South America
Welcome Kit
Argentina
Salta and the North West of Argentina
Enjoy an embracing land formed by the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Catamarca, La Rioja and Santiago del Estero.
While northern Argentina is among the least explored areas of the country, it is certainly one of the areas that offers spectacular scenery of snow-capped volcanoes, vast salt flats, and otherworldly rock formations.
Highlights
Northern provinces feature traces of pre-Columbian cultures, mingled with ruins of natives’ villages, as well as forts and constructions dating back to the time of the Conquest and Colonization.
Time seems to have stopped in the highlands of the Puna; land furrowed with mountains, gorges and ravines. They are surrounded by hills, sometimes multicoloured, sometimes monochromatic, with slopes covered with large cacti. This region allows the encounter with a landscape full of contrasts, from the high peaks to the plains, with salt flats and subtropical forests.
The colors of the Quebrada, the Calchaquíes Valleys, the Train to the Clouds, the salt flats, the hot springs, the folklore, the typical dishes and the Torrontés high altitude wine, are just some of the various options that you can enjoy in Northwestern Argentina. .
The legacy of native and pre-Columbian people; or its important archaeological and paleontological findings are attractions of great interest to know. The towns of the Quebrada de Humahuaca and the Calchaquíes Valleys, the Inca Trail and the Camino Real, historical places, citadels and pucarás are some of the possibilities to enter the northern culture.
The colours of the hills are expressed in each original piece, ponchos and fabrics that you can find in the artisan routes. Folklore is passed down from generation to generation, and you can hear zambas and chacareras at peñas and festivals. Carnivals, the Pachamama, Inti Raymi and misachicos festivities invite you to celebrate with the local communities in the most intimate of their traditions.
General Facts
Lying on the Lerma Valley, Salta is the capital city of the homonimous province. It is situated in one of the most fertile and nicest sites ever created by nature in this region. It is located at 1,187 meters above sea level, at the bottom of Mounts 20 de Febrero and San Bernardo.
Summer is mild and Winter is warm and dry, with records of an annual average temperature of 22ºC, which makes the city an ideal place to live or visit.
The Hispanic architecture of the city outstands from the other cities in the country. The colonial spirit from the times of the foundation remains in its houses, streets, hundred-year-old monuments and narrow sidewalks surrounded by the mountains nearby.
The city tour includes sightseeing its numerous statues, visits to the San Francisco Church, the Cathedral and the interesting historical and anthropological museums.
In the outskirts, there are different excursions to go on , being the one called “El Tren a las Nubes” (The Train to the Clouds) the most attractive of them all. It consists of a train journey that goes through the clouds as it crosses The Andes at 4,220 mts. above the sea level.
A visit to Salta will undoubtedly involve the tasting of the delicious world-renowned Salta empanadas.
Map Location
Documentation
A valid Passport. Insurance information.
Most countries in America and Western Europe do not require a visa.
Best Time to Go
The best time to go is in autumn and spring, especially in the months of May, June, November and December. In these months, the climate during the day is very pleasant and by the nights it refreshes a little, reason why usually it falls asleep well.
Clothing
The north of Argentina is characterized by a climate with great thermal amplitude between day and night. That is why, whether you travel in summer or winter, you have to pack taking this information into account. In your luggage to travel to the north of Argentina you can not miss sunglasses, sunscreen and cocoa butter, cap or hat, whatever the time of year.
For excursions, wear trekking shoes or boots with rubber soles, as well as sneakers or shoes with thin soles for moments of rest. Wear loose, comfortable pants as excursions often include hiking and / or horseback riding. Also include a warm jacket, as nights are cool in summer and cold in winter.
During the summer it is advisable to wear a bathing suit and sandals, and also a waterproof jacket, since December to March is the rainy season.
Healthcare
Altitude Sickness
It is not unusual in the Andes.
Take it easy when you visit the Puna and try not to do anything too strenuous.
Check with your doctor before coming if in doubt.
Packing
Argentinean flights allow, as their restrictions are limited to 33 pounds (15 kg) per person.
Currency
Peso Argentino.
Major credit cards are widely accepted.
Electricity
Argentina: 220 V – 60 Hz.
Plugs Type C / I
Local Taxes
Foodie
The gastronomy of regions of the north like Jujuy, Salta or Tucumán has a very wide gastronomical offer.
The North Argentine region is one of the most visited places by tourists from all over the world, who seek to know the culture and landscapes that these places provide. One of its main characteristics is the great gastronomic variety that identifies the NOA provinces over time. However, we can highlight the following dishes as the most typical of the north of the country:
Locro. It is a stew that contains beans, squash, corn or potatoes and is consumed in several countries in South America. But what distinguishes this stew is its long history: its origin is pre-Hispanic and pre-Inca. There is a great variety of recipes, but its vegetable base and its cooking time must always be present, if you do not have patience, to make this stew you should have it because it is slow cooked. Being a food with many calories, it is a typical winter dish. And it is also extremely nutritious, its origin was due to the need to eat something hot and with a lot of carbohydrates that is why it has become a popular food.
Empanada Salteña. The empanada salteña can be a starter or the main dish of a lunch or dinner. They are baked or fried. The size is a small closed fist of the hand, so a good diner needs more than three to satisfy your hunger. It is juicy and filling. Originally, the empanada was filled with meat, hard-boiled egg, spices and other ingredients, although currently there are several types of empanadas: chicken, cheese, corn, tripe, jerky, among others. The empanada salteña can be a starter or the main dish of a lunch or dinner.Its taste can be salty or sweet, depending on your recipe.
Humita. It is a food of Andean origin, typical of Argentina. The humitas are prepared with fresh and ground corn or corn and cheese, then they are cooked in the steamed corn husks. Its taste can be salty or sweet, depending on your recipe.
Tamale. Salta tamales are an adaptation of the typical dish of indigenous origin that has existed since ancient times in Latin America made with a corn paste and stuffed with meat, vegetables and fruits wrapped in corn husk. The term tamale comes from tamalli which means wrapped.
Charqui. The charqui (jerky) is dehydrated meat that is covered with salt and exposed to the sun. It was used in the past, before the appearance of the refrigerator, and is still used today to preserve meat for long periods of time.
Carbonada. La carbonada is a typical dish from Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. It is a kind of stew that, shortly before serving, is generously seasoned with paprika, oregano, thyme, onion, garlic, parsley, and even chili pepper. A type of stew to which it is seasoned with many local ingredients, leaving it thick and with a particular flavour. It is considered an authentic emblem of the gastronomy of Salta.
Picante de Panza. The picante de panza (spicy belly) is a typical dish from Salta. It is a kind of tripe stew that combines numerous flavours and scents. It is an ideal dish for the winter months, as it allows you to cope with the intense cold. Like any dish of this type, the spicy belly admits many variations.
Frangollo, Salta soup. Frangollo is a typical soup from Salta, in the style of a locro. This regional dish is made with pumpkin, broken or ground corn and meat. It is ideal for cold seasons or to calm the hunger of a busy day.
Desserts
Turrón Salteño (Salta Nougat). Its preparation is not very complicated and it has layers of tortillas with dulce de leche and chopped nuts. It is covered by a layer of meringue made with cane honey. This dessert also serves as a cake to feast someones’ birthday .
Anchi. Anchi is a very popular dish in the Northwest region of our country, especially in the province of Salta. A simple, inexpensive, rich and nutritious recipe, whose preparation has different versions depending on the tastes of each one and the time of year, resulting in a variety of textures, flavours and possible temperatures. It is prepared with corn flour, sugar, cinnamon, different fruits and lemon, among other ingredients.
Cayote. Cayote is a fibrous fruit with an external appearance similar to a watermelon, from which a tasty sweet is obtained when cooked with sugar. It is unique in its kind, due to the characteristic fibers of the fruit and the leaves that are reminiscent of the fig tree. It is eaten accompanied by walnuts, or with spun cheeses as is done with syrup. It is the filling of the typical dumplings of this region that can be dipped in glacé.
Quesillo. The quesillo is a type of cheese popular in the regions of Latin America, especially in the Argentine Northwest. It is made from pasteurized cow, goat or sheep milk by means of rennet and / or other appropriate coagulating enzymes; complemented by the action of specific lactic acid bacteria and through a manufacturing process known as “filado” or spinning, which is responsible for giving the product its particular and distinctive characteristics.
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Activities
Cachi
Cachi is a small city in the Argentine Northwest, in the province of Salta. It is the head of the Cachi Department.
The population is surrounded by imposing mountains of more than 5,000 meters of altitude, many of them snow-capped. These peaks are ideal for mountaineering, as for the climate of Cachi, it is very pleasant since thanks to the altitude the temperature is cooler than the latitude would prejudge, to this is added the presence of a sky almost always extremely pure. The architecture of the small town is mainly Spanish colonial style with adobe houses painted white and set on rock foundations, the windows having old wrought iron bars.
Around the Central Plaza is the Church of Cachi, which began to be built in the 16th century, although its exterior appearance (neo-Gothic) dates from the 19th century, inside most of the elements (beams, altar, confessionals) are made With the porous wood of the cardón, this church has been declared a National Historic Monument, also in front of the square the Pío Pablo Díaz Archaeological Museum has its main access, it already has more than 5 000 pieces (largely ceramic) that are testimony of a period of 10,000 years, the main part corresponds to the period that goes from 800 a. C. to 1600 d. C.
About 10 kilometers south-southwest of Cachi is an important set of ruins called Puerta de La Paya, which is considered the old pre-Hispanic site of the city of Chicoana, which was later moved to its current Hispanic location in the 17th century.
Cafayate
Cafayate is a locality of the Calchaquíes Valleys located in the southwest of the province of Salta, Argentina. It is the head of the Cafayate department and a very important tourist city, well known for the excellent quality of the wines that are produced there. Its name is of Quichua or Quechua origin, as it is called in Peru. The ancient traditions of this language are: “CAJON DE AGUA”; according to what was expressed by Dr. José Vicente Solá in his dictionary of regionalisms of Salta.
El Rey National Park
The El Rey National Park () is a national park of Argentina, located in the Anta Department, province of Salta, in the Argentine Northwest, 80 km from the provincial capital. It was created in 1948 and has an area of 40,162 ha. The objective of this park is to preserve the yungas or nimbosilvas and transition environments (ecotones) between them and the mountain chaco.
It is part of the Sub-Andean Sierras, in the subtropical jungle area. It has a subtropical climate with average temperatures ranging between 22 and 25 ° C. Rainfall reaches 2,000 mm per year.
It has dense forests of jungles, forests and montane meadows according to altitude levels. In the jungle area the quebrachos, yuchanes, tarcos, horcos, molles, cebiles, tipas, guava stand out. Above 1500 meters above sea level, the coniferous and deciduous forests such as the pine of the hill and the alder stand out.
The autochthonous fauna has -among many other species-, with examples of pumas, and you will be able to see among other things, pecaries, two species, the collared one and the lipped one, you will also be able to see if you are lucky the heaviest mammal in South America , the tapir, by its passage you can also see brown corzuelas, cai monkey, coaties, greater ferret, mountain foxes, and some wild cats such as the ocelot, among the birds we find, red-legged chuñas, and an infinity of birds with showy colors and some with good bearing, for example, the mountain turkey.
Quebrada de Humahuaca
Quebrada de Humahuaca is a deep and narrow groove of tectonic-fluvial origin located in Jujuy, in northwestern Argentina.
The ravine is crossed by the Grande River, a sub-tributary of the Paraguay River. It belongs to the sub-region of the Eastern Cordillera, and is limited by two cordons: the western and the eastern.
It presents a marked north-south course, the height being increasing towards the north. For this reason it is considered a natural access route to the Puna, a function with which it was used since pre-Columbian times.
Salta Capital
Salta is an Argentine city, capital of the province of Salta and one of the most important cities in the northwest of the country.
It is located east of the Andes mountain range, in the fertile Lerma Valley, at about 1,187 meters above sea level. In recent decades the urban area has spread to neighboring towns, forming what is called the Great Salta.
San Antonio de los Cobres
San Antonio de los Cobres is a small city and municipality in the center-west of the province of Salta, Argentina, being the head of the Los Andes department.
It is located 164 km northwest of the city of Salta and at an altitude of almost 4,000 meters above sea level, being the highest urban center in the country after El Aguilar, in the province of Jujuy.
It is located at the confluence of the torrential and highly erosive Toro River -which descends from the Puna- with the San Antonio de los Cobres, in the lowest part of the spectacular Quebrada del Toro that serves as ancestral access to the Puna de Atacama through the National Route 51 and the famous Train of the Clouds.
Its climate is dry, at night it is cold and with constant winds. The town is very old, getting its name from the abundant copper deposits in its vicinity.
Among its tourist attractions are the La Polvorilla Viaduct —one of the spectacular sections of the Tren de las Nubes—, the La Polvorilla viaduct corresponds to the General Belgrano Railway and was -like all the Tren de las Nubes built by the Argentine national state following the Development Plan that was to unite all the Argentine provincial and territorial capitals, the Polvorilla Viaduct is characterized by being a kind of long, high-rise bridge, unique in the world for its upward curve section with banked rails. Less than 5 km west of the city and the ruins of the ancient pre-Columbian city of Tastil that are located a few kilometers to the southeast.
Train to the Clouds
The most amazing train in the world, the one that reaches the clouds, rises to 4,200 meters in height in a route of 434 km (round trip).
It is one of the three highest railroads in the world that crosses vertiginous mountains of the Andes cordillera (mountain range) between spectacular landscapes. Once the train has left Salta, it firstly enters the “Valle de Lerma”, and then the “Quebrada del Toro”, before reaching the puna.
Called Train to the Clouds, since due to its great height, clouds can often be seen under bridges or on the slopes.
The number of curlers, viaducts, tunnels and other sinuosities that the train travels is due to the fact that the author of the project, the American engineer Richard Maury, took sides taking into account the principle of adherence of the train wheels to the tracks and by the laws of physics, discarding the commonly used mechanical rack system so that railway formations can reliably climb the heights. It does not use sprockets, not even for the steepest parts of the climb, because the tracks are arranged in a peculiar way circulating through a system of zigzags and spirals.
The train departs from the General Belgrano station, in the city of Salta, at 1,187 meters above sea level, and ends at the viaduct.