Buenos Aires

Concierge.com's insider take:

The pillars of rural Argentinean life are its estancias, ranches built by the owners of sprawling properties on the fabled Pampas. Many were established by 19th-century European immigrants, who mimicked the idiosyncratic country houses of their fatherlands by decking them out in the style of French châteaux, English Tudor piles, or Italianate villas. Some still remain in the hands of their founding families, who offset high maintenance costs by accepting paying guests. Standards vary greatly, but a handful do get it right, providing an unparalleled view of gaucho culture, authentic country cuisine, and the chance to gallop across the Pampas into the sunset.

Each of the following properties lies within a three-hour drive of the capital:

Estancia El Rocío
San Miguel del Monte
Tel: 54 2271 420 488
www.estanciaelrocio.com

Stables and polo attract a horse-loving crowd to El Rocío, an exclusive, pastel-washed ranchito with a level of service rarely found in Argentinean country homes. Nonriders can also enjoy its 400-acre parkland, swimming pool, and French-influenced gourmet cuisine.

Estancia Dos Talas
Dolores
Tel: 54 2245 443 020
www.dostalas.com.ar

Threadbare, aristocratic splendor is the attraction at this 1893 château, with its faded family photographs, 19th-century library, and Carlos Thays–designed parkland.

El Ombú de Areco
San Antonio de Areco
Tel: 54 23 2649 2080
www.estanciaelombu.com

Gauchos have been hitching their mounts to this estancia's namesake— a giant ombú tree (Phytolacca dioica) that presides over the lush 750-acre grounds (including two swimming pools)—for over a century. El Ombú's main attraction is the chance to observe (or participate in) the workaday life of managing the estancia's stock of Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle.