Destinations

The Best Places to Go in Central & South America in 2025

For secret surf spots, riverside glamping, and exciting new restaurants.
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Copal Tree Lodge

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Whenever we get asked the question, Where should I go in Central or South America?, it’s hard to answer in a hurry. Sure, there are some common threads that tie the region together. From Belize to Chile, a fascinating blend of Indigenous, European colonizer, and more recent immigrant cultures shape everything from cuisine to architecture. There’s a vibrancy, too, an unapologetic joy in both everyday life and special celebrations, that many visitors can’t help but feel drawn to. Beyond that, however, so much of what defines the best places to visit in Central or South America is personal. What do you want out of this rich and varied swath of land?

Do you, for example, dream of hidden surf spots, where every sunrise is practically your own, and evenings are spent in breezy bungalows shrouded by the oiti trees of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest? Or is it the bustle of street food vendors in Bolivia doling out tangy fermented juices and hearty ancestral stews that make you want to hop on a flight? Maybe it’s the possibility of kayaking through the rugged Chaco region of Argentina, where elusive jaguars and giant anteaters slink through the dusty surrounds. Whichever landscape moves you—the concrete jungles or the real ones; the well-trod or the burgeoning—you’ll find it here. Perhaps the only way we can answer the impossible question of which is the best place to visit in Central or South America is to share which feels most urgent in 2025 either thanks to new landing spots (Brazilian surf hideaway, Itacaré, is getting a slew of chic new villas by the sea), buzzy restaurant openings (La Paz is getting it’s time to shine, with chef-driven new restaurants), or totally new means of access (river safaris are opening up the remote Chaco in a first-time-ever way). For both their impressive pairing of evergreen allure and exciting newness, these are the best places to go in Central and South America in 2025. —Megan Spurrell

This is part of our global guide to the Best Places to Go in 2025—find more travel inspiration here.

The Best Places to Go in Central & South America in 2025

El Impenetrable National Park, Argentina

Go for: remote adventures and wildlife spotting via new river safaris

Argentina's Chaco is a rugged expanse of dry forest that has remained far off the tourist track—but in 2025, new river safaris and glampsites invite adventurous travelers into this wildlife lovers' haven. Talk about going somewhere none of your friends have been.

Doug Tompkins/Fundación Rewilding Argentina

In Gran Chaco—an over-300,000-square-mile swatch of dry forest that stretches across parts of Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil—the heat can rise above 100°F in the summer, and jaguars and giant anteaters pace among quebracho trees, while black caimans skim along the surface of the Bermejo River. You may have been to Patagonia or the Amazon or the Galápagos, but the Chaco, home to one of the fastest-disappearing forests, has remained far off the tourist track. It was only in 2022 that hiking trails and rustic accommodations popped up. Things have evolved quickly since and in 2025, El Impenetrable, the national park within Gran Chaco, will offer 3-day river safaris with glamping along the way, providing visitors a chance to experience this changing environment, and contribute to its preservation, with a little more comfort. Reservations for 2025 stays at the newly opened Glamping Los Palmares on the west of the park are open, and with just four luxe tents on offer, you’ll want to nab yours ASAP. Spend your days kayaking these waterways, horseback riding in pursuit of tapir sightings, and getting to know the communities who live in harmony with this rugged environment.

How to plan it: Fly via Buenos Aires into Resistencia or Corrientes (a roughly 90-minute flight each), then make the four-hour drive to the La Armonía park entrance. Use the new glampsite as a home base, or do a circuit of the park by linking various lodgings. Visit in the dry season between June and November, when temperatures are much more manageable (the average temperature is around 72°F) and the mosquito-inviting rains are at bay. Megan Spurrell

Emerald Coast, Nicaragua

Go for: uncrowded waves and artsy beach scenes—before everyone else gets to them

The Emerald Coast of Nicaragua has been quietly building its reputation as an uncrowded surf destination in Central America.

Oliver Pilcher

Resorts like Hide and Seek, which opened in Popoyo, Nicaragua, in 2024, sit at the perfect intersection of surf hotel and stylish boutique.

Hide and Seek

In 2013, Nicaragua’s first luxury resort opened on the Emerald Coast. Its name was Mukul, which means “secret” in Tzotzil, an Indigenous Maya language, and for over a decade its location remained just that: The few visitors who passed through this pocket of the Pacific coast were mostly backpackers staying in shoestring-budget accommodations, surfers lured by the promise of 300 days of offshore wind every year, or golfers who saw little reason to leave the resort. Word of mouth has since led in-the-know travelers to places like San Juan del Sur—where global hospitality group Apogeo Collective has pioneered an artist residency and guesthouse centering LGBTQIA2S+ and POC travelers—and to tiny towns like El Tránsito and El Gigante. But much of this area is poised to undergo something of a transformation with the impending arrival of the Costanera highway. Set to be completed in 2025, it will connect over 200 miles of Pacific coast and radically improve access to spots like Hide and Seek Resort, which opened in Popoyo in 2024 and is already attracting a young crowd seeking the ease of a surf holiday with the style and comfort of a boutique hotel. Owners Emileah Miller and Daniel Shade hail from Australia, and there’s a healthy dose of Byron Bay–coded whitewashed minimalism in the pool suites—and the resort’s calendar of surf retreats led by professionals like longboarders Nique Miller and Luke Egan has gained the attention of serious surfers. Hide & Seek, along with the breezy Rancho Santana resort neighboring it, is steps away from Playa Jiquelite, a vast expanse of sand where riders gallop horses through the shallows at sunset. Even in peak season, it’s relatively empty. Think of it as Mexico’s Tulum before the over-tourism or Costa Rica’s Santa Teresa without the crowds. Now is the time to catch on—before everyone else does.

How to plan it: Fly into Nicaragua’s capital, Managua, then transfer to your hotel via taxi. In July 2024, Spirit Airlines made a welcome change to its schedule, swapping its red-eye flight from Miami to Managua for a more pleasant afternoon arrival. American Airlines and United have also expanded access with nonstop flights to the capital city from Houston and Miami, making it easier than ever to get to this unspoiled stretch of Pacific coastline. Dry season is between November and April, though the height of that window can be particularly hot and windy—great for surfing but somewhat intense back on dry land. At the southern end of the Emerald Coast, turtle-hatching season takes place between September through May, peaking in October through January. Anna Prendergast

Itacaré, Brazil

Go for: New eco-friendly beachside villas with the celebrity stamp of approval

Itacaré is a paradisical stretch of Brazil's Cocoa Coast, where bohemian crowds surf by day, and unwind in laidback boutique hotels at night.

Renata Ghiotto/Barracuda Hotel & Villas

The design-forward Barracuda Hotel & Villas, set on 64 acres of oceanfront land, is adding 19 ultra-luxe bungalows.

Barracuda Hotel & Villas

Surrounded by nearly two dozen beaches and thousands of acres of the Atlantic Forest, the beach town of Itacaré has long been a hidden paradise for surfers and lay-low celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Gisele Bündchen. Its secluded location on the Cocoa Coast—so called for the cacao plantations that brought wealth to the region in the 20th century—has helped keep it off the tourist track; getting there requires flying to the port city of Ilhéus, where the just-expanded Jorge Amado Airport has doubled its capacity for daily nonstop flights from major cities including São Paulo, followed by a 90-minute drive north along a winding road that weaves past the Serra do Conduru National Park. The improved access means that bohemian crowds that once decamped to Bahian hotspot Trancoso are venturing farther north, drawn to Itacaré’s stylish eco-hotels, virgin beaches, and wide range of outdoor adventures—from birdwatching to canoeing through mangrove forests.

São Paulo–born former designer Juliana Ghiotto and her husband, Daniel Lima, once a professional surfer from Itacaré, are the visionaries behind the nine-room Barracuda Boutique hotel, which they founded in 2013 alongside a group of Swedish friends. At the end of 2024, the hotel completed a refresh, debuting two new suites plus a revamped bar and restaurant concept inspired by the native oiti tree, which thrives in the Atlantic Forest and produces a pulpy, mango-like fruit. The group also owns the design-forward Barracuda Hotel & Villas, set on 64 acres bordering Itacaré: In early 2026 they’ll expand on the vast property by unveiling a collection of 19 ultra-luxe bungalows suspended above a canopy of tapirira, kapok, and fig trees, some featuring expansive terraces and private pools. Even then, only 10% of the total property will have been developed, with the remainder preserved as a conservation area.

Yet, in Bahia, the beach remains a major draw. To stay on one of Itacaré’s best sandy stretches, look no further than Txai Resort & Spa Itacaré, a former coconut farm on the famed Praia de Itacarezinho, which will reveal 10 revamped luxury villas by the end of 2026. Another way of discovering Bahia’s shimmering coastline? Sail with expedition cruise line Swan Hellenic, which has two new itineraries that launched in October 2024. These trips, spanning four- or six-nights, travel south from capital city Salvador on the yacht-style SH Vega (with room for just 158 guests), with a stop in Itacaré to tour the town’s crayola-colored streets.

How to plan it: Extend your trip by discovering more of Bahia’s treasures, starting with Salvador, a vibrant cradle of Afro-Brazilian culture. The city offers direct flights several times a week via Azul Airlines to Ilhéus, from where your hotel can arrange a car pickup for the 90-minute drive to Itacaré. Other regional highlights include the picturesque islands of Camamu Bay and the aforementioned Ilhéus, home to the former residence of renowned Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado. To take advantage of peak beach weather and Carnival festivities, consider visiting in February or March. Siobhan Reid

La Paz, Bolivia

Go for: big-deal restaurant openings, street food, and the country's 200th birthday party

La Paz restaurants like Phayawi, helmed by chef Valentina Arteaga, are putting new spins on heritage dishes like sopa de maní (pictured), Bolivia's beloved peanut soup.

Phayawi

It's not just new restaurants that are making La Paz an exciting food destination, but also the authentic feel of markets—and the homestyle dishes that caseras (vendors) in them serve to locals and visitors alike.

Julien Capmeil

La Paz is dishing up South America’s most underrated food scene right now—and with the Andean country celebrating its bicentennial in 2025, it’s never been a better time to tap in. There are the classics: Mercado Rodríguez, in the Centro district, is a daily stop for locals craving heritage corn cobs and wallake (steamed Lake Titicaca-caught rainbow trout soup) served out of enormous pots by caseras (vendors) in colorful pollera skirts and bowler hats. Young chefs, freshly back after stints abroad, are interpreting traditional Altiplano dishes with a new lens. At Phayawi, Valentina Arteaga puts a sophisticated spin on sopa de maní, Bolivia’s classic peanut soup, by finishing it with palillo turmeric oil like her abuela used to. Her cooking has found fans as far as DC, where Phayawi hosted its first international pop-up in October. Over at Ancestral, open-flame cooking techniques influence the menu, and La Paz’s favorite late-night street food, anticucho (a beef-heart skewer), inspires its emblematic entrée: a pommes soufflée filled with chili, peanuts, and heart ham.

Long a 50 Best Restaurants darling, Gustu, in the city’s desirable Calacoto neighborhood, has consistently championed the exclusive use of Bolivian products including wine and singani, a Bolivian brandy. After a decade behind its burners, chef Marsia Taha Mohamedjust named Latin America’s Best Female Chef—has flown solo and opened her Amazonian-driven restaurant Arami in December 2024 in the Achumani neighborhood. Sixty-five percent of Bolivia is covered by the Amazon basin, so Taha Mohamed’s menu will cast a wide net to feature paiche fish and carancho (the caracara bird), while spotlighting Amazonian culinary techniques such as lampe, a traditional cassava-juice lacto-fermentation method. Once the celebratory calendar of 2025 events honoring La Paz’s bicentennial is revealed, there will be even more reasons to finally book that flight.

How to plan it: Fly into La Paz—one-stop flights from the US depart from cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, with layovers in Lima or Bogota. Foodies wanting to make the pilgrimage to Peru’s capital can also easily arrange a side trip thanks to LATAM’s new two-hour direct flight between the cities. Once in La Paz, VM Elite organizes private dining and other cultural experiences, plus stays at boutique hotels like Atix or Met. Extend your trip further with Travesia, Explora’s latest program that links Uyuni with its Atacama property in neighboring Chile. Sorrel Moseley-Williams

Magallanes, Chile

Go for: new coastal hiking trails, easier cruise access, salty maritime history

At the Southern tip of Chile, the region of Magallanes is too often just a stop-over en route to more remote destinations like Antarctica. The new Cape Froward National Park, set to open its first hiking trails in the latter half of 2025, will give travelers one of several reasons to come here—and stay here.

Oscar Aguilera Orellana/Tompkins Conservation

Travelers yearning for raw wilderness and nautical lore will find just that in Magallanes, a sparsely populated region of Chile at South America’s rugged tip. The regional capital of Punta Arenas (population: approximately 100,000) is often no more than a fleeting stopover en route to Torres del Paine National Park up north or to Antarctica down south. But with another new park in the offing, expanded lodgings, and smoother cruise ship stops in 2025, travelers will want to explore this historic city and its alluring outskirts.

Marked by verdant steppe and graceful waterways, windswept Magallanes feels even less visited than neighboring southern Argentina, and abundant fauna—picture a Patagonian safari featuring playful guanacos, ostrich-like ñandus, regal condors, and chinstrap penguins. In the second half of 2025, the first hiking trails will open in the 300,000-acre Cape Froward National Park, the newest national park in Chile, less than an hour’s drive southwest of Punta Arenas. Watch for Chile’s rare huemul deer, stealth puma, and, from November to April, humpback whales spouting through the Strait of Magellan. Until then, consider sailing the coastline aboard a 120-person catamaran with Solo Expediciones.

Named after the Portuguese explorer who sailed through the strait, Magallanes has beckoned seafarers and naturalists for centuries. History buffs will delight in Punta Arenas’s maritime museum and life-size replicas of the storied European galleons that once navigated to these remote shores. Modern-day cruisers will appreciate a dock expansion to be unveiled in late 2025, which means big ships will no longer have to drop anchor offshore and tender passengers across rocky seas. If you’re staying shoreside, the iconic Cabo de Hornos hotel, on the city’s leafy square, expanded with a stunning new 70-room tower in November 2024, perfect for travelers wanting easy access to the hotel’s Faro Lounge, where tables are covered with servings of pisco sours, juicy lamb, and king crab each night, while tales of Charles Darwin and Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton fill the air.

How to plan it: Fly into Chile’s capital of Santiago, then hop on a 3.5-hour flight to Punta Arenas. In town, the neoclassical José Nogueira hotel, featuring the cozy Shackleton bar and Endurance restaurant, is a popular stay. Up the adventure by ferrying over to Tierra del Fuego island, either on your own or through a new excursion offered by Explora, one of several luxe lodges around Torres del Paine (about five hours drive north of Punta Arenas). Visit November through March for maximum daylight and gentle wind conditions. Patricia Garip

Peruvian Amazon

Go for: shishi riverboats, treehouse stays, and intimate wildlife experiences

In Peru's swath of the Amazon rainforest, luxe openings are drawing travelers who crave adventure without having to sacrifice creature comforts. Among them? The country's first luxury treehouse, Alta Sanctuary (pictured), which opened in January 2024 and towers 110 feet above the rainforest canopy.

Alta Sanctuary

Machu Picchu gets most of the attention, but over 60 percent of Peru is blanketed by the Amazon rainforest. It’s here, in the lungs of our planet, that you’ll find new adventures to plan a trip around in 2025. Embarking on its maiden voyage in June 2025 from the hub of Iquitos, Pure Amazon, a sleek 22-guest riverboat from luxury travel operator Abercrombie & Kent, promises views of caimans, sloths, and massive anacondas through panoramic wall-to-wall windows and immersive excursions. Designed by Milan-based architect Adriana Granato in collaboration with local artisans, A&K’s first riverboat in Latin America aims to pay tribute to local cultures and will offer on-board wellness treatments inspired by Amazonian healing practices. AndBeyond also plans to float guests along Amazonian waters with its new river expedition yacht, set to launch in early 2026. Though few specifics have been announced, executive chairman and CEO Joss Kent says that “the biological diversity of the Peruvian Amazon makes it the ideal destination for our brand of sustainable luxury tourism.” We’re staying tuned.

Onshore, Peru’s first luxury treehouse, Alta Sanctuary from Tamandua Expeditions, fully opened in January 2024. It towers 110 feet over the Amazon rainforest canopy close to the Bolivian border and is a spectacular base for birding and jungle walks led by Indigenous guides. Getting there is half the fun: It’s four hours by jeep and boat from the Puerto Maldonado airport. Or spend a night among the Amazon’s grand orchestra of wildlife sounds at regenerative travel operator 700,000 Heures Impact’s observatory tower, above the Cordillera Escalera cloud forest near Tarapoto. Though the home base for the five-day stays is usually an enclosed cabin, guests have the chance to spend a night at the tower, which is accessed via a 45-minute hike through the forest, and set up for a candlelit dinner with the rainforest’s chirps and titters as the soundtrack, before a night spent on the open-air sleeping platform (mosquito net very much included).

How to plan it: Accessing the Peruvian Amazon will be even easier in 2025. At Lima’s International Airport, a brand-new terminal designed to better facilitate connections between international and domestic flights will increase the airport’s capacity threefold when it opens in January. After flying into Lima, you’ll need to take a domestic flight or two to reach the Amazon, depending on which cruise or lodge you’re headed for. The Amazon’s rainy season (December through May) is less popular for a reason, though some wildlife—like reptiles—are easier to spot during this period. Joel Balsam

Santa Marta, Colombia

Go for: Afro-Colombian heritage, dazzling cruise routes, and cultural festivities

The Caribbean city of Santa Marta, which celebrates its 500th anniversary in 2025, is a gateway to some of Colombia's most dazzling natural settings—like Tayrona National Natural Park (pictured), which is just one hour away and offers Indigenous tourism experiences, highland hiking, and boating.

Paola + Murray

On a bay facing the frothy, turquoise Caribbean Sea sits Colombia’s oldest city, Santa Marta. First established in 1525, it will celebrate the major milestone of its 500th anniversary in 2025. Events will span over three weeks, with food and music festivals and Indigenous cultural exhibitions celebrating the region’s diverse, and even rebellious, heritage: Santa Marta is the site of La Ramada, the residential community where a revolt by enslaved Africans against the Spanish led to a free town, called a palenque, in 1529—over 300 years before slavery was abolished in the country. Today elements of Santa Marta’s culture have been built upon these African roots, from the musical sounds of cumbia to dishes like cayeye, made with mashed green plantain.

Nicknamed the Pearl of the Caribbean, Santa Marta teems with natural wonders too. An intricate thread of marshy lakes and inlets at the foothills of the highest coastal mountain range in the world, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, serves as a gateway to some of the country’s most impressive naturescapes. Tayrona National Natural Park, accessible in under an hour by boat or car, also has a human history dating back 500 years: It is the ancestral home of four Indigenous communities—the Kogi, the Arhuaco, the Wiwa, and the Kankuamo—who continue to be active stewards of the land by managing the park in collaboration with the local government. Here land and sea collide, with suspended cloud forests in the highlands perfect for hiking, and mangrove and coral formations along the coastline ripe for exploration by boat. Learn more about the harmony between humans and nature in the foothills, through experiences with Indigenous-owned tour companies like Wiwa Tour, which offers respectful interactions with ancestral groups. If you’re staying close to the city center, though, Bello Horizonte and Playa Blanca are two of Colombia's blue flag beaches, noted as such for their pristine conditions and commitment to conservation. With all this on offer, it’s no wonder that Seabourn will call on Santa Marta twice in 2025: the Ovation will pass through in February 2025 as part of a 14-day Caribbean itinerary, and the Sojourn will make its stop in December 2025, on a 22-day Panama Canal passage cruise.

How to plan it: The city's 500-year anniversary celebrations will kick off on July 25, 2025, and run through the second week of August, with the peak around July 29 (specifics on individual events will be announced closer to the date of the festivities). Rest your head at Hotel Boutique Don Pepe, a luxurious boutique hotel in the heart of Santa Marta’s historic center, or at Tewimake, an eco-friendly stay tucked into the nearby mountains. To get to Santa Marta’s Simón Bolívar International Airport, you can fly through Panama City on Copa Airlines, or via Bogotá or Medellín—or see more of the coast by flying into Barranquilla (a little over two hours by car), or Cartagena (four and a half hours by car), the latter of which will welcome a new Four Seasons in mid-2025. Kristin Braswell

Southern Belize

Go for: off-the-grid jungle experiences, now easier to reach with improved flight connectivity

Belize's quieter southern region is where you'll find fellow travelers who are most interested in the company of toucans, howler monkeys, and locals eager to showcase the diversity of both the natural landscape—and the diverse cultural one.

Francis Fraioli/Copal Tree Lodge

Belize’s dazzling reefs and cays see a near-constant influx of visitors, but for those seeking less trodden paths, the Maya Mountains and surrounding virgin rainforest feel like a secret to be let in on. In this part of the country, Punta Gorda, a fishing village right on the Caribbean coast that consists of some 5,000 permanent residents, acts as the hub. In 2025, Copal Tree Lodge—the 17-suite luxury eco-lodge that’s emerged as one of the largest agritourism destinations in Belize and a gateway to the southernmost part of the country—celebrates its 20th anniversary. Founded by an avid marine conservationist, this hotel offers access to 16,000 acres of protected rainforest and uses tourism dollars to combat deforestation and overdevelopment in neighboring regions. Treehouse-style canopy suites immerse guests in jungle wildlife: Toucans and howler monkeys can be spotted from the showers that feature panoramic windows, and from screened-in porches while drinking your morning coffee. Despite feeling off-grid, Copal Tree is an entryway to Belize’s culture and culinary highlights; it hosts themed dinners to spotlight the region’s diverse Garifuna, Mayan, and East Indian communities, and provides opportunities to partake in sugarcane harvests for Copalli rum, produced at its onsite distillery.

Copal Tree sets a tone that others have built upon: Tanager Rainforest Lodge, farther inland in Big Falls, has thatched and hardwood cabanas that position guests along one of the most important migratory routes for North and South American birds, and within driving distance of Mayan ruins like Nim Li Punit and Lubaantun, and the Agua Caliente Luha Wildlife Sanctuary, where travelers can hike, cave, and soak in the thermal springs. For those seeking more time by the ocean, Beya Suites is a 10-room boutique with furniture made of wood from the area, and is within walking distance of the daily market and local beachside bars.

And if you feel inclined to answer the call of Belize’s most famous cays up north? The big-brand hospitality frenzy continues, with another year of glitzy openings: Six Senses and Four Seasons are just two of the 2025 newcomers to Ambergris Caye and Caye Chapel Belize, respectively. New flights aim to support the infrastructure of new resorts moving in—United launched a nonstop seasonal flight on December 21, 2024, from San Francisco to Belize City—making it easier to get in and out of Belize, wherever you choose to explore in between.

How to plan it: Fly into Belize International Airport and take an hour-long puddle jumper flight with Tropic Air to Punta Gorda. Resorts will arrange a transfer from the airstrip. Visit from mid-January through May for the dry season. Oh, and did we mention that Belize is Central America’s only English-language-speaking country—as well as one of its most ethnically diverse? This Caribbean getaway is steeped in culture. Jillian Dara

Uruguay's Wine Coast

Go for: crisp whites and rosés, best enjoyed in new tasting rooms and seaside restaurants

A handful of boutique wineries have cropped up on Uruguay's eastern coast in recent years, including Luz Culinary Wine Lodge (pictured), creating a new route for wine lovers.

Luz Culinary Wine Lodge

Uruguay’s lauded yet largely under-the-radar wine scene is poised to make a splash with the opening of Las Espinas, the new oceanside outpost of Bodega Bouza, a multi-award-winning wine producer in Montevideo. This striking hilltop destination is a short drive from the beaches of Punta del Este, adding yet another reason to visit the trendy Uruguayan riviera. After touring the copper-roofed winemaking facilities, visitors can spend a lazy afternoon at the adjacent window-walled restaurant, feasting on fire-grilled local meats and house wines, all with views of eucalyptus groves and Atlantic waves. Bouza, founded over two decades ago on the site of an abandoned vineyard north of Uruguay’s capital, joins a handful of boutique wineries that have descended on the eastern coast in recent years, including Bodega Cerro del Toro, Luz Culinary Wine Lodge, and Bodega Oceánica José Ignacio. The area’s maritime breezes and rocky hills lead to crisp whites and rosés that rival those from Europe or California. These lighter varieties, most notably Albariños and Sauvignon Blancs, add freshness to the lineup of tannic reds that Uruguay has been producing for over a century. If you’re thirsty for more, make a little detour some 40 miles inland, to Pueblo Garzón, a tiny rural village with a delightfully rustic hotel and a nearby winery, Bodega Garzón, that’s been turning heads with its dashing facilities and delicious pours.

How to plan it: Fly into Montevideo, then rent a car for the two-hour drive to Punta del Este or José Ignacio. The high season—and warm weather—is from December through March, with a peak season in early January (when prices go up considerably). Uruguay has strict drinking-and-driving regulations; get a private car, or remís, to take you on winery tours. Any hotel or winery can help with arrangements. Paola Singer

Looking for more inspiration? Read last year's list of the Best Places to Go in Central & South America in 2024.