Argentina

Before the Spanish arrived, the northwest was farmed by Diaguita and other Andean peoples, parts of it under Inca rule in the late 1400s; Guaraní lived in the subtropical northeast, and hunting peoples such as the Tehuelche and Selk'nam ranged across Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. The Mapuche expanded east across the Andes into the southern pampas.

Spain founded Buenos Aires in 1536, abandoned it, and refounded it in 1580. For two centuries the colony was a backwater, since trade had to pass through Lima; smuggling and cattle hides made the port rich. The Jesuits built missions among the Guaraní in the northeast until their expulsion in 1767.

Buenos Aires broke with Spain in the May Revolution of 1810, and independence was declared at Tucumán on 9 July 1816. General José de San Martín then crossed the Andes to free Chile and Peru. Decades of civil war between Buenos Aires and the provinces followed before a federal constitution in 1853 set the pattern that still divides port and interior.

Between 1880 and 1930 millions of Europeans, mostly Italians and Spaniards, arrived to work the land and the port. Beef and grain exports made Argentina one of the richest countries in the world, and Buenos Aires built wide avenues, opera houses and cafés on a Parisian model. The same years saw the 'Conquest of the Desert' campaigns take Patagonia and the southern pampas from Indigenous peoples by force.

Tango grew in the port's tenements and brothels among migrants and the city's poor, then moved into ballrooms. Italian speech shaped the Buenos Aires accent and slang, and Italian cooking gave the country its pizza, pasta and ice cream.

Juan Perón, elected in 1946, gave workers rights and pensions and his wife Eva became a figure of devotion; he was also authoritarian and was overthrown in 1955. Peronism, a broad movement rather than one ideology, has shaped politics ever since, and every visitor meets it in murals, arguments and street names.

Coups interrupted civilian government repeatedly from 1930. The worst, from 1976 to 1983, ran a campaign of state terror in which an estimated 30,000 people were 'disappeared'. Mothers of the disappeared began walking in the Plaza de Mayo in white headscarves in 1977 and still march on Thursdays.

In 1982 the junta invaded the Falkland Islands (Malvinas); defeat by Britain ended military rule. Democracy since 1983 has been stable, and trials of the junta's officers set a precedent across the region. The Malvinas remain a national cause, marked on 2 April.

The economy lurched from hyperinflation in 1989 to a dollar peg in the 1990s and a collapse in 2001, when banks froze deposits. Distrust of the peso explains why Argentines save in dollars and why exchange rates have been a travel topic for decades.

The asado is less a meal than an afternoon: an asador tends wood embers for hours, working from sausages and offal to ribs and flank, while guests pick at bread and salad. Grass-fed beef from the pampas made Argentina's name, and a parrilla restaurant serves the same cuts to order.

Italian cooking is as central: thick Buenos Aires pizza, fresh pasta on Sundays, milanesas and gelato shops open past midnight. Merienda, an afternoon snack of coffee and medialunas or alfajores, bridges the long gap to dinner at 21:00 or later.

Mendoza produces most of the country's wine at 700–1,500 m under the Andes; Malbec, a French grape, found its best home here. Cafayate in the northwest grows aromatic Torrontés at even higher altitude. Mate, a bitter herbal infusion shared from one gourd, is the everyday drink everywhere.

The country runs about 3,700 km from the Bolivian border to Tierra del Fuego. In the northeast, the Iguazú River plunges over a horseshoe of about 275 falls shared with Brazil, inside subtropical forest with toucans and coatis. The Esteros del Iberá wetlands hold caimans and capybaras.

Along the Andes, the northwest has high desert, salt flats and canyons striped in red and green, such as the Quebrada de Humahuaca. Aconcagua, at 6,961 m the highest peak outside Asia, rises west of Mendoza. Further south the Lakes District mixes forests and glacial lakes.

Patagonia is steppe swept by westerly winds, ending at the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. The Perito Moreno glacier calves into Lago Argentino, and the granite spires of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre stand above El Chaltén. On the Atlantic coast, Península Valdés draws southern right whales from June to December.

For years visitors brought US dollars to change on the street at a 'blue' rate far above the official one. After President Javier Milei took office in December 2023, the peso was devalued, and in April 2025 most currency controls were lifted. By 2026 the official, MEP and street rates sat within a few percent of each other, foreign cards converted near the market rate, and ATMs charged fixed fees of about US$10–15 a withdrawal — check the current picture before you fly.

The flip side is price: inflation fell but dollar prices rose, and Buenos Aires and Patagonia now cost about the same as southern Europe. From August 2026 non-resident foreigners must show insurance or pay for non-urgent care at nationally run public hospitals, and several provinces including Buenos Aires City, Mendoza and Salta charge for scheduled care; emergencies are still treated. Travel insurance is no longer optional in practice.

Distance decides the itinerary. Buenos Aires to El Calafate is over 2,000 km; flights leave mostly from Aeroparque in the city, not Ezeiza. Long-distance buses with lie-flat cama seats cover shorter legs well. Patagonia is a November–March trip; in winter El Chaltén largely closes.