Quick guide to the Gringo Trail

The Gringo Trail goes through Central and South America, along its main attractions.

The trail is visited mostly by American, Canadian and European tourists, this is where the name of the route comes from. In Latin America, the word gringo is used to all of tourist with white skin, but often to all the Americans from the US and is pejorative sometimes. Furthermore, gringos can be such persons that do not speak Spanish or does not have any knowledge of the Latin American culture.

The trail can be divided into two parts: the Central American and the South American part. You can do the whole route in one go, however, there is no road between them, just dense jungle. On land it is not advised to cross here. Or you can visit the two continent separately.

This part is much more smaller than the other and it can be visited in much less time. Although, Mexico is part of North America, the Yucatan Peninsula can be counted here, it is said to be the beginning or end point of the route in Central America. The countries of the trail in Central America are:

Along the trail you can visit many Mayan sites, monumental Mayan ruins and get to know their cultures. You can climb many volcanoes, only in Guatemala there are 37 of them, or you can see the crater lakes in awe. You can find breathtaking waterfalls and cenotes (these are natural pits or sinkholes) or meet wild animals in the jungle.

This part is much more bigger, you need more time to visit the whole southern part of the route, and it covers the following countries from Colombia, from the top to Ushuaia, the bottom of the continent:

There are many attractions you can visit along the road, e.g. the Macchu Pichu, Salar de Uyuni, the salt flats or the train graveyard in Bolivia, you can hike in the Andes and many more exciting sights.

The two continents are divided here. Between the two parts, between Panama and Colombia can be found the Darien region, so called Darien Gap, which is a swampy, dense jungle. As I have noted before, there is no route here, on land it is not advised to cross here. Not just because of the jungle, but because of the activity of drug cartels.

Between the two countries you can travel by plane or by ship. If you are in a bit of a hurry going by plane is the much faster option. On the contrary, the trip by ship is slower and it can last several days.

In summary, if you want to travel through the whole Gringo Trail, it will take months. You can visit the two parts separately or if you have more time, you can choose two or three countries, and divide the whole trail into more parts. Although Brasil is not part of the classic Gringo Trail, you can squeeze this country into your itinerary, as well. Without doubt, you will have many exciting experiences in any of the Latin American countries you choose.

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