Asunción, Paraguay

Asunción, the capital of land-locked Paraguay, is one of South America's least-visited and most genuinely off-the-beaten-path capitals — a sprawling, low-rise, sub-tropical city on the banks of the Paraguay River that rewards curious travellers with an unpolished, authentic slice of the continent and some of its friendliest people. Founded in 1537, it is among the oldest cities in South America and was long known as the 'mother of cities', the base from which much of the region was settled, and that history lingers in its historic centre: the domed Panteón Nacional de los Héroes (a national mausoleum modelled on Les Invalides), the riverside Palacio de los López (the elegant 19th-century presidential palace, beautifully lit at night), the old Cabildo (the former town hall, now a cultural centre and museum overlooking the main square), the Casa de la Independencia where Paraguay's freedom was declared, and the atmospheric old railway station. Down at the water, the Costanera — a riverfront avenue and promenade — has given the city a place to stroll, cycle and watch the sun set over the wide brown river and the wild Chaco beyond. Asunción's culture is distinctively Paraguayan: this is a thoroughly bilingual country where the indigenous Guaraní language is spoken alongside Spanish by almost everyone, and that heritage shows in the food — chipa (a chewy cheese-and-cassava bread sold everywhere), sopa paraguaya (a rich cornbread, despite its name), mandioca (cassava) with every meal, asado and the ubiquitous tereré, an ice-cold version of mate sipped from a guampa horn through the hot afternoons. The chaotic Mercado 4 is a sensory plunge into Paraguayan commerce, the crafts of ñandutí lace and Areguá ceramics are local specialities, and a laid-back café and nightlife scene has grown in the leafier districts. Beyond the city, day trips reach the lakeside artists' town of Areguá and Lake Ypacaraí, and — further afield — the magnificent UNESCO-listed Jesuit mission ruins of the south. Asunción is hot — sub-tropical, with very warm summers (December to February) and mild winters; the cooler months from May to September are the most comfortable for exploring.