Ian Mount: I know of no other ferry company that goes there (or any other ferry company at all, to be honest). You could take a bus, but it would take four times as long. You could also take the slow ferry, which takes 3 hours (versus 1/1.5) to cross but is very pleasant. Very open inside the ferry, with café style seating (as opposed to the fast ferry, which is set up like an airplane), and you can go on deck (which you can't do on the fast ferry) to watch the river go by and get some air. They leave at something like 9 a.m. and 12:30 a.m. (if you want to start late at night). For buses, places like Plataforma 10 bring together tickets from various bus companies. They might have some BA-Colonia trips.

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Katonah, NY: We'd like to plan a trip to Buenes Aires from March 22nd thru March 28th, 2007. Might fares come down between now and then or is it better to book now? It looks like AA is the only carrier with nonstop service. Is this true? Thank you.

Ian Mount: I'm always a fan of booking ahead, but carriers do sometimes come out with fares closer to the dates if you're willing to take a little risk. This might be especially true for March, which is just after the high season (the beach season ends at the end of February), so prices shouldn't be too crazy then. As for direct flights, I think American is the only direct from New York (though Aerolineas Argentinas may go direct sometimes), United comes from DC, Continental (I think) from Houston, and several from Miami (American, Aerolineas Argentinas and LAN, I think).

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St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands: We are considering flying to Buenos Aires to be married there, preferably by a Catholic priest. We would like to stay at a great hotel for approximately a week to 10 days sometime around December 1st of this year and will need have someone on the hotel staff assist us with the details. Please let us know if this is a service that any of the hotels or wedding coordinators can offer. All the best, and thank you in advance for your kind response and/or suggestions.

Ian Mount: I think I have some bad news for you: the US Dept of State site on getting married in Argentina (http://buenosaires.usembassy.gov/marriage_in_argentina.html) leads with "NO MARRIAGE CAN BE PERFORMED IF BOTH PARTIES ARE TOURISTS IN ARGENTINA." To verify this, you might sign up with an expat group like BANewcomers and see if anyone there has done an Argentine marriage.

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Fort Collins, CO: I am leaving for Argentina on January 30th and plan on being there until about the middle of April. I have two and a half months to see the country's various regions. I am wondering what order I should go in. I want to see the places Ian mentioned in his article (the estancias and the beaches), but I also plan on spending about a month in the Lake District (in and around Bariloche helping on a farm with the harvest) and would like at least a week in Buenos Aires. I am trying to figure out what order I should see all of these places to make sure I get to them when the weather and the crowds are at their best. I'd appreciate any suggestions you could give so I can get the most out of my trip. Thanks so much, Lauren

Ian Mount: Just a few quick ideas: 1) Prices at the beach go down through February and into March, but it's often still beautiful at least until the beginning of March. 2) If you want to check out the wine harvest in Mendoza, the first week of March is insane (it's the official wine harvest) so everything is more expensive. But much of the harvesting gets done after the festival, so if you go the second or third week of March you could do some picking at a wineyard and enjoy the city (which is truly beautiful and, compared to BA, very orderly) on the cheap. 3) I think you'd want to get to the Lake District before it gets cold, but that's not until June or July.
I would love to give more specifics but I'm running out of time...

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Ian Mount: Thanks for all of your questions, and come down and enjoy Argentina! -- Ian

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