San Antonio de los Cobres

San Antonio de los Cobres sits at 3,775 metres on the open puna of western Salta, a town of low adobe and brick houses built around copper and borax mining, its name taken from the copper that first brought people here. The setting is stark: dust, wind, tin roofs and a huge pale sky, with volcanic cones on the horizon and llamas grazing at the edge of the streets. It is the highest town of its size in the country and a place where daily life at extreme altitude is entirely ordinary, with a market selling woollens and coca leaf, and simple restaurants serving llama stew and quinoa. Most travellers pass through on the Train to the Clouds or on the long road toward the Chilean border and the salt flats, but the town rewards a slower look.

What you actually see

• The altiplano town - adobe and tin-roofed streets at 3,775 metres.
• The craft market - woollen goods, llama fibre and highland produce.
• The railway - the station and the line climbing on toward La Polvorilla.
• The volcanic horizon - distant cones and open puna in every direction.

When to go

April to November for reliable roads; winter nights fall far below freezing and summer brings brief violent storms. The town's patron festival in June is a good time to see local music and dress. Any visit is easier after a night or two at lower altitude.

Honest expectations

This is a hard-working mining town rather than a scenic village, and visitors expecting charm often leave unimpressed. Services are basic, dust is constant, and the wind rarely stops. The altitude is genuinely demanding, and altitude sickness here is common.

Nearby

The Polvorilla viaduct is west along the line; Salta lies far below through the Quebrada del Toro.