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The beguiling beauty of this Latin hotspot seduces all who visit, with the famous golden sands of Copacabana Beach the perfect foil to the distinctive backdrop of Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer's outstretched arms atop Corcovado Mountain.

Flocks of colourful macaws and bright billed toucans are dazzling inhabitants of this vast tropical wilderness where stops at riverside villages open a window on to local life of the many indigenous tribes.

The sensual rhythm of tango underpins the Argentine capital's allure, where stately streets and grand buildings around Plaza de Mayo reflect faded European grandeur amid bohemian neighbourhoods and the all-pervading memories of former First Lady Eva Peron.

Uruguay's cosmopolitan capital brims with a vibrant mix of Latin flair and European flavour, from the colonial overtones of its historic old town to sultry tango bars and the punchy vibe of its swish oceanfront reminiscent of Miami Beach.

A bohemian jumble of narrow streets and colourful houses marks out this hilly Chilean port town, long a magnet for the creative set which gives it an irrepressibly arty vibe enhanced by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda who built a house here.

Peru's capital and one of South America's largest metropolises, the so-called City of the Kings, is where Spanish colonial churches rub shoulders with the breath-taking Incan riches of the city's Gold Museum and eye-catching local crafts at the Indian Market.

With a dramatic backdrop of mountain peaks, this Argentine port proudly promotes itself as the town at the end of the world, its extreme southerly location making it the last stop before the South Pole and departure point for Antarctica sailings.

This vast sparsely-populated wilderness of stark granite cliffs, plunging waterfalls, ice-blue glaciers and deep mysterious gorges stretches across the borders of Argentina and Chile from the southern Andes Mountains, encompassing the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines.

A microcosm of Britishness in the South Atlantic, the capital Stanley is reminiscent of an old-fashioned British village, while the wild, windswept terrain resembles the Yorkshire Moors, albeit with penguin colonies thousands strong and offshore waters brimming with whales and seals.

Positioned some 600 miles from Ushuaia and a two-day sailing across Drake Passage (notorious for its tempestuous conditions), this is where most cruise ships sail to, tempted by the promise of spectacular icy terrain like nowhere else on earth.