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Salta

Travel Guide South America Argentina Salta Salta

Introduction

Salta

Salta is the capital of the Salta Province, in the northwest of Argentina. It is Argentina's 8th largest city, with a population of around 475,000. The city was first founded on April 16, 1582 by the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma. His original intension was the city to be an outpost between Buenos Aires and Lima in Peru.

The city was heavily damaged during the war of independence, which left the city bankrupt. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries a large arrival of Spanish, Syrian and Lebanese immigrants helped to revive trade and agriculture in the region giving the city a second birth. To this day the city has a very multicultural flavor because of this immigration.

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Neighbourhoods

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Sights and Activities

Salta is one of the more popular tourist destinations in Argentina, based largely on its colonial architecture and natural scenery. It is also the main base for a lot of the trips throughout the province, including the "Train to the Clouds" (Tren a las nubes).

Plaza 9 de Julio

The main attractions are located in the city centre, clockwise around the 9th July Square (Plaza 9 de Julio) are the following:

Neo-classical Cathedral
Museum of Contemporary Art (M.A.C.)
Cabildo - The 18th century town hall. Houses the Historical Museum (Museo Histórico del Norte)
Museum of High Mountain Archeology (M.A.M) - With artifacts from the Inca civilization including the preserved bodies of three Inca children.

Other Sights and Activities

Saint Francisco Church (Iglesia San Francisco) - Built in 1796 this is a beautiful church with remarkable tower.
San Bernardo Convent
Güemes Monument
Balcarce Street - Is where most of the nightlife is centered around
San Miguel Market
Crafts Market
San Bernardo Hill (Cerro San Bernardo) - Is 1,458 metres high, which is east of the city and offers spectacular views from the summit. You can get to the summit by car, stairway or cable car from Parque San Martin.

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Events and Festivals

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Weather

The weather is warm and dry, with an average temperature of 16.4 °C (around 20 °C in the summer, 11 °C in winter). The summer months of January and February also are the wettest whilst during spring, Salta can be plagued by severe, week long dust storms. Temperatures frequently hit 35 °C or even more during these months.

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Getting There

By Plane

Martín Miguel de Güemes International Airport (SLA), in Spanish Aeropuerto Internacional de Salta Martín Miguel de Güemes, is an airport about 6 km southwest of the city centre. In 2007 this airport almost had 400,000 passengers making it the busiest airport in the northern part of the country. This airport is the main hub for the Andes and served by Aerolíneas Argentinas, LAN Argentina, Andes Líneas Aéreas and Aerosur. The main destinations are Santa Cruz, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Puerto Iguazu and San Salvador de Jujuy.

By Train

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

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Getting Around

By Car

Taxi fare is around 5 pesos for standard rides.

By Public Transport

Buses cost 1 Peso on all routes.

By Foot

By Bike

Eat & Drink

The three blocks on the north end of Balcarce street, closest to the train station, are the centre of nightlife in Salta. There's plenty of restaurants, pubs and cafés here, as well as nightly concerts.

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Sleep

Budget

Property	Address	Type	Popularity
Backpackers Hostel Salta	Buenos Aires 930	Hostel	78
Backpacker`s City	Alvarado 751	Hostel	81
Bloomers Bed & Brunch	Vicente Lopez 129	Hotel	92
El Alcazar	Balcarce 81	Hostel	80
El Andaluz	Cordoba, 191	Hostel	77
Exxes Hostel	Catamarca 481	Guesthouse	78
Gramma´s House	Mendoza 1569	Hostel	-
Hostal Condor Pass	Urquiza 675	Hostel	-
Hostal El Aljibe	Alvarado 322 Salta	Guesthouse	83
Hostal Kaskai	Simon Bolivar 441	Hostel	76
Hostal Prisamata	Mitre 833	Guesthouse	86
Hostel in Salta	Tucuman 464	Hostel	87
Hostel Puesto Viejo	Jujuy 159 Santiago del Estero 137	Hostel	-
Inti Huasi	Abraham Cornejo 120	Guesthouse	82
Las Rejas Hostel	General Güemes 569	Hostel	82
Los Cardones Salta	Avenida Entre Rios 454	Hostel	81
Molles del Portezuelo	Pje Peñalba 69 -Bº Portezuelo Norte	Guesthouse	89
Poncho Huasi	Guemes 760 Cerrillos	Guesthouse	88
Quovadis	Av. Entre Rios 742	Hostel	79
Hostal del Centro	Cordoba 83	Hostel	78
7 Duendes Base Hostel	San Juan 189	HOSTEL	84
Hostal Yatasto	Pueyrredon 352	Guesthouse	-
Hostel Palo Santo	Lavalle 680	Hostel	73
Traveller's North Hostel	Av Hipólito Yrigoyen 158	Hostel	79
Hostal El Quijote	Las Heras 1325	Guesthouse	82
Corre Caminos Hostel	Vicente López 353	Hostel	74
Residencial Las Rosas	Avenida Hipolito Yrigoyen 1195	Hotel	80
Antigua Sala Hosteria	Bolivar 2800	Guesthouse	-
Hostel de la Linda	Alberdi 695	Guesthouse	78
Hostel San Jorge	Esteco 244	Hostel	79
El Duende de la Posta	Alsina 1070	Guesthouse	-
Hostal El Balcon del Valle	Alvarado 1668	Guesthouse	75
Backpacker's Suites & Bar	Urquiza 1045	HOSTEL	79
El Argentino Hostel	Calle Alvarado 1077	Hostel	80
Hotel Las Nubes	Florida 683	Hotel	81
Kusisa Hostal	Juramento 54	Guesthouse	-
Alquimia Hostel	Vicente Lopez 386	HOSTEL	76
Hostal Cuatro Torres	Av. San Martin 1.360	Hostel	77
7 Duendes Twin Hostel	Urquiza 1646	HOSTEL	82
Sol Huasi Hostel	Av. Belgrano 671	Hostel	-
Posada del Angel	Pueyrredon 25	HOTEL	-
Hostal America	Alvarado 528	Guesthouse	76
Coloria Hostel	General Guemes 333	HOSTEL	73
Posada Casa de Borgoña	Espana 916	HOSTEL	76
La Casa de Mia Mama	Los Abetos n° 170 - Barrio Tres Cerritos	HOTEL	-
Hostal Fabian Martinez	Tucuman 755	GUESTHOUSE	80
Hostal Quara	Santiago del Estero 125	HOSTEL	-
Sol Huasi	Avenida Belgrano 671	HOSTEL	-
La Posada de Don Simon	Alvarado 1070	HOSTEL	-

Mid-Range

Upscale

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Work

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Learn

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Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

Post

Correos de Argentina is the national postal service of Argentina. There are also two private carriers operating nationwide (OCA and Andreani) and a number of regional ones though Correos de Argentina will be the one most likely to be used by travellers. Post offices are mostly open between 8:00am and 8:00pm Monday to Friday and 9:00am to 1:00pm on Saturday, though there are regional variantions with longer hours in central post offices in big cities and shorter ones in small towns. Services are pretty reliable but slow, mostly taking about two weeks to deliver a postcard or letter to the USA or Europe, but usually within a few days sending it domestically. There is also a more expensive express options. You can track a package online at the Correos de Argentino website. Parcels take at least 3-5 days domestically and weeks internationally. Otherwise try international ones like FedEx or UPS to send parcels both more reliable as well as faster.