Five Central and South American cheap vacation destinations

Why spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to travel abroad or visit a tourist ridden resort city? There are plenty of cheap exotic vacation destinations in Central and South America. Plus, the flights are shorter if you only have a week off (in comparison to European vacations) and the majority of the continent speaks Spanish, making communication easy. Here are some of the best and cheapest discount South American vacations.

Roatan Island, Honduras

Located thirty miles off the coast of Honduras, Roatan Island is an unspoiled Caribbean paradise. With blue skies, turquoise water, sandy beaches and year-round high temperatures in the 70′s and 80′s, Roatan Island offers everything a Caribbean vacation should. While Roatan Island is more expensive than mainland Honduras, it’s a definite deal when compared to other Caribbean vacations. Plus the island has less street crime and violence than the rest of the country, making it safer.

Rooms run anywhere from $8 budget lodging to $175 resort hotels and a gourmet meal will set you back about $15. The island is also home to the second largest barrier reef, making it a popular dive location and scuba diving is a must. It also is one of the most reasonably priced places to get certified as a scuba diver and one of the best cheap exotic vacations.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Once the most expensive country in South America, the economic collapse of Argentina has consequently created travel bargains. Argentina offers amazing scenery, exciting nightlife options, world-class dining and wine – all at budget prices. Budget travelers can easily get by on less than $50 a day. The well-known Argentinean nightlife makes it the perfect vacation destination for young budget travelers looking for adventure. Dinner typically is served around 10 p.m., followed by all-night partying. Argentina is a perfect party and discount South America vacation spot.

Margarita Island, Venezuela

This tropical island paradise is located off the north shore of Venezuela and is home to beautiful beaches and has an average of 320 days of sun a year. Margarita’s daytime activities include snorkeling, scuba diving, fishing, beach-lounging and horseback riding. For great bargains and local culture, head to El Mercado de los Conejeros on the outskirts of Porlamar where you’ll find unique souvenirs crafted by Amazon Indians and locals.

Due to the country’s steep economic decline and an amazing exchange rate, hostels can be found at as low as $13.50 a night, a delicious fish meal can go for around $7 and a cold beer will only cost a dollar. There are also plenty of bars, clubs and discos, offering an exciting nightlife.

Peru

For more family friendly cheap travel, visit the country of Peru. Adults enjoy the low prices and sightseeing options and the children love the animals and colorful country. The biggest tourist attraction is the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, but the country also has amazing Amazon rain forests, colonial cities, whitewater rafting and mountain trekking. Meals at local restaurants will cost from $2 to $5. Budget travelers will pay anywhere $20 to $50 a night for lodging in Peru cities like Lima or Cusco, but elsewhere the rates will be lower.

Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile is one of Latin America’s most sophisticated metropolitan areas. Lying in a valley surrounded by the Andes Mountains, this capital city allows for a morning dip in the sea and world-renowned skiing in the afternoon. The country is cheap too. Nice hotels can be found for as low as $50 up to $150 and hostels cost from $10 to $25.

The country has unique museums and art galleries, bustling markets and unique colonial architecture. Restaurants can be found at reasonable prices, but some can be fairly expensive – so check them out before you sit down. The country also has decent wineries and wine tours are available. Chile is the perfect metropolitan discount South American vacation and a definite cheap vacation destination deal.

When the publishers of the Lonely Planet travel guides issued their annual list of the best travel destinations for this year there were a few surprises. Gone were some of the over-priced, over-crowded tourist traps of previous years. There are some new entries to peak the curiosity and provide ever-expanding new vistas and experiences for the crowd-weary world traveler. Here?s a partial list in reverse order.

9. Germany An old favorite that still can pull its weight with the tourism crowd and one of only two European entries that made the list, Germany has much to offer. More than just Oktoberfest, beer and sausages, travelers can delight in specialties from each of the country?s regions.

8. Colombia A stunning surprise entry on the list for the first time, Colombia may be know for its drug-trafficking and civil war violence, but it?s also the world?s leading producer of fine emeralds. It?s the world?s second leading producer of coffee after Brazil, but the quality of the rich, mild coffee produced here is second to none. One of South America?s most beautiful countries, scenic delights range from still-active volcanoes like the smoldering Galeras to the bubbling mud spews of Totumo near Colombia?s Atlantic coast.

7. India Mythical, mysterious, enchanting and a hundred more adjectives besides, how could this wondrous place not be on anyone?s wish list of travel destinations? A large percentage, up to 75%, of the population living in large cities speaks at least passable English. I?m surprised it?s only number eight. But it is on the list and deservedly so. Food, festivals, culture and history pour into the streets at every turn

6. Canada June, July and August are peak tourism months for the USA?s giant Northern neighbor. English is the language of all Canada?s provinces with French being the language of choice in the province of Quebec. There are marvelous winter festivals in Quebec City and francophone Montreal to delight the senses for willing to brave the frigid minus forty and below temperatures. There?s plenty to keep you warm though.

5. Antarctica Not only know as ?that frozen continent at the bottom of the world?, Antarctica is now featured in a number of commercials and travel ads. But with temperatures ranging from degrees F to degrees F, ?What?s the attraction?? you might ask. More than you might imagine. There?s not exactly a shortage of wildlife despite daytime temps in the minus teens on a ?warm? day. Marine life is also abundant as are formations of ice and snow on the glaciers that the continent feeds. Wanna play with the penguins, anyone? The experience of being there itself is a unique, one-of-a-kind adventure that draws many. Stormy Cape Horn and the beauty of wind swept Patagonia are also near. Scientific expeditions from a number of countries are nearly always in progress. At times the place is not unlike Grand Central Station. Antarctica is certainly not for everyone, but it does have its charms.

4. Mexico Long a favorite destination of North Americans from the USA and Canada, what?s not to like about this country famous for hot chili peppers and even hotter senoritas? From the beach to bullfights, you can find nearly any form of diversion you like. Skiing in Mexico? You betcha. Mt. Orizaba, North America?s second highest peak is south of the border.

3. Nicaragua With a stable economy and rock-bottom real estate bargains, this country has caught the eye of investors and ex-pats looking for scenic locales and tranquility. Once torn by civil strife, conditions have reversed and improved to the point it?s now a tourism destination for in the know and savvy on Central American affairs.

2. China With one billion, three hundred million inhabitants, the world?s most populous country has awakened from its ?sleeping giant? image to thrust its presence onto the world scene with a vengeance. Authentic Chinese food, not that ?cloned? stuff you get at the chain franchises, awaits you in a variety and abundance that must be experienced to be believed. The Chinese eat and drink things that will absolutely amaze and astound you ? and they make it look good too. From the world renowned Great Wall, the only man-made structure visible from outer space, to vast stretches of seemingly as yet unexplored country, even the Chinese are still turning up discoveries and treasures in their own midst.

1. Argentina It takes two to Tango as they say. If you want to try your hand at Argentina?s national pastime, here?s definitely the place. For meat lovers this is paradise as the beef here is among the best in the world and certainly the best in South America. The beef here is not only great, but there?s plenty of it and it?s cheap by U.S. and European standards. Gauchos, as Argentine cowboys are called, still abound on the grassy pampas and plains that comprise most of the country. There are tours, ?tenderfoot? home stays at ranches and plenty of open spaces for a roundup of experiences that?ll leave you wanting more. Be sure to wash down all that succulent tender roast beef with locally produced wines that are surprisingly good at even more surprisingly affordable prices.

So there you have it, the top ten travel destinations for 2006. Where would you like to go this year? Forget the ?old favorites? temporarily. Step out; try something new and different for a change. Fish for Piranha in the Amazon region of Colombia, or Bull sharks off its Pacific coast. Explore China?s historical, cultural and epicurean delights. Oomph, Pah, Pah your way through Germany?s scores of different sausages and hundreds of varieties of malted brews. Carve an original ice sculpture in Quebec City, laughing at the record cold temperatures all the way. Fish or canoe one of Canada?s unspoiled lakes with water so pure you can drink it. Whichever direction the wind blows you, you?re bound to enjoy experiences and sights to last a lifetime.

Cross the street and everything changes. Buenos Aires, more than most cities of a comparable size, gives you the feeling of a patchwork quilt city ? a city which is defined by its neighborhoods (barrios).

If you ask a porte?o, one of Buenos Aires residents, where he?s from, he won?t say Buenos Aires ? he?ll give you his neighborhood?s name. And if you ask him which barrio is the best, any self-respecting porte?o will tell you that his barrio is.

It?s best to take this advice lightly and sample a handful.

The barrios commonly visited by tourists and travelers include, in descending order of popularity:

1) Recoleta. Buenos Aires? equivalent of New York?s Upper East Side or London?s Knightsbridge. Fancy, ornate and posh. A quick list of things to see and do include the cemetery, the lobbies of the five star hotels (of which the Alvear is the most ostentatious), and Avenida Santa Fe?s shopping.

2) Palermo. Known for its parks as well as its restaurants, bars and colorful little shops. When Palermo is mentioned as the best place in Buenos Aires to go out, it?s probably Palermo Viejo and Palermo Hollywood (two micro-barrios) that are being referred to. They?re BA?s hippest places to be seen at the moment, where you can take part in the city?s crazy nightlife that doesn?t even begin to slow down until the sun?s already risen. (A proper Buenos Aires night out should finish with breakfast.)

3) Downtown (Microcentro). This is where Buenos Aires? suits go on a business day. It?s the center of the nation?s economy, a place of high rise office buildings, narrow crowded streets, and exhaust fumes. For the tourist without business concerns, it?s almost entirely devoid of interest (though you wouldn?t know it from the large numbers who flock there). Towards San Telmo, in the older part of the downtown area, there are sites to be seen, however: the Plaza de Mayo, the Casada Rosada (the ?Pink House?, Buenos Aires? equivalent to the White House) and the Manzana de las Luces are all worth a visit.

4) San Telmo. A barrio of cobblestone streets, antique stores, and colonial area mansions. In the early days of Buenos Aires, the Spanish and upper-crust criollos established themselves in this area and built grandiose buildings with interior patios. When those moneyed citizens fled San Telmo and took off for Recoleta to escape cholera epidemics in the late 19th century, the mansions were abandoned to squatters and San Telmo was transformed into the center of Buenos Aires bohemia. Recently, interest from visitors, foreign and Argentine alike, has brought gentrification to the barrio. This means security, once a sore spot, has improved, but prices have shot up as well.

5) One place where it is still best to watch your wallet though is La Boca. As a matter of fact, it?s really only recommendable to visit the tourist area of El Caminito where the Argentine Federal Police have been stationed to watch your back. This little street, with its bright colored houses, has very nearly been touristed to death. Still, no visit to Buenos Aires is complete without a visit to the fabled street of garish colors. On game days, the soccer stadium in La Boca is another major reason to visit the barrio.

When you come to Buenos Aires, though, do yourself a favor and try to break out of the established tourist routines, if only for a little while. Just a few recommendations of the lesser visited barrios, where your fellow-citizens and fellow travelers are less likely to be tagging along with you, include:

Las Ca?itas in Belgrano. Restaurants, restaurants, and restaurants galore (a stone’s throw from Palermo).

Almagro. What Sant Telmo used to be, Almagro still is: Bohemian. Check newspaper listings for tango concerts, independent theatre and other events in the area. Meanwhile, the cafe Las Violetas, on the corner of Rivadavia Avenue and Medrano street, is amongst the most beautifully restored historic cafes in the city.

Mataderos, an outlying barrio where the city?s butchers still ply their trade, is also a find, not so much for the barrio itself but for the Sunday afternoon markets which take place in the barrio?s main square. This market is not to be confused with the markets in San Telmo or Recoleta. It?s bigger, better, with a greater variety of authentic hand-craft goods ? leather and silver amongst others. In the spring and summer months, gauchos from the nearby countryside perform rodeo displays at the market as well.