Quote Originally Posted by hype View Post
Sounds awesome, that will be a really hard decision for me... I like both Mexico and Argentina.
It will be my first rally on a different continent (I've been to Jordan, but that's not that far away) so I want to pick the right one to not be disappointed.
Can you freely roam around in Argentina?
And can you spend around one week around Cordoba?
I'm from Buenos Aires and travelled to Carlos Paz by car, and I haven't been to Córdoba city since I travelled on Friday (meaning I also missed that day's stages; as I said before, the stages in Villa General Belgrano on Friday are a couple hours away from Carlos Paz, so I only saw the stages nearer to me).

If by freely roam you mean travel anywhere in the country, yes! There aren't any restrictions on entering or leaving provinces.

To be fair, I didn't have much time to wander in Carlos Paz since I was at the stages most of the time. I visited Tanti for the Tanti-Villa Bustos stage on Saturday and stayed in that town until the second pass through the stage was done, and between runs when the stage wasn't being run I walked around the little town (really, Tanti is gorgeous) for a few hours just exploring, and I found a little waterfall and had a coffee there! My point is, most of the roaming and exploring is spent wherever the stages are, but while I didn't do much in Carlos Paz I know there was a karting track and a lot of cafés and bars and stuff.

You might find something to do for a week in Córdoba, but you might be stretching it in Carlos Paz. My advice would be to travel to Buenos Aires, the capital, and stay there for a week (the city is massive, there's lots to do, and the city is modern, classical and extremely beautiful; you could rent a bike and wander around Recoleta or Palermo, two neighborhoods off the top of my head that are some of the best areas in the city).

After your week in BA you could fly to Cordoba on Thursday and see the super special, then drive to Carlos Paz (must be an hour or two) to have it as your base and start the rally on Friday.

Renting or having a car available is very important IMO, I have no clue about guided tours other than they're quite expensive. If you keep an eye on the itinerary and plan ahead you can manage yourself just fine (when I went it was my first time and I drove everywhere and everything went fine).

Some of the best moments of the trip are between stages, like the hike to El Cóndor through legitimately virgin terrain (the sense of vastness and freedom is like nothing else) or the walks around Carlos Paz or Tanti just getting to know the place. The service park was enjoyable too, and completely free (only complaint was that Pringles began giving away little cans and everyone rushed to the stand!).

Something I should mention is that the Fernet Branca/Parque Temático SSS is a total blast to go watch, but the access road is not prepared for the masses of spectators that flock over there, so getting in is a bit of a pain. Leaving isn't so bad from the SSS, but leaving Tanti is a total nightmare and you might take a couple hours to make it back to Carlos Paz if you go at the same time as everyone else. Be prepared also to park next to the road on your way to El Cóndor and hike straight down into the sierras past the guardrails. It looks daunting but you'll likely not be alone treading those untouched lands, and spectators that walk along with you won't hesitate to help you climb a stone or shuffle down a hill.

One last thing: unless, and I'm not even entirely sure, you have Personal as your mobile service provider, you won't have any mobile signal on the stages. If you know Spanish, take a radio to hear the AM broadcast to know any updates or information about the rally while you're there. Carlos Paz has excellent 4G connectivity.

I got a little carried away maybe, but I could go on and on about how amazing Rally Argentina was for me.