Category: Argentina

Taking its name as an adaptation of the Mapuche word Chapadla (dead swamp), Zapala got off to a bad start, image-wise. Not much has changed. This is a humble little place where the locals amuse themselves with walks up and down the main street, punctuated by lengthy pauses on street corners.

Set around a 17th-century Jesuit reservoir, Alta Gracia is a tranquil little mountain town of winding streets and shady parks. The star attraction here is the 17th-century Jesuit estancia, whose exquisite church, nighttime lighting, and lovely location between a tiny reservoir and the central plaza make it one of the most impressive of Córdoba’s World Heritage sites. Revolutionary Che Guevara spent his adolescence in Alta Gracia and his former home is now a museum. Most visitors find a day enough and head back to Córdoba for the night.

Containing the wine-producing centers of Mendoza, San Luis and San Juan (which themselves comprise an area known as Cuyo), there’s no doubt what Central Argentina’s main attraction is. Once you’ve polished off a few bottles, you won’t be left twiddling your thumbs, though – this is also Argentina’s adventure playground, and the opportunities for rafting, trekking, skiing and climbing are almost endless.

Cream pie, dainty tea cakes, torta negra (a rich, dense fruit cake) and a hot pot of black tea – most visitors take an oral dose of culture when visiting this quintessential Welsh river-valley village. Today, about a third of the residents claim Welsh ancestry and teahouses persist in their afternoon tradition, even as their overselling sometimes rubs the charm thin. Gaiman’s homey digs provide great value for lodgers, but the town offers little in the way of diversion beyond quiet strolls past stone houses with rose gardens after a filling teahouse visit.

A bustling city of wide, leafy avenues, atmospheric plazas and cosmopolitan cafés, Mendoza is a trap. Even if you’ve (foolishly) only given it a day or two on your itinerary, you’re bound to end up hanging around, captivated by the laid-back pace while surrounded by every possible comfort.

Wild and windblown, Parque Nacional Perito Moreno is an adventurer’s dream. Approaching from the steppe, the massive snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Colorada rise like sentinels. Guanacos graze the tufted grasses, condors circle above and wind blurs the surfaces of Technicolor aquamarine and cobalt lakes. If you come here you will be among 1200 yearly visitors – that is, mostly alone. Solitude reigns and, save for services offered by local estancias, you are entirely on your own.

About 22km north of Buenos Aires is peaceful and residential San Isidro, a charming suburb of cobblestone streets lined with graceful buildings. The historic center is at Plaza Mitre and its beautiful neo-Gothic cathedral; on weekends the area buzzes with a crafts fair. There’s a tourist office (4512-3209; www.sanisidro.gov.ar; Ituzaingo 608) at the plaza near Av Libertador, next to the rugby museum.

Picturesque Tilcara, 23km further up the valley from the Purmamarca turnoff, is many people’s choice as their Quebrada de Humahuaca base and offers a wide accommodations choice from luxury boutique retreats to chilly hostels. The mixture of local farmers getting on with a centuries-old way of life and arty urban refugees looking for a quieter existence has created an interesting balance on the town’s dusty streets.