Il sentiero dei vigneti argentini

Buenos Aires is one of the great metropolises of the southern hemisphere, a city that blends European architecture with a Latin American soul in a unique and unmistakable amalgam. Founded on the banks of the Río de la Plata, the Argentine capital extends for dozens of kilometres through a fabric of neighbourhoods, each with a distinct personality and its own piece of history, culture and everyday porteño life. The historic centre revolves around the Plaza de Mayo, where the Casa Rosada — the famous pink-hued seat of government — overlooks a square steeped in political memory. Nearby, San Telmo preserves a labyrinth of nineteenth-century lanes, Sunday markets, art galleries and milongas where tango reverberates from mid-afternoon. La Boca, on the Riachuelo waterfront, is renowned for the vividly painted tin-clad houses of El Caminito and the Bombonera, the iconic stadium of Club Atlético Boca Juniors. To the north, Palermo divides into elegant sub-districts: Palermo Soho with its design boutiques, Palermo Hollywood with its restaurants and nightlife, and the Bosques de Palermo for leisurely walks. Recoleta is the neighbourhood of grand tree-lined boulevards, French-style mansions and the monumental cemetery where Evita Perón rests, a secular pilgrimage site for visitors from around the world. The revitalised Puerto Madero offers luxury restaurants, a waterfront promenade and the Puente de la Mujer footbridge designed by Santiago Calatrava. Porteño gastronomy deserves its own chapter: the asado is far more than a meal — it is a social ritual; alfajores, medialunas and dulce de leche are fixtures in every panadería. The restaurants of Palermo and San Telmo serve creative cuisine that blends Argentine tradition, Italian and Spanish influences and contemporary trends. Buenos Aires is also a city of theatre, literature and visual culture: the Teatro Colón, one of the world's great opera houses, is an eclectic architectural masterpiece inaugurated in 1908; the Avenida Corrientes concentrates historic bookshops, literary cafés and art-house cinemas. Museums — from the MALBA to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes — hold internationally significant collections focused on twentieth-century Latin American art. A city that never sleeps, Buenos Aires is experienced at night: porteños dine late, dance until dawn, and debate politics and football with equal passion. Every visit leaves something unresolved — a San Telmo alley still to explore, a milonga still to try. That is the spell that keeps travellers coming back.

Puerto Iguazú is the Argentine town that provides access to one of the most magnificent natural spectacles on the planet: the Cataratas del Iguazú, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and among the most imposing waterfalls in the world. Located at the far north-east of the province of Misiones, the town sits at the point where the Iguazú and Paraná rivers meet, on the border with Brazil and Paraguay. Parque Nacional Iguazú on the Argentine side offers a network of metal walkways that allow visitors to approach the falls almost physically: you walk above the water, cross suspended bridges over the abyss and come face to face with the Garganta del Diablo, the 150-metre semicircular precipice where the river plunges with a force that shakes the air and saturates the atmosphere with mist. The Argentine side, compared to the Brazilian, provides a more immersive perspective and a more articulated trail network, including the Lower Walkway with its view of the falls from inside the gorge. The subtropical jungle surrounding the falls is itself an extraordinary ecosystem: coatis, toucans, iridescent butterflies and vivid parrots animate the paths. A rubber-dinghy ride in the churning water at the base of the falls adds a rush of adrenaline to the experience. Puerto Iguazú is easily combined with the Brazilian side at Foz do Iguaçu, and many travellers pair both perspectives in a two- or three-night stay.

Salta is one of Argentina's best-preserved colonial cities, nestled in an Andean valley at 1,187 metres above sea level in the north-western part of the country. The Plaza 9 de Julio, with its ochre baroque cathedral, the Cabildo and cream-coloured arcades, forms one of the most harmonious historic centres in the entire Argentine North West — earning the city its enduring nickname, «Salta la Linda». The Museo de Arte de Alta Montaña (MAAM) houses some of the most perfectly preserved Inca mummies ever found in the Andes, recovered from the summit of the Llullaillaco volcano at over 6,700 metres. Salteño cuisine is among Argentina's most distinctive: empanadas prepared to the local recipe with meat, hard-boiled eggs and olives, and locro, a hearty corn-and-bean stew, are fixtures in the bodegones of the old centre. The high-altitude wines from the Quebrada de Cafayate, south of the city, round out the gastronomic offer. Salta is also the ideal base for a series of extraordinary excursions: the Quebrada de Humahuaca to the north (UNESCO World Heritage Site), the Tren a las Nubes that climbs to the La Polvorilla viaduct at 4,200 metres, and the adobe villages of the Calchaquí Valley. The golden light of sunset on the rust-coloured mountains surrounding the valley turns every evening into an unrepeatable chromatic spectacle.

Humahuaca is the principal inhabited centre of the Quebrada de Humahuaca, the Andean valley of Jujuy province declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, at 2,940 metres above sea level. The town, with its white adobe houses and the seventeenth-century colonial church of La Candelaria, has lived for centuries as a transit hub on the route that linked the Andean civilisations of Tawantinsuyu — the Inca empire — with the plains of the Río de la Plata. Every day at noon, a mechanical figure emerges from the facade of the town's Cabildo to bless the square: a curious and beloved tradition of the local community. The surroundings of Humahuaca offer lunar landscapes of great intensity: the Hornocal, with its fourteen-coloured mountain accessible by four-wheel drive, is one of the most photographed vistas in the Argentine North West. Purmamarca is a small adobe village in the Quebrada de Humahuaca, the Andean valley of north-western Argentina declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. At 2,324 metres above sea level, the village clusters around a colonial square shaded by an ancient algarrobo tree, with the seventeenth-century church of Santa Rosa de Lima looking towards the Cerro de los Siete Colores — the hill of seven colours, the symbol of the village and of the Quebrada itself. The colours of the Cerro are the result of millions of years of superimposed geological deposits: pink, purple, orange, green, ochre yellow and brick red alternate in horizontal bands that shift in tone throughout the day. The craft market under the square's arcades offers textiles, ceramics and jewellery from the Kolla indigenous communities. Purmamarca is also the starting point for the Cuesta de Lipán, the plateau road that climbs towards the Puna and the Salina Grande, the great salt flat at 3,400 metres. During the journey from Purmamarca to Salta, you pass through the majestic Andes Mountains, with breathtaking panoramic views of canyons, valleys, and snow-capped peaks. Along the way, it is possible to stop in picturesque villages and towns, where you can immerse yourself in the culture and traditions of the local communities. A stop at the Quebrada de las Conchas is highly recommended: located roughly halfway between Salta and Purmamarca, this gorge features a series of spectacular rock formations, including the famous Amphitheatre.

The transfer from Salta to Cafayate offers a journey through some of the most spectacular and fascinating landscapes in Salta Province, in northwestern Argentina. Along the route lies Los Cardones National Park, where you can admire vast stretches of giant cacti and breathtaking desert scenery. Cachi is a colonial adobe village in the Calchaquí Valley of Salta province, at 2,280 metres above sea level, reachable from Salta via the spectacular Cuesta del Obispo — a mountain pass exceeding 3,300 metres with views over misty forests and high-altitude grasslands. The village has streets of white limestone dust, low houses with roofs of cardón cactus and an eighteenth-century colonial church whose interior furnishings are carved from the only local wood available: dried cardón. The Calchaquí Valley around Cachi is a landscape of lunar deserts, white volcanoes and high-altitude vineyards; small local producers offer artisan wines of extraordinary authenticity. The village's Museo Arqueológico holds artefacts from pre-Inca cultures of the valley. The quiet atmosphere, the intense altiplano light and the monastic landscape make Cachi an ideal stop for those seeking an alternative Argentina, far from the crowds. Molinos is a quiet colonial village in the Calchaquí Valley, in the province of Salta, around 200 kilometres south of the provincial capital, reachable along one of the most scenic roads in the Argentine North West. The church of San Pedro Nolasco, dating from the seventeenth century, and the historic Molino harinero of the Isasmendi family are the focal points of the small centre. The surrounding landscape alternates reddish deserts, stands of cardón cactus and high-altitude vineyards: the wines produced in the area by small growers are among the most authentic expressions of Calchaquí. Molinos is a prized stop on the circuit linking Salta, Cachi and Cafayate, far from the crowds and rich in an authenticity of everyday life that is hard to find elsewhere. Cafayate is a charming wine town set in the Quebrada de Cafayate, around 180 kilometres south of Salta, in a landscape of red canyons, wind-sculpted rock formations and vineyards growing between 1,700 and 2,000 metres above sea level. This high-altitude microclimate, dry and sun-drenched, is ideal for white Torrontés, Argentina's most distinctly native grape variety, and for notably structured Malbec wines. The bodegas in the area open their cellars to visitors for tastings and tours: Bodega Etchart, Bodega El Esteco and Familia Zuccardi (with its modern stone winery in the surroundings) are among the most visited. The centre of Cafayate, with its cathedral overlooking the main square, cobblestone streets and craft shops, retains the quiet charm of a colonial inland town. The Quebrada de las Conchas, the red sandstone canyon traversed along Ruta 68 towards Salta, is one of Argentina's most spectacular geological landscapes.

The transfer from Cafayate to Salta offers a journey through some of the most spectacular and fascinating landscapes in Salta Province, in northwestern Argentina. Along the route between Cafayate and Cachi lies Los Cardones National Park, where you can admire vast stretches of giant cacti and breathtaking desert scenery. If you have extra time, a detour to Cachi is highly recommended. This picturesque colonial village is nestled on the slopes of the Andes and is famous for its cobblestone streets, whitewashed houses, and historic churches.

Mendoza is Argentina's wine capital, a modern, tree-lined city that spreads at the foot of the Andes — the snow-capped peaks of Aconcagua, at 6,961 metres the roof of the Americas, are visible on clear winter days from the central plaza itself. Founded in 1561 and rebuilt after the 1861 earthquake, the city is laid out with wide streets, irrigation channels and avenues shaded by lime trees and plane trees, making it particularly pleasant to explore on foot. The wine districts around the city — Maipú, Luján de Cuyo and Valle de Uco — produce some of the world's most admired Malbec wines, alongside Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Torrontés. Dozens of bodegas open their doors to visitors for tastings, cellar tours and paired dinners. The harvest season, celebrated in March with the Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia, transforms the city into a great carnival of colour and tradition. Beyond wine, Mendoza is a base for trekking and climbing on Aconcagua, rafting on the Río Mendoza, the thermal baths at Cacheuta, and high-altitude excursions along the road to the Cristo Redentor Pass on the Chilean border. The vibrant gastronomic scene in the centre, with high-quality parrillas and creative restaurants, completes the picture of a destination that combines nature, culture and the pleasures of the table.