Geographically, historically, politically, and culturally, Córdoba’s key feature is its centrality. Bordering every major region except Patagonia, it shares the pampas with Santa Fe and Buenos Aires Provinces and the Gran Chaco with Santiago del Estero, and borders the northwestern Andean provinces of La Rioja and Catamarca.

Most significantly for travelers, it shares its central sierras—a major vacation land for Argentines—with the Cuyo province of San Luis, so it’s easy to travel back and forth between the two on the dense road network.

The Sierras’ main gateway, though, is the vibrant capital city of Córdoba. When Buenos Aires was a colonial backwater, this was a center of learning thanks to the Jesuit order; their imprint is tangible in both the city and the countryside—including nearby Alta Gracia, where revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara spent his formative years.

In the Sierras, small towns like Villa Carlos Paz and La Falda are weekend getaways for locals and vacation destinations for middle-class porteños and other Argentines.

The backcountry is not so wild as Patagonia, but the rolling steppes of Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito offer broad vistas and ample wildlife including, condors and guanacos.