Buenos Aires to Rio Explorer (18 destinations)

Traveler Reviews

• DE

  Daniel2.0•April 2026
  I was on several other Intrepid tours, even on type basic and developing countries (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua)...
  I was on several other Intrepid tours, even on type basic and developing countries (El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua) and the transport and accommodations were much more according to or exceeding expectations. Don't book this tour until Intrepid resolves basic issues in South-America and adheres to its own standards and reputation. The current itinerary is misleading/wrong/deceptive/outdated and just a disgusting attempt to gouge more profits while lowering standards. You pay good money for bad value and a substandard experience. Many sleepless night because of bade, horrific or unacceptable accommundations (10 out fo 16 nights): mould that makes one sick, bed bugs and ants that bite and make a sleepless night, broken and dangerous shower, no safe in the room, water leak, noise until late night, dirty and unmaintained aircon, broken window, no mosquito nets, no fan in the bathroom etc. Via TAC buses are these days a completely horrible experience and are pure profiteering with ludicrous small and inconvenient seats with no service whatsoever. What they call semi-cama (bed) is in fact a claustrophobic seat not better than a budget airline, hardly any recline and totally unacceptable for overnight buses! All previously standard convenience features have disappeared from their newest buses: leg room, footrest, USB chargers, decent reclining, from 3 to 4 seats per row(!), water, snacks (!), toilet cleaning, convenient armrest etc. After 17 hours in this torture chamber, we were sick and tired and it spoiled the experience of this tour. Looks like Intrepid follows the Alan Joyce/Qantas logic of endless profiteering at the expense of customer satisfaction... :(Show more
  Traveled in April 2026
  

  Reply from: Intrepid Travel

  Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and share your experience, Daniel. We’re sorry to hear that this trip didn’t align with your previous experiences travelling with us, and that it felt inconsistent with what you’ve come to expect. We understand you found the transport and accommodation, particularly the overnight bus journey, had a significant impact on your overall experience. Our Basix style trips are designed as a more budget conscious way to travel, using local services and simple accommodation, and we aim to clearly outline these inclusions within the trip information. As these services are locally operated, standards and comfort levels can vary between destinations. That said, we recognise that this fell short of your expectations on this occasion. We also appreciate your feedback around how elements of the trip are described, as clear and accurate expectations are important to us. We can see that you were in touch with our Customer Care team during your travels, and that steps were taken at the time to address some of your concerns, though we’re sorry to hear that these measures did not improve your experience. We’re continually looking for ways to improve, and your feedback forms an important part of that, so we’d welcome you to get back in touch with our Customer Care team so they can review this further with you.

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• WP

  William4.5•December 2019
  Good variety of experiences and excellent guides.
  Traveled in November 2019
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  Raymond3.0•June 2018
  Lorenzo as guide in AR, UR and part of BR was superior. Natalie in BR was adequate but barely so. Accommodations,...
  Lorenzo as guide in AR, UR and part of BR was superior. Natalie in BR was adequate but barely so. Accommodations, Travel and other logistics was as advertised and correctly described. The booking process/staff left something to be desired as it was not timely and questions were at best obtusely answered. I would (and am) entertaining using Intrepid again.Show more
  Traveled in June 2018
  

  Reply from: Intrepid Travel

  Hi Raymond, thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. We're delighted that you enjoyed your time in South America with us - such a fabulous part of the world! But we are a little disappointed to hear that you weren't 100% satisfied with all aspects of your trip. We'd like to more fully understand your experience, so please feel free to email us directly at customerrelations@intrepidtravel.com to share further feedback. Hope to see you on another trip with us again soon! Kind regards, Intrepid

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• FR

  Frank3.0•January 2018
  Great tour, loved it
  Traveled in December 2017
• TN

  Torsten5.0•December 2017
  It was a great trip packed with highlights!
  Traveled in December 2017
• R

  robyn4.5•June 2014
  Hi did this trip as one of the four legs of the longer "South American Explorer" trip. It was excellent and I had an...
  Hi did this trip as one of the four legs of the longer "South American Explorer" trip. It was excellent and I had an awesome time. It was run efficiently with lots of support for those who wanted it but the freedom to do what you want for those who don't want to be stuck with the group. The accomodation is hotels and a homestay and I thought this was very good value for money too. Overall I would say to look to see if the program suits you as you do move a fair bit, but the point of the Basix style tours is to allow you to see lots of places fairly cheaply and quickly. So if that's not what you're looking for it's not for you. It does also include overnight bus journeys. Some people hate this, but I find that the buses are very good and that it allows you to fit more into your trip. I would definitely recommend this trip to people. If you want to see photos or more details of what the trip included day to day I wrote a travel blog of all the places we visited on the tour, which you can find at: robyn-in-southamerica.blogspot.comShow more
  Traveled in May 2014
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  Thorsten5.0•May 2014
  Before that tour I had some doubts if it's worth the money, especially when someone here wrote in his review that he...
  Before that tour I had some doubts if it's worth the money, especially when someone here wrote in his review that he did not like it (without giving any details why). But we all really enjoyed the tour and the tour guide (Gaby) was awesome! If you also are unsure about the tour, maybe some pictures I put online will help you to decide [external link removed in moderation]Show more
  Traveled in March 2014
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  Marshall2.0•February 2013
  Last time I'll travel with Intrepid. G Adventures is a far better company for group travel.
  Traveled in January 2013
• A

  Anonymous5.0•May 2010
  We were very very happy with our trip. We had a wonderful time. We loved our leader, our group and the places that we...
  We were very very happy with our trip. We had a wonderful time. We loved our leader, our group and the places that we visited.Show more
  Traveled in April 2010
• A

  Anonymous5.0•May 2010
  Trip exceeded expectations, saw so much over the trip and any stress taken out of it by Sebastian organising...
  Trip exceeded expectations, saw so much over the trip and any stress taken out of it by Sebastian organising everything. Felt we saw the best features of everywhere we went. Great likeminded group too.Show more
  Traveled in April 2010