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Route Rating Level 3 to Level 5

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Premiere Inns
  • From $4,498
    To $4,798 pp dbl. occ.
  • (+From $820 To $1,450
    for sgl. occ.)

Reserve early for the best available price. More Info

8 DAYS, 7 NIGHTS
ROLLOVER DATES BELOW FOR SPECIFIC PRICES
2008 DATES
CLASSIC TRIPS
2009 DATES
CLASSIC TRIPS
SINGLES+SOLOS TRIPS
ROLLOVER DATES ABOVE FOR SPECIFIC PRICES
TRIP NOTES

All meals included except for 1 lunch and 1 dinner.

Cancellation Policy

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Meet / Depart

Salta, Argentina /Salta, Argentina

Special Interest

Culture & History, Fine Wine & Cuisine, Geological Wonders, Horseback Ride, Mountain Bike, Natural Beauty &/or Wildlife, Romance &/or Honeymoon, Spa

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Contact Us

Call: 800-462-2848
or 510-527-1555
Fax: 510-527-1444
E-mail us

801 Cedar St.
Berkeley, CA 94710

Business Hours:
7 days a week
from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Pacific Time

Or contact your travel agent

Argentina Vacations

Argentina Biking

The Stunning Andean Northwest

Join Backroads to experience the stunning natural beauty of northern Argentina, an evocative landscape of immense geologic variety: dramatic wind-carved rock formations, mountain passes tinted in vibrant rainbow colors, lush cloud forests and green vineyards. This new mountain biking trip is bookended by the dramatic and colorful canyons of Quebrada de la Humahuaca and Quebrada de Cafayate. In between you'll pass through adobe villages, visit with local weavers and silversmiths, and discover the wine regions of Salta and Cafayate, long admired by connoisseurs for intense malbec and fruity torrontés. Evenings are spent at one-of-a-kind hotels featuring spas and gourmet cuisine.

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Day 1 Purmamarca

Meet in Salta  Warm up your legs on a ride to Purmamarca, a peaceful adobe village at the base of the vivid Cerro de los Siete Colores  Pedal through the stark and stunning Quebrada de Humahuaca, a World Heritage site and the heart of the indigenous heritage of the Andean northwest  Ride alongside cliffs in the shade of alamos and willow trees.

Day 2 Outskirts of Salta

A landscape of tobacco plantations and pine and algarrobo forests changes to subtropical primary forest as you bike past huge trees filled with bromeliads, ferns and serenading birds Join in learning the chacarera or malambo folkloric dances of the Salta region.

Days 3-4 Cachi

Shuttle to 11,000 feet in the altiplano Ride through Los Cardones National Park, abundant with giant cardón cacti Keep an eye out for llamas and guanacos A hilly ride in the countryside offers views of the snowcapped Nevada de Cachi  Visit with a local family and watch empanadas baked in adobe ovens  Visit a master weaver for a treadle-loom and wool-dying demonstration Explore Cachi, known for its silver handicrafts.

Days 5-6 Molinos

A challenging ride ends at Estancia Colomé, a remote paradise set amid some of the world's highest-altitude vineyards Explore the extraordinary property (96,000 acres) by mountain bike or on horseback  Get a massage in your room, relax by the pool or play a game of pétanque Enjoy a wine-tasting at Colomé's exclusive bodega.

Days 7-8 Cafayate

Shuttle over the Infiernillo Pass, with its backdrop of red peaks  Ride along the famed Cafayate Valley wine route, with sweeping views of the valley  Take time out at Patios de Cafayate's luxurious wine spa or keep spinning through the countryside  Pedal through the Quebrada de Cafayate, filled with otherworldly landforms called such fantastical names as the Devil's Throat, the Toad and the Castles  Return to Salta.

Route Rating What's this? Every Backroads trip is designed to appeal to a wide variety of interests and fitness levels. Each offers options for more or less activity, so you can decide exactly how much you want to do day by day.

Lodging What's this? Our lodgings are divided into three different categories.

Premiere Inns:These lodgings possess both elegance and authentic regional flair.

Casual Inns:These lodgings are comfortable and appropriate to the areawith such characteristics as authenticity, scenic settings and proximity to our activities.

Deluxe Camping:We set up the tents (and take them down), handle every camp chore and perform culinary magic.

Detailed Itinerary

Reserve This Trip!

Guest Trip Reviews

The biking Northern Argentina trip not only offers some truly challenging and scenic mountain biking, but also takes you into a lesser known region of Argentina with incredible geographic diversity and rich ancient Pre-Hispanic culture.
Michelle Muench - Trip Development Coordinator, South America

More Reviews of this Trip

All Guest Reviews

For more than 29 years, Backroads has been perfecting the art of active travel. We are the Argentina tour experts. For biking tours in Latin America, trust our in-depth connections. To see all our Latin America biking tours click here. For our selection of award-winning Latin America walking and hiking tours click here. For our selection of award-winning Latin America multisport tours click here.

Argentina Biking

Historic Haciendas: Premiere Inns*

El Manantial del Silencio

Purmamarca (1 night): A stylish hotel featuring airy Colonial-style guest rooms with terra-cotta floors, an outdoor pool and gourmet Andean cuisine.    

El Manantial del Milagro

Outskirts of Salta (1 night): This working hacienda has a garden pool and is surrounded by fields of alfalfa, tobacco, peaches and pumpkins.

* With 1 Casual Inn night

La Merced del Alto

Cachi (2 nights): A new luxury hotel with amazing views of the Cachi Valley, gourmet cuisine, a swimming pool and spa.

Estancia Colome

Molinos (2 nights): This boutique hotel and wine estate features a contemporary art museum and comes highly recommended by Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report.

Patios de Cafayate Hotel & Spa

Cafayate (1 night): A former Colonial mansion, surrounded by vineyards and extensive gardens and offering elegant guest rooms, a pool and spa.

Argentina Biking Argentina Biking

Patios de Cafayate Hotel & Spa

Argentina Biking

Route Rating

Daily Mileage Options & Cumulative Elevation Gain

Day 1
  • Level 2 1 Route Option Available
  • 12 miles
  • 0 - 500 feet elevation gain
Day 2
  • Levels 4 to 5 2 Route Options Available
  • 24, 49 miles
  • 1000 - 2500 feet elevation gain
Day 3
  • Levels 3 to 4 2 Route Options Available
  • 28, 37 miles
  • 0 - 1000 elevation gain
Day 4
  • Levels 3 to 4 2 Route Options Available
  • 15, 30 miles
  • 1000 - 2500 feet elevation gain
Day 5
  • Levels 2 to 4  3 Route Options Available
  • 20, 34, 44 miles
  • 500 - 2000 feet elevation gain
Day 6
  • Level 3 to 4 2 Route Options Available
  • 25, 37 miles
  • 0 - 1000 elevation gain
Day 7
  • Level 4 to 5 3 Route Options Available
  • 22, 37, 63 miles
  • 1000 - 2000 elevation gain
Day 8
  • Level 2 to 5 3 Route Options Available
  • 17, 29, 55 miles
  • 0 - 1000 elevation gain

Our biking routes follow dirt and unpaved gravel roads; 58% of the time we'll be riding on paved roads over very hilly terrain.  

Argentina Biking Argentina Biking

Trips For All Abilities

Every Backroads trip is designed to appeal to a wide variety of interests and fitness levels. We know your pace may vary from one day to the next-and your traveling companion's may differ somewhat from yours. So we present a range of mileage options, and each day you decide exactly what and how much you want to do.

Activity Level Average Time Average Distance
    Biking Walking
& Hiking
1 2-3
hours		 10-20
miles		 2-5
miles
2 2-4
hours		 21-30
miles		 5-7
miles
3 3-5
hours		 31-40
miles		 7-9
miles
4 4-6
hours		 41-55
miles		 9-11
miles
5 5-7+
hours		 56-75+
miles		 11-13+
miles