Córdoba is Argentina's second city by size and first by claims to learning, a university town where the baroque churches of the Jesuits stand beside student cafés and traffic that never seems to stop. The Jesuits arrived in the sixteenth century and built what is now called the Jesuit Block, a group of church, college and residences that UNESCO listed in 2000. Their university, founded in 1613, is one of the oldest in South America, and in 1918 students here launched a reform movement that spread through Latin American universities. The city is also where Argentines drink fernet with cola, an acquired taste that locals will defend with some force.
For a rider, Córdoba is the start of a classic mountain run. The Camino de las Altas Cumbres leaves the plain and climbs through the Sierras de Córdoba, an old and eroded range, by way of Villa Carlos Paz and its reservoir. Higher up it crosses the Pampa de Achala, a wide grassland plateau at more than two thousand metres where the wind never stops and the cattle graze among granite boulders. The curves between the plateau and Mina Clavero fall quickly, with long views over the valley of Traslasierra, and in the dry season they are a real pleasure.
The mountains have their own wildlife. Andean condors circle on the thermals, and the Quebrada del Condorito National Park nearby protects one of the most reliable places in the country to see them. Weather changes fast. A warm and bright morning in the city can turn into fog, cold wind or a violent summer storm on the heights, so carry layers, and be careful on gravel and wet surfaces. Spring and autumn offer the best conditions, while summer weekends are busy with local families heading for the rivers.
Fuel is easy in the city and in the larger towns on the road, and the roads are paved. Córdoba has excellent food, with locro, empanadas and big grilled meat, and the evening paseo around the old centre goes late. Give yourself a morning to see the Jesuit buildings before the ride begins.