This Insight Travel Guides highlights top places to visit when traveling to South America. We have listed the top destinations below.
This website has been helping travelers find their way around the continent and we believe it can also be of great assistance to you.
South America covers an area of 17 840 000 square kilometres and is located in the...
Two centuries ago, in August 1819, the patriot commander Simón Bolívar defeated royalist Spanish forces to liberate Colombia and kick-start the South American independence movement. But who was he – and where can you follow in his footsteps?
Bolívar in brief
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco was born in 1783 in Caracas, in the...
1 La Paz
The capital city is building up its 21st-century credentials, but it still has its market streets where you can shop in the countless stores for multicoloured textiles and musical instruments, or head higher up into the indigenous area for produce and traditional items.
2 Tiwanaku
Just a short ride from La Paz, Tiwanaku contains the remnants and artefacts of...
Birdwatching
Birdwatching is just getting underway in Bolivia as an organized activity. It offers great potential but requires considerable effort. The country is estimated to have over 1300 bird species, about 40% of the total found in South America, which range from macaws to condors, and hummingbirds to rheas. All national parks have opportunities for birdwatching, which can be combined...
Travelling along the Carretera Austral is one of the last great journeys in an untouched wilderness that South America – and indeed the world – has to offer.
It is a largely unpaved ripio road stretching almost 1200 km through spectacular ever-changing scenery and with a similar length of branch roads heading either to the fjords or the mountains and...
Fiesta de las Aguas, Pasto, February
Following the grease- and talcum-coated fun of Carnaval, the town of Pasto washes itself clean with a giant water fight. Water is poured from balconies and everyone in town is fair game.
Festival del Burro, San Antero, Córdoba, Easter
The people of the Caribbean coastal town of San Antero love their donkeys so much that they...
Our round-up of the top things to do and see in Colombia
1 La Candelaria
Much of Bogotá is crowded, noisy, polluted and chaotic. However, it is also an endearing cosmopolitan hub, rich in culture. La Candelaria, in the historic centre, is a well-preserved colonial neighbourhood notable for its churches and old houses, and the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) possesses...
From September to April, Australis Expedition Cruises' vessel the Stella Australis cruises between Punta Arenas and Ushuaia. Stella Australis can accommodate 210. Passengers sail in comfort, treated to fine food and expert service, through the Straits of Magellan and the channels and fjords between Tierra del Fuego and the islands that cling to its southern shore. These were the...
or Semana Rapa Nui
Held each year in late January/early February, Tapati is organized on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) as a huge competition between groups, many of them families, each of which elects a beauty queen. It begins slowly but builds momentum as the fortnight goes on. Families score points by participating in a wide variety of competitions, including gastronomy,...
Colombia has 42 Parques Nacionales Naturales (PNN), as well as numerous other sanctuaries and reserves, spread throughout the country, covering virtually every type of terrain, and comprising more than 20% of the national territory. Although some are very remote and difficult to access, others offer visitors the best chance to get to know the country’s diverse landscapes, flora and...
