Lujan (gaucho country) ★ 4.1
Provincial pilgrimage town with a basilica and estancia-style restaurants on the outskirts. Whole-lamb al asador, gaucho displays at weekend estancias.
Mar del Plata is a food day trips in Buenos Aires.
Argentina's biggest beach city, four hours south on the Atlantic. Havanna alfajores started here in 1948; the port fish market and seafood justify a weekend.
Provincial pilgrimage town with a basilica and estancia-style restaurants on the outskirts. Whole-lamb al asador, gaucho displays at weekend estancias.
Pampas town considered Argentina's gaucho capital. Estancia day-trips with horseback riding and asado lunches; La Olla de Cobre makes famous dulce de leche.
Tiny 1890s pampas village turned weekend dining destination. Almacen-style restaurants, hand-made dulce de leche, Argentine cheeses from neighbouring tambos.
Day-trip estancia in Capilla del Senor with a ranch program: horseback rides, gaucho displays and an open-grill asado lunch with empanadas and Argentine wine.
An hour north of BA, the Parana Delta has launches that ferry you to riverside parrillas. Long lunches at El Gato Blanco; mercado de frutos for produce.
UNESCO-listed colonial town across the Rio de la Plata in Uruguay. Cobbled streets, Uruguayan asado at La Florida or Charco Hotel; bring your passport.