The Ultimate Travel Guide to Argentina: History & Attractions

Tango in Buenos Aires, Patagonian glaciers, Andes wine country, Iguazu Falls and the vast Pampas — Argentina is South America's most diverse destination.

A Glimpse into History

Argentina's name derives from the Latin argentum (silver), given by early Spanish explorers who hoped — incorrectly — to find vast silver deposits. Indigenous cultures including the Mapuche, Diaguita, Guaraní, and Tehuelche had inhabited the pampas, mountains, and forests for thousands of years before Spanish conquistador Juan de Solís sailed into the Río de la Plata in 1516. Buenos Aires was formally established in 1580 as a colonial outpost, though it remained relatively peripheral to Spanish colonial wealth compared to Lima or Mexico City. Argentina's independence was declared on July 9, 1816, after a revolution led by Manuel Belgrano and achieved militarily by José de San Martín, who crossed the Andes with his army to liberate Chile and Peru. The late 19th and early 20th centuries brought mass immigration from Italy, Spain, and Eastern Europe, creating the uniquely hybrid Argentine culture — European in ancestry, Latin American in spirit, uniquely itself in every other way. The tango, born in the working-class tenements of Buenos Aires among African, indigenous, and European immigrants, became the national art form and the world's most passionate dance. The 20th century was turbulent: the 1976–83 military dictatorship's Dirty War disappeared 30,000 people. Democracy returned in 1983 under Raúl Alfonsín, and despite serial economic crises, Argentina remains South America's most culturally sophisticated nation and the birthplace of Che Guevara, Jorge Luis Borges, and Lionel Messi.

Top Attractions in Argentina

Perito Moreno Glacier

One of the world's few advancing glaciers — a 30-km tongue of ice 5 km wide and 60 metres high calving thunderously into Lago Argentino in Los Glaciares National Park. The network of walkways and platforms above the glacier allows close-up views of the impossibly blue ice face, and the periodic ice bridge collapses (every few years) produce 30-metre tsunamis in the lake.

Buenos Aires — Tango City

South America's most European city is a metropolis of grand French-style boulevards, world-class steak houses, milonga tango halls, the colourful Caminito street of La Boca, and the magnificent Teatro Colón opera house. The neighbourhood of Palermo offers the best restaurant and nightlife scene in South America, while San Telmo's Sunday flea market is pure porteño atmosphere.

Iguazu Falls

The world's largest waterfall system — 275 individual falls stretching 2.7 km wide, including the Devil's Throat where 14 falls converge in a thundering U-shaped canyon with permanent double rainbows — straddles the Argentina-Brazil border. Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly said of Iguazu: 'Poor Niagara!' The Argentine side offers the closest walkways; the Brazilian side the panoramic view.

Mendoza Wine Country

Nestled at the foot of the Andes at 900 metres altitude, Mendoza produces 75% of Argentina's wine — most famously the Malbec grape that thrives here better than anywhere on earth. Over 1,000 wineries cluster around the city, from boutique family estates to grand bodegas offering tastings, vineyard lunches, and the backdrop of snow-capped Aconcagua, South America's highest peak.