The Pampas is perhaps the best-known region in Argentina. The mere mention of its name is enough to bring forth a feeling of legend, mystery and infinitude. It is a word of Quechua origin meaning 'treeless plain'. As a matter of fact, most of its surface is composed by vast grasslands and crops where the image of the gaucho is still present in the mores inherited by countrymen. There is very little vegetation that is native to the pampas. The only tree that grows here as an autochthonous species is the 'ombú', and it also contributes to legend, its wood, useless for fuel or burning, fulfills an undeniable historical function: providing shade to tired 'gauchos' as they rested after their daily tasks beneath its branches to sip some 'mate' (bitter green tea). The main city in the region is Buenos Aires, "la Reina del Plata" (the Queen of the River, as the tango lyrics go). Undoubtedly the starting point for any itinerary within Argentina. However, there are some other very important cities such as Córdoba and Rosario.
The vast Pampas are interrupted in the provinces of Córdoba and San Luis by beautiful sierras, which constitute the perfect match for the fertile valleys. There are also some smaller ranges of sierras in the province of Buenos Aires: those called Sierras de Tandil and Sierra de la Ventana. Eastward the Pampas face the ocean, with its vast beaches chosen each summer by many Argentineans.

Some of the most important cities of the country are situated in this region: Buenos Aires, La Plata, Córdoba, Rosario, and Santa Rosa.