Argentina - How many days for Argentina and Brazil

I am planning a trip to South America in December. We are flying into EZE and returning back from GIG and have about 2 weeks in between.
How should we allocate our time between 2 countries if we would like to go to Iguazu Falls (probably on Argentina side?) and see some Amazon rain forest (probably from Brazil side?).
All suggestions are greatly appreciated.

December in Argentina=Summer=Perito Moreno Glacier ^

Do you want to see or do anything else in Argentina aside from the Amazon Rain Forest....?

We have 2 weeks to spend between Argentina and Brazil. What else can we do?

Iguazu does not need more than 2.5 days. 1.5 on Argentina and 1 on Brazil (much smaller). I am from NY so my pace of walking might have made seeing everything easier. YMMV, haha.

I went there last December and it was amazing. Definitely do the speed boat under the falls on Argentina side, worth the money.

Depends what you want to do in each country.

Argentina- Mar Del Plata or Necochea, Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Mendoza. What are you looking for?

Brasil- Since you are departing out of Rio I guess you want to be there.

What do you do? Scuba, Hiking, Wine tasting? There are so many options. Give us an idea of what you are interested in and I am sure everybody here would be more than glad to give you a lecture on what to do. haha.

We are mostly interested in sightseeing and my teenager wants to see an Amazon jungle.

We are mostly interested in sightseeing and my teenager wants to see an Amazon jungle.

Two weeks isn't very long but if you're prepared to spend quite a lot of money flying about then the Patagonia area should be on your agenda and maybe Mendoza or the Salta area....Mar Del Plata should be avoided at all costs though.
There are some "jungle" paths near the falls which are nice to go through with a guide...some monkeys and other beasties about as well. Hardly "Amazonian" but one jungle looks much the same as the other.
Can't help you with Brazil I'm afraid.

I did a similar trip back in December 2001-January 2002, though in reverse:

6 days in Rio including New Year's (one of these days was our arrival/recovery day, another was a day trip to Sítio Roberto Burle Marx - so 4 days in Rio proper).

Flew Rio to Iguacu on the Brazil side early AM - got picked up there by a driver, saw the falls from the Brazil side, and were delivered to the Sheraton on the Argentina side. Stayed overnight and saw the falls the next morning from the Argentina side and then flew Iguazu to Buenos Aires late afternoon. It worked out, though we were a little rushed on the Argentina side - so another day would have been good.

3 full days in Buenos Aires.

From there we went to San Carlos de Bariloche and then did a lake crossing into Chile for another week - 21 days total. So the equivalent part of my trip was 11-12 days depending on how you count.

With the additional days you could do a short trip to Uruguay from Buenos Aires (i.e. the Buquebus (http://www.buquebus.com/BQBWeb/HomeENG) to Colonia or a short hop to Montevideo or Punta del Este). Or from Iguacu you will probably stop somewhere flying to Rio - so look at those options for a stopover (i.e. we landed briefly in Curitiba or even Sau Paulo - even though GRU is not the nicest place, it could still be worth a day or two - go see the football museum). Or you could just add more days in Buenos Aires and Rio -- both cities are amazing and we ended up doing a second Brazil/Argentina trip including 5 more days in each in 2008.

In Rio there is the Tijuca Rain Forest - so don't feel pressure to add another stop in the itinerary just for that. Someday make a second trip back that includes the north/Amazon areas - you will want to focus on that by itself.

Mendoza is a great place.... lots of things to see and also outdoor activities. If you are into wine... it will be paradise for you.

For sightseeing. I would stick to BsAs and you can go to Mendoza for a weekend, 14 hr bus ride but I would go by plane due to your short stay. Plenty of tours and activities in both cities. Mendoza has wine tours, you can also go hiking or ride horses with gauchos.

Brasil. Iguacu is a good place to transfer your trip. Start on Argentina side, finish on Brasil side and fly to Rio. 4 days in Rio will be brilliant.

Mendoza is a great place.... lots of things to see and also outdoor activities. If you are into wine... it will be paradise for you.

Yes rather than try and see too much it might be a better and a more relaxing experience to stay longer in one place. Whether that be Mendoza or Patagonia. You can always come back another time.

Thanks to everybody for constructive advise.
I think I will take advantage of not arriving internationally to EZE and saving $420 (for 3 of us).
So the plan is: fly from US to GIG first, spend 3 nights in RIO, then fly to Iguazu and spend 2 nights there visiting both sites but staying on Argentinian side at Sheraton, then fly to EZE and spend 5 nights there (include couple of day trips such as Colonia, estancia, may be Delta), and then fly to SCL, spend 2 nights there and fly back home.
Thoughts?

Thanks to everybody for constructive advise.
I think I will take advantage of not arriving internationally to EZE and saving $420 (for 3 of us).
Thoughts?

When I traveled EZE-GRU, as a US Citizen I had to obtain a Brasilian Visa which cost me U$140. I do believe all US Citizens are required to obtain a Visa to enter anywhere in Brasil.

The fee for Argentina is a once every ten years "entry fee" of U$140 that is paid for all international travel through EZE or AEP, Buenos Aires airports. This is paid in the airport before going through customs.

By your location "SAN" I assume you are a US citizen and you should consider all of this information before finalizing your plans. If you are not a US citizen sorry for the useless information and you can find the proper information about all other countries visa requirements on Argentinas and Brasils Travel wikis.

When I traveled EZE-GRU, as a US Citizen I had to obtain a Brasilian Visa which cost me U$140. I do believe all US Citizens are required to obtain a Visa to enter anywhere in Brasil.

The fee for Argentina is a once every ten years "entry fee" of U$140 that is paid for all international travel through EZE or AEP, Buenos Aires airports. This is paid in the airport before going through customs.

By your location "SAN" I assume you are a US citizen and you should consider all of this information before finalizing your plans. If you are not a US citizen sorry for the useless information and you can find the proper information about all other countries visa requirements on Argentinas and Brasils Travel wikis.

Yes, you are right, we are US citizens, so by starting our trip in Brazil and then going to Iguazu and then entering EZE via domestic flight we will avoid the fee.
As far as Brazilian visa we have to get it anyway if we want to visit Brazil.

+1 That is a great plan. Also the Sheraton is amazing. I did not actually stay there but me and my friends crashed the pool after a long day trekking through Iguasu. In fact after checking out from our hostel and completing the upper trail, which we did not get to do the first day, we went there again before our taxi picked us up for our evening flight back to AEP.

Also we experienced a cpl hours delay at IGR due to a storm, chalk it up to flying out of the rain forest.