Regions:
 Buenos Aires City:
Buenos Aires is an eclectic city that does not sleep. With the biggest concentration of population in the country (approximately 13 million including people living on the outskirts -- Gran Buenos Aires), Buenos Aires is situated on the banks of the “Río de la Plata” and offers something for everybody.
When visitors arrive for the first time they are surprised because it is not what they are expecting to see. Buenos Aires strived in the past to look like its migrants cities in Europe, and some people still see the similarities with Paris and Madrid in the majestic avenues of downtown Recoleta.
Tourists can learn how to tango or enjoy the magnificent restaurants, theatres, museums and art galleries. San Telmo is the place to find antiques, specially on Sundays at the market on Plaza Dorrego. Palermo is the new up and coming neighbourhood, which is divided now into two zones, Palermo Soho, with predominance of modern restaurants and bars and small designer boutiques, and Palermo Hollywood, where most of the production film companies are established.
Recoleta is the classic neighbourhood to visit and while walking along its wide avenues, you can admire the architecture of the buildings along the streets. It is the home of the famous Recoleta cemetery, where Eva Duarte de Perón is buried. Recoleta, Palermo and San Telmo have lots of galleries that are open to the public. Check out “Gallery Nights”, an open-gallery event held every last Fridays of each month, from April to November, in Recoleta, Palermo and Retiro neighbourhoods. It is a great experience to see great art collections, and mingle with people sipping champagne!
If you are a football fanatic take advantage and take a tour to see one match at the classic River Plate Stadium in Nuñez or at the Boca stadium, called “La Bombonera” in La Boca neighbourhood. Several companies offer to pick you up at your hotel and take you to watch these games, and then drop you back safely at your accommodation.
It is worth taking a trip to the Tigre where the end of the River Paraná forms a delta that creates lots of little islands and channels. There are boat trips you can take and a market to visit (Mercado de Frutos). If you want to use public transportation, there is a train that departs every half an hour from Retiro Train station and takes one hour to reach Tigre. You can also get down halfway at Olivos station, walk two hundred meters north Libertador Avenue, and take the hop on/hop off Tren de la Costa to Tigre. This train goes by the river, and a good idea for a day out, is to hop on and off and visit the nice coffee houses and eateries by the river to enjoy a relaxed afternoon.
North Littoral Coast:
The Argentine Mesopotamia (land between rivers), starts north of Buenos Aires and extends all the way north to the Iguazú Falls. This is a territory rich in wildlife and flora with jungles, fertile soils, a natural reserve of over a million hectares of swamps and marshlands, a string of ruined Jesuit towns and the renowned Iguazú Falls, in the border between Argentina and Brazil, and close to the triple border (Argentina – Brazil and Paraguay).
The Iguazú Falls are the main attraction of the area. They are located in the north of Misiones within the 67.000 hectares of the Iguazú National Park.
The Esteros del Iberá in Corrientes is an ecosystem made up of lagoons, marshlands and swamps. The area is home to monkeys, swamp deer, capybaras, caimans, a rich and varied flora and more than 400 species of birds. Guided boat tours leave from Colonia Carlos Pellegrini.
El Palmar in Entre Ríos is an 8,500 hectares National Park where an amazing concentration of 8 centuries-old Yatay palms are found.
The climate in Santa Fe and Entre Ríos is mild, whereas to the north, in Corrientes, Formosa and Chaco, a warm, rainy climate prevails. Misiones, with its subtropical climate, is one of the most humid provinces in the country.
Northwest:
The Northwest Region comprises the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca, Tucumán and Santiago del Estero. Surrounded by high summits and arid valleys, the Northwest Region features traces of pre-Columbian cultures, mingled with ruins of native villages, as well as forts and constructions dating back to the time of the Conquest and Colonisation.
Time seems to stand still in the high plateau of the Puna, a land full of mountain ranges, steep mountain paths and gorges. There are villages built in small valleys, with cactuses on the slopes surrounding the villages.
The region offers a playground for mountaineering, trekking, horseback riding, mountain biking, ecotourism, bird-watching, rural tourism, sport fishing and archaeological trips.
Regional cuisine is somewhat spicy but exquisite, with ingredients such as tender maize, chillies, and charqui meat (sun-dried beef, lamb or pork).
The “Tren de las Nubes” (or Train to the Clouds) is a great attraction recently re-opened, that allows you to view the beauty of the landscape. It is one of the tallest railways in the world and it travels along 137 miles through the Andes mountains. It departs from Salta city, crosses the Lerma Valley and the Bull’s Depression (or Quebrada del Toro), until it reaches “La Punta”. On the last section of the trip, it reaches 13,850 ft above sea level.
Departing from San Salvador de Jujuy a natural road leads to the Altiplano (high plateau). Vividly coloured landscapes frame a group of villages with adobe houses, historical chapels and Pre-Hispanic ruins, where time seems to stand still. One of the most beautiful villages is Purmamarca, an indigenous village lying against the Cerro de los Siete Colores (Mount Seven Colours), which strata illustrates various geological ages. Further on, there is an area of mountains with bright-coloured stripes, known as La Paleta del Pintor (The Artist’s Palet), in Maimará. One of the most outstanding attractions in this ravine is the Pucará de Tilcara, a fortified town built by the Omaguaca natives in pre-Columbian times. A monolith marks the Tropic of Capricorn where each June 21st at midday the sun casts an exactly perpendicular shadow and the celebration of the aborigines’ new year begins (Inti Raymi – Sun Festival). Humahuaca was founded by the Spanish by the end of the XVI century. Its church and Carnival Museum exhibit some of the regions uses. The Quebrada de Humahuaca was declared World Cultural Landscape by the UNESCO on July 2nd, 2003.
Cuyo:
The region of Cuyo is comprised by the provinces of La Rioja, San Juan, Mendoza and San Luis. Cuyo means ‘desert country’ in indigenous language. The high Andes marks the west boundary of the region, with snow-covered volcanoes and a steppe at the foothills of the Andes Mountains.
The journey starts up north, in La Rioja, with the Talampaya National Park, and in San Juan, the Ischigualasto Provincial Park, worldwide-prized paleontological reserves, and home to many species, among them vicuñas and guanacos (from the llama family). The Sierra de las Quijadas National Park in San Luis has similar features. More towards the west is the Andean mountain range, the ultimate achievement of winter sports (skiing), and climbers from all over the world, who have turned Aconcagua into an irresistible destination. From Chilecito, in the Province of La Rioja, to San Rafael, in Mendoza, passing by the Jáchal area and the Ullum and Calingasta valleys in the Province of San Juan, there are vineyards and olive and fruit-growing farms. Both boutique and industrial wineries, many of them centuries old, are a must for anyone who is curious, a lover of good wine, and interested in uncovering the secrets of the Argentine Malbec, the most famous variety grown in the area.
Buenos Aires province and Córdoba:
The central region of Argentina has rolling plateaus with estancias and a beach shoreline in the Buenos Aires province. This is the natural habitat of the Gaucho (the local cowboy) and his horse, where tradition lives hand in hand with modern day pastimes.
This area provides the tourist with a myriad of choices, both in winter and summer. You can practice, learn or simply watch amazing horse riding sports, such as world-class polo and ‘pato’ (our national sport).
Visitors can go to century-old estancias to experience and enjoy Argentine country life. Along the Atlantic coast there are many beach resorts, which enjoy the visit of thousands of tourists from December through March.
In the province of Córdoba the plains convert into sierras, among which lay fertile valleys criss-crossed by streams and in Córdoba, forest hills hide the Camino Real (the road that used to connect Buenos Aires to Lima in colonial times). Today this road has become a historical route connecting chapels and estancias built by the Jesuits in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Patagonia:
Patagonia covers a third of Argentina’s terrain and has lots of diverse landscapes: some of the highest peaks of the hemisphere, many of the best known glaciers in the world, and coastal cliffs rich in fossils that were explored by Darwin. Visitors can find a great amount of exotic fauna around. The terrain offers some of the biggest challenges for skiers and rock climbers.
In the northern part of the territory lies the provinces of Neuquén and Rio Negro: the first one is famous for its old “araucaria” tree forests and Mapuche indigenous population, and the latter is better known for the city of Bariloche, located on the Nahuel Huapi National Park. The two provinces are separated by the Lake Nahuel Huapi, a heaven site to fish trout. There are three major ski resorts in the area.
In the province of Chubut, one can watch the sea fauna of the Peninsula Valdés and the exotic cultural combination of the Mapuche indigenous population with the customs of the Welsh community that lives by the coast. Puerto Madryin is the spot to watch the austral whales, orca whales, sea lions and penguins.
Santa Cruz is the southern part of Continental Patagonia, the second province in size and the least populated. It counts with some of the most important glaciers in the world, immense petrified forests that have 150 million years, and lots of indigenous paintings dating more than 10,000 years old.
Tierra del Fuego is at the southernmost tip of South America. From there cruises take visitors to the frozen mass of Antartica. Tierra del Fuego’s capital, Ushuaia, is the southernmost city in the world, and is home to a national park (Lapataia National Park), a downhill ski area (Cerro Castor), and a network of cross-country ski areas. The Beagle Channel sits at its shores, with a huge selection of day cruises offered to the visitor.
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