Best places to go in Latin America in 2024

This is part of our global guide to the best places to go in 2024. Check out more travel inspiration here.

For a region characterized by ancient cultures spanning 5,000 years of human history, including the Maya, Olmec, Aztec, Inca, Moche, and Huari, looking at a map and thinking about where you want to go is a real shift in perspective. Go to Central and South America, tilt your head and ask: “So, what’s new?”

After all, superlatives are usually part of the appeal in these parts. The oldest known civilization in the Americas flourished in Caral, Peru around 3,000 BC, and today’s travelers regularly take the three-hour drive from Lima to explore its grounds. Tikal, a Mayan stronghold in Guatemala, is described by UNESCO as “one of the most important archaeological complexes left by the Maya civilization,” and cars, buses and helicopters transport visitors daily.

But there is so much newness around these brutal vestiges of past cultures. There are also impressive museums, such as the Museo de Arte São Paulo (MASP), Brazil’s first contemporary art museum, which opened in 1947. The museum will soon be even bigger, with the addition to 14 floors. A few blocks away, the brand new Soho House will be the club’s first South American outpost. The charming city of Mompox (founded in 1540), anointed by Gabriel García Márquez in his novel The General of the Labyrinth, on Colombia’s Magdalena River, is now open thanks to a new river cruise on the shiny AmaWaterways Now more accessible than ever. (We hope to see more brands move into this space in the coming years.) What about Tikal, Guatemala? In 2024, new direct flights from the US to Guatemala City will make it even easier to get there (where you’ll want to stop to sample the cuisine of the country’s up-and-coming chefs). There’s also glamping, luxury resorts, and epic road trip glimpses.

These are the best places to go in Latin America in 2024, where the new meets the very old. —Megan Sparrell

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