Tafí del Valle, the Tucumán jewel competing to be the best tourist town in the world

For several years now, UN Tourism has undertaken the “Best Tourism Villages” initiative, which aims to identify towns worldwide that stand out as rural tourism destinations with recognizable cultural and natural assets and resources. Through this initiative, the world body seeks to preserve and promote community-based values, products, and lifestyles.

For the first time, a town in Tucumán was selected, along with other Argentine towns, to compete for this highest distinction, which will be unveiled at the end of this year. This is Tafí del Valle.

Located 2,000 meters above sea level and with around 8,800 inhabitants, Tafí del Valle brings together ancestral traditions, Jesuit history, regional gastronomy, and a strong identity linked to the native communities that persist in the daily life of the valley.

Among the aspects that dazzle anyone who comes to Tafí del Valle, we can mention its geography of contrasts where hills, yungas, arid plains, rivers and the La Angostura dam converge, all guarded by the imposing Cerro Ñuñorco.

On the other hand, Tafí has a very rich cultural and historical heritage. Among its main products are the Jesuit ranches, the dairy farms and the Jesuit Museum of La Banda, which allow you to delve into the cheese production of the valley; the Artisan Route, a self-guided circuit through workshops where the loom, stone and clay techniques transmitted from generation to generation by the valley´s families are preserved; and the regional gastronomy which includes empanadas, humita, tamales and locro, which can be tasted throughout the valley.