“The important thing is not to arrive, the important thing is the journey”, says a song by Fito Páez. And this phrase, which could well be a maxim of every traveler, is especially true on this trip in which, precisely, the important thing is the journey. Because it is not just any road, but the National Route 40 , or simply “Route 40” , the most famous and spectacular route in Argentine.
Along its almost 5,200 kilometers , this incredible route crosses 11 provinces, joins 20 national parks and nature reserves, ascends from sea level to almost 5,000 meters of altitude, climbs mountains and descends into valleys, crosses 236 bridges, but it also crosses rivers and passes through deserts and forests, looks out over glaciers and volcanoes, and at every step, lets in breath-taking landscapes through the windows.
Cabo Virgenes, Argentine.
Its original layout dates back to 1935 , but throughout its history it has undergone several modifications to take its current form. A route that begins in Cabo Vírgenes , in the extreme south of Santa Cruz, and reaches La Quiaca , to the north in Jujuy, always at the foot of the Andes mountain range.
Farewell with penguins
“Here begins National Route 40. La Quiaca, 5,080 km ,” reads a windswept sign at the foot of the Cabo Vírgenes lighthouse. At that southern end of Santa Cruz begins the Strait of Magellan.
Highway 40 continues north, and it is not recommended to pass without stopping at the La Leona inn, a hotel-area that tells great stories. Built in 1894 by a family of Danish immigrants, it housed, among others, the legendary bandits Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and Etta Place. Near that point, there is Cercahay, a petrified forest.
About 20 km from there, it is impossible not to turn off onto Route 23, on the north shore of the immense Lake Viedma, where the unmistakable silhouette of Mount Fitz Roy immediately appears, a 3,405-meter -high stone mass that is one of the world’s great challenges for climbers.
Cerro Fitz at sunset, Argentine.
Always with the Andes to the left, the 40 deviates to enter Gobernador Gregores and then return to the west to continue climbing. It is advisable to stop at Las Horquetas.
Once there, it is advisable to turn west, about 70 km along Route 37, to reach one of the least visited parks in the country: the Perito Moreno National Park , with Lake Belgrano as its epicenter and the nearby Burmeister Lakes, Azara and Nanzen. Wind, solitude and beauty.
Perito Moreno National Park, Argentine.
From lake to lake
After crossing the town of Río Mayo, the river of the same name and also the Senguer river, in the province of Chubut, the 40 heads north towards Esquel, another obligatory stop on the route.
Head west on Route 259 to visit Trevelin , for stories of Welsh settlement and Nant and Fall Falls. Then you can take Route 71 to cross Los Alerces National Park , declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
You may miss a section of the road, but you will find it later, when you pass by the Futalaufquen, Menéndez, Verde, Rivadavia, Cholila, Lezama and Carlos Pellegrini lakes , and be amazed by the Alerzal Milenario, a forest of larch trees with specimens of more than 2,600 years old.
Shortly before the town of Epuyén, Route 71 will return to Route 40 to continue north towards El Hoyo -national capital of fine fruit-, and Lake Puelo , a beautiful town on the shores of a lake as green as it is hypnotic.
Lake Puelo, Argentine.
A few more steps and you will be in Río Negro , and a few more and you will arrive at the famous Pagano de El Bolsón square, with its also famous craft fair, its craft beers, its raspberries and blackberries, and its many attractions: the Piltriquitrón hill, the Carved forest, the valley of the Azul river or the Escondida waterfall.
When you return to the route, the winding route will guide you towards Bariloche , passing by the shores of Lakes Guillelmo, Mascardi and Gutiérrez. After seeing in the distance the slopes of Cerro Catedral , the largest ski center in South America , you will come across the main tourist center of Patagonia, on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi.
There begins the famous Route of the 7 Lakes , that incomparable section of the 40 that crosses the Lanín National Park and winds its way between the lakes Correntoso, Espejo Grande, Escondido, Villarino, Falkner, Machónico and Lácar, which reach eight if we add the Nahuel Huapi, and several more with a few short detours towards the Totoral, the Traful, the Hermoso, the Meliquina, and near San Martín de los Andes on Route 62, the Lolog. 
Sunset in Bariloche, Argentine.
From the valleys to the Puna
About 120 km more, and after passing through the oasis of San Blas de los Sauces, the 40 enters Catamarca. Just before the limit, you can continue along Route 60 towards Tinogasta, Fiambalá, and further up, to the fantastic Ruta de los Seismiles , in the Puna of Catamarca and at the foot of almost 20 majestic volcanoes crowned by the Ojos del Salado, the largest volcano highest in the world and the second summit in America.
But the 40 goes further east and passes through London, with the nearby ruins of Shincal and its Inca trail, and Belén, “national capital of the poncho” and base from which 4×4 excursions to the Puna depart. One of the best places is Campo de Piedra Pómez, which has very beautiful landscapes. 
Ojos del Salado volcano, point that separates Argentine and Chile.
Barely 23 km after entering Salta, the beauty of Cafayate and its valley, with its wineries and vineyards and the Plaza 20 de Febrero, where you can sit down to eat a good kid or the best empanadas in the world.
