Ruta 40 del Norte: Salta, Cachi and Cafayate

Salta Province, Calchaquí Valleys · Argentina

Moderate8 daysSouth America~£1,100 est.

Save ✓ I did this

Overview

Argentina's Ruta 40 is famous for Patagonia, but its high-desert northern reaches out of Salta are the connoisseur's section: a compact loop through polychrome rock, colonial adobe villages and the world's highest serious wine country, most of it above 1,600 m. Head south through the Quebrada de las Conchas, where the road threads red sandstone past the Garganta del Diablo and the natural Amphitheatre, to Cafayate and its torrontés bodegas. Then pick up RN40 proper through Angastaco and the Quebrada de las Flechas — the moment of the trip, a moonscape of grey rock blades tilted at the sky with the gravel road slaloming between them. Continue to sleepy Molinos and whitewashed Cachi, and return to Salta over the 3,348 m Piedra del Molino on the Cuesta del Obispo's great earthen ramp, through the cactus forests of Los Cardones national park. The variables: the Cafayate–Cachi stretch is ripio (gravel), so hire something with clearance; summer storms from December to March wash out fords; and the altitude sneaks up on you at viewpoints. Eight days from Salta runs about £1,100 per person in bodega stays and empanada money.