DETAILS: The Gaucho Way

GETTING THERE: United offers nonstop flights from Washington to Buenos Aires, starting about $1,700 round trip. Uruguay's capital, Montevideo, is just a 50-minute flight from Buenos Aires. Aerolineas Argentinas leaves three times daily for about $250 round trip. Flights from Washington to Montevideo are also available. American flies for about $1,300 round trip, with stops in Miami.

GETTING AROUND: Ranches, called estancias, in Argentina will often arrange airport pickup and transport to and from the ranch (between $100 and $150 each way for a private car). Cars can be rented from several agencies at the airport. Once at the estancia, most travel is on foot or horseback.

In less-developed Uruguay, a rental car is the best option. Most estancias are within a few hours' drive of the capital, reached by highways that fan across the pampas.

GAUCHO DESTINATIONS IN ARGENTINA AND URUGUAY: Behind the graceful facade and ivy-covered veranda at El Ombú de Areco (Ruta 31, cuartel VI, Villa Lía, San Antonio de Areco, Argentina, 011-54-11-4737-0436, http://www.estanciaelombu.com) is a working ranch with nearly 500 cattle. A team of gauchos leads guests on horseback tours of the 750-acre spread and also serves up a traditional asado, an afternoon feast of ribs, steaks and sausages roasted over wood coals. Colonial-style guest rooms have cast-iron wood stoves and claw-foot bathtubs (all-inclusive, $155 per person per day).

Rising like a mirage from the grassy pampas about 75 miles from Buenos Aires, Estancia Santa Rita (Antonio Carboni, Partido de Lobos, Argentina, 011-54-11-4813-9034, http://www.santa-rita.com.ar) is one of the region's oldest and most lavish estancias. Built in 1790, the five-story coral-colored palace is set amid acres of manicured parkland. Guest rooms are elegantly appointed, with chandeliers and four-poster beds. The price includes horseback riding and meals made with ingredients from the adjoining farm (all-inclusive, $275 per person per day).

A 4,500-acre working ranch about 144 miles from Montevideo, San Martín del Yí (Herrera 765, Trinidad, Flores, Uruguay, 011-598-360-4023, http://www.sanmartindelyi.com.uy, a Spanish-language site, but easy to navigate) lets guests live like gauchos, with horseback riding and chances to help with cattle roundups and sheep shearing. Apart from lots of real gauchos, the ranch is also teeming with native wildlife, including armadillos, parrots and ñandus, a type of South American ostrich (all-inclusive, $85 per person per day).

For a more refined gaucho holiday, stay at San Pedro de Timote (Cerro Colorado, Florida, Uruguay, 011-598-310-8086; http://www.sanpedrodetimote.com, another Spanish-language site), a 19th-century colonial mansion set on the open plains about 88 miles from Montevideo. Once a Jesuit mission, San Pedro boasts its own chapel, library and formal gardens and has guest rooms with fireplaces for chilly nights (all-inclusive, $115 per person per day).

NEED MORE GAUCHO STUFF? Just 90 minutes from Buenos Aires, the country town of San Antonio de Areco is a bastion of traditional gaucho culture. Many of its residents still live and dress like gauchos, and the surrounding countryside is home to some of Argentina's oldest and best-known estancias. Just outside town, you'll find the Ricardo Güiraldes Gaucho Museum (Camino Ricardo Güiraldes, San Antonio de Areco, Argentina, 011-54-2326-456-201), a faithfully re-created 19th-century estancia. Wax-figure gauchos pose inside a traditional tavern, chapel and 150-year-old pulpería (general store where horsemen would gather to drink and play guitar).

Every spring, Montevideo turns into gaucho central during the week-long Criolla, an agricultural expo that draws tens of thousands of beret-wearing cowboys in ponchos and parachute-style bombacha pants. The highlight is the doma, where the country's best jockeys mount wild horses to see who can stay in the saddle longest (dates change yearly, see http://www.thisisthelife.com/en/semana-criolla.htm for an overview of the festivities).

-- R.S.