Self-drive Argentina: Highlights of the hidden northwest

You will be met at the airport and escorted to your hotel in the historic and commercial heart of the capital  by one of our local representatives. Buenos Aires is an elegant, cultured and cosmopolitan city famed for its interesting museums and the fascinating port district of La Boca, with its cobbled streets and brightly painted houses. It was here that the tango was born, and Diego Maradona honed his footballing skills. The centre of town is home to the colonial heartland, government buildings and churches, as well as chic shopping districts, which have a nostalgic Parisian feel.

The bohemian quarter of San Telmo is full of quaint old houses interspersed with antiques shops, tango bars and classy restaurants. Slightly further out of the centre is the Recoleta district, even more evocative of French or Italian influences, where Evita Perón was laid to rest. During the winter months, wealthy female residents parade the streets in their fur coats and improbable, towering hairstyles, and take afternoon tea in the city’s ornate salons.

Take a guided walking tour along Avenida del Mayo, one of Buenos Aires’ principal stately arteries, linking the capital’s colonial and political heart at Plaza de Mayo with the Plaza de Congreso, crossing the even more grandiose Avenida 9 de Julio. Built in the 1880s and often compared with similar boulevards in European capitals, it has a definite Old World ambiance, with art deco, art nouveau and neo-classical façades, shaded by leafy trees, lining the route.

The guided walk includes a stop at the world famous Café Tortoni, crammed with memorabilia, the barber’s shop attached, and one of the first metro stations outside the USA and Europe, preserved in its original state as a museum. Visit the very ornate Barolo Palace, designed in accordance with the cosmology of Dante’s Divine Comedy with floors representing heaven, purgatory and hell.

Transfer to the airport and fly to Puerto Iguazú in the subtropical northeast corner of Argentina (2 hrs). It’s just a short drive to the national park wherein flow the Iguazú Falls. The Iguazú Falls are unquestionably one of the most extraordinary natural phenomena in the world. A total of 275 falls thunder over a rust-coloured cliff surrounded by dense tropical forest. The U-shaped Devil’s Throat is the most dramatic sight, here the frothing water of the Iguazú River crashes over a 1.5km wide precipice and columns of vapour are thrown skyward. Elsewhere the river flows decorously through the rainforest breaking up into dozens of smaller cascades. You can usually spot colourful toucans and many other exotic birds perched in the foliage above the tumultuous waters.

Today there’s a guided excursion to the Argentine side of the falls. Start at the National Park Visitor Centre, where there is a display illustrating the biodiversity of the tropical rainforest. From here, a little natural-gas-powered train transfers you to Cataratas station where the Upper Walk begins.This sequence of causeways and passerelles links dozens of tiny, basalt islands at the top of the rock face. These walkways cross the myriad streams of the Río Iguazú as they cascade over the lip of the precipice. A succession of lookout points allows your gaze to follow the water, as it plunges onto the rocks below.

You can then continue to the Lower Walk, which involves stairs, and gives you a totally different view of these falls. Climb back up to the train and continue to Devil’s Throat Station. From here, a kilometre-long walkway leads you across the river to the thunderous Garganta del Diablo, which offers a spectacular vantage point peering into the thundering vortex below. This is a full day tour (around 6hrs) and there’s about 3km of walking.

Cross the bridge which spans the Iguazú river and drive into Brazil.. At the entrance to the National Park, there’s a visitor centre with displays of the biodiversity of the rainforest. You’ll board a shared National Park service here and continue by road for the final stretch to the Falls themselves. There’s a walkway alongside and over the swirling, frothing waters of the agitated river – stroll along it for about a kilometre, with panoramic viewpoints at strategic intervals – you get a view of the whole sweep of the cataracts – it’s an entirely different experience from the Argentine side. Towards the end of the walk you reach an observation tower right bang slap next to one of the most powerful drops of the falls, while a walkway at the bottom takes you out over the water for a closer and much wetter experience.

Fly to Salta (1,500km) in the far northwest. The city is renowned for its colonial architecture, friendly population and mouthwatering Andean specialities. It lies in a fertile plain at the foot of the arid foothills of the Andes, the only Argentine region where vestiges of indian heritage are still visible. Collect your medium-size 2WD rental vehicle. (We recommend upgrading to a 4×4 between Jan-Mar when unsurfaced stretches can become more tricky). Depending on when you arrive in Salta, you will either be taken to pick up your rental car on the way to the hotel, or you will pick it up the following day. You will receive a Fly and Drive kit with maps and useful information about the area and highlights to visit.

Tomorrow, from Salta you’ll set off on an adventurous 5 day circuit starting with an exploration of the Calchaquies Valleys – one of Argentina’s memorable road trips across a cactus-strewn altiplano, gorges lined with improbable rock formations and some of Argentina’s finest vineyards. You’ll continue your discovery following the road north to the Humahuaca gorge whose ancient villages have a distinctly Andean flavour as you approach neighbouring Bolivia.

Today’s high-altitude 210km drive is a fine introduction to the north-west. With a stop for lunch en route at the very attractive historic village of Cachi you can easily spend much of the day making your way to tonight’s lodgings. Once out of Salta city the road (route 33) winds and climbs continuously to the Cuesta del Obispo, reaching its highest point at Piedra del Molino (3,340m). If there’s no fog, you’ll get dramatic views across the mountains. Once up on the altiplano, the Recta del Tin Tin is an almost completely straight 14-km stretch of highway which slices its way across the Los Cardones National Park, renowned for its giant cacti. It should take 3-4 hours to reach Cachi (160km, altitude 2,280m) and the onward 50km stretch to Molinos within 2hrs, joining Argentina’s iconic north to south highway Route 40, essentially a gravel road. Take your time and enjoy the day.

The arid 120km stretch along the Route 40 to Cafayate is a famously scenic journey with the multi-coloured rock formations at their most astonishing in the Quebrada de las Flechas. The gravel road is slow going and it’ll take at least 3hrs. Sunny Cafayate has some first class eateries and a thriving arts and handicrafts scene. While the surrounding bodegas produce some excellent reds, the town is best known for its torrontés, an aromatic dry white wine. Many bodegas wineries welcome visitors and offer tasting sessions. Upon arrival you have time to park up at your hotel and relax with a glass of one of these highly regarded wines.

This in an all-day (370km) drive and you may find the surfaced highway a welcome relief after the last couple of days. The first stage brings you back to Salta on Route 68 (192km) taking 3hrs with a fascinating stretch along the Rio Conchas gorge through the Quebrada de Cafayate. Beyond the urban corridor of Salta and Jujuy (Route 9) the landscapes take on a more mountainous, Andean aspect as you approach the timeless small towns and villages of the dramatic Humahuaca gorge, a long canyon of intensely coloured rock dotted with outsized cacti. You have a couple of nights based in Purmamarca, where adobe and stone dwellings blend effortlessly with the arid mountain backdrop as they have done for centuries. The little town is a dozy place in spite of its popularity among visitors: it sits at the foot of the extraordinary palette of the Cerro de Siete Colores (hill of seven colours) where an almost psychedelic rainbow of colours from white to burgundy and gold to jade, stain the naked rock. Culturally the area is fascinating too: there are vestiges of pre-Columbian indigenous civilisations, and some colourful fiestas associated with the catholic calendar.

This extraordinary region is just a few hours’ drive from the border with Bolivia, and has plenty in common with its traditional Andean neighbour.

You have a full day at leisure, based in Purmamarca. It’s well worth exploring the road further north, continuing along the Humahuaca gorge. The little town of Tilcara, with its squat adobe houses and crisp-white baroque church, is close to the partially reconstructed ruins of a pre-Inca “pucará” (fortress) and has an archaeological museum. Continuing north, and passing the villages of Huacalera and Uquía, you arrive at the picturesque town of Humahuaca which once had a station on the now defunct railway which connected Bolivia to Buenos Aires. The ornate church here is stuffed with paintings from the colonial era. The town’s wild west aspect is reminiscent of settlements in Arizona or New Mexico, with narrow cobbled streets and adobe colonial buildings. It’s an hour’s drive back to Purmamarca from here (70km), all on paved road.

Drive back to Salta (4hrs). Depending on how quickly you make the journey, you may have time further to explore the city. There is a cable car service up Cerro San Bernado on the edge of town which takes you up to a vantage point where you can survey Salta spread out below on an apron of flat land in the shadow of the Andes – get to it via a walk through the adjacent park. The MAAM archaeological museum is also worth a visit, there are some interesting exhibits relating to the influences of Inca culture on the region. There are also mummies of three mummified Inca children, only one of which is on display at any one time. Or just sit in a pavement café on the main square and watch the friendly and outgoing Saltenos going about their business.

Having dropped off your car, fly back to Buenos Aires’s domestic airport, where you will be met and escorted to your hotel. You will be familiar with your hotel and have a good idea about the layout of the central area of the city from your first visit. Depending on the time of your flight, you may have time to step outside and explore some the contrasting neighbourhoods and parks which are a walk or short taxi-ride away.

At leisure in the capital. Stroll round Puerto Madero, the refurbished port district where former dock installations and other nautical features have been preserved alongside a string of excellent restaurants and loft conversions. Beyond the city limits, you might consider a trip across the River Plate to Colonia in Uruguay. Travel along a forest-fringed estuary, dotted with upmarket residences, to this peaceful little port, where you can wander among cobbled streets lined by colonial houses, or have a meal or drink in the yacht club. Alternatively, venture into the watery delta to the small town of Tigre, set on the banks of the Luján river. Have lunch at one of the restaurants on the shores of the Río Paraná, while watching fishermen at work and river-craft gliding by.

In the evening you have a soirée included at one of  Buenos Aires celebrated tango shows. (If you are out of town today, you may prefer to have been to the show the night before – that can be arranged.