Salta

Salta keeps its colonial centre almost whole: the Plaza 9 de Julio with its arcades, the pink cathedral, the churches and the museum that holds the Inca children found on the summit of Llullaillaco. At night the peñas along Balcarce street fill with folk music. Above the city, San Lorenzo is a green village at the edge of the cloud forest, a quieter place to stay. West of Salta the Quebrada del Toro climbs towards the Puna, the route of the Tren a las Nubes; south-west, the Quebrada de Escoipe leads up to the Cuesta del Obispo and Cachi.

Two nights at the start of the journey and one at the end are the usual. A day for the city on foot, its museums and an evening at a peña. A day out of town: birdwatching in the cloud forest reserve near San Lorenzo, rafting the canyon of the Río Juramento, or the Tren a las Nubes to the La Polvorilla viaduct, above four thousand metres. For walkers, the Trekking to the Clouds follows Inca roads through the Quebrada del Toro over two to four days, with nights in local homes. Most self-drive journeys in the region start and end here, and a night at an old estancia near the city is a good beginning.

On 15 September Salta celebrates the Señor y la Virgen del Milagro, its great religious festival, and the city fills with pilgrims. The treks in the Quebrada del Toro run in the dry months.