferido de Palermo for dinner, then on to the Rojo Tango show at the Faena Hotel. It is the most intimate and stylish tango experience in the city and the perfect Buenos Aires night.

Take today slowly. Grab empanadas at La Cocina, wander through the San Telmo Sunday market if your timing lines up, and explore whichever neighborhoods you did not get to yesterday. Buenos Aires rewards wandering. In the evening, make your way to Florería Atlántico, one of Latin America’s most celebrated bars, hidden in the basement of a flower shop in Retiro. It is moody, beautiful, and the perfect send-off before flying to wine country tomorrow.

A short domestic flight brings you from Buenos Aires to Mendoza, where the pace shifts entirely. From the moment you arrive at Awasi Mendoza, formerly known as Cavas Wine Lodge, you understand you are somewhere truly special. With only 17 rooms, each its own private villa surrounded by vineyards and facing the Andes, the property feels like staying at someone’s beautiful private home. Every room has its own rooftop terrace with a fireplace. The staff greet you warmly and take care of everything from here. Settle in, pour a glass of Malbec, and watch the sun go down over the mountains.

This is one of the best days of the entire trip. A private guide collects you after breakfast and takes you through a carefully curated mix of wineries, from the iconic Paul Hobbs to a small biodynamic family-owned estate that offers a completely different and equally memorable perspective on Argentine winemaking. Midday lunch is at Angelica, the stunning restaurant inside Catena Zapata, where a tasting menu is paired course by course with their celebrated wines against a backdrop of the Andes. The whole day feels incredibly personalized and educational without ever feeling like a tour. You will leave with a completely new appreciation for wine.

Today belongs entirely to Doña Paula. From the moment you arrive, it feels like you have the whole vineyard to yourselves. Start with a tour of the grounds, then head to their fresh garden to pick the ingredients you will be cooking with. The cooking happens in an outdoor coal-fired kitchen where you make empanadas and steak alongside their team, followed by a wine tasting overlooking their water source with views that stop you in your tracks. It never once feels like a tourist activity. It feels like being welcomed into someone’s home, and it is one of the most intimate and memorable experiences of the entire honeymoon.

Fly from Mendoza to Temuco and transfer to andBeyond Vira Vira, a lodge-style property sitting on its own private lake surrounded by the volcanic landscape of the Chilean Lake District. Note that the transfer is about two hours in good conditions and can stretch longer in summer with traffic, so factor that into your day. When you arrive, the world slows down completely. Everything is included— your food, drinks, and activities—and you have your own private guide throughout the stay. There is nothing to plan and nothing to stress about. Just arrive, breathe, and let the place do its thing.

Spend the day exploring with your private guide. Hike through the dense temperate rainforest with volcanic peaks rising above you, take a boat out on the private lake in the morning when mist is still sitting on the water, and stop by the hotel’s working cheese factory for a guided tour that makes every meal that follows taste even better. The staff at Vira Vira go above and beyond in ways that feel genuinely personal, and if you are celebrating something special, they will make sure you feel it throughout your stay. End the day at the spa and then sit down to what will likely be one of the best meals of your entire trip.

The beauty of Vira Vira is that there is no agenda unless you want one. Today could mean whitewater rafting, fishing, another hike, or simply reading by the fire with a glass of wine from their cellar. Your private guide is there to facilitate whatever you feel like. The food continues to be extraordinary—fresh seafood, house-made bread with a different butter every single day, and menus that feel thoughtful and creative at every meal. This is the kind of place that makes you never want to leave.

Fly from Temuco to Santiago and check into your hotel. Santiago is a city worth more time than most itineraries give it—clean, safe, culturally rich, and full of incredible food. Start exploring immediately with an evening walking food tour through the city. Hit Mercado Central for ceviche and pisco sours, stop at El Rápido for empanadas and a Chilean loaded hot dog, and finish with ice cream at Emporio La Rosa, where the flavors range from classic to genuinely unexpected. The seafood in Chile is outstanding, and dinner at one of the city’s top seafood restaurants is an absolute must. Santiago will leave you wishing you had more time.

Fly north to Calama and transfer to San Pedro de Atacama, where the landscape shifts so dramatically it genuinely feels like landing on another planet. The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth, and the scenery is unlike anything you will have seen on the rest of this trip. Tierra Atacama is a lodge-style property where everything is included, with a private guide available for suite guests. The views from the hotel are stunning, and the surrounding desert delivers one-of-a-kind excursions that you simply cannot experience anywhere else in the world. This is a once-in-a-lifetime destination.

Let your guide lead you through the extraordinary landscape of the Atacama. Whether it is watching the sunrise over the Valle de la Luna, soaking in thermal hot springs, exploring ancient petroglyphs, or stargazing at night under one of the clearest skies on the planet, every excursion here feels remarkable. Each evening at the lodge, you can choose what you want to do the following day based on how you feel and what the weather is doing. There is no fixed schedule and no pressure. Just an endlessly dramatic landscape and the freedom to explore it on your own terms.

Fly back to Santiago and transfer to the Colchagua Valley, one of Chile’s most celebrated wine regions. And then you arrive at Clos Apalta. This was our favorite hotel of the entire trip and one of the most special places we have ever stayed. You are not just staying at a hotel. You are staying at the vineyard of the family that owns it, with their staff, in their home. When you arrive, they sit down with you and ask about your favorite foods, and from that point on every meal comes with a personalized menu with your name on it. The food is extraordinary, the wines are world-class, and every single detail feels considered and intimate in a way that is almost impossible to describe. You simply have to experience it.

Spend the morning biking through the vineyards and trails on the property, stopping to take in the views and the quiet beauty of the Colchagua Valley. In the afternoon, sit down for a charcuterie class with the head chef, one of the most unique and memorable experiences of the trip. The chef’s passion for what he does comes through in every moment, and the class feels less like a cooking lesson and more like a conversation about food, craft, and place. Follow it with a tour of their cellar and a tasting of their world-class wines. Days do not get much better than this.

Take today to soak up every last moment at Clos Apalta. Walk the trails, sit with a glass of wine overlooking the vineyards, and enjoy one final extraordinary meal before the trip draws to a close. Some of the best moments here come from simply being still and taking in how beautiful it all is.

Transfer back to Santiago for your flight home. You will leave Argentina and Chile with full hearts, a deeper appreciation for wine and food, and a very long list of reasons to come back. Start planning the return trip on the flight home. Trust me, you will want to.