Places to visit in Argentina

Hike through southern beech forest to a mountain refuge, drive the Seven Lakes Road between snow-topped peaks and end the day with hot chocolate in an alpine town. Set around Bariloche and Argentina’s oldest national park, the Lake District is northern Patagonia at its most beautiful, and its most active.

Discover Argentina’s elegant and energetic capital, where grand European-style architecture, vibrant neighbourhoods, world-class cuisine and the passion of tango come together to create one of South America’s most captivating cities. Dynamic, stylish and nostalgic in equal measure, Buenos Aires is a destination worthy of a trip in its own right.

Ride out across rolling grassland with a gaucho, stay on a family estancia where the day ends around the asado, and wander the Jesuit heart of Argentina’s second city. At the centre of the country, Córdoba is where Argentina goes riding. Here, you’ll discover a gentler, more traditional side of the country.

Stand on the boardwalks as house-sized blocks of ice crack from the Perito Moreno glacier, strap on crampons to walk on the ice itself, and cruise Lago Argentino past floating bergs to the glaciers beyond. Gateway to Argentina’s greatest ice fields, El Calafate is where Patagonia turns blue and white.

Hike out to a glacial lagoon beneath the granite spires of the Fitz Roy massif, wander trails through emerald forests to turquoise lakes, and sail across Lago del Desierto. In the northern reaches of Los Glaciares National Park, El Chaltén is Argentina’s trekking capital, and one of the finest walking destinations in Patagonia.

Glide by boat through channels lined with floating islands as caiman bask on the banks and capybara graze at the water’s edge. Watch for marsh deer and hundreds of birds that fill these lagoons. In the far north of Argentina, the Iberá Wetlands are one of South America’s great wildlife destinations.

Walk the spray-soaked catwalks that carry you out over the falls, take the ecological train through the jungle to the Devil’s Throat and ride a speedboat into the base of the cascades. The Argentinian side of Iguazú puts you closer to the water than anywhere else, deep inside the national park and its wildlife-rich forest.

Self-proclaimed the “land of sunshine and wine”, Mendoza sits in the rain-shadow of the Andes, its vineyards producing some of Argentina’s most celebrated Malbecs under near-constant blue skies. Between the fine wine, gourmet cuisine, mountain scenery and outdoor adventure on offer, few destinations reward food and wine lovers quite like Mendoza holidays do.

Drive through rust-red canyons to villages, taste crisp Torrontés in the high vineyards of Cafayate, and stand on salt flats that stretch white to the horizon. In Argentina’s remote northwest, Salta is the gateway to a corner of the country that feels closer to Bolivia and Peru, indigenous heritage and extraordinary Andean landscapes.