Salta: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

Now in Salta--:--:--

--°

Salta, founded in 1582 in a green valley of the north-west, is called la linda — the beautiful — for its colonial centre, the best preserved in Argentina. It is the base for the coloured canyons of the Quebrada de Humahuaca, the high vineyards of Cafayate and the puna. Half a day on foot.

A short history of Salta

Salta was founded in 1582 by the Spanish, in a green valley on the road that linked the silver mines of Potosí with Buenos Aires, and for two hundred years caravans of mules, bred in the area and sold to the mines, passed through it. On 20 February 1813 Manuel Belgrano defeated the Spanish here, in one of the most important battles of the war of independence. The city has kept more buildings from the colonial period than most Argentine cities. The "Train to the Clouds" leaves from here and climbs to an altitude of more than 4,200 metres in the Andes.

The ten best sights in Salta

1
Plaza 9 de Julio
The colonial square of Salta la linda
2
Salta Cathedral
The Lord and Virgin of the Miracle
3
MAAM
The children of Llullaillaco
4
Cabildo
The colonial town hall and its arcade
5
San Francisco
A red-and-gold church and its tower
6
Calle Balcarce
The street of the peñas
7
Cerro San Bernardo
The view over the valley of Lerma
8
Monumento a Güemes
The gaucho general
9
Purmamarca
The Hill of Seven Colours
10
Cerro de los Siete Colores
Best in the early morning

sleepntripNine conditionsA double bed and your own shower. Always.

A hotel, not a hostel. Air con, Wi-Fi, a score of 8 or more.

How we choose

What is an audio walk?

Tours in Salta →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Salta:

Free walking tours in Salta

Salta la linda

Plaza 9 de Julio · The main square of palms and orange trees, surrounded by the cathedral, the cabildo and arcaded cafés; it is named for the date of Argentina’s declaration of independence in 1816.
MAAM · The museum of the three Inca children found in 1999 on the summit of the volcano Llullaillaco, at over six thousand seven hundred metres, where they were left as offerings some five hundred years ago. Frozen in the dry cold, they are among the best-preserved mummies in the world; only one is shown at a time.
Salta Cathedral · It holds the images of the Lord and the Virgin of the Miracle. In 1692, the story goes, the earthquakes shaking the city stopped when they were carried in procession; every September hundreds of thousands of pilgrims come for the festival.
Cabildo · The colonial town hall, completed in the late eighteenth century, with one of the longest arcades of any cabildo in Argentina, now a museum of the history of the north.
San Francisco · A church painted in deep red and gold whose bell tower, about fifty metres high, is among the tallest in South America; its bell was cast from the bronze of cannons.
Calle Balcarce · The street of the peñas, where in the evening folk musicians play zambas and chacareras with guitars and drums, and diners often stand up to dance with a handkerchief.

The Quebrada de Humahuaca

North of Salta, in the province of Jujuy, the Quebrada de Humahuaca is a valley of rock striped in red, green, purple and yellow, a route of trade for ten thousand years and a World Heritage site since 2003. A long day by car, or better two; the altitude rises above four thousand metres.

Cerro de los Siete Colores · Above the village of Purmamarca, a hill whose layers of sediment, laid down over millions of years and then tilted, show seven colours; the morning sun lights them best.
Purmamarca · A village of adobe houses around a small square where women sell weavings, and a church of the seventeenth century with a roof of cactus wood.
Pucará de Tilcara · The ruins of a fortified town of the Omaguaca people on a hill above the river, partly rebuilt in the twentieth century, with a botanical garden of giant cardón cacti.
Tilcara · A village of the valley where, during Carnival in February, the communities bring up the devil, a figure buried after the festival and dug up the next year, with dancing for days.
Humahuaca · A town of narrow lanes at about three thousand metres, where at noon a mechanical figure of Saint Francis Solano comes out of the town hall clock tower to bless the crowd.
Serranía de Hornocal · Up a dirt road at about four thousand three hundred metres, a mountain range of pointed ridges in fourteen colours of limestone; go in the afternoon, when the sun is on them.

Cafayate and the Calchaquí valleys

South-west of Salta the road climbs through red canyons to the vineyards of Cafayate and over a mountain pass to the white villages of the Calchaquí valleys. Two days in a loop by car, or a separate day for the train to the clouds.

Quebrada de las Conchas · A canyon of red sandstone where wind and water have carved the Devil’s Throat and the Amphitheatre, a natural chamber with such acoustics that musicians come to play in it.
Cafayate · A town of vineyards at about seventeen hundred metres, among the highest in the world, famous for Torrontés, a fragrant white wine; wine-flavoured ice cream is sold on the square.
Cachi · A white village of colonial houses at the foot of the snowy Nevado de Cachi, with a church whose pews and confessional are made of the wood of the cardón cactus.
Los Cardones National Park · A high plain dotted with thousands of cardón cacti, some several metres tall and centuries old, which grow only a few centimetres a year; the road descends from it by the hairpins of the Cuesta del Obispo.
Tren a las Nubes · The train to the clouds runs from San Antonio de los Cobres to the La Polvorilla viaduct, a steel bridge about sixty metres high at over four thousand two hundred metres; the line took from 1921 to 1948 to build.
Monumento a Güemes · Back in Salta, the monument to Martín Miguel de Güemes, whose gaucho horsemen in red ponchos held the northern frontier against the Spanish royalists in the war of independence.

sleepntripApartmentsA whole apartment instead of a room

For a week in one city, when you want more space than a room.

To the apartments

Getting to Salta and getting around

Bus terminal · Buses to Jujuy, Cafayate and Bolivia
Teleférico · Up to Cerro San Bernardo
Tren a las Nubes · The train to the high viaduct

Cheap eats in Salta

Salta claims the best empanadas in Argentina: small, baked in a clay oven, filled with hand-cut beef, potato and a little egg, and juicy enough to eat leaning forward. Add humita and tamales of corn and locro, a thick stew. An empanada costs well under a dollar.

Mercado San Miguel · Empanadas and locro at the counter
Calle Balcarce · Empanadas with the music
Cafayate · Torrontés ice cream on the square

Museums in Salta

The children of the volcano, and the colonial history of the north.

MAAM · The Llullaillaco children
Cabildo · History of the north
Pucará de Tilcara · The hilltop fortress

Nature and day trips near Salta

Coloured mountains, red canyons and plains of giant cacti.

Serranía de Hornocal · Fourteen colours
Quebrada de las Conchas · The red canyon
Los Cardones National Park · The cactus plain

Holy places in Salta

The churches of the Miracle and of the valley villages.

Salta Cathedral · The Miracle
San Francisco · The red tower
Cachi · The cactus-wood church

Nightlife in Salta

Nights in Salta are the peñas: folk music, wine and dancing until late.

Calle Balcarce · The peñas
Plaza 9 de Julio · The lit square

sleepntripMy tripAll your bookings in one place

Everything you planned for the trip, kept on your phone.

To my trip

Frequently asked questions about Salta

What is there to see in Salta?

The top sights in Salta are Plaza 9 de Julio, Salta Cathedral and MAAM. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Salta?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Salta without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Salta?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Salta, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Salta la linda.

How do you get to Salta and get around?

The main ways are Bus terminal, Teleférico and Tren a las Nubes. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Salta, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Salta that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

Looking for a hotel in Salta for your dates?

Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.

All hotels in Salta

Plan a trip across ArgentinaTango, wine and the end of the world→