Grenoble is an ideal blend of mountains and livability. The 16th largest French commune has Alpine views in every direction, but the city itself is almost entirely flat. This pairing gives Grenoble the feel of being in the mountains, but it doesn’t leave you out of breath when walking or biking. The downtown is almost entirely car free making it a peaceful place to stroll. The city is filled with parks and great multi-use paths too. The best of those paths follow the Isère River which winds through town. All of this combines to make Grenoble just about perfect.

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Situated at more than 11,000 feet above sea level, the former Inca capital is filled with spectacular mountain views and stunning landscapes. Moving around at this elevation is no joke though. Even walking up minor hills left us panting and out of breath. But once we were better acclimated to the elevation, we found Cusco to be a marvelous place to hike. These hikes always included some Inca ruins, which are everywhere in the area and a great addition to any trek. We also used Cusco as a jumping off point to visit the famous Machu Picchu, which is breathtaking in its own way.

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Lima greeted us with its customary overcast skies and many warm smiles. We found the city to be very friendly, especially for one of its size. The ocean views were hard to beat and we enjoyed abundant fresh produce. Our apartment in the Miraflores neighborhood was close to multiple parks, including one with scores of friendly cats. There are a handful of impressive museums too. We did have air quality problems for about a third of our month-long stay and we found it necessary to alter our normal behavior because of it. But the cloudiness and pollution weren’t enough to completely mar our stay, so overall the silver linings won out. 

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Montevideo is full of unique architecture, palm trees, and ocean breezes. The port city and capital of Uruguay is a pleasant destination, consistently ranked at the top when it comes to quality of life in Latin America. We stayed in the Old Town area, which is very walkable and has a nice pedestrian-only street bisecting it. We spent our time gazing at the interesting buildings, appreciating the locally-focused museums, and strolling along the salt water.

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Buenos Aires is filled with tree-line streets and European-style architecture. The large city has numerous parks and top notch museums. Prior to our visit, it seemed like a place that we would really mesh with. The timing of our visit could not have been worse however, as it coincided with unprecedented and relentless swarms of mosquitoes. These parasites made it basically impossible to enjoy any of the green spaces, and most of the time, it was hard just being outside at all. The indoor activities we found were not nearly enough to offset the otherwise miserable outdoor conditions.  

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Situated close to the foothills of the Andes, Mendoza is Argentina’s top wine producing region. The metro area of 1,000,000 is mostly flat and very green with lots of trees. It’s considered a jumping off point for exploring the nearby mountains. There are a number of separated bike lanes and running paths around the city that we constantly saw being used. But for a relatively large urban area, we didn’t find that much to do.

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On any list of the best street art cities in the world, Valparaíso, Chile ranks near the top. This colorful port city is overflowing with street art and graffiti. Nestled into the steep hills on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, it’s full of old funiculars and great viewpoints. We encountered a ton of  wildlife, which was a pleasant surprise. Several earthquakes and a major wildfire also kept things interesting.

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Santiago is a metropolis nestled into a large valley in the foothills of the Andes. It’s an interesting mix of high rise apartments, neglected old buildings, and fancy new construction. Many of the building facades are filled with graffiti and street art, especially in the downtown. There are a number of pedestrian only streets and the thrift store scene is off the charts. The views are almost universally great with giant mountains in most directions. The tallest of which were still snow-capped despite summer temperatures. 

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