We came to Salta because it is surrounded by some of Argentina’s most scenic mountains, lovely vineyards, beautiful desert landscapes, and unique red rock formations. Before we break down our travel budget for Salta, Argentina, let’s discuss why we didn’t visit Salta already.
We visited Mendoza and Cordoba earlier in the year before making our way to Montevideo, Uruguay. After our time in Montevideo, we backtracked our way into western Argentina to get to Salta. This was obviously not the most straightforward route to get to Salta, but we took this path for two reasons. One reason is that our allowed length of stay on a free tourist visa in Argentina was 90 days. So we had to leave the country and comeback to receive a new 90 day stay. The second reason is that we wanted to position ourselves in the path of the total solar eclipse. The eclipse would be passing through Argentina during the beginning of July. We really enjoyed Salta, and it was well worth returning back to Argentina to visit this magical place.
Housing – $458
Our two-bedroom Airbnb penthouse apartment was located in the center of the city. It had a great view of one of the city’s main plazas. We had a huge living room and a very spacious kitchen. This was probably our largest apartment on our travels so far, but was also one of the least expensive.
Food (Groceries and Restaurants) – $328
We enjoyed eating out at some local restaurants while here in Salta, but we purchased most of our food at the grocery store. It was nice to have a large kitchen with an oven, stove, and microwave.
It’s similar to chicken parmesan and was delicious!
Activities – $136
We took two tours while in Salta. The first was to the canyon area near the town of Cafayate. The magnificent rock formations, canyons, and gorges were breathtaking.
Our second tour combined visits to desert landscapes, the Andes Mountains, and salt flats in Northern Argentina.
We also rode Salta’s gondola to the top of San Bernardo to get a great view over the city.
Transportation – $122
Our only transportation expenses were the flight to Salta from Buenos Aires, taxi rides to and from the airport, and taxi rides to and from the hospital (more on that below).
Miscellaneous – $94
This is for all those important extra things like toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, paper towels, etc. Our biggest miscellaneous expense was a suitcase for Ryan since he wasn’t able to carry a heavy backpack (see below).
Health – $203
We don’t normally include a health category in our blog articles because we don’t usually have health-related expenses. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case in Salta. The first health expense was due to an unexpected trip to the dentist when Ryan chipped his tooth. The dentist bill came to $34.
The next expense was a trip to the hospital when Ryan injured his ankle on San Bernardo. The emergency room visit, including x-rays and an ultrasound, came to $169. We paid for these expenses out of pocket instead of filing a claim with our health insurance. Though, we did get reimbursed through our HSA accounts. We had a very good experience at a nearby private hospital. Both the dentist and emergency room costs would have been substantially higher back home in the US.
Total travel budget for 28 nights in Salta, Argentina: $1,341
We weren’t originally planning to visit Salta because it is in a more secluded area of Argentina, but we are very glad we made the effort to come to this amazing area. We would definitely recommend Salta as part of a visit to Argentina.
The Snail Travelers 
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