2025 Purmamarca Travel Guide: Must-see attractions, popular food, hotels, transportation routes (updated in May)

#cityplaybook Depart Jujuy early and make your first stop at Purmamarca to see the Cerro de los Siete Colores at sunrise. Then continue toward Salta, detouring to visit San Salvador de Jujuy briefly before cruising south. Midday, stop in La Caldera for coffee and a lake view. Reach Salta by afternoon and explore its key sites: the Cathedral, MAAM Museum, and Cerro San Bernardo viewpoint. End your day with empanadas and folkloric music in a cozy tavern.

#cityplaybook Start the day in Salta city and head to Purmamarca before the tourists arrive—grab a coffee and enjoy the Cerro de los Siete Colores in peace. Then climb the serpentine Cuesta de Lipán and reach the dazzling Salinas Grandes by late morning—snap your surreal salt flat photos! On the way back, stop at a mirador for empanadas and coca tea. End the day with a golden-hour drive and a relaxed night in Tilcara, soaking in Andean vibes and maybe some live music.

The Puna Plateau, at an altitude of 4000 meters, is similar in elevation to Tibet, and its topography and geomorphology are strikingly alike. The sky is a deep, pure blue, untainted by any hint of impurity. The ground is covered with low-growing herbaceous plants, home to the vicuña, an animal unique to South America. Where there is no grass, there are vast white salt flats, referred to as lakes, yet they contain no water; they are the result of millions of years of solar distillation. The area receives very little rainfall, and the rate of evaporation is extremely high, leading to a severe lack of water on the surface. Therefore, cacti, which are adept at absorbing and retaining moisture, grow wildly across the hills and plains.