Salta Things to Do

1 more image

The San Fransisco church is one of the most immediately recognizable churches you will see. It has actually been rebuilt several times since its founding in 1625 due to several fires. The facade was only completed in 1872 in an italian influenced architectural style.

The first thing you will notice is its beautiful purple color,,,,

the belfry, 53 meters in height, is the tallest in South America. The bell it holds is called Campana de la Patria (the bell of the fatherland) and it was made of metal from the cannons used in the Battle of Salta during the Argentine war of independence.

There is a small museum exhibiting religious art.
Museum hours are:
Monday-Friday: 10:30- 12:30 and 4:30pm to 6:30pm.
Saturdays: 10:30 to 12:30.

This company had an innovative idea. Instead of taking tourists around in nice comfortable, air conditioned buses take them around in a truck with some important alterations. Sure, there are seats. but you can put your head out of the top so you can take some great pictures, in some places you can even stand on top (obviously not while the vehicle is moving. The idea was especially well suited to this part of Argentina, where not all the roads are especially smooth.

The classic tour from Salta is the famous Tren a las nubes (the train to the clouds). The safari as las nubes basically follows the route of the train up from salta into the highlands and you get as far up as some 3,000 meters above sea level. Along the way you see some incredible scenery.

there is also the tour to the valleys (Valles Calchaquies) which is going south from salta touring the valleys, stopping in Cachi and then returning to Salta.

On both tours we had a great time, they involved an overnight stay at a moderately priced hotel. There were some 15-20 people on the vehicle and everyone had a real good time.

Though some might consider this roughing it, it is absolutely worth it and a very enjoyable experience and a great way to see the north of Argentina with its stunning scenery and rich diversity of cultures.

I had an excellent Spanish teacher in Salta, who helped me make real strides in my speaking and understanding. There is no formal Spanish school here but with Ivana it is possible to begin at any level and end up quite comfortable in the language....and to do it in an incredible corner of South America.
Her website is below or click here
for more information.

3 more images

‘Ruta 9’, or La Cornisa as it is called also, is the former highway between the cities of Jujuy and Salta. I highly recommend driving this road at least one time going to or coming from the North. It is a narrow and winding road and will take more time than the modern freeway, but it is a beautiful drive (and yes, we are on holiday).

We took La Cornisa coming from Tilcara/Purmamarca and turned off from the highway at Jujuy and followed the signs for El Carmen. In the beginning surrounded by soft rolling green hills with the Andes Mountains in the background. After 20 km’s we reached this sleepy little town and made a stop on the central square stretching our legs and drinking a coffee. The square has some nice buildings and a church with a remarkable altar.

Outside El Carmen it became busier on the road, but it turned out that these people were going to Embalse de Cienaga (a man made reservoir). After this lake the road was climbing and became very narrow and for many km’s was as broad as one car and looked like a bike path.

We saw more and more trees, which became a tropical forest turning into an Argentinean yunga (jungle) with all kinds of green, crooked trees, bushes, ferns, mosses, wild creepers and flowers. The road didn’t have straight parts for 40 km’s and is winding around trees and sometimes we were driving through tree tunnels.
We didn’t see any village or farmhouse, but there were horses and cows walking on and along the road.

After highest point - the Abra de Santa Laura at 1600m - the landscape changed dramatically and we were descending along slopes with just grass, shrubs, cactus and sometimes a single tree. After passing another storage reservoir we reached the ‘civilisation’ again at the village of La Caldera.
We turned off in Vaqueros to San Lorenzo, but if you are heading for Salta it is just another 10 minutes.

La Cornisa (Ruta 9 between San Salvador de Jujuy and Salta) is about 80 km’s.
Although narrow and winding the road is completely paved.

4 more images

When arriving in San Lorenzo (or La Villa San Lorenzo as its official name is) from Salta city or the airport the scenery changes dramatically from a rather flat valley into a lush green area with lots of trees and flowers.
San Lorenzo calls itself “El Portal de las Yungas”.

The center of San Lorenzo has a small shopping area with a supermarket, an ATM, a petrol station, a pizzeria and Restaurant La Monumental. San Lorenzo offers quite a number of accommodations and really is an excellent alternative for staying nearby Salta.

San Lorenzo is situated at the eastern slopes of the Andes at 1.450 meters above sea level. Especially during summer it has a much nicer temperature than the heat of Salta. I think it is a real nice destination for a (half) day trip.

We stayed in San Lorenzo and loved it walking around along the leafy roads lined with trees covered by moss and creepers forming tunnels of green leaves. (Perhaps the most beautiful example is the road Mariano Moreno starting from the main road next to Restaurant la Monumental). We continued our walk along Juan C. Davalos which has some restaurants, tea rooms and a very nice gift shop to the Quebrada de San Lorenzo. Every now and then we passed ‘wild horses’ grazing in the verges.
This gorge (Quebrada) is the most - more or less only - real sight of San Lorenzo. After a coffee at a café/restaurant El Duende de la Quebrada we walked along the wild flowing stream of this gorge, with some horses grazing on a small island, which were walking in and out the water.

We intended to do the loop walk in the reserve, but unfortunately it was closed and we had to go back for 2 km’s to the center of town, passing lots of large villas surrounded by nice gardens.

2 more images

We stayed the last night of our trip in the northwest of Argentina in Salta (city), because we could drop off our rental car very easy and were already (rather) close to the airport for our flight to Buenos Aires next day.

We were so happy we did, because Salta turned out to be a very beautiful and charming city when the night falls.
The central square - Plaza 9 de Julio - and surrounding streets with their (sidewalk) cafes become lively places, where Saltenos and (few) tourists socialize, come for a drink or ice cream, or have a dinner in one of the many restaurants.
Although we visited end of March the weather was still fine and everybody seemed to be outside in the inviting night.

But the most stunning were the amazingly lit buildings in downtown Salta. During daytime they are already fantastic to see, but when it is dark it simply unique and awful.
Both Cathedral and San Francisco Church are really two treasures and the old cabildo with its arches is another gem at the main square; the lights and the colours make it a kind of a fairy tale.

This last night in Salta made it for us just unforgettable !!

3 more images

Since 1583 the building belonged to an aristocratic family Arias Velasquez. In 1733 the property had been transferred to the Jesuits until they were expelled from Spain and America. There were two mills on the premises and the building is also known as ‘Alto Molino’ (Upper Mill).
The building became a couple of other owners till it was bought by the Province of Salta in 1967.
In 1968 the Mercado Artesanal opened its doors as the first crafts market in Argentina.

After we got our rental car we drove to the Mercado Artesanal, which is situated in the western outskirts of the city in a more or less messy and not very inviting neighbourhood. The one storey building itself with thick whitewashed adobe walls is surrounded by a nice green oasis.

Mercado Artesanal has 10 - 15 shops, which are clustered around a nice courtyard. We walked around watching the different arts and crafts, which craftsmen from all over the province of Salta were exhibiting. Almost everything you can imagine is offered: fabrics, ponchos, pottery, silver jewellery, leather, music instruments, but also some food products like. (It is said these handicrafts have a Certificate of Authenticity that should guarantee quality and origin of the crafts.)
We tasted an (small) glass or Argentine wine, saw a couple of demonstrations and bought a piece of ‘dulche de leche’.

To be honest the setting of this ‘market’ in a colonial building was very nice, but a lot of the shops do sell more or less the same products, which made it a kind of overkill for us.

Information
Mercado Artesanal is open every day from 9.00 am – 9.00 pm
Due to its location you do need transportation by (rental) car, taxi or bus.

2 more images

The San Bernardo Convent is the oldest religious building in Salta. In the late 16th century a chapel dedicated to San Bernardo was erected on the same site. In the late 18th century rooms and galleries were built housing one of the first hospitals of Argentina during the country's independence war in the early 1800’s: Hospital of St. Andrew. Since the middle of the 19th century it is a Carmelite Monastery and still used by the Carmelite nuns.
The convent and church were declared a National Historic Monument in 1941.

After our visit to the San Francisco Church we walked further along Caseros and after a couple of blocks we arrived at Convento San Bernardo, situated at a cobble stoned little square. It is a more or less nondescript one storey building with white adobe walls. It doesn’t look very inviting, with just a few windows and doors.

One of these doors - the entrance - is the main ‘attraction’ of the convent. This stunning carved door - made of carob tree wood by local Indians - is older than the convent itself, and was donated by a family whose daughter entered the convent to become a nun. The year of its completion - 1762 - can be seen on the right top corner of the door.
On the left hand side of the building is a church with a simple façade and a small tower.

It is not possible to visit the convent as it is still used by Carmelite nuns. During the day these nuns sell pastries through a revolving door to avoid contact with the outside world. Have to admit that we missed it due to our own ignorance and/or siesta-time.
During the (early) mass it is possible to take a look inside the chapel.