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NORTHERN ARGENTINA tour

IGUAZU FALLS

HOW TO GET THERE

We flew into Buenos Aires. The first two legs of the trip are done by bus, which is the deluxe type seen in other parts of South & Central America. The third leg is by air, as are the final two legs, covering very long distances. The middle section, legs four to seven, will require a hire car which you can pick up and drop off at Salta airport.

ROUTE 


BUENOS AIRES

We started with a four night stay close to the centre, with the plan to have another four night stop at the end of the trip in another section of the city so we could easily visit different parts mainly on foot. At our first stop we enjoyed the many beautiful plazas, buildings, and weekend street markets from a base in the San Telmo area. 
BUENOS AIRES - Street scene
Nearby were various attractions: Casa Rosada Presidential Palace; the elaborate shopping mall at Galerias Pacifico; Parque Lezama; the National Historical Museum; the Modern Art Museum; and the ornate Russian Orthodox Cathedral. We did a visit with a tour group to the Boca for the colourful shops, cafes and restaurants - not to mention the football stadium. 
BUENOS AIRES - La Boca: alfresco tango
We also saw a fantastic tango dance show with full orchestra at the Borges Cultural Centre. The ornate mausoleums in the Recoleta are also worth a visit. Monuments include those to former presidents, including that to the First Lady Eva Peron(Evita). More diversions were left for the final stop back in the city.

ROSARIO

It is a 4 hour bus journey from Buenos Aires to Rosario. Rosario is the third largest city in Argentina. This journey is not as arduous as it may sound, as the roads are good, the buses are comfortable with good legroom, reclining seats and complimentary light meal/refreshments. Rosario is not a major tourist destination but has much of interest for the traveller in search of the real Argentina, sufficient for a stop of a few days. There is some interesting architecture, the river port with the Costanera waterfront restaurants and market stalls, a number of museums, and the national memorial for the Argentine Flag first raised in the city in 1812 which includes a 230 feet tall tower providing impressive views of the riverside and city. 

Rosario - view of Rio Parana from the flag tower
We took a boat trip on the Rio Parana which included the backwaters and lagoons to the side of the main river course. We also visited the stadium of Newell's Old Boys, the Argentine Premier League champions in 2013, and the former club of Maradona and the young Lionel Messi. 

CORDOBA

Hop back on the bus to Cordoba, a six hour journey. There are a few stops at towns on the way, giving you an interesting view of local life. 
CORDOBA - The Cabildo, with Dome of the Cathedral behind
Cordoba is the second largest city in Argentina, and the site of many old colonial buildings, including the UNESCO heritage Jesuit block of buildings, the magnificent cathedral and other fine churches/convents. There are nice walks down by the river and the La Canada embanked stream. The river fish is a highlight of the menu in some of the restaurants. You will find the tourist information and free walking tours departing from the Cabildo which is the restored town hall, also housing the Museo de la Cuidad. There are a number of other museums/galleries covering different subjects. 
CORDOBA - Free Concert in the park
There is a lively music scene supported by the local people and the city's university students. We enjoyed a free jazz concert performed in one of the parks.

SALTA

The flight from Cordoba to Salta takes an hour and a half to cover the distance of over 500 miles between the two cities. Salta has a lot to offer for a place of its size. 
SALTA - Cathedral
The heart of the city has well preserved colonial buildings, and is easily walked around. There are a number of high quality restaurants within the historic centre. 

Amongst various interesting museums are: the Museo Historico del Norte, set in the Cabildo, a restored 18th century government 

SALTA - The Cabildo & Museo Historico del Norte

building; the Pajcha-Museo de Arte Etnico Americano; and the Museo de Arqueologia de Alta Montana, with exhibits including the very moving mummified Inca children sacrificed by their ancestors. They were discovered, perfectly preserved, in 1999 in a shrine on the slopes of a 21,000 feet high volcano.

SALTA- view of City from Cerro San Bernado
The cable car up to Cerro San Bernado gives you a great view over the city. This starts from a park at the east side of the city and includes a museum visit in the ticket price. 

PAYOGASTA/CACHI

 Pick up a hire car at Salta airport so you can return it at the end of your mini road trip and be ready to travel on. The first half of your round trip is travelling into the foothills of the Andes to the villages of Payogasta or Cachi for your overnight stop.
Route RP33 climbing up from Salta towards Payogasta
This is a winding and often steep road with great views, continuing onto the Los Cardones National Park where cardon cactuses flourish in the arid, high altitude atmosphere.
 LOS CARDONES NATIONAL PARK - Cardon cacti
From here the road flattens out and joins the legendary Ruta 40 just outside Payogasta. Cachi is the larger and more picturesque of the two villages, and has more amenities and more visitors. Payogasta is small and very quiet, and if you decide to stay there you can still pay a visit to Cachi either on your arrival or as you leave the area to continue southwards. We stayed in a Hotel set in a beautiful hacienda in Payogasta with stunning views of the surrounding mountains, and enjoyed short walks near to the village.

PAYOGASTA - Hacienda & mountain view
CAFAYETE

Ruta 40 continues southward out of Cachi and soon you run out of paved road - this is the last you'll see of tarmac until you're close to Cafayete. The road is fabled amongst motorists and motor cyclists, connecting Argentina across more than 3,000 miles of spectacular terrain. You will enjoy the fabulous views on this section of the road, but you may not appreciate the loose stone and bumpy surface that makes the journey slow or, depending on how fast you go, an uncomfortable one. 

RUTA 40 - the road is unpaved outside Cachi
Most tourists don't make this epic road trip between Cachi and Cafayete, preferring to follow the tarmac from Salta as far as Cachi, or from Salta up to Cafayete, and they are missing a lot by not making the effort. In addition to the spectacular scenery we saw condors, llamas and a flock of parrots on the journey.

The mountain scenery is captivating for the duration of the whole journey, but by the time you get as far as the only proper village along the way after a couple of hours steady travelling you are definitely ready for a break. Molinos is small but has the facility in the village square to grab some lunch, and a lovely spot it is too with its striking church, the old adobe houses and the willowy mesquite trees providing welcome shade.

MOLINOS - lunch stop on Ruta 40

The run in to Cafayete passes through some varied landscapes including the Canyon of Arrows -a serrated rock formation. 

RUTA 40 - Quebrada de las Flechas

Cafayete is a lively town, popular with locals and foreigners. It has no great central attraction compared to the other towns along the way, but it has the accommodation, shops, bars and restaurants to cater well for its visitors. There are a number of local wineries supplying the very drinkable Torrontes white wine that also offer tastings and tours.

CAFAYETE- Devil's Throat in the Quebrada de las Conchas
The first part of the journey leaving Cafayete is picturesque as you come down from the Andes fooothills through the Quebrada de las Conchas ( the Canyon of Shells) where you will see a vast obelisk-shaped sandstone rock. and then the disturbing red rock formation called the Devil's Throat.

TILCARA

Having left Cafayate you are headed back North past Salta to Tilcara. This is a long journey of 230 miles, but all tarmac. Having left behind the Quebreda de las Conchas you will find that down on the plain there is not much of interest until you’re well past Salta . There are two routes you can take up to Tilcara. The more direct and scenic drive is straight up RN9 from Salta via La Caldera to Jujuy and onto Tilcara. The other route is slightly faster, busier and longer via General Guemes, but this is not very scenic. You may want to do one on the way up and the other on the way back to Salta airport.

Tilcara is a pretty little town, surrounded by mountains with colourful rock formations. An ancient ruined fortess, Pucara  de Tilcara, is situated 1km from the town with good views of the valley.

TILCARA - Pucara de Tilcara(ancient fortress ruins)
Further up the valley is the larger town of Humahuaca, again with lots of its original character preserved. It's worth the effort to go a little further up the road to the spectacular rock formations at Tres Cruces. From this point the road begins to climb towards the Bolivian Andes and you may be lucky to spot some wild llamas or their smaller cousins the vicunas. On the way back down it is worth while stopping at the little church San Francisco de Paula in Uquia, where you will see some unusual medieval paintings of angels dressed in full Conquistador armour and nobility regalia- an insight into the mindset of the conquering Spaniards who settled in the area.

PURMAMARCA- Cerro de los Siete Colores

Back down the valley going south of Tilcara you come to another picturesque town, Purmamarca, again with fabulous rock formations in the hill of seven colours (Cerro de los Siete Colores).

 SALTA

Driving your hire car back to Salta airport from Tilcara will take you about 3.5 hours and you are then flying on to the Iguazu Falls area. On an evening flight this will take about two hours.

IGUAZU FALLS

You will find accommodation for your visit to the falls at Puerto Iguazu. We started our stay of several nights by acquainting ourselves with the town, pleasant without any outstanding character, but with adequate facilities for the traveller. We enjoyed the short walk to the edge of town to visit the triple frontier where the Iguazu River meets Parana River, dividing Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. We also visited the suburban hummingbird garden that one of the enterprising locals has set up.
PUERTO IGUAZU- Hummingbird in Jardin de los Picaflores
The following 2 days we spent enjoying the falls and National Parks on firstly the Argentinian side and then the Brazilian side (check visa requirements to enter Brazil. We witnessed an understandably upset, but inexcusably angry, traveller who was refused entry at the border crossing) .
You've seen pictures but you've got to be there in order to fully appreciate the sight, sound and feel  of the spray from these mighty falls - it's like a Biblical flood crashing into the Grand Canyon.

Click video below.
IGUAZU FALLS
The bus from Puerto Iguazu to the Argentinian side takes about 20 minutes. It's worthwhile having a look inside the interpretation centre to gain an overview of the geological history and the flora and fauna in the park before proceeding to the falls. There are a variety of trails to view the falls, and walkways with viewing stations that allow you to get closer. There are also good trails into the rainforest away from the falls where you can see a variety of wildlife, flowers and trees/shrubs. These are really quiet, unlike the trails around the falls, and are an oasis in which you can enjoy a slower pace in your day.



The Brazilian side of the falls allows you to have a different perspective, a wider and more distant angle compared to the Argentinian side. The Brazilian park is well organised with good facilities, and has frequent buses to ferry you to different points in the park.

BUENOS AIRES

The flight back to Buenos Aires takes a couple of hours. You'll either have to make your way home shortly or if you've the time take a few extra days to sample a different part of the capital. We stayed in the Palermo district and spent most of one of the days visiting the Botanical Gardens, Japanese Garden and Rose Gardens.
BUENOS AIRES - Palermo: Japanese Gardens
We spent a further day mainly exploring the Puerto Madero area, where you can also enjoy an extended walk in the ecological reserve at Costenera Sur. This area is enjoyed by many locals but fewer tourists, and you'll see many families, runners and cyclists - particularly at the weekend.
BUENOS AIRES- Puerto Madero

Have a Safe journey home!

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