The Ultimate Travel Route For South America

Ready for that trip to South America, but baffled on where to start? You are not alone! South America is an overwhelmingly huge and diverse continent, and deciding where to go will be a challenge. Luckily for you, here’s our guide to a perfect route for experiencing our hand-picked pearls of the region.

Brazil

Book a flight to Rio de Janeiro, easily accessible from most major airports. Even if you don’t come for Carnaval week in February, there are plenty other parties year-round to keep you dancing up till the sun’s up on Copacabana. Enjoy the beautiful people and tropical ambience of “The Marvellous City,” (rainy season runs from December to March) but don’t you forget to take a trip up the stunning Selaron steps and that mandatory selfie under Cristo Renentor, however hungover you are.

Argentina

From Rio hop on a flight to Foz do Iguaçu and visit Iguazu Falls, the bevy of 257 individual falls and cascades hurling down an average of 1.3 million litres per second, voted one of the new seven wonders of the natural world. As beautiful as they are from the Brazilian side, it’s well worth crossing the border to discover the Argentinian perspective, walk bridges through the jungle landscape, take a wildlife safari tour and definitely don’t miss out on experiencing the falls up close: take the boat tour that literally takes you under the spray, as close as you can get to the falls. Staying dry is not an option.

It’s an 18-hour bus journey from Iguazu down to the Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital and birthplace of tango. This is fairly standard in South America, though if you can spare the cash flights are available. From here you can use the city as a base to explore the beaches of Uruguay, only an cheap hour’s ferry ride away with Buquebus, Colonia Express or Seacat from the city’s ports. Visit San Telmo and La Boca to see the colourful colonial houses and tango-dancers decking the streets. Plaza Serrano in Palermo Soho is city’s nightlife hub, only a short walk away from the beautiful Botanical Gardens and the riverside. Ice cream shops abound.

Fly to Salta, at the foot of the Andes, and take in a local Peña (folklore) show. As you move north up the mountain range, indigenous culture becomes far more pronounced than in the more European-styled southern cities and you start to see the more authentic roots of Latin America. Trips to the red-rock Cafayate gorge and white wine-tastings run regularly.

Chile

It’s a ten-hour bus ride to San Pedro de Atacama, a small desert pueblo situated in the driest region on the planet, which main attraction is as a springboard into Uyuni, the Bolivian Salt Flats, although it’s isolation makes for fantastically clear skies and great stargazing tours. It is also a short drive from the Valley of the Moon, an eerie landscape with strange salt formations that liken it to an alien planet. The action-buffs among you can take a 4×4 trip to prime sand-boarding spots.

Bolivia

Although no trip to South America is complete without a visit to Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flats, spanning well over 10,000 square km, it’s well worth a guided 4×4 crossing of the desert altiplano and Bolivian lagunas (Flamingos! Yes, there are flamingos in Bolivia) to see some of the planet’s most beautiful landscapes. Once on the flats, make the most of the stunning reflections and empty landscapes for the perfect photo-op that you can show off to your friends.

La Paz, Bolivia’s de facto capital, is often knocked by tourists as grisly and grimy, with none of that pretty colonial architecture common to the conventional tourist trail. However, the massive bowl-like city has it’s own unique vibe, which you can find exploring the numerous bars or the “Witches’ Market” in Rosario, selling everything from your run-of-the-mill alpaca hoodies to good-luck totems and mummified llama foetuses (offerings to the Pachamama, the Earth Mother of Andean religion). Check customs regulations before purchasing. The city is at 3,650m above sea level, so don’t panic if you get winded on the uphills.

Peru

It’s a short bus ride out of the city to Copacabana (no, not the Barry Manilow one), where you can get a boat across Lake Titicaca to Puno, Peru. The town itself is lacklustre, but you can take boat trips across the lake. Visit Isla del Sol, the legendary birthplace of Inti, the Inca sun god, or Taquile, where the islanders’ hierarchy is defined by the patterns on their hats. Most popular is a tour of the Uros floating islands, makeshift islands built by the generations of the Uros people from the reeds native to the lake. Some of the islands and peninsulas offer home stays; take a chance on something very different and unique.

Cuzco goes without saying on the list of must-see locations in South America. The “navel of the world” was the historic centre of the Incan Empire, and the city itself is a blend of colonial buildings and broad, geometric Incan architecture. The abundance of rainbow flags around town represents not (sadly) a perpetual Pride Week, but the regional colours, symbolising the many aspects of indigenous culture. This is not only a base for tours to Machu Picchu, (book early! Trains run all year round, or alternatively the Inca Trail allows only 500 plucky globetrotters on the trail every day. The Trail is closed all through February), but also various jungle excursions. Headlamps are great, as are warm clothes. Having come through Bolivia you’ll have the advantage over all those rookies who flew in straight from Lima and haven’t had time to adjust to the altitude – try not to be smug about it.

Finally, head back down to sea level through Nazca, where you can either see the mysterious lines from a (slightly wobbly) metal watchtower, or take a more expensive but potentially nauseating see-saw flight over the lines. Continue northwards up the coast through Ica for a spot of Pisco-tasting (the more fun version of wine-tasting) and finally arrive at Lima. The nicest districts for tourists are Barranco and Miraflores in the south, with colonial buildings and stunning beach sunsets. Enjoy a cold ceviche with a side-helping of nostalgia before you board your next flight.

By Sarah Morland