South America

While most winter vacationers escape to well-traveled island and sun destinations like Mexico and Costa Rica, head next door to the less-discovered Nicaragua where you’ll find a bargain vacation.

Nicaragua offers expansive beaches and not-so-crowded surf, music, cheap eats, and a less touristy polish to provide a true cultural immersionand insight onto some of the less developed countries in Central America. Remnants of Spanish colonialism are scattered throughout the country, leaving some amazing architecture and charming small towns to discover.

The most popular sites to see are the towns of Managua and Granada. Realtraveller, volunteersamerica, gave their description of Granada:

“Reaching Granada, a beautiful colonial town, well preserved, we went into a church and climbed to the top where we had a beautiful view of Granada. We then went to look for a place to stay. While walking around, we bought a little bowl of sweet rice from this man who makes it and sells it on the street. It was delicious!

Volcanoes, narrow streets, cathedrals, and undiscovered hot spots make Nicaragua a great place for a cultural expedition.

Look for more information here:

Nicaragua Hotels
Nicaragua Attractions

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Known for its breath-taking landscapes and exquisite wine, Mendoza is a destination in Argentina that has something for everyone!

A destination for the outdoorsy, Mendoza is located near two rivers: The Mendoza and the Diamante River, making this a popular place to go rafting. If you are in the mood to go hiking or horseback riding, there are numerous trails for which to enjoy the outdoors! Famous for its wine, a bike tour around the vineyards is one of the best ways to truly take in the beauty that Mendoza has to offer. Along the tour you may even visit chocolate factories, as well as discover how olive oil is made.

Having experienced Mendoza for himself, Realtraveler Paul Dark & Handsome tells us:

“Mendoza is a fantastic city. Most of it was demolished in an earthquake about 120 years ago so, when they rebuilt it, they did so by making the boulevards extra wide so that any repetition would mean the buildings would fall into the street and not into each other. They also built the citys’ squares extra large so they could be used as meeting points. The result is a city perfectly set up for al fresco dining and cafe culture. That coupled with the fact that every street is lined with huge trees, meaning you get plenty of cover from the sun, make it a beautiful city. Oh yeah, and it has a few decent vineyards on its doorstep.

I did a days tour around 2 Bodegas and an Olive Oil factory. I managed to avoid buying any olive oil but a couple of bottles of fine Mendoza Valley Malbec found there way into my shopping bag. It was a great experience to see the wine making process and visit vineyards producing wine that we buy at home.” (more…)

Realtraveler vincentvega tells about Mendoza:

“Arriving just after 8pm, then checking in, we just grabbed some food before going to bed. A scruptous dinner. Fajitas served with beef & chicken along with 10 different sauces, a red bottle of wine (Maubec) came to less than USD$15 for the both of us.
The days are extremely hot in Mendoza. As a result it’s a very chilled out place where it seems alot of people are quite happy to spend their days lounging about. While we were here we did the bikes and wine tour which was really good. We also walked around the downtown area and did some shopping. Mendoza Shopping Plaza is a really nice shopping center with some great shops for clothes.” (more…)

Tempted? Start planning your trip by visiting:
Mendoza Hotels
Mendoza Flights

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