Salta City

Salta needs 2 days: the colonial center («Salta la Linda») on one, and a trip to the Cafayate Gorge or the Calchaquí Valleys on the other. April-October avoids the summer rains, when some dirt roads can close. It's among the cheapest provinces in northern Argentina for foreign tourists. Its best-preserved colonial architecture in the country, with almost intact 17th and 18th-century churches, sets it apart from most other Argentine provincial capitals, which largely lost that heritage.