Tourism in Salta
Bodega Colomé in Cafayate, Salta - Photo: Eduardo Epifanio
The City of Salta is ideal to stay and enjoy everything from the very moment visitors leave their hotel and start to walk around. Museums, churches, historical buildings, squares and cafés, as well as other sights, give evidence of the colonial influence, appreciated in its architecture and in one of the most jealously guarded historical shells in Argentina. There is no doubt that the past is carefully preserved at this location.
To the West, lies the Andes Mountain Range and the Puna, with the incredible viaduct known as La Polvorilla and the famous Tren de las Nubes (Train to the Clouds). To the South, the valleys known as Calchaquíes. To the North, the area called Chaco Salteño, whose endless green hues are reminiscent of the rainforest in Misiones.
Apart from its unique scenes, its excellent cuisine is revealed in flavors, colors and aromas typical of this part of the world. Cumin is gold in these latitudes and the kindness of the people is manifest in their locros, tamales and empanadas, also part of this incredible treasure.
Likewise, the land beyond the City of Salta offers paradisiacal options. Nearby destinations as Cachi and Cafayate, or more distant ones like Salinas Grandes and the road that leads to them, are tours known worldwide which provide enough reasons for tourists to stay longer.
Featured Attractions
Ruins of Quilmes
The ruins of Quilmes, as they are known, belonged to the Calchaquí natives who settled on the hillsides and on the mountain range called Calchaquí, from which the tribes got their name: Quilmes and Calchaquí.
The highest part of what today we refer to as ruins was the place chosen by the locals to set their defense against the enemy. First, there were other tribes and eventually the Spanish conquerors who found a strong resistance until they were able to impose themselves.
City tour around Cachi
Located on the west of the Province of Salta, lying at the foot of the Nevado de Cachi, 6,720 meters high, its valley locks the richness of the indigenous past.
We walked along Bustamante Street to retrace our steps along what is known today as the "old town" which keeps the buildings from colonial times, its cobble and rubble streets with irrigations canals on the sides. The area called "new town" also used to be part of the estate, which around the year 1946 was expropriated and divided into lots.
Salta de noche
Beautiful Salta turns on its lights when the night falls. Each corner renovates its charm when the Moon is out. The main square, its cafés, Balcarce Street and the magic of the casino. The night is an invitation.
When the sun sets and the first lamps of the urban shell begin to glitter, the view from the heights is a real postcard teeming with lights, white and yellow colors that not only spread across this vast valley but also get lost in the endless surrounding mounts.