Salta & the Andean Northwest

Argentina’s hardscrabble northwest sits beneath the mighty snowcapped Andes, where a confluence of wind, water, ice and time has conjured weird, wonderful rockscapes, streaked with minerals and glowing red in the sun. Nature speaks powerfully here, lending the region a certain mystery.

Argentina is known worldwide for its European colonial influence, but there's an Andean feel in the northwest. This is thanks to the creativity and endurance of indigenous communities here – descendants of empires, they are people of the puna (Andean highlands), which stretch into Chile and Bolivia.

The region's cities were Argentina's first colonial settlements, and it's here where independence was claimed. There's much to see: national parks aplenty, and century-old, high-altitude vineyards producing some of Argentina’s finest wine.