Argentina & Uruguay

Argentina’s contrasts never cease to amaze.

One day you’re on a boat rushing towards spectacular waterfalls through subtropical rainforest as electric blue butterflies flutter, and dusky swifts flit and dive through the spray where rainbows hover. Next thing you know, you’re walking across the sculpted blue surface of a vast and silent glacier, which suddenly ruptures with a roar into a milky turquoise lake.

Click here for tours

The capital, Buenos Aires, is another Argentina, with its swift pace, chic restaurants and Parisian and English architecture. Growing in popularity at an amazing pace Argentina is set to thrill.  The only international gateway is Buenos Aires and from here you can connect to all the key holiday destinations.

South of the country you’ll find El Calafate, your base for the glaciers, and further south again is Ushuaia, for wildlife and access to Cape Horn, the Southern most tip of South America.

To the south-west is the Lake District of Bariloche and further north is the wine region of Mendoza. The northern areas of Argentina consist of Salta with its desert salt plains and the thunderous roaring Iguassu falls on the border with Brazil.

When to go:

The climate ranges from hot and humid in the north to cold and rainy in the south. In northern Argentina, summer days will be in the 33-37 C and nights in the 23-27 C (winter highs in the 15-22 C and lows in the 5-10 C).

Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of Argentina, is nearly always cold and/or rainy, with summer highs in the 10-21 C and temperatures well below freezing in the winter. Generally, the best time to go is October-April.

Currency: Argentinean Peso

Time: GMT -3 /-4 hours

Capital City: Buenos Aires

Language: Spanish

Food:

Beef of course! The parrilla or parrilliada is the local version of a BBQ. However vegetarians need not despair; the Italian influence means that authentic pasta and pizzas abound.

Beverages:

Argentina is a great wine producing nation, so there is plenty of choice. Or you could go for the ubiquitous yerba mate, the local bitter herbal tea drunk from a gourd through a metal straw.