Group Tours: Argentina Criollo Culture and Wildlife Countryside

With its turbulent history of immigration and unexpected cultural meetings, Argentina’s many and varied ‘criollo’ (creole) traditions are entirely unique. This small group tour will combine some of Argentina’s most dramatic and least known regions and cultural events, providing the kind of insights into the country that are seldom experienced by any visitor. Arriving in Buenos Aires, you will fly to the northwestern provincial capital of Salta, widely considered the country’s most beautiful city. From there the outstanding natural beauty of the high Andean region lies waiting.

After a night at a ‘peña’, a night of local folk music and dancing, you will begin a road trip into the puna and the wilderness of the altiplano. Here the roots of Argentina’s indigenous culture are strongest, and annual local carnivals will be a part of the many attractions, including salt pans, mineral lakes and uniquely colourful mountainscapes. Returning to Buenos Aires, you will then spend four nights immersed in the city’s annual tango festival. Here you might like to learn your first steps of the dance, and enjoy exclusive performances and talks from distinguished local musicians. You will also spend a day on a pampa estancia, learning gaucho skills and feasting on a traditional ‘asado’ barbecue.

From the capital, the tour will take you northeast, to the province of Misiones, and Argentina’s wetlands. Wildlife flourishes here, and you’ll have unparalleled opportunities for spotting the local flora and fauna, including caimans, capybaras and countless bird species. This is also among the country’s most fascinating regions historically, and your next stop will be the ruins of the famous Jesuit missions on the borders of Paraguay and Argentina, before concluding your journey at the magnificent Iguazu Falls.

A short flight will bring you either to Sao Paulo, where you can connect with your flight home, or back to Buenos Aires, if you should choose to stay and explore more of Argentina.

Places Visited

• Buenos Aires
• Salta & The Northwest