Another way to do a nice trip in Argentina, specially in the north, it is to rent a car and drive yourself. You rent your car and book accommodation in advance. We did it!
Take into consideration the following points:
Lenght of the trip: 11 days/10 nights
Services: Car Rental + Accommodation
Weather: We recommend to take this tour from May to October during fall and winter season. During spring/summer from November to April it is rainy season and some gravel routes remains flooded.
Day 1- Arrival in Salta
We departed from Buenos Aires. Arrived at Salta airport (09 kms from the city) and we were transferred to our hotel. Our accommodation was a Bed & Breakfast very nice and comfortable and well located “Carpe Diem”. We recommend very much this place but be careful if you are allergic to cats. It was midday so after leaving our stuff we went to explore Salta City. Lying on the Lerma Valley, Salta is the capital city of the homonimous province. It is situated in one of the most fertile and nicest sites ever created by nature in this region. It is located at 1,187 meters above sea level, at the bottom of Mounts 20 de Febrero and San Bernardo. The Hispanic architecture of the city out-stands from the other cities in the country. The colonial spirit from the times of the foundation remains in its houses, streets, hundred-year-old monuments and narrow sidewalks surrounded by the mountains nearby. We go up to San Bernardo hill with it funicular. Then we visited the MAAM (Archeological Museum) that displays an invaluable archeological find discovered in the summits of the Llullaillaco Volcano, one of the sceneries chosen by the Incan culture for their ritual ceremonies. We visited some typical markets. We returned to the hotel to have a shower and we went out againg for dinner. We had dinner at a typical restaurant, “Doña Salta” where we try “empanadas” and “locro”. We didn’t pick up the car at the airport as you don’t need it in Salta city and also they charge a fee for 10% if you pick up the car at the airport so it is no necessary.
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| Cabildo |
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| Market |
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| San Bernardo Hill |
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| Empanadas |
Day 2- From Salta to Cafayate (Calchaqui Valleys)
After the breakfast, which is fabulous with lot of home made pastry, we went walking to the Car Rental office. We picked up the car and returned to the hotel for our luggage. After that we start our Self Drive itinerary to Cafayate. As there are two ways to get to Cafayate from Salta, we decided to go first through the Shells Valley which is the shorter and then we returned to Salta through the long way. With no stops this will take 02 hours but of course you should stop along the way. Leaving from Salta, Route 68 took us to Cafayate. A paradise road. The wind was in charge of giving shapes to the mountains. We started seeing tobacco being dry at the sun. After 107 kilometers we arrived to our first stop: Alemania. Stopping and watching what is left from the days on which gold and the railway were in the air is totally worth while. We continued. We enter “Quebrada de las Conchas” Provincial Natural Reserve. And here you have to pay attention to the signs to stop and see the main attractions: the wind was in charge of giving particulary shapes to the mountains. “The Devil's Throat” is the first tourist attraction the wind carved in this area. Other rock formations are: “The Amphitheater”, “The Obelisk”, “The Castles, “The Toad”, “The Friar”, “The Windows”, one of the last formations we saw. Remember that you should have a big imagination. Before arriving Cafayate we decided to have a stop in a area call “los medanos” (sand hills). The landscape here it is incredible, the coulours of the mountains... After that we arrived to Cafayate. We went to the hotel leave our stuff and go to explore the city. We arrived in “siesta” time so most of restaurants and locals were closed, very bad luck. We were hungry so we find a small restaurant where we eat “tamales” and “humita”. Our accommodation Hotel Killa was very nice and located a few blocks from Cafayate’s main square. At night we will never forget our dinner, a typical “chivito”.
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| Breakfast at Carpe Diem |
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| Tobacco being dry |
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| on the route |
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| landscape |
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| landscape II |
Day 3- Cafayate
Another day in Cafayate to explore the area. Breakfast in Killa Hotel is very nice and complete, also this hotel is managed by their owners. Cafayate is well known because of its famous torrontes wine product of the exquisite combination of temperature and humidity that provides the ideal environment to the growth of the sweet and deep fruit flavor. We decided to visit “El Esteco” winery to try wines from this region. We arrived in time for the first visit and after a short explanation of how wine it is made we had our wine tasting. Delicious wine. At the afternoon we decided to visit the Quilmes Ruins. The ruins, 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.
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| church at Cafayate town |
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| vineyards |
Day 4- Cafayate to Cachi
This day we continued our road trip, this time to Cachi through one small part of the mythical RUTA 40. It is only 160 kms from gravel road, so you have to contemplate between 06 and 07 hours depending on stops. It is a very lonely road, no gas station so don’t forget to refuel your car. All along the route you can see how locals dry their red pepper at the sun. One of the most impressive landscapes is when you pass through the “Quebrada de las Flechas”. Then all is desert landscape with almost no vegetation and just “cactus”. After 100 kms you arrive to Molinos town. We took here our stop to have lunch and to visit a small museum from the Calchaqui Valleys. From Molinos you continue to Seclantás, here it is possible to visit particular houses where you can find locals craftsmen working on their looms creating the “poncho”. They are very huge looms so you can easily see them in the “patios” maybe under a tree. After this very nice visit we arrived to Cachi. Cachi means " salt" in quechua due to the fact that natives mistook the top of " El Nevado" with a salt mine. All these cities are very small so you can easily walk, you don’t need the car. Although we stayed only one night as there is nothing interesting to do if we have the chance to go back we will stay at least 02 nights. It is very nice to appreciate the tranquillity of the town specially at night. You can breath very pure air. Our accommodation “El Cortijo” was really nice and comfortable with a nice breakfast as most of the hotels in this area. People is always very kind and they seem to be lazy, but this is the way people from this area leave, with no stress and no hurries. At night we decided to have dinner at “Oliver Wine Bar”, pizza with goat cheese.
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| Quebrada de las Flechas |
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| more impressive views |
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| ponchos at Seclantás |
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| red peppers being dry |
Day 5- Cachi to Salta
After the breakfast we head up back to Salta. This time we will take Los Cardones National Park, the Tin-Tin straight line, and finally the Obispo Slope. We reached the highest point on the route “Piedra del Molino” located 3620 mts from sea level. After the Obispo Slope we take route 68 at El Carril town and from here to Salta it is the same way we did when we drived from Salta to Cafayate. We decided not to stay in Salta City and overnight at San Lorenzo. Bad, very bad decission. We arrived very late at San Lorenzo and there was nothing to do. It was very cold and accommodation at the “famous” castle was not the best. We don’t want to remember so much this day. I wanted to run from that bewitched castle. We recommend to overnight in Salta or maybe in a estancia in the surroundings but not in San Lorenzo.
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| church of Cachi |
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| on route |
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| Obispo Slope |
Day 6- Salta to Purmamarca
We decided to take the cornisa road, through the yungas. It took us more than 02 hours but it is really nice to apprecite this ecosistem. Of course don’t take this route if you are travelling late in the afternoon. We arrived to Purmamarca. Accommodation “Marques de Tojo” was almost empty, so we had all the hotel only for us. Well located just a few blocks from the main square. After leaving our stuff we decided to do “Los Colorados” trekking. The colours of the mountains were amazing. We walked also very close to the “7 Colors Hill”. At night we went out to walk in the small streets with almost no lights. It is incredible to see the stars, the sky looks like a carpet of stars. Lot of them. At night it is always cold as Purmamarca it is located 2100 mts above sea level.
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| 07 Colour Hill |
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| Purmamarca Street |
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| Los Colorados Trekking |
Day 7- Salinas Grandes
Since we arrived in Purmamarca we started to get inmerse in the “Quebrada” atmosphere. In the Square , there is a crafts fair where you can get regional products such as pottery, carpets made with looms, ponchos, musical instruments and typical clothes from the Quebrada (Narrow path). We took the car and we decided to visit the “Salt Flats”. In order to reach this solitary area, you must drive along National Route 52. We started climbing the route until we reached 4140 mts above sea level through the Lipan Slope. At this point you can start seeing at the horizon the salt flats. There are no restaurants and nothing to eat so this day we prepared our box lunch, ham and cheese sandwiches. When we arrived to the salt flats we can observe the way in which the salt is extracted. We bought some souvenirs made of salt. After having some walk we returned to Purmamarca.
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| Salt Flats from the route |
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| Salinas Grandes |
Day 8- Humahuaca
Today we drive straight from Purmamarca all through the quebrada to Humahuaca. It is just one hour drive. We arrived in time to see the main attraction from the town: at 12 pm every day, an articulated image of San Francisco Solano saint makes its appearance as a cu-cu from the clock tower of the town hall to bless the people. After we visited the Monument to the Heroes of Independence. We walked the town until we reached a market where we buy Andean potatoes and species from the Quebrada. We had lunch and after we went back to the car. We drive to Tilcara where we overnight. We arrived at “Viento Norte” Hotel which is really nice place. Although Tilcara it is small town it is bigger than all other small towns and have became very popular. You can find trendy restaurants and shops.
Day 9- Tilcara
We visited the Pucara ruins. Similar to Quilmes ruins but bigger and more prepare for tourism. On the main entrance you can pay to a guide that takes you inside and explains you the history of the place. Here you can see “llamas” walking behind you. This animals are very friendly. We decided to do the visit on our own. It takes approx. one hour. We went back to the city to walk around the main square, visit the church and of course to have lunch. After our lunch we did a treking to the “The Devil's Throat”. It is a very nice walking but don’t imagine it will be the same as Iguazu, it is a very small cascade. The day was almost finishing and we had had another fantastic day.
Day 10- Tilcara to Salta
This day was almost the last of this fabulous trip. All days with lot of sun and good weather. All amazing towns and people. We met people from Australia, France... We had to go back to Salta but we didn’t want it. So we decided to have lunch in Tilcara and return to Salta after lunch. We arrived in Salta at the end of the afternoon and this time we went back to “Carpe Diem”. We took of our luggage from the car and went to the rental office to drop off the car as on the next day it wasn’t necessary to have it.
Day 11- Departure day
This day we were supposed to take a visit to San Antonio de los Cobres through the way that go parallel to the “Train to the Clouds”. But we were tired and decided to stay in the city to rest. Our flight was late in the afternoon so we did check out left our stuff at the hotel and went out to walk the city. As it was a Sunday most shops were closed. In the afternoon we went back to the hotel to wait our transfer that took us to the airport.
