overview
Argentina, the second largest country in South America, is a country of immense beauty and proportions that is best known for its romantic Tango and political heroine Eva Peron. Its geographic diversity spans the most breathtaking terrain from Antarctica, through the wild, glacier-filled mountains of Patagonia and massive open plains of La Pampas to the deserts and tropical jungles in the north.
The country’s capital, Buenos Aires, is one of the world’s most sophisticated spots with excellent theatre and art, fine restaurants and wide, elegant boulevards that give the country a decidedly European feel. In the rest of the country, natural beauty and charming local customs give Argentina a flair of its own. From mile-long Iguazu Falls in the northeast, to the glaciers and abundant marine life of Patagonia in the South, to gaucho, (the cowboys who ride the immense pampas region), Argentina is a journey of unique experiences.
The elegant Buenos Aires is home to 40 percent of the population, and is a buzzing metropolis with a rich, passionate and tortured history that is integral to its character. It is Europe and South America contained in one geographical location, with elements of the unknown around each corner. It is familiar and strange at the same time, but at its very core, wonderfully welcoming.
Downtown Buenos Aires is as sophisticated as any European city, with its wide avenues, fine colonial architecture and rows of pavement cafes. The city was built by French, Italian and Spanish immigrants and the Porteños (locals) still regard themselves as more European than South American. Along the elegant avenues of the fashionable districts, sophisticated diners observe passers-by while they sip strong coffee or enjoy smooth cervezas. There is a constant smell of meat grilling from every corner and sidewalk that reveals the Argentine passion for 'asado'. Neither glamour nor passion is in short supply in this cosmopolitan hub where Porteños are equally versed in football, politics and fashion.