Triassic Parks

You land in La Rioja and transfer to your hotel. Nothing is scheduled, no guide and no clock. Walk around town at your own pace, settle in, and go to bed at a sensible hour, because tomorrow starts early and the two days after it are the reason you came.

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, you leave La Rioja at 7 am for Ischigualasto Provincial Park, across the line in San Juan province. The park tour is a three-hour circuit with five stops: red cliffs, odd rock formations, and a landscape that explains why many people call it Moon Valley. In the afternoon you transfer to your hotel in Villa Unión and spend the rest of the day doing very little, which the setting allows.

Today is Talampaya National Park, back in La Rioja. There are two routes to choose from, and the classic one is the canyon. It follows the Talampaya River between high walls, where you can see carved petroglyphs and weathered rock faces. In the afternoon you return to your hotel in Villa Unión, and the evening is yours.

Breakfast at the hotel, then the airport or the bus terminal. The transfers are included, so there is nothing to arrange on your own. Some travelers fly home from here. Others carry on to the next stop in Argentina or elsewhere in South America, and your Destination Consultant can line that up.