Old stone churches face lively squares, grand theatres fill every evening, and surnames on shop signs recall families who crossed the ocean to stay. The past lives in small moments, like a long dinner of happy arguments or a song hummed at a bus stop. Subtropical forests give way to windswept southern plains.
The climate runs from subtropical in the north through mild plains to cold in the far south, with seasons following the southern hemisphere. Autumn and spring suit most trips, and the far south is kindest in midsummer. With a Local Friend you learn which sights deserve an early start and which evenings deserve to stretch on.
