Rosario

Rosario needs 2 days: the Monumento a la Bandera, a 70-meter memorial on the Paraná riverfront marking the exact spot where Manuel Belgrano first raised the Argentine flag in 1812, on one day, and a stroll along the riverside promenade and the delta islands facing the city, on the other. September-November is best, avoiding the humid summer heat. It's mid-to-low priced by Argentine standards. It's the birthplace of Che Guevara and Lionel Messi, and its cosmopolitan feel -despite not being Buenos Aires- comes from having been, in the early 20th century, one of the world's busiest grain-exporting ports.