Salta, Atacama & Iguazú: North Argentina & Chile Private Adventure

Your local driver meets you at Salta Airport for a private transfer to your hotel in the historic center. Salta sits at 1,150 meters, the starting altitude for the climb ahead. The rest of the day is free — options include Plaza 9 de Julio and the surrounding colonial streets, the MAAM museum (home to the Llullaillaco Inca mummies), San Francisco Church, or a traditional peña dinner with live folk music.

The drive climbs the Cuesta del Obispo, a winding mountain road with views over the valleys below, before joining the Recta del Tin Tin through Los Cardones National Park — a stretch of high-altitude desert with thousands of cacti, some reaching several meters tall and over 200 years old. After a stop in the colonial village of Cachi, the route continues to Molinos, a small town surrounded by vineyards.

The route crosses Quebrada de las Flechas, where wind and water erosion have carved sharp, angular rock formations unlike the rounded canyons elsewhere on Route 40. The drive continues through small Calchaquí villages before reaching Cafayate, Argentina's high-altitude wine capital.

A morning at a Cafayate winery, tasting Torrontés, the white grape that defines the region, grown at elevations most vineyards in the world can't reach. In the afternoon, the return drive to Salta passes through Quebrada de las Conchas, stopping at the Amphitheater and the Devil's Throat, two of the canyon's signature rock formations carved over millions of years.

North to the Quebrada de Humahuaca, a UNESCO World Heritage valley. Stops include Tilcara's Pucará, a pre-Hispanic fortified settlement; the village of Maimará, known for its terraced multicolor hillside; Humahuaca itself, the valley's colonial town; Uquía's church, home to the 17th-century Cusqueña Arcabucero Angels paintings; and Purmamarca, at the base of the Hill of Seven Colors.

The Jama Pass crosses the Andes into Chile above 4,000 meters, passing the Quepiaco wetlands, Salar de Aguas Calientes, and a string of volcanoes including Licancabur and Chajnantor. Your driver handles the border paperwork at both checkpoints; the route arrives in San Pedro de Atacama by evening.

A private excursion into the Valley of the Moon, inside the Cordillera de la Sal, where salt formations, dunes, and canyons have been shaped by millions of years of erosion into a landscape with almost no vegetation. Colors shift dramatically at sunset, when the tour is timed to end.

A pre-dawn departure to the Tatio Geysers, one of the highest geothermal fields on Earth at over 4,000 meters, where steam columns are most visible in the cold morning air. After a free afternoon in San Pedro, an evening stargazing excursion takes advantage of the Atacama's near-zero light pollution and humidity — among the clearest skies anywhere on the planet for viewing planets and deep-sky objects.

The return crossing into Argentina leads to the Salinas Grandes salt flats, where the overnight stay is at Pristine Camps, a luxury dome property set directly on the salt flat with no other structures in view.

The morning starts with time on the salt flats before the drive back to Salta, following part of the route of the historic Train to the Clouds, one of the highest railways in the world. The route passes through San Antonio de los Cobres and the archaeological site of Santa Rosa de Tastil before descending to Salta by evening.

A domestic flight covers in under two hours what took ten days to cross by land — from the Andes to the Atlantic rainforest. A private driver meets you in Puerto Iguazú for the transfer to your jungle lodge.

A full day inside Iguazú National Park on the Argentine side, covering the Upper and Lower Circuits — elevated walkways that bring you within meters of the smaller falls — before reaching the Devil's Throat, a 150-meter U-shaped cataract where the river disappears into permanent spray. Toucans, coatis, and butterflies native to the Atlantic rainforest are a regular sight along the trails.

The border crossing into Brazil is handled by your driver. Once across, a single panoramic walkway shows the entire falls system in full width — the counterpart to yesterday's close-up Argentine trails. Optional helicopter flights or boat excursions to the base of the falls can be arranged.

A private transfer to the airport for your flight to Buenos Aires, with the option to extend for the capital before your international departure.