The most picturesque part of Argentina is in the north, Salta and Jujuy… both places should not be missed!  

On a whim, we decided to take a road trip to northern red rocky Andes to give Argentina’s visitors the best travel advice.

City of Salta, Salta - First, make it to the city of Salta your first stop.  Take a walk through the food market located on Florida and San Martin to try local fried empanandas and tamales served with a spicy salsa and SALTA beer.  You’ll also find all sorts of spices, crafted goods and textiles to bring back home.  Take a walk a little further down San Martin and you’ll find Patio de Empanadas, where you’ll find many different vendors dishing out Salta’s best bites. Stay at the Design Suites modern design comfortable beds, rooftop jacuzzi and pool and a absolutely delicious breakfast.  Tip: ask for a room the in tower.  The hotel also occupies a turn of the century home… beautiful rooms and great balcony but faces a very noisy street. Rent a car and drive up to Purmamarca, Jujuy on Ruta 9.  The beginning is a very narrow drive up a mountain up on tropical forest, exciting and scary and the same time.  The drive will take you about 4-5 hours.

Purmamarca, Jujuy - Purmamarca is a beautiful town facing the 7-colored mountain.  There are few places to stay in town but we found a place just up the street from the town called La Comarca We chose this place for its cottages, heated swimming pool, great restaurant and spectacular view.  Make sure you dine at Los Morteros, the llama is so tender and you must try grilled goat cheese with sun-dried tomatoes.  Spend a day visiting the little towns north of Purmamarca.  In Humahuaca, we found very inexpensive textiles, knitted sweaters and gloves and dry cardones (cactus), which are the large cactus that you see everywhere in Jujuy and Salta.  What really made Humahuaca different was seeing the faces of the locals… you don’t see many native faces in Argentina except for this area… beautiful!  Go to Tilcara for its outdoor market in the beautiful square.  We were told to go to Iruya but we didn’t make it… not enough time.  Next, go west of Purmamarca for an afternoon and visit the Salinas Grandes, its a evaporated sea with the remnants of salt.  Tip: No matter how cold it is, you must wear sunblock and sunglasses.  The reflection of the sun on the salt burns.

 Cafayate, Salta - We headed back south through the capital of Salta and went down to Cafayate.  On the drive, the mountains are all red rock formations caused by the amount of iron in the ground.  We stopped the in the ‘Devil’s throat’, where we climbed through the throat of the mountain, surrounded by entire gigantic rock.  Stay at the Cafayate Wine Resort , a wine resort looking over the grape vineyards, right smack dab in the vineyards trails.  (BTW - BAlocal can book this hotel for you) We spent a day trekking to the different wineries in search of the best Torrontes, btw, only grown in the Salta region.  The hotel offered many excursions and we chose to go to the Quilmes Ruins.  We visited an archelogical site of where the Quilmes Indians lived up until they were forced out in the late 1600s moving by foot 1,500km to a reservation located south of Buenos Aires, today known as Quilmes. We wanted to go to Colome close to Cachi, Salta and the city of Tucuman but we ran out of time.   Oh well, I guess we have to go back.

This past weekend, I had a wonderful getaway at the Roble Estancia Inside the Pampas. The owners Jaime and Totty made us feel right at home with one of the best asados I’ve had in Argentina, fresh baked cakes and bread, horseback riding and walks throughout the land and an absolutely breathtaking sunset. This was no tourist attraction, this was my friends and I at a real-working ranch out in the middle of nature, yet only an hour and half away from Buenos Aires. The only sounds we heard were cows mooing, firewood crackling, horse hooves trotting, parakeets chirping and our own intimate conversations. Its just what I needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  I highly recommend a trip out to Estancia El Roble!

This past week I took a group to a little town called Adrogue outside the city limits for a South American cooking class.  We learned quite a bit about cooking, slicing, dicing… you know what I mean.  The food was excellent and the experience was incredible.  A few days later I sent another client to the empanada class and she absolutely loved it.  

Caitlin from California said: ”I had a wonderful time! It was definitely the highlight of my trip. I can’t thank you enough for helping me set it up and it is something I will never forget! Thanks again.”

In the height of the busiest season of the year, I was blessed to have an amazing group visit me from Chicago, IL.    Sometimes you just get caught up in the rat race of the big city, which could very well happen in Buenos Aires but I was able to paint a different picture for this group.  

Day 1 - We took a bike ride out to Ecological Reserve, which is missed by most tourists, we were able to get out of the city and enjoy the Rio de La Plata (widest delta in the world) and the nature of Argentina while still in the city.  Then we finished the day with a fabulous lunch at my friend’s restaurant serving up the best tapas around. 

Day 2 - I set them up on a trip to Colonia, Uruguay, just an hour boat ride over. 

Day 3 - After dining on the best Paella in town, we wandered around the streets of Recoleta, mesmorized by the cemetery and the opulent mansions.   

Day 4 - They ventured outside the city to a little town called Adrogue and had a private barbeque (asado) cooking class with all the wine you could drink.  Barry words were… “I would have never changed this experience for anything.” 

Day 5 - I took them on a little history lesson walking through Plaza de Mayo and down to San Telmo’s antique flea market.

Day 6 - A great way to finish the 6-day tour, we visited three different artists’ ateliers learning about their inspiration… this was perfect for these art collectors.

Barry from Chicago said:”Just a note to again tell you how much we enjoyed our time together with you in Buenos Aires at year-end. You really did help make our visit very special and “clearly went “above and beyond” for us. In departing BA, both Jan and I felt like we were leaving a dear friend behind.” 

It only happens once a month so my friend Michelle, my son Dante and I went up to check out the full moon everyone has been talking about.  We went to see the full moon inside the Argentine Park - Las Cataratas of Iguazu Falls before seeing the park during the day.  It was so mysterious and adventurous.  The experience was unforgettable and I recommend that if you’re in Argentina during the full moon, you have to fly up to Iguazu just to check out the infamous FULL MOON.