This trip suits curious travellers of all ages who enjoy a sense of adventure, but value comfort at the end of the day. Those who are into immersive journeys to get to know a destination, rather than flying visits to the most famous places.

It’s especially popular with couples or friends looking for independence without logistical stress, whether that’s younger travellers seeking a slower, richer journey or those with more time to travel and a desire to explore deeply. If you love dramatic scenery, food, wine and culture more than extreme hikes or long physical challenges, you’ll feel right at home here.

You don’t need to be an experienced overseas road-tripper either - just a confident driver happy to embrace a journey that feels rewarding rather than difficult.

This is a largely independent trip, sprinkled with a few very special guided experiences throughout the journey. As you travel, you will receive detailed guidance notes for each place and each drive to help you plan your time. Often we will be quite insistent, but of course there is always space for you to go off and make your own discoveries (which we'd love to hear about!).

The variety of ecosystems and altitudes on this trip are reflected in the volume and variety of wildlife you might encounter, everything from toucans in the tropics to condors in the quebradas.

In Salta, you are almost guaranteed to see hummingbirds in your hotel's garden. Heading up through the Yungas jungle, you genuinely might see a toco toucan as you travel - we did! Turning south again, you will very likely see guanacos, and above 3,000m, vicuñas. These camelids are the wild relatives of domesticated llamas, which you will almost certainly see. Look out for Andean foxes, armadillos and ñandús - rheas - as you drive. Maras - large rodents vaguely akin to capybaras, but smaller - are commin in Talampaya National Park. Condors can be seen along the route, you just have to keep your eyes peeled! Between October and March, flamingos gather in Laguna Brava.

The best time for this trip is between March and May, and September and November. Given free choice, we'd prioritise March, April, October and November. Here's a quick rundown of what to expect...

SUMMER: December to February is the summer. Temperatures can exceed 40°C and storms are particularly common after Christmas. This makes driving on unpaved roads a bit trickier. It's likely to be busier than the rest of the year, but most of this trip happens far away from the tourist trail.

AUTUMN: March is harvest month throughout the various wine regions and is a particularly photogenic and exciting time to come. You do need to plan ahead, but let's not sweat that too much. A lovely time to come, and you should catch the end of the flamingo breeding season at Laguna Brava. Do expect the odd downpour, though. From March into April, locals spread out huge swathes of red peppers to dry in the sun around Cachi - an impressive site. April is a great month to come - comfortable temperatures, reliable blue skies and days are still long, typically 07:30-19:00 or thereabouts. The poplars around Barreal and Mendoza are beautiful. Things become increasingly autumnal in May, and it's the start of the low 'after-the-party' season in Mendoza. Finca Adalgisa is closed until October. Even so, the weather is reliably dry/sunny, and so we'd still give you a pretty hearty thumbs up.

WINTER: June is the start of winter. Things are dry and sunny and warm, with increasingly cold nights. The vines will have gone to sleep by now, but it's a window of opportunity before the Argentines and South Americans are let out for their holidays. This happens in July and August, and it gets busy around Salta, Cafayate and, to an extent, Mendoza. More pressingly, these are the strongest Zona wind months. Though it's never predictable and only happens a few days a month, the winds are at their fiercest and most frequent around this time. It can prohibit walking and make some drives a bit livelier. So we tend to advise against travel in July and August, or even early September, for this reason.

SPRING: We're mainly talking about October and November here. September is still early spring, the March of the southern hemisphere. So we'd advise you push it another month or so. October and November are wonderfully lush and colourful, days are getting longer, the weather tends to stay quite stable and dry, and flamingos are really starting to arrive at Laguna Brava. Lovely months to travel.

This trip is designed to be active and adventurous in its spirit, with some long days and time spent at altitude. But it's not one packed with challenging hikes or high-impact activities. You want to be fairly fit and active, but you don't need much in the way of athletic prowess.

The standard of the accommodation is very high on this trip. There is a backbone of beautiful, small, architectural hotels designed in the style of country houses. Interiors are simple, decorated in rural Andean style with thoughtful touches, whilst invariably the gardens are the star attraction with a pool, a view and the sound of birdsong. It's common to dine in the hotels, and the food is of a consistently high standard. Being somewhat remote and rarely visited, Belén is the one place where the standard dips, but we hope you like the change of pace and can appreciate why we chose this place for you to stay.

Yes! We very much design the trip, and our guidance notes, with this at the forefront. People are incredibly friendly here. Almost universally, they always have a smile, a warm greeting and a bit of conversation that translates across any laguage barrier.

That might mean pulling over at a roadside kiosko to buy picnic supplies and learn a new word or two of Spanish, or falling into conversation via your guide with a shepherdess grazing her flock outside a stone mountain refuge high in the Andes. You will meet innovative winemakers, genius artesans, weathered weavers and humble mountain hosts. The names, faces and stories of these people will invariably be as precious as the photographs you take in the dazzling array of landscapes you visit.

Yes, to an extent. The most common thing is to add in a day here or there, or tack on time in Iguazú, Patagonia or further afield before you head home. Flights from Mendoza can very easily get you into Brazil or across the Andes into Chile, so please do ask if you have ideas, we can very easily fill two months or more!

We can't remove a stop from this trip as the distances are too large, or you lose a meaningful piece of the journey. However, if you are pushed for time then it's possible to loop back to Salta from Cafayate rather than continuing south... We'll forgive you eventually!

The best thing to do is simply share any questions or ideas and we'll go from there.

The scale of this route - linking seven different provinces - means there is a substantial amount of driving involved to get from A to B to C etc. You can expect to complete over 2,400km as you travel between Salta and Mendoza.

Given how incredible and varied the scenery is, and how quiet the roads are, it's important to think of the driving as a core part of the experience. You're rarely getting in the car just to get to somewhere else. When you see something beautiful or interesting, it's usually easy to pull over and take your time to enjoy it.

We also carefully pace your itinerary to build in non-driving days, rest days and the freedom for you to choose what you'd like to do. You never have more than two, maximum three, substantial driving days in a row.

The roads are mostly paved. Unpaved roads are safe, easy and comfortable to drive on. We give you guidance on what to do, and not to do, but essentially you just drive a bit slower than on paved roads. In our experience, these roads are well-maintained, compacted and fairly smooth. You rarely feel buffeted about and there are never any drops beside any of the roads, so you're not going to get stuck. Enjoy the scenery!

An automatic intermediate SUV is the norm. We recently had a VW Taos and that never put a tyre wrong the whole trip, but we can't guarantee the exact model and the category will sometimes depend on availability. You don't need a 4x4 unless you are going in the height of the summer storm season, but we will always match you with the most appropriate vehicle for the time of the year.

You simply use Google Maps or Waze on your smartphone, as you might at home. If you download the route/maps before you leave, or on your hotel's WiFi, you then don't need mobile data when you are out and about. The hotels and stopping points are all listed in the app and we tell you what to type in where appropriate. In short, it's easy and works really well.

The key thing to say first is that you don't ever sleep at high altitude. You spend a couple of nights in Purmamarca at around 2,300m and another in Cachi at around 2,500m. You may notice that it takes a touch longer to get to sleep on those nights, but it is right on the threshold of what is considered to be impactful, and so it's unlikely to have much of a bearing on your trip.

During the day, there are several points where you briefly go over 4,000m. The only days where you spend any prolonged amount of time over 3,000m are if you drive to Salta via Salinas Grandes and San Antonio de los Cobres, the Laguna Brava day and the Aconcagua visit. The thing to do is always to walk slowly, drink lots of water and avoid heavy meals. Your behaviour will be the single biggest factor in whether you feel the effects of puna as it's known here.

No, though some basic understanding of the language will go a long way to enriching your travels, so get learning! Your guides and almost all of your hosts speak very good English. In and around Salta and particularly Mendoza, English is more common, but it's best not to ever assume. In between, English is rarely spoken to any great degree by the locals, but that never means you can't communicate. A few well-placed words and gestures go a long way. But if all else fails, have Google Translate to hand on your phone with the Spanish language pack downloaded. That is surprisingly efficient at bridging the language gap.