Susan’s Blog: Latin America - Holiday styles to inspire your next adventure
- 8 hours ago
- 5 min read
I was lucky enough to spend a couple of seasons in South America, and I fully understand the appeal of this beautiful continent. I visited Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica and even the Falkland Islands, and I was lucky enough to escort an overland tour to Cusco, Lima and Machu Picchu too.
Having firsthand experience of this part of the world makes it easy for me to suggest a trip there, and honestly, everyone I know who's been comes back wanting to return to the parts they didn't get to.
If you were captivated by BBC's Race Across The World, watching teams navigate the length of South America or explore Central America's hidden corners, you'll know there's something utterly compelling about this part of the world. The vast landscapes, the wildlife encounters, the food, the cultures that shift with every border crossing. Don't worry though, a trip I put together for you will be considerably more relaxing - no running around with backpacks required.
Latin America isn't just one destination - it's dozens - each offering something completely different. The question isn't whether to go. It's how you want to experience it.
Wildlife Encounters
Latin America delivers some of the most rewarding wildlife experiences on the planet, and nowhere else comes close for sheer variety.
The Galápagos Islands remain one of the true bucket list wonders of the world. Giant tortoises, marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies - all remarkably unafraid of humans.
Whether you explore by cruise or land-based stays, every day brings close encounters found nowhere else on Earth.
For those drawn to big cats, Brazil's Pantanal is your best chance of spotting a jaguar in the wild, while the Amazon offers something different - that deep rainforest immersion guided by experts into one of Earth's most important wildernesses. I'll never forget searching for black caimans in the Amazon myself; genuinely one of those moments that stays with you.
Costa Rica packs extraordinary biodiversity into a compact, accessible package. Sloths, monkeys and spectacular birdlife in carefully protected reserves, and plenty of my own clients have come back raving about just how special it is.
For Food Lovers
From the Andes to the Amazon, Latin America's cuisine is shaped by landscape, culture and centuries of tradition. Every meal tells a story.
Peru leads the way. Lima's dining scene - fresh ceviche, perfectly balanced pisco sours, lomo saltado - has earned the city repeated recognition as Latin America's top gastronomic destination.
Argentina means asado, that slow-cooked barbecue tradition paired with bold Malbec wines from Mendoza's high-altitude vineyards. Buenos Aires has lovely architecture and brilliant food and wine, and it's easy to spend a day at a working ranch watching the gauchos with their horses - a wonderful contrast within one trip.
Adventure and Self-Drive
There's real freedom in exploring Latin America by road, shaping each day around your curiosity, taking scenic detours, lingering wherever something catches your eye...
Costa Rica offers one of the region's most rewarding self-drive experiences - rainforests to coastlines, national parks to beach towns - all connected by navigable roads.
Chile is home to one of the world's great road adventures too - the Carretera Austral - stretching 1,240km through forests, lakes, fjords and glaciers in some of the planet's most remote scenery.
For active adventurers, the options are exceptional: trek the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, hike Torres del Paine's celebrated W Trek or take on white-water rafting on the Futaleufú River.
Culture and Discovery
Peru remains extraordinary. I still remember standing at Machu Picchu for the first time while escorting my overland tour, genuinely one of those pinch-me moments I'll never forget.
The Sacred Valley, the floating Uros islands on Lake Titicaca, the sense that you're somewhere truly ancient and completely alive - Peru has all of that in abundance.
It's trips like these that make this job so rewarding - seeing clients experience that same magic for themselves. Claudine and Claudette's Inca Trail adventure is a brilliant example, and Claudine's kind words about booking with me still mean the world.
Colombia has evolved beautifully too - Cartagena's walled old town, Bogotá's museums and street art, Medellín's transformation from troubled past to vibrant cultural hub. And for something truly ancient, Guatemala's Tikal sees Mayan temples rise above the jungle canopy, howler monkeys echoing through the trees, the sense of stepping into a lost world genuinely intact.
Honeymooners and Families
For honeymooners, Latin America creates journeys that feel genuinely personal. Argentina's wine regions and Buenos Aires' tango scene, Peru's Sacred Valley for active couples wanting adventure alongside romance or Belize for total seclusion, intimate jungle lodges, private sunset catamaran dinners and scenic flights over the Great Blue Hole.
For families, Costa Rica is safe, seamless and endlessly engaging. Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula offers cenote swimming, jungle exploration and gentle snorkelling. Peru is a brilliant choice for teenagers who love a bit of adrenaline - dune buggy rides, white-water rafting and the extraordinary Via Ferrata experience in the Sacred Valley.
Multi-Centre Journeys
If you'd like to see more of how a well-planned multi-centre trip through South America can come together, take a look at my touring in South America blog, and if trains are more your thing, there's a section on South America in my train journeys blog.
Expedition Cruising
This is genuinely where my own South America story comes alive. I visited Punta Arenas in the Strait of Magellan to see one of Chile's largest Magellanic penguin colonies, and even took a flight over Antarctica itself - an experience I still find hard to put into words.
For those who want to cover ground while never feeling rushed, expedition cruising opens up Latin America in a completely different way, and for the truly adventurous, Antarctica is genuinely accessible from South America's southern tip, with purpose-built expedition vessels, Zodiac outings and close encounters with penguins and dramatic ice formations in the world's last great wilderness.
Your Latin America Journey
Whether you're drawn to wildlife encounters, culinary discoveries, active adventures, cultural immersion or romantic escapes, Latin America rewards curious travellers - those willing to go beyond the highlights and experience places that stay with them long after they've returned home.
Having spent time there myself and worked closely with specialists to tailor-make trips ever since, I know exactly how knowledgeable and well-connected they are, and any clients I send are always well looked after.
If Latin America is calling you, I'd love to help you plan it. Don't worry, I promise it'll be far more relaxing than a Race Across The World.
Susan x
