Argentina is a country of Pampas, Gauchos, Asado, Mate, Tango, and Dulce de leche. The name immediately conjures up the image of huge steaks, passionate men and women and long nights of eating the best meat of the world and sipping mate, afterwards.

Buenos Aires, the capital, is the center of the country in all ways except its geographical location. With the Río de la Plata, in the east of the country, it is actually the city that is closest to the Old Continent, and probably the most European city in South America.

Behind Buenos Aires, the land of the Pampas begins. Many towns with historical centres that go back to colonial are worth visiting. In the west, the Andes mountains offer great outdoor opportunities: hiking, skiing and much more. Patagonia, the far south of Argentina is a rugged and cold land. The area around Ushuaia, southern most city of the counrty, is mild in October to May. It is great for the lovers of nature and wildlife; big glaciers that go directly into the Barney, birds, seals and other arctic animals abound.

In the northwestern corner of this dreamed land, deserts and steppes are the most common geographical sites; and in the northeastern part of the country, Iguazú Falls, complete all kinds of climate existing on the Earth… all in one beautiful country.

The people are awesome, full of kindness, and the weather is mostly pleasant all the year. Many people call this the Paris of the Americas.

Places to go:

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the most European capital city in South America, porteños (locals), are really friendly and have a rich and diversified cultural identity. With so much to see and do in Buenos Aires, plan on staying at least 1 week minimum to fully enjoy everything the city has to offer.

Here’s a list of must see places you can visit in the classical neighborhoods:

• La Boca; with its colored houses and restaurants;
• San Telmo, with its tango shows in Plaza Dorrego on Sundays, the Museo Histórico Nacional on Parque Lezama and the religious shops of Nuestra Señora de Bethlem, Parroquia de San Pedro Telmo and Museo Penitenciario “Antonio Ballve”;
• Recoleta, where are located the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, the Biblioteca Nacional, and the Cementerio de la Recoleta, where the remains of Eva Perón can be found;
• The civic center where can be found the Casa Rosada, the Casa de la Cultura, the Plaza de los dos senderos; which features a wide variety of sculptures and monuments, including a signed copy of Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker”; the Avenida Corrientes, where can be found, among others, the Paseo La Plaza, the Luna Park, Teatro San Martin; at the intersection of Avenida Corrientes with Avenida 9 de julio are located the emblematic Obelisco and the Mercado de Abasto;
• Palermo, where are located the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, the bosques de Palermo, and the Planetary and Buenos Aires Zoo, and finally;
• the shopping areas in Belgrano.

La Boca

La Boca is a neighborhood, located in the southern part of Buenos Aires, is home of Boca Juniors, one of the top football clubs around all the world. With its colorful buildings, La Boca has other attractions like the La Ribera theatre, many tango clubs, Italian taverns, the Boca Juniors Club Stadium, called la Bombonera (this building is famous for the football matches and its architecture, it the Slovenian architect Victor Sulcic was the person in charge of the project. He built the stadium giving it the shape of a chocolate box). And specially the main street, the Caminito, is a open air museum with sculptures, artwork, handicrafts, engravings, photographs, and tango singers and dancers who perform regularly, Exists also a handicrafts market.

Iguazú Falls

The Iguazú falls (Cataratas del Iguazú) are the most beautiful waterfall in the world by many visitors, in Guarani language Iguazú comes from “y” (water) and guasu(“big”), the legend says that a god planned to get married with Naipi, an beautiful aborigine, Naipi escaped with Tarobáin, her lover, in a canoe. In revenge, the God sliced the river creating the falls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. In fact, falls are the result of a volcanic eruption which left a large crack in the earth, and are located at the border of the countries of Argentina, Brazil (where is called Foz do Iguaçu), were designated a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. Near Iguazu, there are another important attractions, such as the Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis and the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant.

Perito Moreno

When nature formed the great glaciers of Argentina, there were no political boundaries in southern South America, nor an area called Patagonia. Now of course, we refer to this land mass as Chile and Argentina and Patagonia is a term applied to the southern portions of each country. There are glaciers on both sides of the Andes, forming the Patagonian Ice Field, second only in size to Antartica. On the southwestern Argentine side, there are more than 300 glaciers, some of them in the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, Glacier National Park, extends for 217 miles (350 km) along the Andes. The park also includes mountains, rivers, lakes and forests and reaches into the arid Patagonian steppes to the east. Among the steep, jagged granite mountain peaks Cerro Fitz Roy, also known as Chaltén at 11236 ft (3405m) and Cerro Torre at 10236 ft (3102 m). Flora and fauna include stands of beech trees, shrubs, mosses, orchids, red firebush, and guanacos, large Patagonian hares, hawks, red foxes, Magellan geese, black-necked swans, flamingos, woodpeckers, skunks, pumas, condors and the near-extinct huemel deer. The huemel is now protected as a national monument.

Catamarca

The province of Catamarca is located in the northwest of Argentina. The capital is San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, in Quechua word means “Cata” (side) and “marca” (fortress) forming “Fortress in the side”. Catamarca is chosen by tourists from all over the world due its attractive landscapes, cultural places and ecological areas where activities like mountain-bike rides, hiking, horse riding are offered. Or, also, one can admire the architecture of the houses of San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca, formed by barred windows, robust hall doors and wide sunny patios; the Cavern of the “Virgen del Valle”; enjoy water activities in “El Juncal” and “Las Pirquitas” dams; or visit beautiful places such as “El Rodeo”, “La Cuesta del Portezuelo”, “La Puerta”, where tourist will make mountain circuits with impressive views of rustic beauty and wealthy trout rivers. Catamarca is a beautiful place to enjoy the nature and the people’s hospitality.