Argentina is geared up to thrill - from steamy nights tango dancing in the chic quarters of Buenos Aires, to long days riding with gauchos in the grasslands of the pampas. You can climb to the roof of the Americas, raft down andean rivers, visit the birthplace of Che Guevara and the resting place of a dinosaur known to have been bigger than T Rex. There are unusual sights and sounds to sharpen every sense: the thundering Iguazu Falls, jagged peaks and splintering glaciers in the far south, the birdlife of the Ibera marsh and the marine life of the Peninsula Valdez. To set the taste buds tingling are the vineyards of Mendoza and the traditional Welsh tearooms of the Cubut valley. At the end of the road is Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world. Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina, but is usually seen as more European than South American. In the center are fine boulevards, parks, museums,theartres, public buildings, shopping centers and a lively and incredibly varied nightlife. Here you can eat at the finest restaurants and find music to suite your taste, including the tango. Cordoba and the Central Sierras

Argentina is the second largest country in area in South America. It covers nearly 3,800,000 square km, or 29 % of the area of Europe; it stretches 3,460 km from N to S and 1,580 km from E to W. Argentina claims international frontiers that stretch across 25,728 km. Most are on the Atlantic ocean, but on the west Argentina is bounded by Chile across the Andes mountains. The Argentine Andes rise to a height of 6,959 m at Aconcagua, the heights elevation in the Americas, but much of Argentina is low lying and flat. Argentina's weather ranges from subtropical in the northeast, to temperate in the central region, to arid and semiarid and cold in the south and along the mountains.

Geographers usually recognize seven main physical areas: the Northwest, the North and Northeast, Cuyo, Central, the Pampas, and Patagonia. But as tourist areas, we also recognize Buenos Aires City.

Due to its great extension, Argentina offers a countless amount of different landscapes. There is a huge contrast between the vast eastern plains and the outstanding Andes mountain range in the west, with the highest peak of the western hemisphere: the Aconcagua, with 6,959 meters.

Along its extension from Jujuy to Tierra del Fuego, the mountain range displays a wonderful diversity of landscapes: from the deserted northeastern high plateaus, with valleys, ravines and colorful hills, to the Patagonia region with its lakes, forests and glaciers.

Bracketed by the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers, the Argentine Mesopotamia (Provinces of Entre Ríos, Corrientes and Misiones) is composed of low hills, small lakes, and marshes which indicate the ancient course of these big rivers. In some areas, inside the sub-tropical jungle, there are fractures which give rise to incredible phenomena such as the Iguazú Falls. In the center of Argentina, the Pampa region is the widest and best know plain. It is an agricultural and livestock raising area and comprises the Province of Buenos Aires, the northeastern part of the Province of La Pampa, Southern Córdoba and Santa Fe. To the south, the landscape is interrupted by the Tandil and La Ventana hills and to the west by the Córdoba hills. From the Andes to the sea, the vast extension of sterile and rocky Patagonian plateaus is lashed by strong winds most of the year. The Atlantic coastline, bordered by high cliffs, portrays winding shapes, such as the Valdés Peninsula, having a great variety of sea animals.

Argentina is divided into 24 jurisdictions: 23 provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, which serves the seat of the National Government.

THE NORTHWEST

The Argentinean Northwest is the region of the high mountains, the impressive volcanoes and the blue sky.

It includes Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca and Tucumán provinces.

The northwest has a rich legacy of this past, in the way of invaluable indigenous ruins, works of art, in which the influence of the pre- and post-Hispanic eras, form the special style of the region, and the colonial architecture, clearly evident in the buildings and particularly in some churches still in use.

Its most beautiful places are La Quebrada de Humahuaca, The Calchaquíes Valleys, Salta city and El Tren a las Nubes (Railway to the Clouds) . This area was called "Pachamama" (Mother earth) by the natives Incas.

In addition to its historic and scenic appeal, the Northwest can claim a unique, underappreciated status as a wine region. The areas around Cafayate can boast distinctive high-altitude wines, including what most consider to be Argentina’s top Torrontés.

The inhabitants of the Argentinian Puna, in the northwest, still proudly maintain numerous ancient traditions. Known as "collas", they maintain the cult of "Pachamama" giving thanks to Mother Earth who makes the "maize grow and livestock multiply" even though they are, simultaneously, profoundly Christian. They sing and dance to the rhythm of their folkloric instruments: the charangos, quenas, erkes, cajas and bombos; they weave the wool of the vicuñas, sheep, and llamas, making blankets and ponchos, and sometimes talk in Quechua, the language of their forefathers.

THE NORTHEAST

The Argentinian region called Mesopotamia or Northeast in Argentina is an area sorrounded by rivers ( Iguazú, Paraná and Uruguay ) . It coves the provinces of Misiones, Corrientes and Entre Ríos.

It has several beautiful places to visit, being the most important ones El Palmar National Park which preserves the last examples of Yatay palm tress which are almost 800 years old, the Jesuit Missions and the Falls of Iguazú ( impressive waterfalls ). Being the last two considered an protected by the UNESCO, as a part of the Heritage of Humanity.the region.

THE LAKE DISTRICT

Argentina’s Lake District – the northwestern wedge of Argentine Patagonia – is a land of picture-perfect glacial lakes surrounded by luxuriant forests, jagged peaks and extinct volcanoes. Not so long ago it was a wilderness controlled by indigenous peoples, but the undisputed modern capital, Bariloche, now sees annual invasions of Argentine and foreign holiday-makers. Thanks to excellent transport links, they descend on the town in droves year-round for the fresh air and outdoor adventures. The supposed lure is the alpine flavour of this “Argentine Switzerland” – a moniker borne out to some extent thanks to the Mitteleuropa-like setting, wooden chalet architecture and the region’s breweries, dairies and chocolate shops. Yet the real attraction is the sheer unspoilt beauty of the goliath Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, the grandfather of all Argentina’s national parks, packed with enough trekking and other outdoor activities to last any enthusiast weeks.





PATAGONIA

Patagonia is situated in the south of the Colorado River in Argentina, South America. It is a plateau with an area of more than 770,000 sq km, and includes five provinces: Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego.

The region was visited by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, in 1520. He named the region Patagonia because he saw that the Tehuelches native wore a kind of special big shoes, made of fur, to protect themselves from the cold (spanish: pata=foot).

This is a land of extremes, where it is possible to feel the lowest temperatures of the continent, and also 45 degrees Celsius; where the places with higher precipitation of the country - Patagonian Andes-, and with great surfaces of dry land in the central plateau. Also it is possible to ski in the best tracks of the Andes Mountain, and to swim in the warmest beach of the Argentine coast (Las Grutas, in Río Negro province).

Briefly, Patagonia is: sea, plateau and mountain; Andean forest and steppe; rivers and deserts; whales and condors, and much, much more...





TIERRA DEL FUEGO

12 Km from the city of Ushuaia is the entrance to Tierra del Fuego National Park created in 1960, protector of 68909 hectares. It’s the only park in Argentina combining marine, forest and mountain environments with the shape of a marine coast, lakes , lagoons, peat bogs and great forests dominated by lenga, guindo and ñire (different Nothofagus species). These environments form a peculiar scenery with the purest air ever found.

The island at the extreme south of South America is divided between Argentina (east) and Chile (west).The south has beautiful lakes, forests and mountain scenery and there is much birdlife. Boat trips can be made on the Beagle Channel.

ARGENTINA Map