Argentina Salta and the northwest Andes

Overview

Spiritually and culturally closer to Peru and Bolivia than the rest of Argentina, the remote northwest provinces offer lots of attractions for visitors. These range from snow-dotted peaks and arid, rust-red canyons to lush forests, pre-Columbian ruins, lonely, lime-washed chapels, and baroque colonial towns. Sunlit slopes are cloaked with vineyards, and you’ll find a warm welcome from the local people everywhere.

At 1,200m above sea level, Salta city is a delightful base for exploration of the region with a sumptuous cathedral, palm-shaded plazas and a cable car lift that rewards with views over the fertile countryside. Beyond Salta, high in the rarefied air of the Atacama desert, is the puna – an extraordinary landscape of yawning pearl-white salt flats, flanked by bald ochre mountains, lunar-like fields of pumice and high, undulating sand dunes.

There are a few flamingo-dotted lakes, but apart from those and a few ex-mining settlements, there’s little evidence of life. It’s blissfully peaceful and otherworldly, and you can explore it by 4WD along concealed tracks that wind through the wilderness.