South America

The Amazon is itself a place of near-mythical status. What traveler drawn to the wild places of the planet hasn't imagined a trip to the Amazon, not only to admire the towering trees, secretive wildlife and awesome river, but to enter, in a real sense, the very life spring of the planet? Expecting a Discovery Channel–like experience (jaguars in every tree, anacondas on every shore) is a recipe for disappointment. In fact, the Amazon’s quintessential experiences are more sublime than superlative: canoeing through a flooded forest, dozing in a hammock on a boat chugging upriver, waking to the otherworldly cry of howler monkeys. On a river whose size is legendary, it’s actually the little things that make it special. Give it some time, and the Amazon is all this and more.

The Amazon

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.

Salta & the Andean Northwest

Speaking of São Paulo state without using superlatives is difficult. The southern hemisphere’s largest city! Its finest museums! Its best restaurants! Its worst traffic! (Well, you can’t have everything.) São Paulo city – Sampa to locals – is Brazil's boomtown (commercially, financially, industrially and culturally), and an explosion of sophisticated travelers descending on the city’s numerous arts and epicurean offerings has ensured the sprawling city remains a must-stop for traveling urbanites.

Inland from the cityscape, the Serra da Mantiqueira's 1500ft (2500m) peaks play the novel Alpine-esque getaway role, while Iporanga sits tucked away in the pristine Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Out to sea, some of southeastern Brazil’s finest beaches cling both to the mountainous stretch of rainforest-backdropped coastline near Ubatuba, and to nearby Ilhabela, which relishes its position as São Paulo's cosmopolitan island escape.

São Paulo State

On South America’s southern frontier, nature grows wild, barren and beautiful. Spaces are large, as are the silences that fill them. For the newly arrived, such emptiness can be as impressive as the sight of Patagonia’s jagged peaks, pristine rivers and dusty backwater oases. In its enormous scale, Patagonia offers a wealth of potential experiences and landscapes. Though now mostly paved, lonely RN 40 remains the iconic highway that stirred affection in personalities as disparate as Butch Cassidy and Bruce Chatwin. On the eastern seaboard, paved RN 3 shoots south, connecting oil boomtowns with ancient petrified forests, Welsh settlements and the incredible Península Valdés. Then there is the other, trendy Patagonia where faux-fur hoodies outnumber the guanacos. Don’t miss the spectacular sights of El Calafate and El Chaltén, but remember that they’re a world apart from the whistling solitude of the steppe.

Patagonia

Hence begins the Chilean south. The regions of La Araucanía, Los Ríos and the Lakes District jar travelers with menacing ice-topped volcanoes, glacial lakes overflowing with what looks like melted jade, roaring rivers running through old-growth forests and coastal enclaves inhabited by the indomitable Mapuche people. Sur Chico is home to eight spectacular national parks, many harboring exquisitely conical volcanoes, and is a magnetic draw for outdoor-adventure enthusiasts and devil-may-care thrill seekers.

Peppered about sprawling workhorse travel hubs, you'll find well-developed lakeside hamlets, most notably Pucón and Puerto Varas, dripping in charm and draped by stunning national parks and nature reserves, each one like an Ansel Adams photograph leaping from the frame. But the region – call it Patagonia Lite – isn't all so perfectly packaged. Off-the-beaten path destinations like the Río Cochamó Valley and Caleta Cóndor reward the intrepid spectacularly, their isolation fodder for that ever-elusive travel nirvana.

Sur Chico

Northeast Argentina is defined by water. Muscular rivers roll through plains that they flood at will, while fragile wetlands support myriad birdlife, snapping caimans and cuddly capybaras. The peaceful Río Iguazú, meandering through jungle between Brazil and Argentina, dissolves in fury and power in the planet’s most awe-inspiring waterfalls. The river then flows into the Paraná, one of the world’s mightiest watercourses, which surges southward, eventually forming the Río de la Plata near Buenos Aires. Along it are some of the country’s most interesting cities: elegant Corrientes, colonial Santa Fe and booming Rosario, as well as Posadas, gateway to the ruined splendor of the Jesuit missions. Dotted throughout are excellent parks that represent the region's biological diversity. The Esteros del Iberá harbor a particularly astonishing richness of wildlife.

Iguazú Falls & the Northeast

If you love wine, fine dining, never-ending springs, street art, skiing, hiking, mountain biking, surfing or just lazying for days on wild coasts, there's a spot in Middle Chile that was created just for you. This is Chile's most important wine-producing region, and the wineries and cozy bed and breakfasts of the sun-kissed Colchagua, Maule and Casablanca Valleys will tickle your palate and enliven your senses. For board riders, there are killer breaks up and down the coast, with surf culture exploding in towns like Pichilemu, Matanzas and Buchupureo. Hikers and skiers will love the lost lagoons and steep pistes found eastward in the Andes, while cultural explorers won't want to miss the murals and jumbled alleyways of Valparaíso and the hard-rocking musical exploits of Concepción.

Middle Chile

Welcome to país paisa – paisa country – a vibrant region made up of coffee plantations and flower farms, lush cloud forest, dynamic student towns and the busy city of Medellín. It is one of Colombia's most dynamic regions, and is not to be missed.

In Medellín, the country's second-largest metropolis, towers soar skyward in the center of a deep valley, concrete examples of the ambition that has placed the city at the vanguard of Colombia's revival. It is an attractive city that seduces most travelers instantly, with its just-perfect climate, great restaurants, museums, public artwork and thumping discos.

Further south is the Zona Cafetera, a rich tapestry of historic villages, charming coffee farms, fantastic nature reserves and grand mountain peaks. Coffee is more than a cash crop here – it is a way of life. You'll never look at your morning cup the same way again.

Medellín & Zona Cafetera

Home to some of the country’s most spectacular scenery, the Lake District is one of Argentina's prime tourist destinations. People come to ski, fish, climb, trek and generally bask in the cool, fresh landscapes created by the huge forests and glacier-fed lakes of Argentina's largest national park. The paleontological sites and outstanding wineries just out of the city of Neuquén are well worth stopping off for en route; and way, way south is the resort town of Bariloche, with its picture-postcard location on the banks of the Lago Nahuel Huapi. Getting away from the crowds is easily done. The lakeside villages of Villa Traful and San Martín de los Andes fill up for a short time in summer and are blissfully quiet the rest of the year. To the north, Chos Malal makes an excellent base for exploring nearby volcanoes, lagoons and hot springs.

Bariloche & the Lake District

For Incas, Cuzco was the belly button of the world. A visit to this city and its nearby ruins tumbles you back into the cosmic realm of ancient Andean culture – knocked down and fused with the colonial imprint of Spanish conquest, only to be repackaged as a thriving tourist center. The capital of Cuzco is only the gateway. Beyond lies the Sacred Valley, Andean countryside dotted with villages, high-altitude hamlets and ruins linked by trail and railway tracks to the continent's biggest draw – Machu Picchu.

Old ways are not forgotten here. Colorful textiles keep the past vivid, as do the wild fiestas and carnivals where indigenous tradition meets solemn Catholic ritual. A stunning landscape careens from Andean peaks to orchid-rich cloud forests and Amazon lowlands. Explore it on foot or by fat tire, rafting wild rivers or simply braving the local buses to the remote and dust-worn corners of this far-reaching, culturally rich department.

Cuzco & the Sacred Valley

São Paulo is home to 20 million fiercely proud paulistanos (as residents are known), all of whom will happily tell you at length to you how they'd never live elsewhere. Spend time with them and the reasons will soon unfold. Maybe they will introduce you to the city’s innumerable art-house cinemas and experimental theaters. If they’re gourmands, they’ll focus on the smart bistros and gourmet restaurants that make the city a world-renowned foodie haven. If they’re scenesters, follow them on a raucous tour of underground bars and the 24/7 clubbing scene. Whatever pleasures you might covet, Sampa (the city's affectionate nickname) probably has them.

Of course, it's also enormous and a bit intimidating, but it's Brazil's city of dreams.

São Paulo

Wedged like a grape between Brazil’s gargantuan thumb and Argentina’s long forefinger, Uruguay has always been something of an underdog. Yet after two centuries living in the shadow of its neighbors, South America’s smallest country is finally getting a little well-deserved recognition. Progressive, stable, safe and culturally sophisticated, Uruguay offers visitors opportunities to experience everyday ‘not made for tourists’ moments, whether caught in a cow-and- gaucho (cowboy) traffic jam on a dirt road to nowhere or strolling with maté-toting locals along Montevideo’s beachfront. Short-term visitors will find plenty to keep them busy in cosmopolitan Montevideo, picturesque Colonia and party-till-you-drop Punta del Este. But it pays to dig deeper. Go wildlife-watching along the Atlantic coast, hot-spring-hopping up the Río Uruguay, or horseback riding under the big sky of Uruguay’s interior, where vast fields spread out like oceans.