To travel to Patagonia is a dream come true. Patagonia offers the most incredible landscapes, breathtakingly beautiful nature, and lots of adventure. If your Spanish is not very good, you have nothing to worry about: Patagonia is well prepared to receive English speaking tourists.
It is always a good idea, however, to know one or two useful phrases and questions to ask in Spanish. This is even more important if you are planning to visit for an extended period of time. Here are 4 Spanish questions you need to ask when you travel to Patagonia.
The tourist information center
¿Dónde está la oficina de turismo?
I highly recommend visiting the tourist information center when you travel to Patagonia. They will give you up-to-date information about things to do, how to get there, how to use public transportation, etc.
If you cannot locate the tourist information center, you might need to ask the question “¿Dónde está la oficina de turismo?”. This means “Where is the tourist information center?”. Keep in mind that Google is not always reliable in Patagonia and you might find outdated places and schedules.
Public transportation
¿Dónde está la parada de colectivo?
Patagonia is huge and local attractions can be far away in the rural areas. This means you have to either rent a car, pay for excursions or use the public transportation. Here is how to travel to patagonia on a budget: use the public transportation.
Renting a car for a day in Patagonia can cost at least $9000 pesos, while a bus pass is only $62 pesos which is less than a dollar (in June 2022). If you visit the local tourist information center, they will give you the updated public transportation schedule. However, not all bus stops are easy to find.
Bus stops in Spanish are called “paradas de colectivo”, ‘colectivo’ means ‘bus’ in Argentina. If you are having a hard time locating the closest bus stop, then you will need to ask the question “¿Dónde está la parada de colectivo?”, which means “Where is the bus stop?”.
Best hiking in Patagonia
¿Dónde podemos hacer senderismo?
If you love hiking, go ahead and buy that plane ticket now because Patagonia has everything a hiker ever dreamed of. Is hiking in Patagonia safe? Yes, absolutely. The best hiking in Patagonia can be done at any time of the year.
However, keep in mind that the weather conditions might make a trail more difficult to hike, specially in winter. This is why I recommend going to the tourist information center and asking “¿Dónde podemos hacer senderismo?”. This question in English is “Where can we go hiking?”. Ask this question to get up to date information about hiking trails, which Google often fails to provide.
Travel agency
¿Cuánto cuestan las excursiones?
Are you planning to do excursions? Tours in Patagonia can last from 2 to 8 hours, a whole day or even more than 4 days. There are lots of tours and excursions with different prices. Try to avoid buying the excursions online. I highly recommend getting tours at a local travel agency. That way you can get discounts and a more budget friendly price.
When you visit travel agencies in Patagonia, you will need to ask the question “¿Cuánto cuestan las excursiones?”, meaning “How much do the excursions cost?”. And do not forget to ask for discounts too. Most travel agencies tend to offer a discounted price if you buy a package of excursions. Ask the question “¿Hay algún descuento?”, which means “Are there any discounts?”.
Conclusion
If you are planning to visit Patagonia, asking these questions in Spanish might be useful for you to have a better experience. Let’s review them.
- ¿Dónde está la oficina de turismo?
- ¿Dónde está la parada de colectivo?
- ¿Dónde podemos hacer senderismo?
- ¿Cuánto cuestan las excursiones?
I hope you find this questions useful when you travel to Patagonia. Comment below if you are planning to visit Patagonia!
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