Mexico

We had flown into the tiny airport at Manzanillo swooping low, the runway almost an extension of the beach. Picked up by the estate's smart silver 4x4, we cruised through dusty Mexican towns, following the coast road north along the rugged Costa Alegre. An unmarked drive past a security checkpoint took us on to a dirt track and through a tangle of thick vegetation. And then there we were. The estate's manager, Maria, wearing a cool, flowing kaftan (available at Cuixmala's boutique), introduced us with a warm smile to Casa Alborada's staff, Pedro, Tita and Imelda, who were waiting to greet us with cold cloths and jugs of freshly made hibiscus juice. Sinking into the deep pink Moroccan-inspired day beds, we tried to take it all in.

Bedded into the hillside, all the rooms open on to a series of terraces, the pool - and the jaw-dropping view. The bedrooms, in contrast to the warm tones used outside, are startlingly white - white polished floors, walls and ceilings and built-in bed base and headboard. On to this pure canvas a shock of colour has been splashed; a deep blue bedspread in one, soft pink floral in another. The shuttered windows and doors a vivid cobalt. Style-wise it's an exotic mix of Moroccan and Mughal (giant elephant and cow statues, anyone?) and although the terracotta wash feels a little dated, somehow, beneath a harsh Mexican sun, it works.

The other villas cut into the hillside are Casa Puma, Casa Torre and Alix and Goffredo's house. All slightly different in style - Puma is more traditionally Mexican, Torre is currently under renovation with a stunning new infinity pool - what they all have in common is the view. A green sweep of forest flows towards the ocean - and silhouetted against the horizon, Sir James Goldsmith's clifftop retreat, La Loma, a bizarre blue and gold-domed Moorish extravaganza.(...)

Taking us on a tour of the estate, Maria pointed out the huge crocodiles lounging by the lagoon (native) and zebra (not) as we headed down to La Loma. "Laure had a whim for exotic wildlife," Maria explained. "Sir James imported three zebra; now there's a whole herd." This wild, untrammelled land is also home to endangered jaguar, puma, deer and rattlesnakes.

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Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

In the whitewashed bohemian outpost of Santa Teresa, far from the Rio de Janeiro of tourist mythology, the beach hedonism of Zona Sul neighborhoods like Ipanema and Copacabana seems almost irrelevant. Here, local artists have claimed 19th-century hilltop villas that are sandwiched between squatter slums and offer stunning views of the coast.

At lunch in unpretentious Bar do Mineiro, a grizzled artist offered advice on how to spend an evening out in Rio. “There is no soul in the Zona Sul,” he said. “If you are going out, you must only go to Lapa.”

He was talking about Santa Teresa’s neighbor, which shares the same historic architecture and still-dubious reputation as Santa Teresa. The two are linked by the bonde, a precarious but unforgettable tram that passes over Lapa’s aqueduct, and by the stairs connecting the Convento de Santa Teresa to Rua Joaquim Silva in Lapa.

Lapa offers an alternative to the slick, soulless clubs of the Zona Sul (or South Zone), whose anxiousness to convey international-style exclusivity cannot allay the nagging feeling that Rio’s real action lies elsewhere. Revitalization has begun to take place farther afield, in places like Lapa, the scene of a rebirth of samba, where spontaneity and history commingle.

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Grand Santiago Hotel, Santiago - Chile

The location
An outstanding building set in lush gardens in a suburban area. It has views of the Andes and is less than a 30-minute drive from the airport, downtown Santiago and the beaches and ski slopes.

The draw
A dramatic 24-storey glass-domed atrium is a commanding entrance to the recently renovated and rebranded Grand Hyatt. It's an oasis or "urban resort" where you can relax and pamper yourself. There is a well-equipped gym in the Ako spa, two tennis courts and a lagoon-style swimming pool with a waterfall.

The drawback
Its location on a busy road. The constant flow of traffic makes it difficult to stroll around the area.

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Uruguay

"The summer season is ridiculously short," despaired Steven Chew, as our Buquebus ferry bounced across the River Plate towards Montevideo. "Just 15 days starting from 27 December. Blink and you'll miss it. We'll witness the aftermath. Note the air of desperation as the drinks cabinets run dry. Mind you, for anyone uninterested in the new year party scene, Uruguay is a great place to visit right through to May, especially on the back of a trip to Buenos Aires. It's better value, less crowded, less hyped and altogether more relaxing than Argentina."

Chew, 34, from England, is a most agreeable Latin American guide. He has been composing bespoke holidays here for 14 years. Thanks to his connections, doors that ordinarily remain shut fly open, which, in a closed society like Uruguay, is exactly the knack one needs. I hoped to harvest his expertise.

"What exactly does one do in Uruguay?" I asked.

"If you need to ask, you probably shouldn't go," he winced. "It is a source of pride among Uruguayans that their country lacks any world-class attractions. No Iguaçu Falls. No Patagonia. No Andes. But there is something wonderfully old-fashioned about Uruguay, and so beautifully uncomplicated."

Uruguayans and Argentines are close River Plate cousins. They look and speak the same, but differ widely in outlook. Uruguayans are so conservative, patient, low-key and unconventionally Latino, that they could almost be Scandinavian. Argentines, on the other hand, are self-conscious and fashion-conscious sophisticates. "Argentines look down on Uruguayans like the British denigrated the Spanish in the 1970s," said Chew. "They consider Uruguayans slow, dithering and backward in every sense."

First impressions of Montevideo: craggy, tumbledown, faded, crumbling, leafy and reminiscent of the eastern bloc circa 1965. The clocks are one hour ahead of Buenos Aires, but in every other respect this city is 50 years behind, basking in the glories of its shipping and offshore-banking heyday. Hillman Imps with 500,000 kilometres on the clock jostle with Austin Healeys.

Having thrown cursory glances at Montevideo's cultural gems (the Mercado del Puerto, the dilapidated Beaux-Arts architecture, the magnificently restored Teatro Solis and the museum dedicated to Joaquin Torres Garcia - the painter and sculptor who introduced Constructivism to Latin America), we set off by non-Imp car eastwards along the River Plate to take possession of the Uruguayan Riviera.

Uruguay is easy driving country. It has a population of around three million, most of whom inhabit Montevideo, leaving the countryside virtually empty. Yet I found it hard to believe, as we sped past concrete shacks with heavily cannibalised motors standing on bricks in front gardens, that Uruguay has won the soccer World Cup twice.

Two hours later, the new-build river-view apartment blocks of Punta del Este came into sight. Reputedly a hedonistic sandpit for rich Porteños (natives of Buenos Aires) and Brazilians with millions who come here for the beaches, the security and the friendly welcome, this former resort was once favoured by the Rat Pack, Brigitte Bardot, Gina Lollabrigida, Yul Brynner and Che Guevara. Today it is the gentrified holiday/weekend spot for well-scrubbed nuclear families. It's worth crossing the River Plate for, but not the Atlantic. What has spun off from "Punta" to the east, however, at the villages of La Barra and José Ignacio which overlook that point where the River Plate turns into the Atlantic, is far more compelling and sophisticated.

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La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Culebra Island - Puerto Rico

Machu Picchu - Peru

The Lares Valley sprawls out to the east of Machu Picchu. Hikers generally pass by the snow-capped mountain Helancoma and thread through Andean villages, past mountain lakes and on to Inca ruins in the town of Ollantaytambo. From there, hikers walk or catch a train to Machu Picchu.

Others trek past the remote Inca city of Choquequirao, set on a ridge high above the glacier-cold River Apurimac, southwest of Machu Picchu. From there, it’s about three to five days’ hiking to Machu Picchu. The route is among the longest and hardest paths in the Peruvian Sacred Valley, looping travelers over steep and slick mountain switchbacks, across rivers and waterfalls.

Of course, these paths are often second choices or last-minute alternatives for travelers, and they lack the cachet of actually hiking the Inca Trail. You don’t see the same banquet of Inca ruins, and you enter Machu Picchu from below, rather than crossing beneath an Inca Sun Gate to descend into the city.

Still, the alternative routes are cheap and relatively unspoiled. Some tours cost $500 to more than $1,000. Yet travelers can pay as little as $160 for five days of hiking, guides and meals if they are willing to bargain hard with the hundreds of tour agencies that line the streets of Cuzco, a bustling city nearby that serves as a jumping-off point for many Machu Picchu treks.

The treks wend through remote villages and traverse farmers’ fields. You sleep in backyards, meet shepherds and watch Quechua-speaking women weave blankets, or mantas, on hillsides. You walk the same paths as farmers lugging bananas and avocados to market and see few, if any, other groups of tourists.

“This seemed a little bit less touristy and farther off the beaten path, and that was exactly what I was looking for,” said Amanda Rosenblum, 25, of Los Angeles, who hiked five days west through the Sacred Valley with the tour operator Andean Treks. “I twisted my ankles, I wrecked my knees descending a rock-strewn hillside with no path for an hour, and I fell on a cactus while bouldering. I am so glad I went.”

Though Machu Picchu itself limits the number of people allowed in each morning, travelers can still just show up, buy tickets to the ruins and enter with little waiting. Many tourists simply bypass the treks altogether and catch a four-hour train from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes, the tiny tourist town set just below Machu Picchu. From there, it’s an hourlong hike or a 20-minute bus ride to the ruins at the summit. Tourists who time it right can squeeze the entire trip into one day.

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Peru

Some destinations are perfect for a one-week holiday, others are better suited to two. But to make the most of Peru, you need at least three weeks, plus a meticulously planned itinerary.

The absolute musts are Machu Picchu, Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, and the still under-visited treasures of Sipán, Túcume and Chan Chan in northern Peru. The lure of the Amazon is hard to resist, it's a shame to miss the weirdness of the Nazca Lines, and the seabird and condor sanctuaries of the south are essentials for anyone with a love of the wild. However, too many off-the-peg tours rush you first to the guaranteed crowd-pleasers - Cusco, the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu - with the option of bolting on other big-ticket attractions such as Titicaca, the Amazon and the Nazca Lines. That's a mistake. Rushing straight to Cusco invites altitude sickness while Machu Picchu is a hard act to follow: much better to save it for the main course, with the lost civilisations of the north for dessert, and Lima's limited attractions relegated to one final time-killing day on the way home. So, start in Lima and head south, travelling in an anti-clockwise direction until you are north of Lima.

If you're organising your own trip, you will have to give some thought to getting around. You could hire a car - the roads for the most part aren't bad, but distances are very long and landscapes intimidating. I would hire a driver/guide. Most of the more upscale Peru specialists offer this option and I think it's worth spending extra for the experience of a lifetime.

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