Introducing Argentina
Start free associating on the word ‘Argentina,’ and it’s quickly apparent why the country has long held travellers in awe: tango, beef, gauchos, fútbol, Patagonia, the Andes. The classics alone make a formidable wanderlust cocktail.
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City Life Just wait till you get here. Arriving in Buenos Aires is like jumping aboard a moving train. Outside the taxi window, a blurred mosaic of drab apartment blocks and haphazard architecture whizzes by as you shoot along the freeway toward the centre of the city. The driver – probably driving way too fast while chain-smoking and talking incessantly about government corruption – finally merges off the freeway. Then the street life appears – the cafes, the purple jacaranda flowers draped over the sidewalks and porteños (residents of Buenos Aires) in stylish clothing walking purposefully past the newspaper stands, candy kiosks and handsome early-20th-century stone facades. And it’s not just BA that’s a stunner – Córdoba, Mendoza and Bariloche each have their unique personalities and attractions, and are all worthy of your visit.
Natural Wonders While Argentina’s big cities have a lot of urban pleasures to offer, their real purpose is to springboard travellers into the country’s greatest attraction: the natural world. From mighty Iguazú Falls in the subtropical north to the thunderous, crackling advance of the Perito Moreno Glacier in the south, Argentina is a vast natural wonderland. The country boasts some of the Andes’ highest peaks, several of which top 6000m near Mendoza and San Juan. It’s home to rich wetlands that rival Brazil’s famous Pantanal, mountains painted in rustic colours, deserts dotted with cacti, massive ice fields and arid steppes in Patagonia, cool lichen-clad Valdivian forests, glacial lakes, Andean salt flats, a spectacular Lake District, penguins, flamingos, caimans, capybaras and more. All unforgettable sights and adventures waiting for you to experience and be amazed by – and you will be, bet on that!
Argentine Culture Tango is possibly Argentina’s greatest contribution to the outside world, a steamy dance that’s been described as ‘making love in the vertical position.’ In Buenos Aires especially, you’ll find endless venues for perfecting your tango moves, from dance salons to milongas (dance events) to atmospheric cafes. Satisfying that carnal craving for juicy steaks isn’t hard to do in the land that has perfected grilling those wonderfully flavourful sides of beef. Parrillas (steak houses) are on practically every corner and will offer up any cut you can imagine. Add an exhilarating passion for fútbol – Argentines are truly devoted to this sport and experiencing a live match should be on your itinerary – and you have a rich edgy culture, part Latin American and part European, that you can’t help but fall in love with.
Ready to go?
These tours & activities make it easy:
- Go on an epic adventure from Ushuaia to Santiago
- Trek the wilds of Patagonia and Tierra del fuego
- Experience the Patagonian Andes
- Travel through the beautiful Argentine wine country
Last updated: Jan 10, 2013
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Argentina
Things to do
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Our Top Picks For Argentina
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1 Iguazú Falls
Witness the mighty roar and drenching mist of South America's greatest spectacle
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2 Buenos Aires
Experience porteño passions: tango, soccer, food, fashion and fantastically frenzied nightlife
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3 Glacier Perito Moreno
See (and hear!) this mighty river of ice calving into Lago Argentino
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4 Mendoza
Wine tours, a hopping nightlife and some seriously big mountains - what more could you want?
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5 Reserva Provincial Esteros del Iberá
Sneak up on capybaras (weird!), caimans (snap!) and fascinating birdlife
Fast Facts about Argentina
- Area
2.8 million sq km
- Languages
Spanish; Quechua in the Andean northwest
- Population
40,764,000
- Beef consumption per capita
70kg per year
- Capital
- He said it The Falklands thing was a fight between two bald men over a comb. - Jorge Luis Borges
- Famous for Steak, leather, Evita Perón, Diego Maradona, tango, Tierra del Fuego, Jorge Luis Borges, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, fugitive war criminals
- Southernmost point Cabo San Pío
- The largest dinosaur ever discovered... was the Argentinosaurus huinculensis, uncovered in the Neuquén province; the herbivore measured a massive 40m long and 18m high