South America is one of the most geographically and culturally diverse regions on Earth, yet most international visitors follow a familiar circuit: Buenos Aires, the Inca Trail, the Amazon $AMZN -0.24%, the Atacama, Rio de Janeiro. These are worthwhile destinations, but they represent a fraction of what the continent offers. Outside the well-worn routes lie cloud forest fortresses, colonial cities that haven't changed in centuries, glacial valleys framed by volcanoes, Amazonian islands the size of small countries, and wetlands teeming with wildlife that rivals anything in Africa.
The continent spans nearly 18 million square kilometers and 12 sovereign countries, plus French Guiana. It contains the world's largest rainforest, the longest mountain range, the driest desert, and some of the most complex pre-Columbian civilizations ever recorded. Yet travel coverage — and tourist infrastructure — clusters around a handful of flagship sites. The result is that extraordinary places go almost entirely unvisited by international travelers.
Part of this is practical. Getting to Guyana's interior savannahs or a small colonial town in the Colombian coffee region takes more planning than booking a flight to Cusco. Some destinations lack the marketing budgets of more established tourism economies. Others are obscured by proximity to a more famous neighbor — travelers pass through on their way somewhere else without stopping.
