A self-guided city tour. Downtown Salta is one of the prettiest — and easiest — Argentine tourist spots to explore on foot. Native son Hernán Uriburu, the dean of the trail ride operators in this northwestern province, gives newly-arrived clients a piece of paper with the following self-guided walking tour to orient them in the city before or after accompanying him on a long horseback ride to outposts in the mountains:
”First of all, get your geographical bearings. Take the gondola lift one-way to the top of Mount San Bernardo. From there you will get an idea of the city’s size, its buildings, its churches, squares, soccer pitches … everything that can be seen from above.
Then descend the stairs of the Stations of the Cross to the Monument to General Martín Miguel de Güemes, from where you will begin a historic and religious itinerary that takes you down Paseo Güemes, Calle Virrey Toledo and Calle Caseros (the city’s oldest street), past the San Bernardo convent, the San Francisco Church, the Uriburu Museum, and all the way to the Plaza 9 de Julio main square. Around the square are the Cathedral, the MAAM (Museum of High-Mountain Archaeology), and the Cabildo , among other landmarks.
The Peatonal Alberdi pedestrian mall that branches off the main square is a good place to pick up on the city’s ethnic side, noting how salteños look and dress, and how they arrange their shop windows displays.
When you get to Avenida San Martín, walk a block and a half to the San Miguel popular market. There you will see what fruit, vegetables, fish and meat are produced and eaten in the region.
Three and a half blocks from there, at Avenida San Martín and Calle Islas Malvinas, is the Patio de la Empanada, a pasties mall that will put you in touch with one of the mainstays of the province’s gastronomy.”
”First of all, get your geographical bearings. Take the gondola lift one-way to the top of Mount San Bernardo. From there you will get an idea of the city’s size, its buildings, its churches, squares, soccer pitches … everything that can be seen from above.
Then descend the stairs of the Stations of the Cross to the Monument to General Martín Miguel de Güemes, from where you will begin a historic and religious itinerary that takes you down Paseo Güemes, Calle Virrey Toledo and Calle Caseros (the city’s oldest street), past the San Bernardo convent, the San Francisco Church, the Uriburu Museum, and all the way to the Plaza 9 de Julio main square. Around the square are the Cathedral, the MAAM (Museum of High-Mountain Archaeology), and the Cabildo , among other landmarks.
The Peatonal Alberdi pedestrian mall that branches off the main square is a good place to pick up on the city’s ethnic side, noting how salteños look and dress, and how they arrange their shop windows displays.
When you get to Avenida San Martín, walk a block and a half to the San Miguel popular market. There you will see what fruit, vegetables, fish and meat are produced and eaten in the region.
Three and a half blocks from there, at Avenida San Martín and Calle Islas Malvinas, is the Patio de la Empanada, a pasties mall that will put you in touch with one of the mainstays of the province’s gastronomy.”
