South America

Andes, Amazon and Atlantic cities

South America

South America connects high mountain country, tropical rainforest, wine regions and long ocean coasts. Music, food and daily life shift noticeably as soon as you cross a border or mountain range.

South America offers journeys on an imposing scale. Trek through the Andes, travel up an Amazon tributary, take long-distance buses between colonial cities or stay in a neighbourhood where markets and music set the pace. Indigenous cultures, European colonisation and later migration have shaped complex societies that resist a single narrative.

Altitude, climate and travel time determine what is practical. A short distance on the map can take a full day because of mountains or limited connections. Check rainy seasons and acclimatise gradually at elevation. A regional focus leaves time not only for headline sights, but also for understanding the places in between.

From the magazine

Stories about South America

Editorial stories linked to South America and to the countries and places within this region.

Ten responsible places to watch for whales from shore
Article

Ten responsible places to watch for whales from shore

These ten coasts put people on paths, platforms, dunes and cliff tops while whales follow their own routes offshore. Pick the right season, stay on land and accept the essential uncertainty: even in peak months, the sea may hold no whale in view.

Five South American beaches, ranked beyond the postcard
Article

Five South American beaches, ranked beyond the postcard

Red rock, ancestral monuments, city apartments, Caribbean forest and volcanic cliffs define these five very different shores. This ranking weighs landscape, local setting, nature value, the kind of visit each beach suits and a deliberate spread across South America; it makes no absolute claim about the continent’s “best” beaches.

The 10 Cities Best Understood from the Water
Article

The 10 Cities Best Understood from the Water

A fine skyline is not enough. In these ten cities, a ferry or small boat reveals how trade, terrain, buildings and daily travel grew around a river, canal or bay.

Ten trading cities where the old streets still work
Article

Ten trading cities where the old streets still work

At Venice’s Rialto market, fishers and wholesalers still sell the morning catch beside open-air fruit and vegetable stalls. Across ten old trading cities, quays, lanes, workshops and fortifications still show how goods once moved and how people use these places now.

Ten Squares That Change After Dark
Article

Ten Squares That Change After Dark

At sunset, restaurant stalls fill Jemaa el-Fna and listeners close around storytellers who adjust each performance to the crowd. Elsewhere, evening brings aperitivo tables, commuter tides, street food, ceremonies and concert audiences to public ground.

Eight mineral landscapes shaped by salt, iron and hot water
Article

Eight mineral landscapes shaped by salt, iron and hot water

On Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, a hard white crust runs towards an empty horizon. Elsewhere, iron colours whole mountains red, hot springs build terraces, and Roman miners have left cliffs behind.

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