An immense plain that stretches across the central area of the country. It occupies most of the provinces of Buenos Aires and La Pampa, the southern area of Santa Fe, Córdoba and Entre Ríos covering a total area of about 1,000 km2 (630 sq miles) and with a fertile productive soil reached a depth of 2,5 meters (8 feet). Its smooth landscape exhibits a monotonous vegetation of small bushes, grass and gramineous. The only tree originally from these plains, the ombú, is in fact a big bush. The best way to have a close look at the country life is by taking part in a Fiesta Gaucha. A full day spent at an estancia enjoying a warm welcome with empanadas (meat stuffed pastries), tasting a good asado (Argentine barbecue prepared in the same fashion that gauchos have been keeping for more than 200 years) with excellent local wine, enjoying a folk show and demonstration of gaucho skills, breathing some fresh air wandering around, horseback ridings or simply relaxing.

Undoubtedly, one of the most important worldwide renowned attractions of Argentina is beef. A few minutes away from the city, in Mataderos suburban district, the Mercado Nacional de Hacienda de Liniers (Liniers Livestock Cattle Market) is located. Daily, the market receives thousands of live animals that are classified and sold at public auction. It is also possible to see the rodeos, the weighing of the animals on cattle scales and the auctions performed by the most important commissioners of the market. The actions are directed with the hammer and by alive kilo, a style unique in the world. The building also houses the Museo Criollo de los Corrales (Creole Museum of the Stockyards).

Some 115 km (72 miles) from Buenos Aires stands the small village of San Antonio de Areco, which has succeeded in preserving the image of the gaucho. The place is the cradle of his traditional culture where each year, on the second week of November, the Celebration of Tradition is held. One of the pulperías' (typical mixture of grocery, bar and gambling house) where the gauchos used to meet is still kept as part of the Museo Gauchesco Ricardo Güiraldes (Gaucho Museum Ricardo Güiraldes). Its building is the replica of an estancia main house and exhibits paintings and gauchos' everyday life objects. It is also possible to visit the atelier of some of the numerous artists that produce leather and silver crafts or drawings related to gaucho way of life. This is the ideal place to spend a day in a ranch, since in this region is home to some of the most prosperous ranches in the country.

The city of Luján, known as the National Capital of Faith is located 70 km (44 miles) west from Buenos Aires. This city developed around the imposing Sanctuary of the Vírgen de Luján, saint patron of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, a gothic-style building featured by its two 106 meter (350 feet) towers. This is the most important pilgrimage center of the country, where thousands of people gather each year. It is interesting to visit some of its museums, such as the Colonial History Museum placed in the old Town Hall, with a valuable collection of weapons and military uniforms, objects of the Hispanic Art, Colonial silverware, and aborigines' and gauchos´ handicrafts; or the Transport Museum, with a wide collection of carriages, planes and including the first steam engine of the country, called La Porteña.
Other museums that can be visited are the Wax Museum, and the Fine Arts Museum.

LA PLATA
The capital of Buenos Aires province located 56 km (35 miles) from Buenos Aires city. It was founded in 1882, and is an example of urban planning with its streets, avenues and diagonals masterly matching with extensive green areas. Its public buildings show different architectural styles: the Neo-Gothic Cathedral, the City Hall, the Legislature and the Government Palace. Its Natural Science Museum, founded at the end of the XIX century, with the most relevant paleontological, botanical and zoological collections of South America, is quite important. Other interesting places are the National Observatory, the Wild Animal Breeding Station and the República de los Niños (Children's Republic), where there are miniature replicas of the most important public buildings of Argentina.

THE BEACHES ON THE ATLANTIC COAST
Going south from Buenos Aires, a series of beaches and seaside resorts spread along the Atlantic Ocean coast. The best known among them are: Santa Teresita, Mar del Tuyú, San Bernardo, Mar de Ajó, Pinamar, Ostende, Valeria del Mar, Villa Gesell, Mar Chiquita, Santa Clara del Mar, Mar del Plata.

Mar del Plata is undoubtedly the most famous seaside resort of the Argentine Atlantic coast, known as "the Happy City" or "the Atlantic Pearl". The airport, situated just a few kilometers north from the city, receives several flights a day from Buenos Aires. The main activities are tourism and fishing; and it is also the center of an important agricultural and cattle breeding region. Its 47 km (30 mile) long beach stripe with bays, and rock cliffs and its excellent service infrastructure make it a favorite destination.

The city, founded in 1874, developed at a vertiginous speed, becoming soon o top-notch destination for the elite. Nowadays, the city has taken a much more popular edge, becoming the perfect destination for people belonging to all social classes. Mar del Plata keeps its traditional French style houses mostly built in stones from the nearby quarries, red bricks and tiled roofs. Some of these villas can be visited, such as Villa Victoria. It is also possible to visit its several museums, shopping malls and the Casino. A few minutes from downtown stands the Aquarium, which covers 10 hectares (25 acres), and houses a great variety of fishes, sea mammals; offers shows performed by dolphins and sea-lions; has a pond where the marine flora and fauna of the Pampas can be appreciated, and a small sea water lagoon for aquatic ski and nautical exhibitions. A few meters away the Punta Mogotes Lighthouse, belonging to the Marine, was built in 1891. It is the oldest in the country, and boasted a remarkable radio system.

Going on southward, in the place called Barranca de los Lobos, the cliff reaches a height of 45 m (150 feet) offering a superb panoramic view of the surrounding area. It is also worth visiting the Port with its shopping and gastronomic center, where the yellow boats loaded with the fish that is the product of the daily toil coming back at sunset offer a view full of local color. The port houses also a small sea lion settlement.

The exclusive Mar del Plata Golf Club of Playa Grande is situated in the most posh area of the city, where the best hotels and seaside resorts are also located. The Club House occupies a beautiful English style manor. The club is one of the most elegant golf clubs in the country, since due to its privileged position allows, from its course, astounding panoramic views of the ocean, the beaches, the jetties, and the port.

Mar del Plata is surrounded by large green spaces, offering a great assortment of facilities for the practice of football, rugby, hockey, golf and polo; a Riding Club and School. The nearby area of Sierra and Laguna de los Padres is also very attractive and has a good polo course submersed in a beautiful natural environment.

Another city dedicated to agriculture and cattle raising is Balcarce, where the Experimental Station of the INTA (National Institute for Agriculture and Cattle-raising Technology) is located. It is well worth visiting its calm streets, as well as the Museo del Automovilismo Juan Manuel Fangio (Car Racing Museum 'Juan Manuel Fangio'), which honors the five-time Grand Prix world champion.

The local INTA station is specialized in the study of animal nutrition (ruminant species) and bovine interbreeding for improvement of the species (Aberdeen Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn, Holstein, Charolais, Limusin, Fleckvieh-Simmental, Pardo Suizo y Chanina, among others) as well as in the study of crops and pastures of wheat, sunflower, soybean and maize which are abundant in the region. The station is also the only one dedicated to the study of potato cultivation. There is also in the station a section of the Agrarian Sciences School.

The city of Tandil is located within short distance of Balcarce. The city is the heart of a cattle-breeding region, dedicated also to dairy activities and cheese production. Tandil is also an important tourism center mainly because of its charming hilly surroundings. The main attractions are the Via Crucis which each year, during the Holy Week, becomes an important center of pilgrimage; and some curious stone formation on the top of the hills including "the Sentry" or "the Movediza" ("the Balancing Stone").

The massif of the Sierras de Tandil along with that of the Sierras de la Ventana, in the southern extreme of Buenos Aires province, are part of the oldest geological stratum in the continent, the so-called massif of Brasilia. Sierras de la Ventana offers several river beaches, camping sites and an important golf course. In the area, the Provincial Park Ernesto Tornquist is worth a visit. It is a natural reserve created to protect the flora and fauna of the sierras. In the surroundings it is also possible to practice windsurfing, motor-cross biking, or mountain biking.

100 km (62.50 miles) south from Sierras de la Ventana and 600 km (375 miles) from Buenos Aires stands Bahía Blanca, important because of its production of winter and summer cereals, and its deep-water port of Ingeniero White, which plays an important role in the export of the production of the province and of the surrounding provinces. The name Bahía Blanca (White Bay) comes from the quantity of salt-pits of the surroundings. It is possible to visit the zoo, the Natural Science Museum, the History Museum and a picturesque neighborhood situated near the railway station.

North of Bahía Blanca, in the Sierras of Cura Malal and Bravard, stands the city of Pigüé, where many French, Italian, Spanish and German immigrants settled when the railway reached the area, turning it into the most important railway center in the south of the province. The city has a beautiful landscape with coves, streams, and lagoons where activities such as sport fishing and nautical sports are available, as well as non-conventional tourism and adventure activities such as paragliding, trekking, horse riding, camping, and agro-tourism. The countryside makes it possible to combine nature and typical traditions. There are ranches that provide lodging permitting a closest contact with cattle raising and agriculture activities that are typical in the region.

Near Pigüé, the cities of Guaminí and Carhué, located within short distance of the salt-water lagoon of Epecuén, are the perfect place to take advantage of the therapeutic properties of the waters. There are other cities devoted to agriculture in the region, such as Coronel Pringles and Lobería, which are dedicated to winter pasture crops such as oat and rye grass for cattle breeding.

Belén de Escobar, known as the "national capital of the flower", is located in the north of Buenos Aires province. In October, an important celebration is held, the "Flower Feast", which includes an important exhibition of flowers and gardens, gathering the flower producers of the area, a chart parade and the selection of beauty queens.

The land extending in the north of Buenos Aires and south of Santa Fe, can be considered the most fertile soil in the country for cereal production, specially wheat, sorghum, maize and soybean. The area is limited by the triangle marked by the cities of Pergamino (in Buenos Aires province), Venado Tuerto and Rosario (in Santa Fe province). In Pergamino there is an INTA Experimental Station (National Institute of Agriculture and Cattle-Raising) devoted to the improvement of maize agriculture. Maize hybrids are cultivated in the region. Further north the town of San Pedro, probably the nicest small city in Buenos Aires province, is worth a short visit.

Once in the province of Santa Fe, the city of Rosario is the third most important one in the country after Buenos Aires and Córdoba, and the second one in population. You reach there after a 3-hour highway drive along National Route 9. It was founded in 1730 when some families of the city of Santa Fe (capital of the province) moved south due to the continuous aborigine attacks. It was in Rosario de la Vera Cruz (that is the complete name of the city) where General Manuel Belgrano created the Argentine flag in 1812. The city is one of the main commercial and industrial centers of the Pampas, since most of the agricultural products is exported through its port, which boasts most modern premises and technology. Rosario offers beautiful views of the Paraná River. On the banks of the river stands the Monumento a la Bandera (Monument to the Flag), a majestic work designed by Argentine artists.

Continuing along National Route 9, 170 km (106 miles) from Rosario, in the province of Córdoba, the first city that appears is the small city of Marcos Juárez, which is center of a region mainly devoted to wheat, soybean, alfalfa, maize and oleaginous crops. Flax was introduced at the end of the XIX century, and is specially used for the textile and oleaginous industries. In past years, Argentina was among the first producers of oleaginous crops in the world. Oats and barley were also introduced at the end of the XIX century while rye, millet, sunflower and sorghum were introduced at the beginning of the XX century.
On along National Route 9, 400 km (250 miles) from Rosario and 713 (445 miles) from Buenos Aires, you finally reach Córdoba, capital city of the homonymous province.