Córdoba

Colonial facades overlook busy squares where students laugh over mate and wine. Nights don’t end till work starts the next morning - and you’re probably not working so the nights all roll into one.

Images of Córdoba

Expect: Students, late nights and just sitting around, drinking mate.

Pack: Mate gourd and thermos flask.

Córdoba

After the harsh, surreal mountain desert of Salta, or the empty plains of Patagonia, Córdoba comes as both a bit of a shock and a seriously welcome surprise. Colonial facades overlook busy squares where students laugh over mate and wine. Nights don’t end till work starts the next morning - and you’re probably not working so the nights all roll into one. Argentina’s second largest city overflows with culture and sophistication but is loved for its down-to-earth and studenty feel. It has the colonial architecture and the glorious plazas, the world-class galleries and the great universities, the cobbled streets and the trendy bars; but, refreshingly, none of the pomp. In contrast to its big brother across the pampas, Córdoba is fantastically unpretentious.

Deservedly awarded the title “cultural capital of the Americas” in 2006, ‘culture’ in this modern city is not purely a nostalgic, retrospective experience; it is alive and well. From evening theatre on Plaza San Martin or snazzy designers selling out of pocket-size stores in Pasaje Colonial, Cordoba lives its art. Four excellent galleries, the spectacular Manzana Jesuitica and two great cathedrals also more than satisfy the more classical taste of even the hungriest culture vulture.

Córdoba is an exciting place to spend a few days, weeks, or months. Many a day can be spent nursing a hangover in Las Tinajas, Argentina’s largest tenedor libre (all-you-can-eat), where ‘hair-of-the-dog’ can easily turn into the beginnings of another huge night.

When (if ever) you’ve had your fill there are also some nifty day trips to be done beyond the city limits, but be sure to make it back to Córdoba – you wouldn’t want to miss out on another great night. Villa Belgrano is a bizarre ‘German’ town two hours outside Córdoba. It supposedly traces its roots back to the survivors of the German battleship Graf Spee who settled here after their ship was sunk during World War II, not far from Montevideo. Here you can dig into some decent sauerkraut and bratwurst, but really the time to come is the first two weeks of October when thousands of beer lovers descend on this quiet town for its own unique version of the German Oktoberfest. Sipping Patagonian brew from a giant beer-mug, while dancing topless with a drunken Israeli, to singing Argentines dressed in German national dress, is about as weird a travel experience as they come.

Alta Gracia is another popular day trip and although many claim to be going to see the 17th century Jesuit estancia, everyone is really here to check out the childhood home of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara. Located on a quiet, leafy street this cute house is now a museum. Small but personable, it is a worthwhile stop if you are interested in this controversial but enticing figure. The exhibition depicts, via well lit and good quality photographs, the life of Che from his childhood in Alta Gracia to his success in Cuba and his death in Bolivia. For the most part though, the pleasure comes from just being in the house that El Che grew up in.