Argentina, the beautiful country of Gauchos, Mate, Asado, Tango, Pampas, and Dulce de leche. It is one of the beautiful jewels of travel in Latin America.

One of top travel destinations to Travel South America, Argentina is known for its treasures of pleasures, stunning natural marvels, elegant capital offering European-flavored sophistication, fantastic culture, and typical Argentinean cuisine that dishes out big steaks of the best meat of the world. It is the country where both Europeans and North Americans feel home. Certainly, there are numerous reasons to visit Argentina, but here are top 5 reasons for you.

Know Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. Buenos Aires is famous for its cultural & architectural heritage, urban life, shopping centers café society, clubs, vibrant nightlife, and Tango, which was born in the neighborhood of San Telmo and La Boca. The highlights of the city include the old bohemian neighborhood of San Telmo with its cobblestone streets and Recoleta Cemetery with its ornate mausoleums, among which is the burial place of Evita.

See The Devil’s Throat

Iguazu Falls make Niagara look like a spigot leak. The 270 semi-circle of over two hundred individual falls spans the borders of Argentina and Brazil. They have been in Bond movies and more recently took a step down and appeared in Miami Vice (they must need money). Some people are saying that they could run dry within fifty years, so now is definitely a time to be driven under the chutes in a motorboat, as if it there is ever a bad time for that.

Eat the Best Beef in the World.

Maybe Japanese Kobe beef tastes better once in a while. After all, when a cow is getting massaged daily and fed high grade roughage and given beer to drink it is going to be happy and happy things are more delicious than sad. Unfortunately, when cattle are treated like royalty they become quite expensive in the afterlife as well. Argentine beef on the other hand lives the good life, but aren’t spoiled. You don’t enjoy it because you spite them. The fact they are open range combined with the incredible skill of the asadores means you can eat a thick steak at a nice restaurant for the price a warm keg beer at a local Irish pub in States.

Feel Glaciers and Andes Treck

- Glaciers National Park, situated in the Province of Santa Cruz in the Argentina Patagonia, is a UNESCO Natural Heritage site. It has a gorgeous landscape that covers up over 1,482,000 acres of land. Its main attraction is the majestic Perito Moreno Glacier that stands 262 ft tall and is 3.1miles long. Other glaciers include Spegazzini, Upsala and Onelli, surrounded by the Onelli and Bertrand mountains. The park also includes Lake Argentino, Lake Viedma, and the Fitz Roy Mountain.

See Culture and Theatres

Colón Theatre (Spanish: Teatro Colón) in Buenos Aires is one of the most famous opera houses in the world. Located in 9 de Julio Avenue, has hosted some of the most famous performances. Opened in 1908, Teatro Colón has 2,367 seats, standing room for 1,000 and a stage which is 20 m wide, 15 m high and 20 m deep. It houses one of the most extensive costume collections on the planet.

The payment of this “reciprocity fee” IS NOT a Visa since Argentina does not require visa to nationals of the mentioned countries when traveling for tourism or business purposes. The Argentine Government set this entry fee on equal amounts to those Argentine citizens must pay when requesting a Visa to travel to those countries.

Rates are subject to modifications based upon reciprocity. Forms of payment: Argentinean Pesos, United States Dollars, credit cards or Traveler’s Checks

Airline connections for travelling around Argentina are not as streamlined as we’re accustomed to in Australia.

And our travels across the country from Ushuaia, in Argentina’s southern tip, to Iguazu Falls, at the northeast section of the country bordering Brazil, require three overnight stopovers in its capital, Buenos Aires.

Fortunately, there’s plenty to see and do in Buenos Aires and its 48 barrios – neighbourhoods – range from stylishly sophisticated to beguilingly bohemian.

You can while away the time visiting historic landmarks, slick tango tours and lively restaurant precincts.

And a favourable exchange rate means there are shopping bargains to be found.

Stopover one: The elegant city

We’re in the heart of fashionable Recoleta barrio, where the latest Fendi, Emporio Armani, Ralph Lauren and Escada fashions hang on shelves in boutiques housed within grand neoclassical buildings. Among the beautifully dressed, I spot a guest flitting through wearing a white bathrobe, presumably heading for the spa.

Nearby, in the Recoleta cemetery, a crowd gathers outside the Duarte family mausoleum, leaving flowers in acknowledgment of Argentina’s most celebrated lady, Eva Peron.

Although most people visit the cemetery to see her grave, a walk through the graveyard is an eye-opener to the riches of the Argentine elite. Grand art nouveau, art deco and modernist-style mausoleums are the final resting places of presidents, scientists and prominent Argentine families. In Plaza de Mayo, the city’s main square, you could easily be convinced you are in a European city. In the centre of the square is Piramide de Mayo, a small obelisk that marks the first anniversary of Buenos Aires’ independence from Spain in 1810.

The 1939 Banco de la Nacion building was designed by well-known Argentine architect Alejandro Bustillo. There’s the Spanish-style Cabildo town council, the pink house of Casa Rosada where Juan and Eva Peron once stood on the balcony to wave at the crowds (Madonna also sang from here in the movie Evita ) and the baroque Cathedral Metropolitana containing the tomb of General Jose de San Martin, Argentina’s most revered hero.

The city was founded in 1536 by Pedro de Mendoza, who arrived on a personally financed expedition from Spain. After Argentina severed ties with Spain, waves of Spanish and Italian migrants continued to roll in.

The Europeans were followed by mestizos of mixed Indian and Spanish descent from other Latin-American countries, giving Buenos Aires a multicultural atmosphere. The city’s newest barrio is Puerto Madero, once a bustling port, and now a rejuvenated leisure precinct where warehouses have been converted into lofts, businesses and restaurants.

Stopover two: Shopaholics heaven

For our second stopover, we choose a hotel with a stiff English name, The Claridge, and a European vibe right in the heart of the central city shopping district. There are several shopping precincts in Buenos Aires including upscale Recoleta, antique San Telmo and boutique Palermo.

If you only have time for one shopping area, Calle Florida – or Florida St – a long pedestrian mall which stretches over several city blocks from Plaza San Martin to Plaza de Mayo – is an essential Buenos Aires experience.

It’s not just a shopping street but a complete tourist attraction with buskers, street performers, alfresco cafes, persistent shop touts and a zappy vibe. We only have to walk a few steps out of the hotel and we are right there in the midst of shopping heaven.

Shops are packed with leather bags, shoes and jackets in every imaginable cut and colour. I stock up on belts, wallets and gloves. Belts cost as little as $15 and leather jackets $80.

After spurning several pushy touts, a striking white, soft, lamb’s-leather jacket with black chequered embroidery catches my eye. The portly shopkeeper leads me to a couch near the dressing rooms and wheels out a rack of jackets. Had I stayed for a few more days, they could have tailored a jacket to fit me. In the end, I strike a bargain on the one I spotted first for a knock-down price of $300.

We wander into Galerias Pacifico at the corner of Florida and Cordoba streets. This grand building used to belong to the state railway company before it was refurbished and converted into an upscale shopping mall. The shopping mall was named after the historic railway line that linked Argentina to Chile and the Pacific Ocean. The building is worth wandering through just to admire the frescoes painted by some of Argentina’s best artists.

Shops in Galerias Pacifico are upmarket and they include swanky Argentine and international brands such as Rossi Caruso, a specialist in equestrian leather goods and gaucho trappings, polo label La Martina for polo books, bags, leather belts and international polo event merchandise.

Stopover three: Time to dance

Our third stopover finds us strolling through the colourful barrio of La Boca while admiring tango art in the open-air mall and tapping our feet to the tango dancers twirling energetically on the pavement.

There’s no other city in the world where the tango’s influence has embraced the very core of its character. Here, the tango is part of the culture and a way of life. It permeates the city with street dancing, milongas – or dance halls – and dazzling tango dinner shows everywhere. Stay long enough and the tango’s melancholy tendrils will sink their hooks into you.

We head for the bohemian barrio of San Telmo, Buenos Aires’ oldest. Pedro de Mendoza might have founded the city in this barrio but it is said that Buenos Aires didn’t truly find itself until tango musician Carlos Gardel sang the first tango hit song in 1917, Mi Noche Triste.

Our hotel is the Mansion Dandi Royal, a quirky tango hotel tucked away in the back streets, and we’re going to learn to dance the tango.

Some say dancing the tango is the only way to connect with the soul of the city.

But that’s a whole new story for another day.

2 of South America’s locations made the list: Off the beaten track in Northern Peru and Island-hopping in The Falkland Islands.

11. Off the beaten track, Northern Peru

Although less accessible than the south, northern Peru is deeply intriguing – pre-Inca archaeological sites are abundant and still being discovered. Highlights include the Tombs of Sipan: discovered largely intact in 1987, with many precious gold and ceramic artefacts. Other sites include the Huacas del Sol y Luna (adobe pyramids) and the Gocta Falls, one of the world’s tallest waterfalls, while rare pink dolphins swim in this region’s section of the Amazon.

When? June to October

12. Island-hopping, The Falkland Islands

For many the Falklands will always conjure up images of war, but today they are increasingly a venue for tourism. You can stay in friendly B&Bs, walk in the unspoilt wilderness and immerse yourself in the local culture. Then jump on board an eight-seater plane to explore neighbouring islands where, if you’re lucky, you may encounter penguins, sea lions and orcas.

When? November to February

South America Travel

Place of event: La Rural – Buenos Aires

Thirteen successive editions have made FIT one of the most important Tourism Trade Fairs, together with FITUR (Madrid) and ITB (Berlin).

The leading characters of the world tourism industry meet annually in La Rural, Predio Ferial de Buenos Aires: wholesalers, tour operators, carrier companies, hotels and accommodation, events, official tourism organizations, south america travel agencies, the Convention & Visitors Bureau and the most representative media of the sector.