South America Hotels

The continent of North America and the Caribbean Sea are to the north west. The South American countries that border the Caribbean such as Colombia, Venezuela and Guyana are called Caribbean South America. The South American countries with the largest populations are Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Venezuela, whilst the two richest countries in GDP per capita are Argentina and Venezuela. In general South America has some similarity to North America, with high rugged mountains in the west, lower rounded mountains in the east with lowlands and plains between, but the western mountains, the young, seismically active Andes are much higher than mountains in North America.

The land to the east of the Andes is largely tropical rain forest, the vast Amazon River basin. The continent also has the arid regions of eastern Patagonia and the very dry Atacama desert. In the east are the Brazilian Highlands, a high plateau, and there are the Guiana Highlands in north central South America. Unlike the high-traffic tourist areas of North America, until recently very little of South America was well-visited by tourists, though this is beginning to change.

Tourist services are rapidly improving at the major tourist sights, but only the major well-known resorts have the choice of top class hotel facilities, though there is a growing range of options. South America has rich and interesting history and archaeology from ancient civilisations as well as growing eco-tourism. South America is one of the most biodiverse continents with a range of unique and interesting animals and fauna, especially in the Amazon rainforest. More and more tourists are travelling in South America for adventure and outdoor activities to discover the pleasures of its amazing landscapes.

Major tourist attractions include the wonderful Angel Falls in Venezuela and the Iguazu Falls in Argentina. Peru is noted for the amazing and most visited Inca ruins at Machu Picchu, the fascinating Nazca lines and the highest lake in the world, Lake Titicaca – on the border of Peru and Bolivia. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is noted for the inspiring Christ the Redeemer statue towering over the city, Buenos Aires and Santiago in Chile are also interesting cities to visit in South America. Eco-tourism and outdoor adventure tourism is becoming most popular and includes visits to the Amazon Rainforest mainly in Brazil and Patagonia, though visits to the former should be researched carefully, as there is little tourist infrastructure.

The region of Patagonia, shared by Argentina and Chile includes lakes, mountains, glaciers, fjords, and wonderful national parks. Tours to the Galapagos Islands, owned by Chile are also a popular tourist attraction.