Argentina
South America · Buenos Aires · AR
Argentina stretches from the subtropical north, where the Iguazu Falls hammer over basalt ledges in a wall of mist and thunder, to the glacial south, where Perito Moreno advances daily into Lake Argentino with sounds like cannon fire. The country's geography reads like a catalogue of extremes: the Pampas grasslands fed by some of the world's most fertile soil, the wine-producing valleys of Mendoza tucked against the Andes' eastern slopes, and Patagonia's wind-scoured steppe where guanacos roam beneath snowcapped peaks. Buenos Aires, the capital, pulses with a cultural rhythm entirely its own — tango music echoing from dimly lit milongas, bookshops on every corner, and a café tradition that rivals Vienna's. Argentine cuisine reflects its strong Italian and Spanish immigrant heritage, with empanadas, pasta, and asado forming the backbone of daily meals. The country's sheer size — the eighth largest in the world — ensures that no two regions feel alike.
Overview
Argentina is a country in South America. Its capital is Buenos Aires and the international dialling code is +54. Languages commonly used in everyday life here include Spanish. Local currency is the Argentine Peso (ARS). Our guide covers 2 airports, including Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, Ministro Pistarini International Airport. We also list 1 city in Argentina: Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires and the Tango Tradition
Tango was born in the working-class conventillos of Buenos Aires in the late nineteenth century, a product of the collision between Italian and Spanish immigrants, descendants of African slaves, and criollo gauchos who drifted into the city from the Pampas. Today it survives as both a living dance and a musical genre of extraordinary emotional depth, performed nightly in milongas scattered across the city's older neighbourhoods. San Telmo's Sunday antiques market spills through cobblestone streets where buskers play bandoneon, the squeeze-box instrument synonymous with the genre's mournful sound. The Obelisco stands at the intersection of Avenida de Mayo and Avenida Corrientes, marking the symbolic centre of a city that has produced poets, filmmakers, and architects whose influence extends far beyond South America. Late-night dining is a way of life here, with restaurants filling at eleven PM and milongas still in full swing past midnight.
Patagonian Glaciers and Steppe
Patagonia's southern reaches occupy the bottom third of Argentina, a windswept landscape of golden steppe, turquoise lakes, and ice fields that rank among the largest outside the polar regions. Perito Moreno Glacier, located within Los Glaciares National Park, is one of the few advancing glaciers on earth, its enormous ice face groaning and calving house-sized blocks into the milky lake below. The trail system around the glacier provides viewing platforms that place visitors within striking distance of a blue-ice wall hundreds of feet high. Further south, Torres del Paine's granite towers straddle the Chilean border, while the Argentine town of El Calafate serves as the gateway to this frozen frontier. The Patagonian steppe, treeless and vast, is home to rheas, armadillos, and pumas that have learned to navigate the open terrain by blending into the tawny grass.
Mendoza Wine Country and Andean Backdrop
Mendoza province sits in the rain shadow of the Andes, where meltwater from Andean glaciers irrigates vineyards planted at elevations that would be impossible elsewhere. The Maipú and Luján de Cuyo valleys produce Malbec grapes that have become Argentina's most famous export, their deep purple colour and plush fruit profile a direct result of the intense sun, dramatic temperature swings between day and night, and mineral-rich soils washed down from the mountains over millennia. Bodegas throughout the region welcome visitors with tasting rooms overlooking vineyards backed by snowcapped peaks exceeding 20,000 feet. Olive oil production has also flourished here, with emerald-green groves lining the same irrigation channels that feed the vines. The nearby Aconcagua, at nearly 23,000 feet the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, anchors the landscape with a presence that makes the entire wine region feel like a garden at the foot of a cathedral.
Iguazu Falls and Subtropical Northern Forest
Iguazu Falls, straddling Argentina's border with Brazil in the province of Misiones, comprises roughly two hundred and seventy-five individual cascades spread across a horseshoe-shaped cliff nearly two miles wide. The Devil's Throat, the most dramatic section, sends a deafening torrent of water into a narrow basalt canyon that constantly churns with mist and spray. Boardwalks along the Argentine side place visitors directly above the thundering falls and through the surrounding subtropical Atlantic Forest, a biome that once covered vast swaths of South America and now survives only in fragmented remnants. Coatis forage along the trails with an audacity born of familiarity, while toucans and tanagers flit through the canopy overhead. The sheer volume of water — the Iguazu River drains a basin larger than Belgium — ensures that the falls never repeat the same visual twice, with flow rates shifting dramatically between the wet and dry seasons.
The Pampas and Gaucho Ranching Culture
The Pampas are the vast, flat grasslands that blanket central Argentina, supporting some of the most productive ranching land on the planet. Gaucho culture, rooted in the nomadic horsemen who once roamed these plains herding cattle, remains a living tradition rather than a historical footnote. Estancia stays across the Pampas allow visitors to participate in horsemanship, watch skillful demonstrations of boleadoras and lassos, and share an asado — a whole-animal barbecue cooked over open coals for hours until the meat falls from the bone. The town of San Antonio de Areco hosts an annual gaucho festival each November, drawing riders from across the region for competitions in dressage, bull-riding, and cattle work that would look familiar to anyone from the American West. Flat as a horizon in every direction, the Pampas create a sense of scale that is both humbling and strangely liberating.
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- Capital
- Buenos Aires
- Currency
- Argentine Peso (ARS)
- Languages
- Spanish
- Calling code
- +54
- Internet TLD
- ar
Entry requirements
Check who can enter →See which passports travel visa-free or need a visa to enter Argentina.
Which nationalities can enter Argentina?
Current visa status for tourism for the origins we cover, with links to the detailed requirements.
Airports (2)
All airports →Cities (1)
All cities →Travel guides for Argentina
All guides →
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a visa to visit Argentina?
For the origins we track, travellers from Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Italy currently enter Argentina visa-free for tourism, and 3 more origins are visa-free too. Entry rules depend on your passport and the purpose of your trip, so check the current requirements for your own nationality with our entry requirements tool.
What is the capital of Argentina?
Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina, and the country sits in South America.
What currency is used in Argentina?
You pay with Argentine Peso (ARS) in Argentina. Exchange rates move day to day, so check the current rate before you change money or use your card abroad.
Which languages do people speak in Argentina?
The languages we list for Argentina are Spanish. A couple of greetings in the local language go a long way when you travel, even in cities where another language is widely used.
What is the international dialling code for Argentina?
The dialling code for Argentina is +54 — keep the plus sign when you save the number.
Which airports serve Argentina?
We cover 2 airports for Argentina, including Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP), Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE).
Which cities in Argentina do you cover?
Our guide lists 1 city for Argentina: Buenos Aires (capital).