Can heading south of the border substitute for all-American experiences?

Sunshine is sneaking through the trees to warm the terrace where I am drinking coffee and enjoying the gentle burble of conversation. A light Friday afternoon breeze drifts in from the mountains. Apart from the workers who keep the pavement cafés and the rest of the town running, everyone is in holiday mood.

Deja vu: the sensation of sheer good fortune is the same as I felt on a visit last July to Aspen, Colorado. But this weekend begins for me in El Calafate, Argentina. While the president of this nation, Javier Milei, is deeply controversial, the occupant of the Casa Rosada (“pink house”) in Buenos Aires does not generate the same reaction from some travellers as the White House incumbent.

“Is going to the USA embarrassing now?” That is the headline of one of the top-rating Premium stories from The Independent this week. Anna Hart asks: “As Donald Trump posts racist memes, masked ICE agents attack civilians, and Team USA skiers admit to mixed feelings about representing their country, does the America we thought we knew still exist?”

Some travellers are simply concerned about the soaring cost of transatlantic trips: a new $100 (£73) per person surcharge on foreign visitors to each of the top US national parks is the latest deterrent.

Other parts of the Americas are available. Between coffees, I am thinking about how Latin America locations can provide experiences that are equal or better to those in the US.

Yosemite National Park offers magnificent scenery and superb hiking. But Torres del Paine in Chile comprises an even greater outdoors than California can offer. These towers of rock overlook a mosaic of lakes, with world-class treks on offer.

Route 66? Get your kicks south of the border instead, on the Panamericana. This Alaska-to-Ushuaia highway gets into its stride as it snakes through the volcanos of Central America. The stretch through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama is the highlight – though the road is interrupted where the Darien Gap begins.

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Miami Beach is a dream location on the Atlantic. Yet Rio upstages the Florida strip. Beach after beach is populated with beautiful people, with a hinterland full of drama and indulgence.

Charleston, South Carolina and Stockbridge, Massachusetts are full of charm. So, too, are two top Latin American alternatives: Antigua in Guatemala and Popayan in Colombia.

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Hawaii and the Florida Keys? Try Easter Island (part of Chile) and the Galapagos (Ecuador’s territory) instead. Each offers nature at her most intense and remote.

Yes, there is only one with that name. But head south from the vast chasm in Arizona across the Mexican border and make for Chihuahua to board the Copper Canyon Railway – rattling beside an equally impressive gash in the surface of the earth, all the way to Los Mochis on the Pacific coast.

A sunset boat trip on the Mississippi in New Orleans is a favourite with tourists. But try the Demerara River cruise offered in Georgetown, capital of Guyana. Within minutes, you feel deep in a South American wilderness – with the added bonus of unlimited rum.

Manhattan, Las Vegas and the theme parks of Orlando are unique. I cannot offer Latin alternatives. But perhaps you can? Let me know your own substitutions: email s@hols.tv

Simon Calder, also known as The Man Who Pays His Way, has been writing about travel for The Independent since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key travel issue – and what it means for you.