Santiago del Estero
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Located just east of the Catamarca, Santiago del Estero is the capital city of the beautiful Santiago del Estero province, situated on the Rio Dulce (Sweet River) and is said to be the oldest city in the country, offering up beautiful colonial buildings, historical sights, and plenty of outdoor activities all year round.
The province of Santiago del Estero features a vast plain and dusty landscape with the exception of the Rio Dulce, Algarrobo Forest, few rock formations, and farmed cotton fields. This area is unique in its climate, in contrast to its neighbouring provinces, with winters that are warm and sunny and summers which often reach up to 45 C, making winter, spring, and fall the best times to visit.
Santiago del Estero, know as the ‘Madre de Ciudades’, is home to 420,000 people and is Argentina’s oldest inhabited city, found in 1553 by the Spanish and is home to the first established university in all of Argentina. Santiago del Estero also has the largest Quechua speaking population, 100,000, a language from the Incas and one of the few indigenous languages still surviving in Argentina today. Although modernized over time, the city still features many colonial buildings, city historical sights, and museums, as well as a beautiful Cathedral dated back to 1570. The city is on the banks of the Rio Dulce and tours can be taken down this quiet palm tree-lined river all year long. It is also worth to see the Francisco Aguirre Park that features a municipal beach, great for water sports, on the Rio Dulce. Besides all of this, some very quaint restaurants and comfortable hotels make Santiago del Estero the perfect rest-stop and a great place to relax for a couple days.
Outside of the City
There are a handful of great outdoors activities that can be enjoyed outside of the city including water sports, sport fishing, quad excursions, and touring archaeological sights, all can be organized at the local tourism agencies in the city. Located near the city on the Rio Dulce is Rio Hondo, a small town of thermal springs. The town is considered the biggest of thermal towns in Argentina and features a series of natural ground water thermal springs, available all year round.
Festivals
Every year Santiago del Estero celebrates its very own colourful and chaotic carnival in February, featuring parades, outdoor parties, wild costumes, and other forms of local celebration, lasting just a few days.
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