Salta Travel Guide: Attractions

Ascend the imposing Cerro San Bernadino by cable car (teléferico) to admire the sprawling view of the city nestled into the creeping vegetation La Larma Valley. With a lookout point and several craft stores at the summit, viewers can enjoy a relaxing ride up (10 pesos/$3.50 one-way) and take your time in admiring the changing view during an hour-long leisurely stroll down the winding road that leads to the base of the hill. An option of returning by descending cable car is also available.
Take a short bus ride to the city’s privileged outer suburb of San Lorenzo. At the top of a leafy and mansion-lined slope in this sprawling neighborhood is a wonderful creek-side café (Restaurant el Duende), perfect for a relaxing coffee and cake or hearty lunch before hiking into the nearby tropical gorge (quebrada). Horses and guide can also be arranged to take you through this small national park, talk to a ranger at the entrance to find out more.

The Tren a las Nubes ranks as one of the highest railroads in the world, reaching a height of 4,200m and passing through jagged mountain passes and valley edges that offer breathtaking views of the expansive scenery below, literally taking you above the clouds. This 217 km long track was built from 1921-1948, its technology unfortunately rendering it obsolete by the time of its completion. Travelers today can now relax and experience this wonderfully preserved outdated way of life with a 16 hour round trip journey to the Salt Flats, offering some of the most stunning views and photographic moments available in northern Argentina.

Salta is a destination in itself, but a trip out of city limits to admire the amazing natural beauty of the surrounding regions is well worth the effort. Day-long driving trips can be arranged, beginning from Salta and heading high up into the famous Salinas Grandes and desert-scape of the Altiplano, only to descend downward before climbing again through verdant misty valleys that secluded farming communities have called home for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Not to be missed in a brief stop in Purnamarca on your return to Salta, to visit the local indigenous crafts fair, lunch on some alpaca stew – a specialty of the area- and watch the red glow of the sunset light up the multicolored rock formation that makes this village famous.

Dedicated to Argentina’s independence, Salta’s leafy Plaza 9 de Julio is a beautiful eclectic mix of Spanish colonial, baroque and neo-classical architecture, all wonderfully preserved and greatly contributing to the beauty and European atmosphere of the city’s financial district.  Every side of the square boasts flower-lined sidewalk cafes and charming galleries, souvenir shops and jewelry stores. The atmosphere on the central square is especially pleasant on summer evenings, when live music from the central gazebo floats through and echoes off the buildings and crowds of all ages gather on the grass that lines the paths beneath the tall palms and flowering trees.

Placed alongside the Plaza is the Salta Catedral. Built from 1858 – 1882, the Spanish neo-colonial Cathedral has heavy Italian architectural influences. The arrival of the Cathedral’s main representation of Christ itself is a miracle, who remains one of the city’s greatest legends and proudest possessions. The statues of both Christ current displayed in the church as well as the Virgin Mary displayed elsewhere (referred to as the el Señor y la Virgen del Milagro), arrived in the port of Callao near lima in 1592 via a wooden box found floating in the water. For 100 years the image remained untouched in a church depository, serving no role as an object of religious veneration, until 1692 when a series of events led to its change of role. Additionally, this cathedral provides the final burial place of General Guemes, the hero of Argentina responsible for Salta’s defense against invading Spanish armies in the mid-19th century.