Tango, Vino and Eva
ARGENTINA is best known as a place to tango, drink Malbec wine, and where Eva Peron once held power with her husband (and which led to the musical Evita). The capital Buenos Aires is famous for its elegant parks and grand boulevards lined with stately European architecture. It is the most European city in South America but with migrants from around the globe ensuring it is multicultural.
Its residents are called portenos and its low living costs mean it attracts artists and artistes from elsewhere to add depth to this cultural mix.
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Visit the Presidential Palace of Casa Rosada and imagine the Perons holding court and contrast this with a daytime shopping trip to San Telmo.
Iguazu Falls are wider than Niagara Falls and impressive with 275 separate falls cascading a horseshoeshaped decline. They form the country’s northernmost border with Brazil and are best seen from either side by helicopter.
The massive Andes Mountains run the length of the western border with Chile and are where visitors can admire high deserts, snowcapped peaks and scenic lakes. Skiing is possible in Argentina’s Lake District in places such as Bariloche modelled after a Swiss alpine village. After skiing, enjoy European cuisine (even fondue) chocolates and schnapps. Walking excursions
are offered in summer through the mountainous terrain.
Peninsula Valdes is a Unesco World Heritage Site covering 400km of coastline that is home to sea lions, penguins and elephant seals.
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While it only averages 60km/hour, the “Express” or La Trochita trains rattle along the tracks from Esquel to Igeniero Jacobacci in Patagonia. The train dating back to 1922, passes the dramatic Chilean Andes and into Tierra del Fuego. Another iconic train journey is El Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds) that passes through Salta’s stunning countryside dotted with pre-Columbian ruins and deep ravines. This high altitude train near the border with Chile takes 15 hours and departs from Salta, considered one of the finest preserved colonial cities in the country. It turns around in an old mining town at 3,962m above sea level.
Down south, visit the “end of the world” and Perito Moreno within Glaciers National Park that rises in the Andes and cascades into the Pacific Ocean (there are 300 glaciers in the park).
Learn to dance the tango in the capital that is renowned for never going to sleep (there is a tango festival in the capital in February while Niceto Club is the city’s trendsetting nightclub). Buenos Aires has many theatres with the most famous being Teatro Colon and is well-known for ballet, opera and music.
The currency is the peso, football is called futbol and the famed club in the capital is Boca, home to Bombonera Stadium and favourite son Diego Maradona (come dressed in yellow and blue). More information on the country can be obtained by logging onto www.turismo.gov.ar
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Argentina is renowned for its prime beef, which are raised on large estncias or ranches overseen by gauchos in the sparsely settled Patagonia. Dine in La Cabana Las Lilas in the capital on prime Black and Red Angus beef to discover why it is ranked one of the world’s finest grilled beef restaurants (called parilladas in Argentina). Snack on chorizo and morcilla but be warned; offal is also popular.
Dine in the smart Scandinavian inspired Olsen Restaurant and take high tea at Alvear Palace Hotel. For cafes, Gran Cafe Tortoni is the oldest and grandest in the capital and the place to relax over coffee and medialuna (croissant) or sip sidre (cider).
Argentinean Malbec have put the nation on the world wine map (head to Mendoza, west of the capital at the base of the Andes for the most impressive vineyards). Here, travel to Maipu for wine, olive oil and fresh farm produce.