How to Get Around Andean Northwest

Getting in: Salta and Jujuy have airports with flights from Buenos Aires in about two hours. Long-distance buses from Buenos Aires take around twenty hours and are comfortable.

Buses connect Salta, Jujuy and the Quebrada villages frequently and cheaply, and reach Cafayate and the Calchaqui valleys less often.

A hire car is the best way to see the region, and the drives are the attraction — the Cuesta del Obispo, the Quebrada de las Conchas and the climb to Salinas Grandes are among the finest roads in South America. Several are unpaved; a high-clearance vehicle helps on the Hornocal road and the puna.

On the altiplano, distances between fuel stations are long and the roads are rough. Do not attempt the remote puna without a full tank, water and preferably a second vehicle.

To Bolivia: the crossing at La Quiaca and Villazon, at the head of the Quebrada.