Where to Go in South America in March

South America in March is the continent at its most relaxed. The southern summer is coming to a close and the stunning autumn colours are beginning to blanket Patagonia and the wine regions of Chile and Argentina. The start of the first shoulder season of the year (the other being September), March brings lovely weather across much of the south, perfect for long hikes and sightseeing days in all the major capitals.

If you're weighing up where to go and are on the hunt for the best places to visit without the high-season squeeze (both by prices and crowds) March is your sweet spot. The one thing you should plan around though is Semana Santa (Easter Week). This is the busiest travel week of the year in all of Latin America and in some years, it can fall in late March. Book your flights, tours and accommodation well ahead if your trip lands anywhere near that holiday.

Planning just a smidgen outside this month? Take a look at our guide to South America travel in February.

 

 

 

In this guide:

South America in March – A Quick Overview

Where's the best nature and wildlife in South America in March?

     Patagonia, Argentina & Chile

     Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

     The Pantanal & the Amazon, Brazil

     Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Which cities and regions are best to visit in South America in March?

     Mendoza, Argentina

     Santiago & the Chilean wine valleys

     Colombia's coffee region

     Buenos Aires, Argentina

 

 

Here's a quick overview of where to go in South America in March:

• Patagonia slips into autumn this month, and it's one of the most enchanting times to hike. The lenga forests turn a multitude of warm colours, those fierce summer winds ease off considerably, and the New Year crowds have long gone. Book ahead, as lodges are limited and fill quickly.

   

• It's harvest season in wine country. Mendoza in Argentina hosts its Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia in the first week of March, while Chile's valleys near Santiago celebrate their own vendimias with grape stomping and barrel tastings, with food and live music filling the days.

 

• The Galápagos are warm, green and full of animal activity. The waters around the islands are at their warmest and visibility is great, good news for snorkellers and divers. It’s also breeding season so you’ll see marine iguanas in their full nesting colours and at month’s end, you might spot the first waved albatross returning to Española.

 

• Colombia's coffee region is at its scenic best, rounding off the drier season with lush green hillsides and misty mornings. A fantastic time to take hands-on tours of the working fincas.

 

• Heavy rain still lingers in the central Andes of Peru and Bolivia, but that same rain is what floods the Salar de Uyuni into its famous mirror, so it's a trade-off worth making if the salt flats are on your list. You won't be able to explore the Salar extensively, but you will take extraordinary photos.

 

• Semana Santa (Easter) can fall in late March. It's a wonderful time to catch local processions (our festivals in South America guide rounds up what's on), but it's also peak domestic travel, so your trip must be well planned.

 

And here's a quick snapshot of what each destination has to offer in March.

Destination	Why go in March	Good to pair with
Patagonia (Torres del Paine & El Chaltén)	Autumn colour and far fewer crowds, with the summer winds settled	Buenos Aires or Santiago
Galápagos Islands (Ecuador)	Warmest seas of the year and superb snorkelling, plus nesting wildlife	Quito and the Ecuadorian Amazon
The Amazon (Brazil)	High-water season for river cruising into the flooded forest	The Pantanal for better wildlife spotting
The Pantanal (Brazil)	Lush green wetlands and canoe safaris in the wet season	Rio or the Amazon
Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)	The famous mirror effect at its seasonal best	Atacama or La Paz
Mendoza (Argentina)	Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia and the harvest in full swing	Buenos Aires
Santiago & the Chilean wine valleys	Vendimia season, with Colchagua's harvest festival in early March	Mendoza, across the Andes
Buenos Aires (Argentina)	Mild autumn days and a warm entry point into South America	Mendoza or Patagonia
Colombia's coffee region	Green hillsides rand immersive finca visits	Cartagena and the Caribbean coast

 

 

Where's the best nature and wildlife in South America in March?

 

Patagonia, Argentina & Chile

If you've read our January or December guides, you'll know Viva Expeditions rates Patagonia highly all summer long but March has so much going for it to make it our favourite month. This is when summer tips suddenly into autumn and the southern beech forests, the lenga and ñirre, turn fiery shades of amber and gold. Set against the granite towers and glacial lakes, it's arguably the most photogenic the region gets all year.

Two spots stand out this month. In Chile, Torres del Paine is at its calmest since the season began: the famous Patagonian wind, which roars through December and January, has usually settled by March, and the W and O trekking routes are noticeably quieter.

Over the border in Argentina, El Chaltén is the place to base yourself for day hikes towards Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, with the Fiesta Nacional del Trekking bringing climbers and runners to town early in the month. The autumn light on the peaks is something else.

 

"I really like March for Patagonia without the crowds; it can feel as if you have the whole place to yourself."

- Carrie Gallagher, Business Development Manager at Viva Expeditions.

 

 

Learn more in our month-by-month guide to Patagonia

 

On a March visit to Patagonia, cooler temperatures come with the territory, so pack proper layers for daytime highs in the low teens and near-freezing nights. Do keep in mind that the region is at the end of its season now, so lodges and refugios start to wind down and daylight is shorter than at midsummer. That's all the more reason to book ahead, but the reward is a quieter, more colourful Patagonia. For our pick of the routes, see our guide to the best hikes in Patagonia.

 

Discover our Patagonia Tours

 

 

Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

March sits right in the middle of the Galápagos warm season, and for many wildlife lovers it's a favourite. The air is hot and the sea is at its warmest of the year (around 25°C / 77°F), leaving the islands lush and green after the rains. Underwater visibility is excellent, which makes this one of the best months for snorkelling. If you'd rather not wear a wetsuit, this is your window.

There's plenty going on above the waterline too, as it's nesting season for Galápagos wildlife across the archipelago. Marine iguanas turn bright breeding colours and eagerly gather to nest, while land iguanas get territorial and even a little grumpy as they guard their patches. Green sea turtles are still coming ashore to lay, and the first eggs begin hatching on Isabela. Frigatebirds are in full courtship mode this month on North Seymour and Genovesa, the males puffing out their scarlet throat pouches to impress. And right at the end of the month, the waved albatross, absent since January, begins to return to Española. It's a busy, brilliant time to be here.

One small heads-up: March rains can stir up the sea, so a few landings (North Seymour and Gardner Bay among them) can be bumpier than usual. Nothing to lose sleep over, and trust that your naturalist guide will pick the calmest options.

 

See our full range of Galápagos Tours and Cruises

 

 

The Pantanal & the Amazon, Brazil

March falls in the green season for Brazil's great wetlands and rainforest, and it's a fine time to explore both by water. In the Pantanal, the floodwaters are still high, and while wildlife is a little harder to spot than in the dry season, the payoff is glorious: mirror-flat lagoons alive with birdlife, and a landscape drenched in green. Canoe and small-boat safaris are the way to get around, gently drifting along channels lined with herons, caiman, capybara and the odd jabiru stork.

It is high-water season up in the Amazon, too, when the river rises and floods the surrounding forest. That's a major bonus for river cruising, as boats and canoes can slip deep into the flooded igapó forest, gliding among the treetops to reach spots that are dry land and hard to reach for half the year. If a comfortable river cruise is how you've always pictured the Amazon, March is a lovely month to go.

 

Learn more about our Brazil Tours & Cruises

 

 

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Here's the one place where the rains of March are the highlight. When the wet season floods a thin layer of water across Bolivia's vast salt flats, Salar de Uyuni turns into the world's largest mirror, a perfect reflection of the sky that makes you feel like you're walking through the clouds. It's one of South America's most extraordinary sights, and March is towards the end of the season when you can catch it.

A word of realism here, though, as the water is a spectacle and a limitation. When the flooding is deep, some routes across the Salar close and some spots like the popular Isla Incahuasi (the cactus island) can become unreachable, so drivers reroute, and journeys take a little longer. It's changeable and weather-dependent by nature, which is part of the adventure. Bring waterproof footwear, and be ready for warm days and bitterly cold nights out on the altiplano.

 

"Flood the salt flats and it's as if the sky lands at your feet", Tara, General Manager at Viva Expeditions.

 

 

 

See our Bolivia Tours

 

Which cities and regions are best to visit in South America in March?

 

Mendoza, Argentina

If wine is your love language, time your March trip around Mendoza. The first week of the month brings the Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia, Argentina's national grape harvest festival and, by many accounts, the largest wine celebration in the Americas. It has run since 1936 and consistently ranks in National Geographic's list of the world's top harvest festivals. You’ll see parades and fireworks, listen to folk music and can even attend the crowning of the Vendimia Queen.

Beyond the festival, March is simply a beautiful time in wine country, so don’t worry if you can’t quite make the exact dates work. The vines are heavy with fruit and the cellars doors busy. It’s a sociable and very enjoyable time to come taste some of the world’s best drops. Much like Easter Week, rooms and winery tables fill fast in and around Mendoza during Vendimia week, so get in early. Base yourself in the city or out among the vineyards of the Uco Valley, and give yourself time for a road trip into the Andean foothills while you're here.

 

See our Argentina Tours and our dedicated Mendoza Wine Country experience.

 

 

Santiago & the Chilean wine valleys

Argentina doesn't get to have all the fun. Just across the Andes, the valleys around Santiago are celebrating their own vendimia in March, and it's a wonderful reason to build a few days of Chilean wine country. The Colchagua Valley, about two and a half hours south of the capital, is the epicentre of all the action, with grape-stomping contests and tastings of the Carménère and Cabernet the region is known for. Closer to the city, the historic Maipo Valley and the cooler, coastal Casablanca Valley both make for easy day trips.

Our Managing Director, Rachel, spent time in the Chilean wine valleys on a recent trip:

 

"The harvest energy in Colchagua is infectious. You're tasting wine metres from where the grapes came off the vine, and everyone, from the winemakers to the pickers, wants you to share in the joy. It’s also a great time to explore the mountains on bicycle tours."

-- Rachel Williams, Managing Director at Viva Expeditions.

 

 

Santiago itself is at its most enjoyable in March. The fierce summer heat has backed off but the notorious winter fog is still a few months away; the evenings are cooler, and the city settles into an easy autumn routine of long lunches and later strolls. The Chilean capital is an underrated place to start or end a South America trip at any time of year, but harvest offers that extra incentive that's hard to resist.

 

See our Chile Tours

 

 

 

Colombia's coffee region

If you’re after an off-beat destination that is also at its prime in March, then head north to Colombia and explore its coffee region, the Zona Cafetera. The highlands are also ending their dry season now so you get lush green mountainsides and comfortable, spring-like temperatures, with the odd short shower to keep everything fresh. The hub is the pretty town of Salento, gateway to the Cocora Valley and its huge wax palms, the tallest palms on earth and Colombia's national tree.

The Cocora is coffee country at its most immersive: tour a working finca, where the beans are still picked by hand, and taste the brew right at the source. The surrounding villages, Filandia and Jardín among them, are some of the most charming in the country, with their flower-filled balconies and laid-back pace.

A unique way to experience a lesser-explore side of Colombia is from the water. The new AmaWaterways Magdalena River cruise runs year-round and matches beautifully with a few days in the coffee region or on the Caribbean coast. It's an extraordinary way to reach parts of the country most travellers never get to see.

 

Explore our Colombia Tours

 

 

 

Buenos Aires, Argentina

March is a perfect time for a multi-day jaunt in Buenos Aires. While the summer heat can make January feel sticky, March brings those perfect temperatures that make a whole day sightseeing tour very enjoyable. Plus, you can still enjoy dinner and sundowners al fresco, something porteños love to do. Buenos Aires is an easy add-on to a wine tour in Mendoza and is the easiest gateway to Patagonia trips. If it's your first time in South America, Buenos Aires is a warm, welcoming place to kick things off.

 

See our Highlights of Buenos Aires tour

 

 

 

At Viva Expeditions, we've travelled South America in every season, and there's something about March, from those captivating autumn colours to the excitement of harvest season in the wine region, that we find particularly gorgeous.

Browse our full range of South America tours and contact our Destination Specialists for personalised advice on where to go in South America in March.

 

 

Laura Pattara Laura Pattara writes for Viva Expeditions with a special love for all things Latin America. She had guided overland tours across the continent, reached Machu Picchu five times on foot, and even dressed up as a giant toucan for Carnaval. With a degree in languages and two decades of global travel experience behind her, Laura has a long-standing love for the Andes, soaring condors, and a truly delicious empanada.