People come to Argentina for romance. Those in love with nature make a beeline for Patagonia to experience a unique adventure of trekking around emerald lakes, surrounded by the majesty of hanging glaciers and mountains. Other travellers, in love with the past, prefer to sit in the cafes of Borges sipping on a mate, or to dance the tango in a steamy milonga. Those who love wine can bike around the hills of Mendoza, vineyard hop, and sample ruby-red malbec along the way. You will never have enough time to see and experience all that Argentina has to offer, but we all have to start somewhere.

INSPIRATION

• Buenos Aires - Eat, shop, dance, and party all night long in Argentina’s sophisticated capital.
• Iguazú Falls - Take in the world’s most amazing waterfall, stretching almost 3km long.
• Córdoba - Explore Argentina’s second-largest city, an attractive destination with alternative culture.
• El Chaltén - Hike, camp and gaze at never-ending vistas to your heart’s content.
• Bariloche - Fish, ski, hike or white-water raft among scenic mountains and lakes.
• Mendoza - Sip world-class wines and partake in fun outdoor adventures.
• Parque Nacional Los Glaciares - Check out the amazing and constantly calving Perito Moreno glacier.
• Península Valdés - Spot whales, elephant seals and penguins at this wildlife mecca.
• Quebrada de Humahuaca - Set your sights on lovely, vivid and harsh cactus-dotted mountains capes.

RECOMMENDED ITINERARY

Spend the first few days taking in Buenos Aires, from there head to Mendoza for wine-tasting and outdoor adventures; onwards to Bariloche for hiking in summer and skiing in winter. If you enjoy summertime hiking make the Patagonian hamlet of El Chaltén your priority; once here you can’t miss El Calafate for its amazing Perito Moreno glacier.

Seeing all of Argentina in one month will likely require a few key flights. Alternatively, depending on the season, concentrate on just the north or south. First, take a few days to explore the wonders of Buenos Aires. Spectacular Iguazú Falls is worth a couple of days any time of year. Colonial Salta is best April to November, while Córdoba, Mendoza and the Lake District can be visited year-round. Some Patagonian destinations, such as El Chaltén and Ushuaia, have limited services from June to August (except for skiing).

BUENOS AIRES & SURROUNDS

Buenos Aires is one of South America’s most electrifying cities, graced with European architecture, atmospheric neighbourhoods and bustling nightlife. Buenos Aires is much more than just its glorious past and you will find an elegant shopper’s paradise and cosmopolitan centre. Yet every great metropolis has a poorer side. Cracked sidewalks, ubiquitous graffiti and rough edges – even in the wealthiest neighbourhoods – speak volumes about this city. Poverty and beggars exist, and there’s a deep melancholy here: an acknowledgement of Argentina’s riches coupled with the despair of not realizing its full potential.

At Buenos Aires’ heart is its microcentro, which holds many of the city’s historical buildings and museums. To the north lies upper-crust Recoleta, with its famous cemetery, and park-filled Palermo, home to many great restaurants and bars. Down south is where the blue-collar class hangs: this includes the tango neighbourhood of San Telmo and colourful, roughhousing La Boca. There’s enough bustle in this city to keep you trotting around all day and all night. To see its cultural side, visit the Cathedral Metropolitana, the Teatro Colon (the world’s largest opera house), the Ambrosetti Museum, the Museum of Colonial History, the Basilica Lujan, Iglesia San Ignacio Church, and the Isaac Fernandez Blanco Museum of Spanish American Art. The old artists’ quarter of La Boca, is the original home of the tango and is located along a narrow wharf lined by meatpacking plants.

Day trips to charming, cobbled Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay are popular, and it’s also easy to reach Montevideo (Uruguay’s capital), and the beach resort of Punta del Este, only a few hours away from Buenos Aires. About an hour north of Buenos Aires you will find Tigre, a favourite porteño weekend destination where you can check out the popular riverfront, take a relaxing boat ride on the Delta del Paraná and shop at Mercado de Frutos (a daily crafts market that’s best on weekends). San Antonio de Areco ,a serene village northwest of Buenos Aires dating from the early 18th century, is the symbolic center of Argentina’s diminishing gaucho (cowboy) culture. It’s also host to the country’s biggest gaucho celebration, Fiesta de la Tradición. There’s a cute plaza surrounded by historic buildings, while local artisans are known for producing maté paraphernalia, rastras (silver-studded belts) and facones (long-bladed knives).

NORTH-EAST ARGENTINA

From the spectacular natural wilderness of Iguazú Falls in the north to the chic sophistication of Rosario in the south, the northeast is one of Argentina’s most diverse regions. Wedged between the Ríos Paraná and Uruguay (thus earning it the nickname Mesopotamia), the region relies heavily on these rivers for fun as well as its livelihood. In contrast, the neighbouring Chaco is sparsely populated, and often called Argentina’s ’empty quarter.’

Located just a few hours north of Buenos Aires, Rosario is in many ways Argentina’s second city – not in terms of population, but culturally, financially and aesthetically. Its roaring port trade and growing population even made it a candidate for national capital status for a while. If you like the idea of Buenos Aires but find its sheer size and frenzy too much, Rosario might be the place for you. It has a growing backpacker scene and along with it's huge university population of students, artists and musicians it provide for a great vibe.

Guaraní legend says that Iguazú Falls originated when a jealous forest god, enraged by a warrior escaping downriver by canoe with a young maiden, caused the riverbed to collapse in front of the lovers, producing precipitous falls over which the maiden fell and, at their base, turned into a rock. The warrior survived as a tree overlooking his fallen lover. The geological origins of the falls are more prosaic. In southern Brazil, the Río Iguazú passes over a basalt plateau that ends just above its confluence with the Paraná. Before reaching the edge, the river divides into many channels to form several distinctive cataratas (cataracts). The power, size and sheer noise of Iguazú Falls have to be experienced to be believed. If possible, try coming early, or later in the day (tour groups tend to leave by 3pm), but you’re unlikely ever to have the place to yourself. The most awesome part is the semi-circular Garganta del Diablo, a deafening and dampening part of the experience, approached by launch and via a system of pasarelas (catwalks).

Download map waypoints for Argentina here: KML / GPX