South America

A dozen countries combine to make up the fourth-largest continent on the planet. There’s hardly one that’s not bucket-list stuff. From the soaring heights of Peru’s Machu Picchu to the jagged summits of the Fitz Roy down in Chilean Patagonia, the table-top tepui mountains of Venezuela all the way to the endless pampas of Argentina, this is a place to take the breath away. But it’s the people and the cultures that make it arguably the world’s most exciting destination. There are gunslinging Gauchos, uncontacted Amazonian tribes, and creative artists troupes in the big cities.