Ten underrated cities across South America, from Sucre's white streets to Georgetown's wooden cathedral, ranked by how much more they give than their visitor numbers suggest.
Most South America trips run Rio, Buenos Aires, Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Atacama. These ten sit just off that circuit. We ranked them by the gap between how good the place is and how few visitors it gets, the same basis as our global hidden gems list.
Bolivia's constitutional capital is a whitewashed colonial grid, on the UNESCO list since 1991, where independence was signed at the Casa de la Libertad. Cal Orcko, at the edge of town, holds more than 5,000 dinosaur footprints.
A UNESCO-listed colonial centre of blue-domed churches above the Tomebamba river, and the workshops that weave the toquilla straw "Panama" hat. Parque Nacional Cajas and its high lakes are under an hour away.
The best-kept colonial city in Argentina, and the base for the north's red quebradas. The MAAM keeps the Llullaillaco children, three Inca offerings found in 1999 near a 6,739-metre summit; evenings belong to the peñas on Calle Balcarce.
Built of white volcanic sillar under El Misti, and the place most Peru itineraries rush through on the way to Cusco. Santa Catalina, a walled convent of about 20,000 square metres founded in 1579, is a town of its own; Colca's condors are a day away.
A Dutch colonial capital built of wood, UNESCO-listed since 2002, where a synagogue and a mosque stand side by side on Keizerstraat. Hire a bicycle and cross the river to the old Commewijne plantations.
Argentina's second city and its student capital, around the UNESCO-listed Jesuit Block and a university founded in 1613. Take a weekend for the Güemes fair and a day in the Sierras de Córdoba.
The calmer capital across the river from Buenos Aires, with a long Rambla along the water and a grill lunch at the Mercado del Puerto. See a show at the Teatro Solís, open since 1856, and go on a Sunday for the Tristán Narvaja market.
The largest city in the world no road reaches: you arrive by plane or river boat. Spend a morning at Belén market and on its stilt houses, then take a boat into the forest toward Pacaya-Samiria.
A wool-baron port on the Strait of Magellan, with marble mausoleums in the Sara Braun cemetery and mansions on Plaza Muñoz Gamero. From November to March, boats run out to the Magellanic penguin colony on Isla Magdalena.
An English-speaking capital of Dutch canals and white timber buildings, led by St George's Cathedral, one of the tallest wooden churches in the world. Book the day flight to Kaieteur Falls, a 226-metre single drop.
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