Classic Wine Route

I did a 6day trip combining Salt & seven colours & the classic wine tour. Nick gives personalised attention pre trip & met me at the airport, went over the itinerary & gave tips of what to do in Salta. We had to miss out a couple of sites due to roads being washed away, nonetheless it was very varied with stunning landscapes, interesting villages & fascinating wineries. I was rather dubious about the wisdom of booking the trip alone but needn't have had any concerns. Rodrigo is courteous & kind, very knowledgeable & a very safe driver. I felt well looked after & totally at ease with him & hopefully will get back to do another trip! Jane

Get well away from the crowds and prepare to be surrounded by beautiful landscapes, warm people and fabulous food and wine. We had a fantastic three day trip with Mariana from Poncho Tours. Great, safe driver, informative guiding and plenty of tips of where to eat and drink. The private, tailored tour is definitely the way to go. We will return next year.

We had an amazing time with Rodrigo! We customized the trip with Nick and he gave us a lot of options. Rodrigo was very informative and a safe driver. Really enjoyed our travels with him throughout northern Argentina.

We spent a wonderful three days with Nick, travelling from Salta to Molinos and Cafayate, stopping along the way to take in the spectacular scenery. The scale of the landscape is breathtaking. Delightful overnight stays at Hacienda de La Molinos and Vinas de Cafayate, with excellent food and wine. Nick is a mine of information, whether on ancient geological events or Argentine history and culture - the perfect host and guide. A marvellous experience!

We had a wonderful experience traveling with Nick from Poncho Tours. Before arriving in Buenos Aires we coordinated with Gary from Wine Tours/wine Tasting about our interest in visiting the Salta area. Gary put us in touch with Nick and helped us plan an amazing two days from Salta to Cafayate. Our initial plan was to travel to Tilcara, but protests and road closures forced us to change plans last minute. Nick was very flexible with the many changes including an extra long delay of the arrival of our plane. On our drive he stopped at several spots so we could soak in the spectacular beauty and views on our way to Cafayete. When we got to the charming little town, Nick gave us many recommendations to explore. He also helped us find our favorite alphajores spot! We had a really wonderful time taking in the beauty, exploring wine, and traveling with Nick and Poncho Tours. Thank you for making our visit so memorable!

Nous avons passé avec mon épouse et nos 2 garçons ados (13 et 15 ans) un voyage incroyable dans le Nord de Salta avec Nick (2 jours) et dans le sud vers Cachi avec Rodrigo (1 jour) de Poncho tours. Nick et Rodrigo ont été des guides exceptionnels, passionnés, très à l'écoute, peu avares d'anecdotes et d'explications pour que nous puissions mieux comprendre la culture locale. Nick étant d'origine britannique et Rodrigo argentin, nous avons pu échanger en anglais et espagnol. Nick nous a servi du maté, amenés dans de très bons restaurants locaux et il nous a amenés voir les plus beaux endroits (dont la magnifique montagne aux 14 couleurs, le désert de sel de Grande Salines, nous avons fait un treck dans les gorges du diable). Rodrigo nous a amené voir l'impressionnant parc naturel de Los Cardones et nous avons visité et mangé dans une splendide exploitation viticole près de Cachi. Nick et Rodrigo se sont montrés très professionnels et flexibles et d'un grand conseil pour l'organisation du voyage, il se sont adaptés à nos demandes et ont fait attention à notre état de fatigue lié à l'altitude (nous avons été jusqu'à 4350m)Nous avons été en février durant le carnaval et Nick nous a fait participé à un peu de la magie de l'instant à Humahuaca où nous avons pu suivre un diable descendu des montagnes et danser en suivant une fanfare locale dans les rues de la ville! Le seul regret que nous avons est de ne pas avoir passé 1 journée supplémentaire dans le Sud, mais nous n'avions pas le temps pour pouvoir visiter le reste de l'Argentine qui est un très grand pays. Un conseil : Prendre 4 jours si vous le pouvez au moins dans la région de Salta (2 jours pour voir le nord et 2 pour le sud). Vous pouvez choisir Poncho tours les yeux fermés, vous passerez un voyage inoubliable!

Poncho Tours gets A+ from us; with 5 stars! Poncho Tours beautifully organized a 3-day tour of the southern Salta region for our group of 3. From the very first e-mail contact with Nick, everything was smooth. From the start we found their price reasonable; however, only now we realize what a great value we’ve got! The price included a car (very comfortable double-cab Volkswagen truck) and an English-speaking driver/guide for three full days of travel (Salta-Cachi-Molinos-Cafayate-Salta) plus pick-up from the airport in Salta. Nick also provided invaluable suggestions and “insider’s info” about wineries, attractions, restaurants, and lovely and reasonably priced hotels. Our driver/guide was Rodrigo, who spoke perfect English and expertly navigated the unmarked and unpaved roads of rural Salta. He was easy going and attentive, knowledgeable, punctual, and extremely well organized. Originally, we planned this trip to Salta just for the wineries, as we wanted to seriously “research” Torrontes (my favorite wine in the whole world - the best is produced there). We never expected that Salta province is so breathtakingly beautiful. There are incredible alpine vistas (Questa del Obispo), otherworldly rock formations (Quebrada de Las Flechas), pre-Inca ruins in Quilme, picturesque little towns like Cachi or Molinas. At Nick’s suggestion, we visited the James Turrel museum in the Colome winery – big thanks for this, Nick! We were not really familiar with Turrell’s work, but what an incredible surprise it was. Turrell works with light, and some of his installations are designed to be experienced “from within.” We entered a series of rooms and walked through light! Neither the source of this light nor the walls are visible; all around us was just a softly colored, luminous, never-ending light. It’s impossible to describe the feeling of being suspended in light like in water; it’s all slightly disorienting but peaceful and beautiful. The terrific wines of Colome (the oldest winery in the region) were just icing on the cake (although the best winery experience was Piattelli!). Our first night was in “Hacienda De Molinas” – quaint historic hotel with amazingly good restaurant, the second in a boutique hotel “Portal del Santo” in Cafayate. In Salta we stayed in La Candela -another charming hotel in good location. We chose the hotels from a list of Nick’s well-described recommendations; all three hotels were comfortable and full of charm and character. Nick made all the reservations for us. This excursion with Poncho Tours was our favorite part of the entire 4-week long trip to Argentina and Chile. Our only regret is that we only scheduled three days there – we should have planned for at least 3 additional days and go north of Salta. We now also regret that we did not drive across the Andes from Salta to our next stop on this trip, San Pedro de Atacama. Apparently, it’s a spectacular, fairly easy drive. Well, next time, Nick!

From the minute of initial contact to being met at the airport and going on our trip the process was seamless. Nick has great suggestions of what you can fit in to your days and will help plan your itinerary. He has a great source of knowledge, stacked full of information on local culture and history and his journalistic background makes him a natural story teller. Nick has a passion for life and discovering new things on your tour is infectious. Poncho Tours is not just a list of ticking off places. You will be driving along and suddenly see something and Nick will say "that looks interesting" and you will just stop and go and investigate whether it is a local party on the side of the road or tobacco workers drying their crop.Poncho Tours delivers a first class bespoke experience and is absolutely worth doing . We only wish that we could have extended our tour, 2 days was just not long enough. As in previous reviews travelling with Nick is honestly like travelling with a friend. We are already thinking of future trips and what can we do next and what can Nick show us. Our only regret was that we were not able to extend our stay to join Nick and his family the following weekend at the communal harvest in Cafayte.