Top 5 Places to visit While Backpacking in Argentina
Argentina is one of the most unique countries we have had the please of traveling. Aside from speaking Spanish, Argentina bares few resemblances to its neighboring South American countries. Argentina has a number of extremely large and extremely modern cities. The snow capped mountains are breathtaking and the wine regions will turn any wine novice into a highbrow connoisseur. The capital, Buenos Aires, is a lively city that can easily be broken up into multiple visits.
While backpacking the Gringo Trail in South America, we actually crossed into Argentina twice; once by land from Bolivia and then again by boat from Uruguay. Once you are in the country, the bus system in Argentina is really nice and easy to use. You are never more than a few transfers away from any city in the country.
The rout we travelled in Argentina was completely by land and had us stopping and staying in a variety of great cities a long the way. Here are just a few of the cities we visited during our travels in Argentina that we found to be the most backpacker friendly and fun.
Salta, Argentina
Take some maté up the cable car and save money by taking your time walking the nice trail back down. The city is full of great restaurants. Go on an empanada tour (i.e. walk around eating empanadas from different restaurants. There’s one historic empanada place that has been there for something like 200 years. Don’t eat the oranges growing on the trees downtown…they are ornamental and taste like shit. There are so many shops that just sell maté gourds. This might be a good time to go ahead and select yours.
Cafayete, Argentina
If you’re going to go to wine country, Cafayeta puts Mendoza to shame. It is peaceful and quiet and you can ride bicycles down dirt roads to various vineyards and tour their facilities and sample all of their wines. There are also cheese tours and olive oil facilities that are fun and interesting. Take some notes and learn as much as you can about tasting wine and you will leave here an expert. Pick up some fresh goat cheese and bottle of Torrontes and have yourself a picnic on one of the close by hiking trails. Build an army of street dogs by feeding them cheese and then parade your new following through town. Tour vineyards and wine bodegas all day by bicycle in Cafayete.
Cordoba, Argentina
Cordoba is a great city. It’s not too big to feel overwhelming, but it’s big enough to have still plenty to do. There are some great art museums and coffee shops, as well as some really unique cathedrals. We decided to skip the hostels and stay in a hospedajes by the bus station to save money. You can have a private room there for about half the price. There’s a giant shopping mall in this town that is worth checking out just to get a feel for how modern Argentina really is. We did standout when we went in there, just for being dirty backpackers in such a clean and stylish mall.
Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza is regarded as one of the greatest wine regions in the world. Home to the Malbec grape variety, Mendoza boasts some of the largest vineyards on the continent. We had some difficulty finding a place to stay when we arrived. There are hostels in town, but they aren’t marked well. We ended up booking one on the Hostelworld app and still spent half the day looking for it. You can take a bus to the part of town where most people ride bikes to the vineyards. You do have to ride down the highway to get to them all, so that is kind of unnerving, but once you get off onto the side roads it’s a little less stressful.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
One of the largest cities in South America, Buenos Aires will swallow you whole. You could easily spend weeks here just walking around the city. You can visit the Metropolitan Cathedral where the Pope was an Archbishop. You can take a bus to the colorful part of town know as La Boca, and learn all about dancing tango. You can walk down Florida street and eat street food and shop. The subway is super easy to navigate and can be used to get pretty much anywhere in town. We were masters of the subway by the end of our stay. Check out the Buller Brewery for a delicious pint and then go get yourself some empanadas. Tango in La Boca-La Boca is the part of the capital where the world famous dance originated. You can both watch or participate in the eloquent tango in this colorful part of the city. Go to the capital art museum in Buenos Aires. The museum has one of the best collections I have seen outside of Europe. Among many famous Latin American artists, it boasts work from Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Monet, Manet, and more.
Additional Tips for Travel in Argentina
- Mate-Yerba mate looseleaf tea. It’s not really something you order at a restaurant, but everyone and their grandmother drinks it all day long. If you want to truly indulge, buy your own mate gourd and thermos for hot water and pick up a giant bag of the looseleaf yourself. Drink maté in the plazas. The best way to get a feel for the pace of life is to imitate the locals, and drinking the national beverage in heart of your city is the most Argentinian thing you could do.
- In 2014, during their financial crisis, the banks would give you $7 pesos to $1 usd, but on the street, money changers would give you as much as $12 pesos to $1 usd if you had crisp new $100 bills
- There is a “Reciprocity Fee of $160 for US, UK, Canada, & Australia to enter Argentina
- Argentinians eat so much meat that the cost of leather is substantially cheaper than in most other countries
Torrontes– A wonderful white wine produced exclusively in Argentina.
Malbec– The Mendoza region of Argentina is known worldwide for the production of this exquisite grape.