6 Month South America Route
I've been planning this route for a while now and would really appreciate any feedback from people who have done something similar.
We'll be travelling as a couple (both 27) and are aiming to save around £8,000 each for the trip, excluding international flights to and from the UK.
At the moment, the plan is to fly into Bogotá in late July 2027, as flights from the UK seem to be the most affordable. We'd spend a few weeks exploring Colombia before heading south through Ecuador and Peru.
We're also considering starting in Panama and doing the San Blas sailing trip to Cartagena, then continuing south from there. It looks like an amazing experience, but we're not sure whether it's worth the extra cost given the overall trip budget.
One of our biggest priorities is hiking in Peru, particularly around Huaraz and Cusco, so ideally we'd like to reach Peru by September at the latest to give ourselves the best chance of good trekking conditions. This may mean potentially skipping Ecuador.
After Peru, the route is fairly straightforward: continuing through Bolivia, heading to Buenos Aires, and then looping back north through Brazil. If time and budget allow, we'd love to finish the trip by flying back to Colombia and spending some time around Minca, Tayrona, and the Caribbean coast before heading home.
Also, any input on where we should spend Christmas and New Year's would be good. As great as Brazil looks - I know the prices skyrocket around that time of year.
We're intentionally skipping Chile, Patagonia, and the Galápagos on this trip. As amazing as they look, we'd rather put our bigger-ticket spending towards experiences like the Peru treks and the Uyuni Salt Flats.
I appreciate this is quite a high-level overview, but I'd love to hear any thoughts on the route, timing, budget, places we're missing, or anything else that jumps out as a potential issue!
Thanks in advance!