How many days do you need in Argentina?

Twelve to sixteen for a first trip: four or five in Buenos Aires, then one region beyond it. A week only works if you stay put, say Buenos Aires with a couple of days across the river or up in the Sierras.

When is the best time to visit Argentina?

March to April and October to November. The seasons run opposite to the northern hemisphere, so those are the shoulder months: warm in Buenos Aires and the wine country, and open in Patagonia without the January crowds.

Do you need a visa for Argentina?

Passport holders from more than 120 countries, including the EU, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and most of Latin America, enter as tourists for up to 90 days without one. Everyone else applies in person at an Argentine consulate before flying.

Is it better to fly or take the bus in Argentina?

Fly for anything crossing a region. Buenos Aires to Ushuaia is over 3,000 kilometres and the bus takes days. Coaches earn their place on the medium hops, where an overnight cama seat replaces both the flight and the hotel.

Can you get by with cards in Argentina?

In the cities, mostly yes: restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and long-distance bus tickets all take them. Keep cash for tips, taxis, market stalls and small towns in Patagonia and the northwest, where the card machine is often optimistic.

Top 10 Things To Do in Argentina (City Guides) Wimup

Quick answer · where to go in Argentina

Start in Buenos Aires and give it four or five days: the city is the trip, not the stopover before it. After that the country splits three ways. Patagonia for glaciers, granite spires and the end of the road, workable from November to March. Mendoza and the Andes for wine, altitude and long afternoons. The northwest around Salta for red rock, high desert and the oldest cooking in the country. Fly between them: the distances are continental, and the domestic network exists for exactly this.

Jump toCity guides Fun fact Stereotypes Famous Argentines Food FAQ

5 Argentina city guides

Sorted by what travelers are saving this month.

Fun fact

One number worth knowing

At 6,961 metres, Cerro Aconcagua in Mendoza province is the highest mountain outside Asia, and the highest point in both the Southern and Western hemispheres.

Stereotypes, sorted out

The clichés you have heard, what is actually true, and how to fit in.

"Everyone dances tango"

The realityTango is a Buenos Aires art form with a devoted following, not a national pastime. Most Argentines have never taken a class. Go to a milonga anyway: the ones locals use start late and welcome beginners at the edges of the floor.

"It is all steak"

The realityThe parrilla is real and it is very good, but the Italian half of the country is just as visible. Pizza and pasta are everyday food, the northwest cooks with corn, chilli and llama, and Patagonia runs on lamb and trout.

"Argentina is basically Buenos Aires"

The realityThe capital holds a third of the population and almost none of the landscape. Iguazú is subtropical, Salta is high desert, Mendoza is Mediterranean, and Ushuaia sits closer to Antarctica than to the city everyone flies into.

"Argentines are Spanish-speaking Europeans"

The realityThe waves of Italian and Spanish migration shaped the accent, the surnames and the dinner hour, but Andean, Guaraní and Afro-Argentine culture run underneath the whole northern half of the country.

A mate gourd under every armDinner starting at ten at nightArguments that outlast the matchFernet and Coke in a plastic cupDulce de leche on everythingA kiss on the cheek for everyonePsychoanalysis as small talk

Cultural notes that actually help

Dinner is late. Kitchens fill around nine or ten, and booking for eight means eating alone in an empty room.
Mate is shared by a set ritual. The person who brews it refills and hands over the gourd each time, and you drink the whole thing before giving it back. Do not rearrange the straw.
Greet with one kiss on the right cheek, men included, on arrival and again on leaving. Skipping it reads as cold.
Tips are cash. Card tips rarely reach the person who served you, so keep small notes for restaurants, taxis and hotel staff.
The cubierto on your bill is a cover charge for bread and table service. It is not a service charge and does not replace the tip.
Lunch runs long and shops in smaller towns still close for the afternoon. Plan errands for the morning or the early evening.

Famous Argentine faces

The names behind Argentine football, tango, writing and science. Pick a field.

Lionel Messi

Captained Argentina to the 2022 World Cup, and holds a record eight Ballons d'Or

Diego Maradona

Won the 1986 World Cup almost single-handed, and never stopped being an argument

Eva Perón

First Lady who built a political machine of her own and won women the vote in 1947

Jorge Luis Borges

Author of Ficciones, and the writer who taught the century how to build a labyrinth

Pope Francis

Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and the first pope from the Americas

Che Guevara

Born in Rosario, and the most reproduced face of the twentieth century

Astor Piazzolla

Bandoneón player who dragged tango into the concert hall and called it nuevo tango

Juan Manuel Fangio

Five Formula One world titles in the 1950s, from a village in Buenos Aires province

José de San Martín

Crossed the Andes with an army and liberated Chile and Peru

Manuel Belgrano

Lawyer, general, and the man who designed the flag in 1812

Juan Domingo Perón

Three-time president whose movement still organises Argentine politics

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento

President and educator who built the public school system, and wrote Facundo

Carlos Gardel

The voice of tango's golden age, and its first international star

Mercedes Sosa

La Negra, the voice of Latin American folk song and of its exile

Gustavo Cerati

Frontman of Soda Stereo, the band that made rock in Spanish a continental language

Martha Argerich

Pianist who won the Chopin Competition at twenty-four and has been unmissable since

Ricardo Darín

The face of modern Argentine cinema, from Nine Queens to The Secret in Their Eyes

Lucrecia Martel

Director of La Ciénaga and Zama, and the strongest formal voice in the new Argentine film

Norma Aleandro

Star of The Official Story, and Best Actress at Cannes for it

Quino

Cartoonist behind Mafalda, the six-year-old who explained Argentina to itself

Adolfo Bioy Casares

Author of The Invention of Morel, and Borges's lifelong collaborator

Luis Federico Leloir

Nobel laureate in chemistry for the sugar nucleotides behind how the body stores energy

René Favaloro

Surgeon who developed the coronary bypass, then went home to build a heart institute

Gabriela Sabatini

Won the 1990 US Open, and made tennis a mainstream sport at home

Guillermo Vilas

Took the French Open and the US Open in the same 1977 season

Manu Ginóbili

Four NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs, and an Olympic gold with Argentina

Juan Martín del Potro

Beat Federer and Nadal back to back to win the 2009 US Open

Lalo Schifrin

Composer of the Mission: Impossible theme, and of a shelf of film scores

Juan José Campanella

Director whose The Secret in Their Eyes won the foreign-language Academy Award

Julio Cortázar

Author of Hopscotch, a novel with instructions for reading it out of order

Ernesto Sabato

Novelist of On Heroes and Tombs, who later chaired the commission on the disappeared

Bernardo Houssay

First Latin American science Nobel laureate, for the pituitary and sugar metabolism.

César Milstein

Nobel laureate whose monoclonal antibodies underpin modern diagnostics and drugs

Must-try Argentine food

The grill first, then the everyday plates, the regional cooking and the sweets. Pick a category.

Asado

The long Sunday grill over embers, served in courses. As much a schedule as a meal.

Chimichurri

Parsley, garlic, oregano, vinegar and oil. The only sauce the meat needs.

Provoleta

A disc of provolone grilled until it crusts and slumps, dusted with oregano.

Morcilla and chorizo

The first course off the parrilla, eaten while the beef takes its time.

Choripán

Split chorizo in a crusty roll with chimichurri. Football food and street food everywhere.

Empanadas

Baked in Salta, fried in Tucumán, and argued over in every province.

Milanesa napolitana

Breaded steak under ham, tomato and melted cheese. Italian Argentina on one plate.

Locro

Hominy, beans, squash and slow-cooked meat. The national stew of patriotic holidays.

Dulce de leche

Slow-caramelised milk. The default filling for almost every sweet below.

Alfajores

Two soft biscuits, dulce de leche between them, chocolate or coconut around the edge.

Helado

Italian in technique and dense in texture. Order the dulce de leche granizado.

Fernet con coca

Bitter Italian amaro and cola over ice. Córdoba's contribution to the national night out.

Submarino

A bar of chocolate dropped into hot milk and stirred until it goes.

Bife de chorizo

The sirloin cut the country is built on, thick and cooked past rare by default.

Fugazzeta

Buenos Aires pizza: a deep cheese-stuffed base buried under sweet onion.

Sándwich de miga

Crustless white bread, ham and cheese, cut into triangles. Afternoon food.

Humita

Fresh corn ground with onion and cheese, steamed in its own husk.

Tamales salteños

Northwestern corn parcels, denser and spicier than their Mexican cousins.

Cordero patagónico

Whole lamb splayed on an iron cross and cooked beside the fire for hours.

Trucha del sur

Andean lake trout, usually grilled and left alone.

Medialunas

Small, glazed and sweeter than a croissant. Breakfast, with coffee, standing up.

Facturas

The bakery tray of pastries, bought by the dozen and shared at work.

Mate

Bitter yerba drunk through a metal straw and shared from one gourd.

Malbec

The grape Mendoza rescued from obscurity, grown high and picked ripe.

Torrontés

The white of the northwest: floral on the nose, dry on the finish.

Top 10s across Argentina

When to visit Argentina