A windswept border town on the Puna facing Villazón, Bolivia. The northern end of Ruta 40 is here, and the photo with the milestone is a rite of passage before heading south across the high plateau.
Don’t miss
- The Ruta 40 northern milestone
- Crossing on foot to Villazón for the market
- Manca Fiesta, a pottery and barter fair held each October
Long gravel stretches with no fuel between towns. Fill up here and carry water and warm layers.
On these itineraries
Tours from La Quiaca
Guide
Reading for La Quiaca
Ruta 40 road conditions and fuel
Where the pavement ends, how long the gravel sections really take, where the petrol stations are, and what to carry on the Northwest stretch.
The northern end of Ruta 40
Where Argentina's longest road begins, on the Bolivian border at 3,442 m — La Quiaca, the Puna crossing to Susques and the descent to the Quebrada de Humahuaca.
Crossing the Puna
Salt flats, volcanoes, pumice fields and salt-mining villages above 3,500 metres — what to expect from Argentina's high desert and how to travel it safely.