Things to do in San Salvador de Jujuy
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit San Salvador de Jujuy
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Autumn brings clear, dry, mild days after the rains and the Quebrada at its most photogenic, with no crowds.
Late winter into spring is dry and sunny, warming through spring, with Pachamama ceremonies in August.
Winter is dry and sunny by day and cold at night, with peak domestic holiday crowds in July.
Summer is the wet season: January is wettest, gorges and gravel roads disrupt, and the Salinas flood into a mirror.
What's on
- Carnaval de Jujuy February or early March, nine days from the Desentierro del Diablo
Costumed diablos, comparsas and flour throwing across the Quebrada and the city, opened by unearthing the Pujllay.
- Pachamama 1 August and throughout August
Andean offerings to Mother Earth at apachetas, homes and public ceremonies province wide.
- Peregrinación a Punta Corral Days before Easter, March or April
Thousands of pilgrims and sikuris bands carry the Virgin image down from Punta Corral to Tilcara.
- Éxodo Jujeño 22 to 23 August
The capital marks Belgrano's 1812 Exodus order with commemorations and acts around the historic core.
- Fiesta Nacional de los Estudiantes Mid to late September
A week of student floats, parades and the national student queen election filling the city.
- Inti Raymi 21 June
Andean new year and winter solstice ceremonies at Huacalera and other Quebrada sites.
Best things to do in San Salvador de Jujuy
Cabildo de Jujuy
The restored Cabildo museum tells the Jujuy Exodus and independence story with modern, interactive displays.
Casa de Gobierno de Jujuy
The government house holds the Salon de la Bandera and the civil liberty flag Belgrano presented in 1813.
Catedral Basílica de San Salvador de Jujuy
The plaza cathedral holds a finely carved cedar pulpit and the calmest interior in the historic centre.
Museo Histórico J.G. Lavalle
A colonial house museum telling the dramatic story of General Lavalle, killed in Jujuy in 1841.
Iglesia de San Francisco y Museo de Arte Sacro
The Franciscan church holds the best sacred art collection in the city, in a small museum beside the nave.
Plaza Belgrano
The main square and its pedestrian streets form the evening living room of the city centre.
Museo Casa de Macedonio Graz
A writer house museum with period rooms, exhibitions and patio concerts in the city centre.
Teatro Mitre
One of Argentina's oldest working theatres, hosting concerts, theatre and dance since 1901.
Where to stay in San Salvador de Jujuy
Centro and Plaza Belgrano
first trips, no car, evenings on foot
A walkable grid around Plaza Belgrano holding most hotels, restaurants, museums and the evening paseo.
Alto La Viña
resort facilities, views, cars and spa days
A green residential hill across the Rio Grande with the city's one resort style hotel, three kilometres from the plaza.
Think twice about
- Southern access and bus terminal motel strip
A dark, unwalkable highway edge with nothing to eat or do on foot at night. Use it for transit, not as a base.
Best restaurants in San Salvador de Jujuy
Casa Finca
The city's most polished dining room, treating Andean produce with fine dining technique in a small room.
Restaurante Viracocha
The consensus regional restaurant, serving llama, trout and picantes to a room full of locals.
Manos Jujeñas Comidas Regionales
Northern home cooking founded in 1989 to preserve it, served with live folklore music and poetry.
Guajira Resto Bar
A Cuban rooted resto bar with Mexican leaning plates and the centre's liveliest long evening.
El Mojón
An Argentine grill with regional sides and the largest high score local vote base in the city.
Restaurante Ruta 9
A family regional house since 1979 with late hours, serving picantes, grills and regional desserts.
Madre Tierra
The city's long running vegetarian room, open all day for set lunches and meat free dinners.
Reggina
The city's named pizzeria for an Argentine style pizza and empanada night with families.
Outdoor things to do in San Salvador de Jujuy
Quebrada de Humahuaca
A UNESCO listed valley of multicoloured mountains linking Purmamarca, Tilcara and Humahuaca in one long day.
Cerro de los Siete Colores
The seven colour hill above Purmamarca, best in early light and paired with the Paseo de los Colorados loop.
Pucará de Tilcara
A reconstructed pre Inca fortress above Tilcara with valley views, paired with the Garganta del Diablo walk.
Salinas Grandes
A vast white salt flat reached over the Cuesta de Lipan pass, with community guided walks to the brine pools.
Serranías del Hornocal
The hill of fourteen colours seen from a 4350 metre viewpoint, at its best in afternoon light by 4x4.
Parque Provincial Potrero de Yala
High lagoons and green Yungas trails thirty minutes from the city, the gentlest nature excursion from Jujuy.
Termas de Reyes
Hot thermal pools in a green gorge eighteen kilometres from the city, ideal after a high altitude day.
Parque Nacional Calilegua
A vast Yungas cloud forest national park with jungle trails and some of Argentina's richest birdlife.
Best hotels in San Salvador de Jujuy
Howard Johnson Plaza Jujuy
The centre's reliable full service hotel, a few blocks from the plaza and walkable to everything.
El Arribo Hotel
A 19th century house hotel with a patio, small pool and the city's best reviewed breakfast.
Ohasis Jujuy Hotel Spa
A small modern spa hotel in the centre, pitched at travellers returning from altitude days.
Jujuy Palace Hotel
A long running centre hotel with large rooms near the peatonal, useful for groups needing many rooms.
Caminos Hostal
A family run hostal with private rooms, a garden, a seasonal pool and free bikes at budget prices.
Altos de la Viña Wine Hotel & Spa
The city's top hotel, a wine hotel and spa on the green hill above the river with a pool and gardens.
Is San Salvador de Jujuy expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ARS 35,000 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ARS 65,000 a person |
| Splurge | ARS 130,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Teatro Mitre: a few days ahead
- Quebrada de Humahuaca: a few days ahead
- Salinas Grandes: a few days ahead
- Serranías del Hornocal: a few days ahead
- Parque Nacional Calilegua: a few days ahead
- Tren Solar de la Quebrada: a few days ahead
- Altos de la Viña Wine Hotel & Spa: weeks ahead
- Casa Finca: a few days ahead
- Book hotels weeks to months ahead for Carnaval, the July holidays and Pachamama week in August.
- Book the Salinas bike ride, private Hornocal 4x4s and Tren Solar seats days to weeks ahead in high season.
- Reserve Viracocha at peak lunch and Casa Finca on weekends.
Is San Salvador de Jujuy safe?
- Watch bags and phones in the market, at the terminal and in Carnaval crowds.
- At altitude, descend if headache and nausea set in, and carry hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and a warm layer in every month.
- In the wet season, accept gorge and gravel road cancellations when afternoon storms threaten.
San Salvador de Jujuy travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Do not stack the Quebrada, Salinas and Hornocal into a single day from the city.
- Purmamarca plaza at midday in high season is the most pressured shopping in the province; the city feria is calmer and cheaper.
- Judging the centre at midday in summer means judging a siesta; the city comes out in the evening.
Getting around San Salvador de Jujuy: public transport and more
- Walk the centre: plaza, cathedral, Cabildo and both museums sit within a fifteen minute web.
- Use remises for Termas de Reyes, Alto La Vina dinners and the airport run, about 30 km and 35 to 45 minutes away.
- Intercity buses run RN9 all day to Purmamarca in about 1 hour, Tilcara in about 1.5 hours and Humahuaca in about 2.5 hours.
Who San Salvador de Jujuy suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make San Salvador de Jujuy your trip
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