"The Rough Guide to Argentina" is the definitive guide to this staggeringly diverse country. This updated fourth edition will effortlessly guide you through the country with in-depth coverage on eating and drinking, accommodation and transportation, plus the clearest maps available of any guide. The introductory full-colour section introduces Argentina's highlights from the sparkling emeralds and turquoise waters of the seven lakes, to climbing Acongagua and dolphin-spotting at Puerto Deseado. All areas are covered; from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires to the remote Argentine archipelago of Tierra del Fuego. "The Rough Guide to Argentina" also includes informed descriptions of the country's varied landscapes, from the pampas to Patagonia, plus practical advice on the best places for hiking, climbing, ski and rafting. Finally, the guide explores the country's rich history and culture; including detailed information on everything from the ascendancy of Eva Peron to its Jesuit architecture. Make the most of your time with "The Rough Guide to Argentina".

The Rough Guide to Argentina (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

Travel

O'Brien, Rosalba

Aeberhard, Danny

Phillips, Lucy

South America

Rough Guides

INTRODUCTION 
The ancient Provenal version of Genesis maintains that prior to introducing Adam, the Creator realized he had several materials left over: large expanses of celestial blue, all kinds of rocks, arable soil filled with seeds for a sumptuous flora, and a variety of as yet unused tastes and smells from the most subtle to the most powerful. "Well", He thinks, "why don't I make a beautiful resum of my world, my own special paradise?" And so Provence came into being. 
This paradise encompasses the snow-peaked lower Alps and their foothills, which in the east descend to the sea's edge, and to the west extend almost to the Rhne. In central Provence the wild high plateaux are cut by the deepest cleft in the surface of Europe - the Grand Canyon du Verdon. The coastal hinterland is made up of range after range of steep forested hills in which the warm scent of pines, eucalyptus and wild herbs intoxicates the senses. The shore is an everchanging series of geometric bays giving way to chaotic outcrops of glimmering rock and deep, narrow inlets, like miniature Norwegian fjords - the calanques. In the Camargue, the shoreline itself becomes an abstraction as land and sea merge in infinite horizons. Away from the Rhne delta there is nowhere that does not have its frame of hills, or mountains, or strange sudden eruptions of rock. 
But all these elements would be nothing without the Mediterranean light, which is at its best in spring and autumn. It is both soft and brightly theatrical, as if each landscape had lighting rigged up by an expert for maximum colour and definition with minimum glare. It is no surprise that of all the arts, painting should be the one that owes so much of its European history over the last hundred years to the beauty and escapism of this world. 
Yet Provence and its coast were far from being an earthly paradise for their early inhabitants. As with most mountainous regions, the soil is poor and cultivation difficult away from the rivers. The low-lying areas of the Camargue and Rhne Valley were marshes or rubbly plains subject to inundation. The coast had no natural defences of rough seas and high cliffs to dissuade invaders. So it was that communities clustered on easily defensible hilltops - the village perchs - with their tight labyrinths of medieval streets, passageways and winding stairs leading inexorably up to a chteau fort. 
For hundreds of years, Provence remained a prime target for foreign invaders. The ancient Greeks established bases on the coast and on the Rhne, including Massalia and Nikea - modern-day Marseille and Nice - and, later, the Romans cleared a route all along the coast to their cities on the Rhne. Settlers came from all over northern Europe and from across the Mediterranean, and if this wasn't enough, Provence's independence was also contested with France, the Holy Roman Empire, Burgundy, Savoy and the Popes, with internal feuding between rival fiefdoms aggravating the insecurity of daily life. After just fifty years of reunification with France, Provence was again invaded, and within a hundred years was suffering the bloodiest of French civil wars, the Guerres de Religion. Legacies of this turbulant past include some of the best Roman monuments in France, plus great reminders of the medieval age, such as the palace of the Popes in Avignon; the three great monasteries of Silvacane, Thoronet and Snanque, built by the Cistercian order in the twelfth century; the ruined city of Les Baux; the border fortresses of Tarascon and Sisteron; and the frescoes and paintings in the village churches north of Nice. 
By the 1800s, the character of coastal Provence was already beginning to change. Foreign aristocrats and royals, who had already turned Nice into Europe's most fashionable winter watering hole, began to spread their influence east and westwards. Tiny fishing villages such as Cannes, Villefranche, Le Lavandou and St-Tropez began to follow the course that Nice had taken, with avant-gardists in art and lifestyle and successions of celebrities gradually discovered how much simple and sophisticated pleasure this coast could provide. By the 1950s mass tourism on an upmarket scale began to take off in these parts, the Sixties brought the starlets and the hippies in their droves, and in the 1970s the French government began to realize the horror that their greatest tourist asset was threatening to become. Today, the Cte d'Azur is one of the most built-up, overpopulated and expensive stretches of coast anywhere in the world. 
Yet between the urban conurbations and the tourist developments there still lies the remarkable scenery that drew artists here in their droves in the decades either side of 1900. Seduced by the light and relative ease of living, they bade farewell to the gloom of northern winters and set themselvers up on the Cte d'Azur, making the region as much a part of the European art scene as Montmartre and Montparnasse. The great names of the Modern period who painted and sculpted on this coast include Matisse, Renoir, Signac, Lger, Dufy, Mir--, Bonnard, Chagall, Cocteau, Drain, Modigliani, Soutine and Picasso all of whom came in summer and shocked the natives by swimming in the sea. Many of their works are permanently exhibited in superb museums from St-Tropez to Menton; reason in itself for a visit to the Cte today. 
The one great artist native to Provence is Czanne, who was born in Aix in 1839. Many of his canvases were inspired by the landscapes around his home town but very few remain in the region. Because of his relationship with his subjects, a pilgrimage to the Mont Ste-Victoire and other favourite scenes is still compelling. The man whose works on show outnumber any other artist is Hungarian- born Vasarely, who chose Aix and Gordes as centres for his studies into an all- embracing concept of art, science, architecture and social life. In and around Arles and St-Rmy you can follow the sad passage of Van Gogh, but again there are hardly any original paintings to be seen.

The Rough Guide to Provence & the Cote d'Azur

Baillie, Kate

Kaberry, Rachel

Europe

INTRODUCTION 
Argentina is a vast country. It measures 5000km by 1500km and, even without the titanic wedge of Antarctica that the authorities are wont to include in the national territory, it ranks as the world’s eighth largest state, immediately behind India. Thanks to its longitudinal position, standing between the Tropic of Cancer and the most southerly reaches of the planet’s landmass, the country encompasses a staggering diversity of climates and landscapes. The mainland points down like a massive stalactite on the map, from the hot and humid jungles of its northeast and the bone-dry highland steppes of its northwest down through windswept Patagonia to the end-of-the-world archipelago of Tierra del Fuego, a territory that is shared with Chile. Across the broad midriff stretch Argentina’s most archetypal landscapes: the mostly flat pampas grazed by millions of cattle – subtly beautiful scenery formed by horizon-to-horizon plains interspersed with low sierras, and punctuated by small agricultural towns, the odd ranch and countless clumps of pampas grass. These wide open spaces are among the country’s best assets – despite its mammoth area its population of 33 million weighs in at far less than Spain’s. This is a land with huge swaths still waiting to be explored let alone settled. 
Like Chile to its west – with which it shares 5000km of grandiose Andean cordillera, several of whose colossal peaks exceed 6000m – Argentina is, for the most part, less obviously exotic than its neighbours to the north, and its inhabitants will readily (and rightly) tell you how great an influence Europe has been on their nation. It was once said that Argentina is actually the most American of all European countries, but even that clever maxim is wide of the mark. It’s a country with a very special character all of its own, distilled into the national ideal of Argentinidad – an elusive identity the country’s Utopian thinkers and practical doers have never agreed upon. Undoubtedly, the people of Argentina suffer from, but also encourage to an extent, some of the world’s most sweeping generalizations, based mainly on the typical Porteño, or native of Buenos Aires. They suffer from a bad press in the rest of the continent, but you’re bound to be wowed by their spontaneous curiosity and intense passion for so many things. On this score there’s a lot of truth in the clichés – their passions are dominated by the national religion of football, politics and living life in the fast lane (literally, when it comes to driving) – but not everyone dances the tango, or is obsessed with Evita, or gallops around on a horse, gaucho-style. Whether thanks to their beauty, sense of humour or other charms, the locals will help to make any trip to the country memorable. 
So aside from the people, why visit Argentina? First, because the huge metropolis of Buenos Aires, home to two-fifths of the population, is one of the most exciting, charming and fascinating of all South American capitals. It’s an immensely enjoyable place just to wander about, stopping off for an espresso or an ice cream, or people-watching, or shopping, or simply soaking up the unique atmosphere. Its many barrios, or neighbourhoods, are startlingly different, some decadently old-fashioned, others thrustingly modern, but all of them oozing character. Added to that, Buenos Aires is the country’s gastronomic mecca and boasts a frenzied nightlife that makes it one of the world’s great round-the-clock cities. Elsewhere, cities aren’t exactly the main draw, with the exception of beautiful Salta in the northwest, the beguiling river-port of Rosario – birthplace of Che Guevara – and Ushuaia which, in addition to being the world’s most southerly city, happens to enjoy a fabulous setting on the evocatively named Tierra del Fuego. 
Wildlife and adventure in the extensive outback are the real attractions outside of the capital. By hopping on a plane it’s feasible to spot howler monkeys and toucans in their jungle habitat in the morning, and watch the antics of penguins tobogganing off dark rocks into the icy South Atlantic in the afternoon. There are hundreds of bird species – including the majestic condor and three varieties of flamingo – plus pumas, armadillos, llamas, foxes and tapirs to be found in the country’s forests, mountainsides and the dizzying heights of the altiplano or puna. Lush tea-plantations and parched salt-flats, palm groves and icebergs, plus the world’s mightiest waterfalls are just some of the sights that will catch you unawares if you were expecting Argentina to be one big cattle-ranch. Furthermore, dozens of these vital biosystems are protected by a pioneering network of national and provincial parks and reserves, staffed by remarkably motivated rangers. 
As for getting around and seeing these wonders, you can generally rely on a well-developed infrastructure inherited from decades of domestic tourism. And the challenge of reaching those areas off the beaten track is more than compensated by the exhilarating feeling of getting away from it all that comes from, say, not passing another vehicle all day long. Hotels are often much of a muchness, but a special treat – and not excessively expensive by any means – are the beautiful ranches, known as estancias – or fincas in the north – that have been converted into luxury accommodation. In most areas, you’ll be able to rely on the services of top-notch tour operators, who will not only show you the sights but also fix you up with all kinds of adventure activities: horse-riding, trekking, white-water rafting, kayaking, skiing, hang-gliding, along with more relaxing pursuits such as wine-tasting, bird-watching or photography safaris. While some visitors prefer to whiz about the country using an airpass, others like to enjoy the astounding scenery, magnificent wildlife and sensation of remoteness at a much slower pace. Argentina is so huge and varied that it’s hard to take it all in in one go – don’t be surprised if you find yourself wanting to return to explore the areas you didn’t get to see the first time around.

The Rough Guide to Argentina

Benson, Andrew

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