Cachi

Cachi needs 2 days: the colonial village, with its main square and adobe-and-cardón-wood church, on one, the stretch of Route 40 toward the Recta del Tin Tin, with views of Los Cardones National Park, on the other. April-October is best, avoiding the summer rains of the Andes. It's cheap, with limited lodging options. It sits at 2,280 meters in the Calchaquí Valleys, and the drive from Salta city crosses the Cuesta del Obispo and Los Cardones National Park, one of the most extensive columnar cactus landscapes in South America.