When I was in Salta, Argentina I was thrilled to get to spend a few days in the Jujuy Province, located in northwest Argentina. I’ve received quite a bit of inquiries regarding how to visit this region in a short amount of time, so I’ve decided to publicly share the itinerary I built that allowed me to visit Jujuy in less than 72 hours, efficiently visiting all the main sights, but not feeling rushed.
Day One (sleep in Purmamarca tonight)
Pick up your rental car in Salta City center by late afternoon and drive to Purmamarca leaving by 4pm at the latest to arrive by 7pm, before dark. I don’t say “before dark” because of a safety concern, but because the drive is beautiful and many of the small accommodations require you to be in town at a decent time for check-in. I rented a car from Fit Car Rental and had a great experience, costing around $70 USD for a mid-size sedan for the 3 days.
Check in to your room, then explore the small town on foot for the evening: check out the black mesquite tree in the city center that is estimated to be more than 700 years old! Enjoy a craft beer or sip on some mate in front of the corner store next to the tree as you watch the square shift from daytime vendors to nighttime outings.
Eat dinner at Los Tientos for authentic Argentinian food and music (arrive by 8- it’s packed busy by 830) OR have a perfect pizza at Ci Vediamo. I opted for the pizza option as it had been months since I had a good pizza at this moment in time.
Day 2 (sleep in Tilcara tonight)
Wake up and walk through town towards the 7 colored hill. The walk is easy but you can expect to notice the altitude stealing your breath at times. For $200 pesos you can access a few flights of stairs to get to a lookout with a great view of the beautiful hill. Bring sunglasses, don’t make the same mistake I did, which is why all my photos are looking away from the sun and camera, or intensely squinting.
Grab tortilla rellenas from street vendors for breakfast, then get your bag from your hotel, and hit the road to drive to the salt flats by 930am, to beat the tour buses that will be headed that same direction about an hour later. Be sure to keep an eye out for llamas, vicuñas & guanacos on your drive!
Visit the Salinas Grandes (salt flats). After a curvy but well-paved, hour-and-a-half drive on Route 52, you’ll arrive at the fourth largest salt flats in the world and find two small parking lots. In the second lot, you can park your car for free and explore the flats on foot. There are a few food stands, but not many, and they aren’t guaranteed to be open, so have some snacks in the car if you tend to get hangry.
Entering the flats on foot is $500 pesos per person and there are plenty of guides around in bright green shirts that are happy to take photos for you, playing with the illusion of scale with various props. There is no official price or charge, you tip them as you see fit, I recommend being generous if you can.
In addition to exploring near the entrance on foot, you can also pay to drive into the center and see the Circuito Ojo Del Salar for 5,000 pesos per car following a guide on a motorbike (worth it). If you both explore on foot and by car you’ll spend about 1.5-2 hours here in total.
Drive back east passing by Purmamarca to continue going on to visit Maimara. In Maimara go to Cerveza Artesanal AYMARA- I had no clue what I was walking into as I stepped through a local woman’s backyard gate, but it was adorable! Carmela makes jams, liquors, and other various snacks, while her son is in charge of brewing craft beer, and they openly welcome you into their yard and treat you like family, it’s well worth a stop.
Next, visit Bodega Dupont to sip local wine in a beautiful setting taking in views of the mountains surrounding you. They are open from 9-12 and 3-6 pm and while you need a reservation if you want to take a tour, you do not need one if you prefer to relax and sip wine on the patio.
Do not follow Google Maps to get here. Use Maps.me to get there or send a message to the owner via WhatsApp or Instagram who will send you a video of how to drive there. You will drive down a dirt road that’s not shown on Google Maps, the drive is tolerable in an average sedan, you just need to know where to go. The vineyard is beautiful and I highly recommend not to skip this if you enjoy wine in a breathtaking setting after a busy day.
Next drive 20 minutes north to Tilcara, to check into your room and walk to dinner at Bienmesabe for amazing fresh homemade pasta in a quaint setting.
If you still have energy, you can attend a peña at Peña de Chuspita. Peñas are parties with folklore music, dancing, singing, and an abundance of local food and wine. This won’t get going until 9 or 10pm and go into the wee hours of the morning, so if you’re too tired to stay up for this tonight, don’t worry, it can be easily shifted to tomorrow night
Day 3 (sleep in Tilcara tonight)
Drive 30 minutes north to Humahuaca to see the Quabrada de Humahuaca, DO NOT DRIVE YOUR OWN CAR UP THE MOUNTAIN. Park in town and pay a guide with a 4×4 to take you up from the bus station in the center of town. $5,000 pesos per person will get you a 40-minute ride up the steep mountain road, an hour to walk around soaking in the views, and a ride back down to town.
Depending on your time, hunger, and energy level, an option on the way back to Tilcara is to stop in Uquia to hike Cerro Las Señoritas. This easy hike is 1.5-2 hours out and back. The trailhead is not well marked but you can put “estacionamiento quebrada de las senoritas” in Google Maps to find it. Once you park there are two trail options: the green route weaves to the right and leads to the Cañon de las 13 Vueltas and the yellow trail to the left is a little longer and leads to the Cueva de las Senoritas. If this is not your jam, or you’re starving and tired like I was, you can skip it and keep driving to Tilcara.
Continuing driving south back to Tilcara to park your car and spend the rest of the day and evening walking around town. Have a relaxing afternoon with lunch, and treats like ice cream or alfajores while you explore the town square vendors selling local artisanal gifts. If you didn’t make it to the peña last night, go tonight! If you already made it to the peña, I recommend having dinner at Los Puestos Restaurante for more local cuisine.
Day 4 (stay in Salta Capital tonight)
Check out of your room in Tilcara, grab breakfast if you’re hungry, and start your drive back to Salta Capital. About halfway to Salta, you will pass by the capital of Jujuy, San Salvador de Jujuy, and this is a great opportunity to stop for lunch.
When you arrive back in Salta if you have time left over before you need to return your rental car, I recommend taking advantage of having a car and driving to the top of Cerro San Bernardo to enjoy the views of the city below. I packed a picnic with my leftover snacks from the weekend, and enjoyed an hour at the top of the hill before driving down to return my rental car (they also have a small counter restaurant you can visit).
One last thing to note is that nearly every purchase you make in this region will only accept cash payments (yes, even your accommodations). So make sure you have plenty of ARG pesos with you for the trip. Prices listed in this text are relevant for the second half of 2023, but prices change in Argentina daily and even hourly, so take that into consideration when planning your trip. Feel free to contact me here if you have any questions about exploring this amazing province of NW Agrentina, and enjoy your trip!
The Ambitious Passport 