Argentina Travel Guide to Top Tourist Attractions
First, a few facts: Argentina is a nation located in the southern half of South America and, covering a large area of 2,780,400 km makes it the biggest Spanish-speaking country in the globe by area alone. There are about 45.38 million people, and the currency is the Argentine peso.
Argentina's marvelous and diverse geography encompasses from prohibited deserts, humid jungles, far-reaching ocean beaches to the breath-taking soaring Andes. Extending from the lovely subtropical north all the way to the subantarctic regions of gorgeous Patagonia in the south, Argentina's architectural, cultural, and artistic legacy is quite diverse and draw on a broad variety of influences from all over the world.
With its remarkable barrios that include multi-colored arts communities like old-world Recoleta and trendy districts such as Palermo, Buenos Aires at times resemble Europe instead of a South American country.
Without a doubt the vibrant capital city is a great point where to start exploring. Plus, other major draws are the nation's natural wonders which include the beautiful Iguazu Falls.
To ensure that your visit becomes an adventure of a lifetime, read this Argentina travel guide to find the top tourist attractions in Argentina.
1) Iguazu Falls. The breath-taking Iguazu Falls lie along the country's border with Brazil and surrounded by Iguazu National Park and Iguacu National Park. Protected by and part of the UNESCO World Heritage, the massive waterfalls are clearly one of the greatest sights in South America.
Tourists could come very near to these roaring falls because of a terrific network of readily accessible walkways and observing platforms which were designed for providing great views such as catching the falls' bottom, or the Devil's Throat.
In fact, Iguazu is made up of somewhere between 150 to 300 falls, all along its almost 3-kilometer edge, which is a number liable to vary on account of the season and, differing in height from 60 to as much as 82 meters, but each yet as stunning as the next. The site is easy to reach, especially if you take a flight from Buenos Aires.
2) Perito Moreno Glacier. As a chief magnet for attracting tourists for visiting Patagonia's Los Glaciares National Park, the little charming town of El Calafate always offers a lot of accommodation choices, plus other amenities anyone coming here would appreciate.
At this site is where many tourists end up joining excursions to visit the park's glorious glaciers, most importantly, the sensational Perito Moreno Glacier, which is a towering 30-kilometer-long ice formation, only 78 kilometers away from the town center.
It is a 2-hour drive from El Calafate to the glacier's big visitor center, and from there it's only a quiet stroll to the glacier. If interested in climbing the actual glacier, ice trekking tours are now available ranging from one hour's trip covering the ice formation to 5-hour excursions.
Another significant feature worth noting that Los Glaciares National Park offers is the 3,359-meter-tall Monte Fitz Roy; it's an amazingly lovely mountain that straddles the border with Chile which is known to be even more challenging to climb than Everest!
3) Ricoleta and La Boca in Buenos Aires. As South America's most-visited city, Buenos Aires is frequently the initial glimpse of Argentina that many tourists shall have prior to going off to highly popular destinations like Patagonia. However, the smartest visitors will linger here a bit longer and tour the several art galleries and charming museums housed in the superb old colonial buildings that stretch across the city's barrios.
Do not dare miss La Boca which is Buenos Aires' extremely colorful community as well as home to the odd Caminito Street Museum, which is a fine pedestrian zone and popular open-air museum, famous for its attractively painted houses, music, tango dancing in the streets, cafes, and funny sculptures.
The trendy Recoleta is yet another place worth visiting and where you'll run into the Recoleta Cemetery displaying mausoleums that contain the remains of famous Argentinians like Eva Peron, near many museums, public gardens, boutique shops, cafes, and art galleries.
4) Tierra del Fuego National Park. The massive 156,000-acre national park stretches from Beagle Channel all the way to the Chilean Border and even northwards to Lago Kami. In a nutshell, it's a hiker's little paradise, boasting trails for every one of every experience level. Utilizing the small town of Ushuaia as a sort of base, hikers and adventurers can start the park's hiking trails, or explore its notably glamorous scenery along the coastline, including from towering waterfalls, mountains, dense forests, to lovely glacier-fed lakes like Fagnano and Roca.
A very popular route to take is Senda Costera which is a coastal path leading to Lake Roca which provides an opportunity to observe a broad diversity of wildlife such as Andean condors. You can take the excellent Southern Fuegian Railway to enjoy these wonderful sights in comfort; it's an antique but elegant steam train running through the national park to Canadon del Toro.
5) Puerto Madryn. The city lies on Golfo Nuevo's shores in a very sheltered location on the Patagonian coast. Welsh settlers founded it back in 1886 and is the city's deep-water port. The nature reserves has made it a very popular cruise destination in Argentina. Its rugged natural coastline unfailingly attracts both water sports enthusiasts and windsurfers alike.
Even nature lovers will find a ton of activities to engage in on the Valdez Peninsula, which is a significant nature reserve, in fact, a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its diverse wildlife. For sure you'll need a guided tour and tourists often see whales, orcas, sea lions, and elephant seals. Plus, it's a key breeding ground for migratory shorebirds and Magellanic penguins.
