Your First Trip to South America: Where Would You Begin?

You’re finally thinking about South America. Wonderful! Now comes the part where everyone has a suggestion.

“You have to see Machu Picchu.”

“Argentina. You’d love Argentina.”

And then someone shows you a photograph of Patagonia, and your perfectly reasonable vacation starts looking as though it might require a sabbatical.

For a first trip to South America, I’d start by narrowing the possibilities to a few places that offer quite different experiences. Peru, Chile, and Argentina would be on my shortlist, but I’d recommend each for different reasons.

Here’s how I’d help you choose.

Peru: When You Want a Place With Stories to Tell

If you’re the person who asks, “How did they build that?” and then stays to hear the answer, I’d give Peru serious consideration.

Machu Picchu may be what first catches your attention. Fair enough. Seeing those stone terraces set among the mountains is a compelling reason to go. But I’d want the journey leading up to it to be just as interesting.

In the Sacred Valley, you can explore Inca archaeological sites and villages surrounded by the Andes. In Cusco, a walk might take you from extraordinary stonework to the workshops of San Blas, with a stop at San Pedro Market along the way. There’s plenty here for the traveler who enjoys having a knowledgeable guide put the pieces together.

I’d leave time to settle into a lovely hotel in the valley, too. You should have a chance to enjoy where you are without always being on your way to the next site.

I’d lean toward Peru if learning about a place adds to your pleasure in being there. You don’t need to be a history enthusiast, but curiosity will serve you well.

The consideration I’d raise early is altitude. Cusco and the Sacred Valley require thought about the pace and sequence of your trip. If your ideal vacation involves arriving and immediately launching into a packed schedule, I’d want to adjust that expectation before we began.

Chile: When the Landscape Is the Reason You’re Going

Some people look at a photograph of a vast, empty landscape and wonder what they would do there.

Others are already imagining themselves in it.

If you belong to the second group, I’d put Chile in front of you.

Around San Pedro de Atacama in the north, the possibilities include the sculpted terrain of the Valley of the Moon, salt flats, and high-altitude lagoons. Farther south, Chilean Patagonia brings mountain scenery, glaciers, and days shaped by the outdoors.

These are places where I’d build the trip around excursions suited to your interests and energy, with a comfortable base to return to. You might want a challenging walk one day and an easier outing the next. Choosing the right lodge and guides would be a substantial part of the planning.

I’d lean toward Chile if being out in remarkable scenery is something you actively enjoy. Looking at it from a beautiful room is lovely. Wanting to get out into it gives us much more to work with.

The question I’d ask is how much of your vacation you want to spend outdoors. If browsing neighborhoods and choosing restaurants are usually your favorite parts of a trip, I might begin elsewhere.

I’d also be selective about geography. Atacama and Patagonia can be combined, but they sit far apart, with travel between them taking a meaningful share of the itinerary. For a shorter first visit, I’d rather give one region the time it deserves.

Argentina: When You Want Some City Life With Your Scenery

If your reaction so far is, “I love a beautiful landscape, but I’d also like somewhere to go after dinner,” let’s talk about Argentina.

I’d consider beginning in Buenos Aires, giving you time to explore its neighborhoods, enjoy its restaurants, and perhaps take a tango lesson. San Telmo’s older streets and Palermo’s boutiques offer different ways to spend an afternoon, so I’d want more than a hurried city overview.

Then we could change the setting.

Mendoza would be an appealing next chapter if you enjoy wine and leisurely meals, with vineyard visits beneath the Andes. I can picture an unhurried lunch becoming the main event of a very satisfying day.

If you’d prefer a more dramatic encounter with nature, we could look at Iguazú Falls instead, where walkways bring you to different views of the cascades and the surrounding forest.

I’d lean toward Argentina if you enjoy a trip that changes pace, with a few days of city life followed by time somewhere quite different.

What would make me reconsider? If the one thing you keep talking about is an ancient site in Peru or a particular landscape in Chile. Argentina’s variety is appealing, but I wouldn’t let it distract us from the experience you most want to have.

Which One Made You Pause?

Perhaps you were already picturing yourself in the Sacred Valley. Perhaps Chile’s wide-open scenery caught your attention. Or perhaps Buenos Aires followed by a few days in wine country sounds like a very good use of your vacation.

That reaction gives us somewhere to begin.

These are three possible introductions to a continent we could spend years exploring. You don’t have to make your first visit cover everything, and you don’t have to choose the place someone else loved most.

Tell me which possibility caught your attention, and what you liked about it. We’ll take that first spark and begin shaping a South American journey around you.