2 weeks round trip Northern Argentina
- Explore the pristine highlands of the Northern Argentina Andes
- Discover stories of Inca mummies, children who were sacrificed on volcano tops
- Drive past white salt flats, lagoons with flamingos and surreal landscapes
- Visit a bizarre ghost town at an altitude of 4,200 metres
- Saddle up your horse and go riding with the gauchos of estancia San Antonio de Areco
Curious about touring Northern Argentina? Watch a 3-minute video of the itinerary below:
(Click on the image and the video will start playing)
Itinerary
Day 1 | Amsterdam - Buenos Aires
Today begins your unique roundtrip through northern Argentina! In the evening, you will board your intercontinental flight to Buenos Aires in Amsterdam.
Day 2 | Buenos Aires
In the morning, you arrive at Buenos Aires airport. A local staff member will welcome you and take you to your hotel. The rest of the day is freely planned. So you have plenty of time to explore this beautiful metropolis. Visit, for instance, the beautiful parks in the Palermo district, the stylish Recoleta district, where shopping is great and where Evita Perón's grave is also located. The characteristic district of San Telmo, the birthplace of the tango, and of course the working-class neighbourhood of La Boca with its colourful houses are also worth a visit.
Lodging: 1828 Smart hotel | bed & breakfast
Day 3 | Buenos Aires
This day's programme includes a Graffiti and Street Art trip. Accompanied by an expert English-speaking guide, you will get further acquainted with some of Buenos Aires' well-known and lesser-known streets. First, you will visit the MALBA museum, the museum has 270 artworks by modern and contemporary Latin American artists, including Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Fernando Botero. After this, you will be taken through the streets of Palermo where you will see beautiful graffiti artworks. many of these artworks incorporate political or social themes.
Overnight stay: 1828 Smart Hotel | bed & breakfast
Day 4 | Buenos Aires - Salta
In the morning, you will be transferred to Buenos Aires national airport and fly to Salta in north-western Argentina. After arrival, transfer to Finca Valentina, a colonial mansion located in a quiet, green area just outside Salta, and the rest of the day is freely planned. In the afternoon, you may wish to take a taxi to the centre of Salta to visit the main sights. For example, start at Plaza 9 de Julio, the lively heart of the city, surrounded by colonial buildings, terraces and shady trees. At the square is the Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña (MAAM), where the famous Inca mummies and the history of high-mountain cultures are on display. Salta's cathedral is also worth a visit, with its pink façade and rich interior. Afterwards, stroll through the surrounding streets lined with small boutiques and cafés, or visit the covered Mercado San Miguel for local produce and empanadas salteñas. For a fine view, take the cable car to the top of San Bernardo hill, from where you'll have a beautiful panorama over the city and surrounding valleys.
Overnight stay: Finca Valentina | bed & breakfast
Northern Argentina
The Argentine Puna
You will spend the next few days in Argentina's Puna, a vast, rugged plateau in the northwest of the country. At altitudes ranging from 3,000 to over 4,500 metres, endless salt flats, colourful mountain ranges, volcanoes and quiet lagoons alternate. The air is thin and clear, the colours intense and the sense of space almost overwhelming. This sparsely populated area is at the heart of an ancient culture, where indigenous traditions are still visible in small villages, adobe houses and local markets. Vicuñas and flamingos move effortlessly through the harsh landscape, while the sun burns brightly during the day and the nights are surprisingly cold.
Want to know more about the Argentine Puna? Anke made this impressive trip in May 2019 and shares her unforgettable experience in the Puna on our blog.
Day 5 | Salta - El Peñon
(approx. 550 km | 8 hours drive)
Today the adventure really begins! You will be picked up by your guide and together you will drive to La Puna. After a long but impressive day, you will arrive at Hosteria El Peñon. It is a simple but cosy accommodation. In the evening, dinner will be waiting for you. You will sleep at an altitude of about 3,400 metres.
Overnight stay: Hosteria El Peñon | full board
Day 6 | El Peñon
(approx. 130 km | 4.5 hours drive)
Today you will explore part of the El Peñon area. After breakfast, you will board the car with your guide and visit the Laguna Grande reserve, a place of unique beauty that contains fragile treasures of the environment. You will pass several lakes with large flocks of flamingos. Rock formations and the crater of the Galan volcano. Today, enjoy the landscapes and the various lagoons you encounter. Be amazed by the beauty of nature and enjoy all its beauty. At the end of the day, you will be transferred to your hotel and enjoy dinner again.
Overnight stay: Hosteria El Peñon | full board
Day 7 | El Peñon
(approx. 150 km | 8 hours drive)
Also today, your guide will take you to explore the surroundings of El Peñon. You pass the volcano and lake of Carachipampa and are taken to the surreal landscape of Campo de Piedra Pómez. The wind of the Puna, a dry and strong wind that has free play in this barren landscape, erodes the rock, creating bizarre rock formations. An impressive landscape. On the way back, you pass the white sand dunes. In the middle of the wasteland of mountain peaks, rocks and volcanoes lies an immense, graceful white sand mountain. At the end of the day, you will arrive back in El Peñon.
Overnight stay: Hosteria El Peñon | full board
Day 8 | El Peñon - Tolar Grande
(approx. 340 km | 7 hours drive)
Today's route takes you over unpaved roads to Tolar Grande. On the way, you will drive past some green valleys in the middle of the dry desert. You will pass the world's most extensive salt flats and the Arita Cone, a pyramid-shaped hill that stands in the middle of the Arizaro salt flats. Your simple but comfortable hotel is located in the small village of Tolar Grande, one of the most remote hamlets in Argentina. In the evening, your guide will pick you up for dinner at a local restaurant.
Overnight stay: Casa Andina | full board
Day 9 | Tolar Grande
(approx. 140 km | 2 hours drive)
After breakfast, your guide will take you to explore the surroundings of Tolar Grande. Today you will pass the highest point on this trip. You will drive to Mina Casualidad. Mina Casualidad was a mining town located in one of the most remote and amazing places on earth. Just on the border with Chile, surrounded by the world's highest volcanoes, among sulphur mountains, salt lakes and cobalt blue sky, 3,000 people lived together at an altitude of 4,200 metres to work in the mine. The mine was closed by the army in the 1970s and today Mina Casualidad is a unique ghost town. You will visit this town and end the day with a visit to the old Caipe train station. Minerals processed in the mining town were transported to Salta by this goods train. From this station you will have a sweeping view of the Arizaro salt flats. At the end of the day, you will spend the night inTolar Grande again.
Overnight stay: Casa Andina | full board
Day 10 | Tolar Grande - Salta
(approx. 340 km | 6 hours drive)
After breakfast, continue your route, slowly returning to civilisation. In the morning, you will visit De Ojos del Mar, which are blue expanses of water amid a white salt flat (salar). In February 2009, researchers discovered a huge colony of living stromatolites (a form of sedimentary rock that is often highly stratified and high in calcium). Via the Labyrinth Desert and the Devil's Desert, you drive to San Antonio de las Cobres and traverse Quebrada de tores before arriving back in Salta. In the late afternoon, you arrive back at the cosy Finca Valentina in Salta.
Overnight stay: Finca Valentina | bed & breakfast
Day 11 | Salta - San Antonio de Areco
In the morning, you will fly from Salta to Buenos Aires. Upon arrival, you will be picked up and taken to San Antonio de Areco. The town of San Antonio de Areco is located in the province of Buenos Aires and is the place to get acquainted with the real gaucho life, situated in the middle of the Argentine pampa. You will stay in small-scale accommodation, located on the estate of one of the oldest estancias in Argentina. The buildings have been beautifully renovated, preserving authentic details. Here you will taste the authentic atmosphere of life on a classic Argentine estancia.
Overnight stay: La Bamba de Areco | full board
Day 12 | San Antonio de Areco
A free day planned, today you can participate in various activities offered by the estancia. For example, you can go horse riding, mountain biking or take a relaxing horse and carriage ride. You can also enjoy various spa treatments or relax by the pool. It is also nice to visit the village of San Antonio de Areco, located about 13 kilometres from the estancia. Enjoy the beautiful surroundings today before heading back home.
Overnight stay: La Bamba de Areco | full board
Day 13 | San Antonio de Areco - Buenos Aires - Amsterdam
After breakfast, a car will be waiting for you to take you to Buenos Aires airport. Here you will board your flight home where you will arrive the next morning.
Day 14 | Amsterdam
Your unique trip has unfortunately come to an end. Today you will arrive in Amsterdam.
Travel price
From € 7,415 per person
- Based on 2 people travelling together
- Depending on time of booking, availability of local flights and accommodation, and period of travel
Included:
- Local flights, economy class
- 11 hotel nights, meals as stated
- all transfers and excursions as listed
- city tax in Buenos Aires, payable locally during check-out, approx USD $1.50 per person per night
- Public levy Calamity Fund travel; €2.50 per booking
- SGR contribution of €5 per person per booking
- 24/7 our backup; locally and in the Netherlands
- comprehensive travel pack with small gift
Not included:
- International flights, we will book them for you if required
- Early check-in/late check-out, based on availability sometimes given by hotel. If you want to make sure you have this, please enquire with us about the extra cost.
- travel and cancellation insurance
Request a travel proposal
Would you also like to take this roundtrip? We can of course arrange the above trip for you, but we would also be happy to put together a programme based on your wishes and ideas. Please feel free to contact us, call +31 73 610 62 04, send an email to info@sapapanatravel.nl or request a tailor-made quote below. We will be happy to help you.
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