Catamarca & La Rioja
West of Fiambalá, the paved road winds through the high desert, past picturesque red rock escarpments known as the Quebrada Angosturas, and into some…
Must-see attractions in Salta & the Andean Northwest
Catamarca & La Rioja
The spectacular rock formations and canyons of this dusty desert national park are evidence of the erosive creativity of water. The sandstone cliffs are…
Quebrada de Humahuaca
Located 25km east of Humahuaca, this jagged row of rock 'teeth' offers utterly spectacular colors. Tours run here but it's drivable in a normal car with…
Catamarca & La Rioja
The Inca ruins of El Shincal are located 7km west of Londres. Founded in 1471, the town occupied a commanding position in the foothills of the mountains,…
Salta & the Andean Northwest
Dating from about AD 1000, Quilmes was a complex indigenous urban settlement that occupied about 30 hectares and housed as many as 5000 people. The…
Catedral Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Valle
Catamarca & La Rioja
This 19th-century cathedral shelters the Virgen del Valle, patron saint of Catamarca and one of northern Argentina’s most venerated images. Her back is to…
Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña
Salta
One of northern Argentina's premier museums, MAAM has a serious and informative exhibition focusing on Inca culture and, in particular, the child…
Quebrada de Humahuaca
Susques is well worth a stop for its terrific village church. Dating from 1598, it has a thatched roof, cactus-wood ceiling and beaten-earth floor, as…
Catamarca & La Rioja
This old cable-car station documents the extraordinary engineering and mining project that created modern Chilecito at the beginning of the 20th century…
Cafayate
Located 5km southwest of Cafayate along the road to Río Colorado (it’s signposted ‘Mounier’), this small, organic and friendly winery has a fabulous…
Museo Arqueológico Adán Quiroga
Catamarca & La Rioja
This fine archaeological museum displays a superb collection of pre-Columbian ceramics from several different cultures and eras. Some pieces –…
Catamarca & La Rioja
This worthwhile museum is set in a wonderful early 17th-century adobe building, and has fine regional cultural displays. Themes include chaya (local La…
Centro Cultural del Bicentenario
Salta & the Andean Northwest
This excellent cultural center is an airy, modern space housing three museums, all imaginatively displayed; the highlight is the anthropological…
Catamarca & La Rioja
The focus of a visit to Parque Nacional Talampaya is this spectacular, (usually) dry watercourse bounded by sheer sandstone cliffs. Condors soar on…
Salta
A former church built in French academia style between 1721 and 1732, in 1913 it became Salta’s most important social club until the government took it…
Salta & the Andean Northwest
The ornate and unusual Museo de Pachamama combines a picturesque collection of indigenous art and artifacts with the sculpture and tapestries of the…
Catamarca & La Rioja
A network of stunning, red and white sand dunes rises from the desert floor 15km north of Fiambalá. It's best to arrive in the early morning before the…
Parque Nacional Campo de los Alisos
Salta & the Andean Northwest
To the south of Tucumán, Parque Nacional Campo de los Alisos is a tempting destination, particularly if you have your own transportation. A hilly park at…
Cafayate
An atmospheric boutique winery set at the end of a dusty desert road with cacti on one side and vineyards on the other. It makes 250,000 bottles of wine…
Cafayate
This well-run family bodega has recently been taken over by the 30-something daughter, who knows how to keep good torrontés from touching corrupting oak …
Salta
This magenta-and-yellow church is Salta’s most striking. The exuberant facade is topped by a slender tower; inside are several venerated images, including…
Cafayate
A small producer, perched on a gorgeous hillside overlooking the verdant valley, backed by rugged mountains, with vineyards cascading down the slopes. It…
Salta
Salta’s pink cathedral was consecrated in 1878 and harbors the ashes of (among other notables) General Martín Miguel de Güemes, a salteño (resident of…
Ciudad Perdida & Cañón Arco Iris
Catamarca & La Rioja
In Parque Nacional Talampaya, accessed from the road 14km before reaching the main park entrance, these impressive formations are visited via guided 4WD…
Quebrada de Humahuaca
This reconstructed pre-Columbian fortification is 1km south of Tilcara's center, across an iron bridge. Its location is strategic, commanding the river…
Salta & the Andean Northwest
Students and families descend from far and wide to visit this late-colonial mansion where a collection of Unitarist lawyers and clerics declared Argentina…
Pajcha – Museo de Arte Étnico Americano
Salta
This eye-opening private museum is worth seeing if you’re interested in indigenous art and culture. Juxtaposing archaeological finds with contemporary and…
Salta & the Andean Northwest
On one corner of Santa María's plaza, Museo Arqueológico Eric Boman has a worthwhile collection of ceramics that dates back to the 8th century, plus gold…
Quebrada de Humahuaca
Part of a chain that ran from Lima to Buenos Aires during viceregal times, La Posta de Hornillos is a beautifully restored staging post 11km south of…
Catamarca & La Rioja
The road between Tinogasta and Fiambalá is designated the 'adobe route' for its ensemble of fantastic historic buildings. These are built with thick walls…
Catamarca & La Rioja
Quirky, strange and sanctimonious, this relatively new museum is free and stocked with sculpture, paintings and even digital and photographic art, all of…
Salta & the Andean Northwest
Tucumán's neoclassical cathedral is a handsome presence on Plaza Independencia, and has a Doric facade with a pediment depicting the Exodus. Curiously,…
Salta & the Andean Northwest
This is an 18th-century Jesuit chapel, built in 1708 and acquired by the Frías Silva family of Tucumán after the Jesuits’ expulsion. It was expanded in…
Catamarca & La Rioja
Lying 15km east into the mountains from Fiambalá, these thermal springs emerge from rock and cascade down the mountainside in a series of pools: the…
Catamarca & La Rioja
La Riojana is the area’s main wine producer, and a sizable concern; some 30 million liters a year are produced here thanks to fruit sourced from vineyards…
Cafayate
This private museum’s collection was left by enthusiastic archaeologist Rodolfo Bravo and merits a visit. Sourced mostly from grave sites within a 30km…
Quebrada de Humahuaca
It’s not often that you imagine the heavenly host armed with muzzle-loading weapons, but in this roadside village’s picturesque 17th-century church that’s…
Salta
Only Carmelite nuns may enter this 16th-century convent, the oldest building in Salta (though it was rebuilt into its current form in the 1840s after…
Catamarca & La Rioja
Head down Maestro from Chilecito's plaza to reach this relatively recent addition to the town: a huge statue of Christ on a platform accessed by a 203…
Salta
For outstanding views of Salta, take the teleférico from Parque San Martín to the top of this hill, a 1km ride that takes eight minutes. Alternatively,…
