Best of Northwestern Argentina: Salta, Jujuy, Cafayate, Train to the Clouds, Quebrada de Humahuaca, Purmamarca and Cerro de los 7 Colores, A 2026 First-Person Guide
Browse more guides: Argentina travel | Americas destinations Best of Northwestern Argentina: Salta, Jujuy, Cafayate, Train to the Clouds, Quebrada de Humahuaca, Purmamarca and Cerro de los 7 Colores, A 2026 First-Person Guide TL;DR If you only have one stretch of Argentina to choose and you already suspect that Buenos Aires plus Patagonia is the predictable answer, I want to make a quiet case for the Northwest. Salta the capital sits at 1187 metres above sea level (GPS roughly -24.7821, -65.4232), Jujuy the smaller capital climbs to about 1259 metres, and from there the land keeps rising into a high desert plateau where adobe villages, painted mountains, vineyards at altitudes that almost no other country can match, and a 1948 railway called Tren a las Nubes carry the story of an Andean South America that does not look or sound like the pampas at all. I spent close to three weeks here in the off shoulder window of late April through early May 2026 and the region kept rewarding pat...