Salta
Provincial Capital Founded 1582; The Best Preserved Colonial City Centre In Argentina And The Gateway To The Andean North West · Salta, Salta
Salta is the most colonial-looking city in Argentina, a provincial capital in a green valley at the foot of the Andes that locals call Salta la Linda, Salta the beautiful. Its centre is a grid of low whitewashed buildings with carved wooden balconies around the Plaza 9 de Julio, with the pink cathedral on one side and, a block away, the church of San Francisco with its red and gold bell tower. The city's most remarkable sight is the Museum of High Mountain Archaeology, which holds the Inca children sacrificed on the summit of Llullaillaco volcano five hundred years ago, preserved by the cold so completely that they look asleep; one is displayed at a time. A cable car climbs Cerro San Bernardo for the view, and in the evening the city fills its folk music halls, the penas, with guitars, zambas and empanadas. Salta is also the base for the whole north-west: Cafayate's wine valley, the Cachi road through a cactus park, Humahuaca to the north, and the Tren a las Nubes towards the Chilean border.
Plaza 9 de Julio, Salta, Salta, Salta, A4400, Argentina
The streets and plazas are open at all hours. Many shops and some museums close for a long midday break and reopen in the late afternoon. The high-altitude museum closes one day a week, usually Monday. Folk music penas start late inthe evening. The Tren a las Nubes runs on selected days in season.