If only one word could be used to describe this vibrant and richly cosmopolitan city, it would be “mosaic.” Stroll along these broad thoroughfares, like the Plaza de Mayo, where famed first lady Evita Perón led fervent crowds to petition for her husband’s release from prison, or visit Pirámide de Mayo, the oldest of the city’s many national monuments.

Montevideo is a thoroughly modern city with a rich artistic tradition, the reach of the rural estancias is all around you. If ever there were a time you were inclined to indulge, delicious steaks are the specialty of the house in virtually every restaurant.

Commune with the roughly 2,000 intrepid souls who call this remote former whaling outpost home. As you hike through the rocky, windswept landscape you may observe a few of the island’s flightless residents—including Magellan penguins burrowing underground, and rockhoppers carefully observing you from outcroppings.

Tierra del Fuego, Land of Fire, is the most isolated place in the Americas, and Cape Horn is its southernmost point. These craggy cliffs and windswept shores are stark, rugged beauty personified, creating a dramatic setting for the collision between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

No city on the planet has a more southerly latitude. As a result, the sun shines for 18 hours during each summer day, providing ample opportunity to view the mix of glaciers, forests and sea, all framed by Mount Martial to the west and Mounts Olivia and Cinco Hermanos to the east.

This 360-mile strait isolates the Tierra del Fuego archipelago from the rest of the South American continent, and is named after the ambitious Portuguese explorer and mariner Ferdinand Magellan. Youll retrace Magellans route as you make the shortest crossing from Atlantic to Pacific between two land masses this side of the Panama Canal.

The southernmost point on the contiguous South American continent, Punta Arenas overlooks the Strait of Magellan and Otway Sound, home to colonies of sea lions and Magellan penguins. It’s also one of the few places on earth where you can snow ski while looking out over the ocean.

This deep water port was founded in 1865 by Welsh immigrants. Extending out into the Atlantic from Puerto Madryn is the Península Valdés, a wildlife sanctuary where vast numbers of sea elephants, whales and penguins far outnumber the few human visitors who make it out this far.

Known as the “Saint-Tropez of Latin America” Punta del Este is a favorite summer playground of the rich and famous of southernmost South America, with a pristine 20-mile shoreline offering two distinctly different types of beaches. Big waves beckon surfers at la Brava, while calmer waters create ideal conditions for sailing – or just plain relaxing – at La Mansa

If only one word could be used to describe this vibrant and richly cosmopolitan city, it would be “mosaic.” Stroll along these broad thoroughfares, like the Plaza de Mayo, where famed first lady Evita Perón led fervent crowds to petition for her husband’s release from prison, or visit Pirámide de Mayo, the oldest of the city’s many national monuments.