Must go holiday destinations in South America:

South America doesn't really do things by halves. For most of the twentieth century the continent swung between wild optimism and hard times, military juntas rubbing shoulders with revolutions, economies crashing and roaring back to life. The nineties brought some stability, the 2000s brought the pink tide of left wing governments, and then a messy decade of protests, impeachments and, in Venezuela's case, a full blown economic collapse that sent millions abroad. But here's the thing about South America. No matter what was happening in the palaces and parliaments, the beaches never changed. The samba kept playing, the ceviche kept arriving at the table, and people kept dancing until the sun came up. Today the continent feels more open than it has in years, and travellers are rediscovering what the locals never forgot. Life here is lived outside, loudly, and with a cold drink in hand.

Brazil is usually the first stop for anyone chasing sand and sunshine, and honestly it's hard to argue. The country has over seven thousand kilometres of coastline, which is almost ridiculous when you think about it. Rio de Janeiro remains the big name for a reason. Copacabana and Ipanema are the postcards, sure, but standing on them in person is something else entirely. The heat comes off the pavement in waves, beach vendors weave between the umbrellas selling caipirinhas and grilled cheese on sticks, and the Sugarloaf looms over everything like it's guarding the whole show. The thing that surprises most visitors is the lifestyle. Nobody's in a rush. You find your spot on the sand at ten in the morning, rent a chair and an umbrella from one of the barracas, and the day simply happens around you. Surfers paddle out past the swimmers, football games spill across the damp sand near the waterline, and by late afternoon everyone's watching the sunset like it's a religious event. Because in Rio, it kind of is.

Accommodation in Brazil runs the full gamut. In Rio you can splash out on a boutique hotel in Ipanema with a rooftop pool, or grab a decent apartment rental a few streets back from the beach for a fraction of the price. Heading further north, the state of Bahia is where things get really interesting. Salvador has this incredible Afro-Brazilian energy, drums echoing through the Pelourinho, and beaches like Porto da Barra where the water is bath warm and calm enough to float in for hours. Further still, up in Ceará, places like Jericoacoara have become legendary among kite surfers. Picture a village with sand streets, no cars, dune buggies puttering past, and lagoons so still they look like glass. Pousadas there are the way to go, small family run guesthouses with tiled courtyards, hammocks strung between palm trees, and breakfast spreads of tropical fruit, tapioca pancakes and strong coffee that could wake the dead.

Colombia, meanwhile, has quietly become one of the most exciting destinations on the continent. Twenty years ago nobody was holidaying in Colombia unless they had to, and the transformation since then has been remarkable. Cartagena on the Caribbean coast is the star of the show. The old walled city is all crumbling colonial balconies spilling over with bougainvillea, horse drawn carriages clopping over cobblestones, and the smell of arepas frying on street corners. It's outrageously pretty and it knows it. Stay inside the walls if you can, in one of the restored mansions turned boutique hotels. Think high ceilings, enormous wooden doors, internal courtyards with plunge pools, and fans turning lazily overhead. It's not cheap, but waking up in a four hundred year old building and wandering out for coffee before the crowds arrive is worth every peso.

The beaches around Cartagena itself are fine, nothing special, but hop on a boat and everything changes. The Rosario Islands are a scatter of coral islets about an hour offshore, where the water turns every shade of blue you can imagine and the snorkelling is genuinely good. Stay overnight if possible, because the day trippers leave by four and the islands go quiet, just the sound of waves and the odd reggae tune drifting from a beach bar. Further along the coast, Santa Marta and the Tayrona National Park offer something wilder. The park is jungle meeting beach, with massive boulders stacked in the surf and trails through the forest to hidden coves. You can sleep in hammocks right on the sand at Cabo San Juan, falling asleep to the crash of waves and waking up to howler monkeys somewhere in the canopy. Basic, yes, but utterly magical. Colombia's Caribbean coast has a rhythm all of its own, a little slower, a little sweatier, and completely addictive.

Ecuador is the country people often skip, which is a genuine shame because it packs an absurd amount into a small space. The mainland coast is lovely, but the real jewel is the Galápagos Islands. Getting there isn't cheap, and it's not really a beach holiday in the traditional sense, but swimming with sea lions off a beach while marine iguanas sunbathe a few metres away is the kind of experience that rewires your brain slightly. On the main islands like Isabela and Santa Cruz, accommodation ranges from simple hostels with communal courtyards to smart eco lodges with outdoor showers and frigatebirds circling overhead. The lifestyle here revolves around the water, morning snorkel trips, long lunches of grilled fish and rice, afternoon naps in the shade, and sunset walks along empty volcanic beaches where the sand is a pale, almost ghostly white.

Back on the mainland, the coastal town of Montañita has long been Ecuador's party beach, a scruffy, loveable strip of surf shops, reggae bars and cheap seafood shacks. It's not polished and it doesn't want to be. Further up the coast, towns like Puerto López offer a calmer scene, whale watching in season, quiet beaches, and little guesthouses run by families who'll cook you the day's catch with plantains and a cold Pilsener. Ecuador's charm is precisely that it feels undiscovered, like the continent's best kept secret that locals have been quietly enjoying all along.

Peru has Machu Picchu stamped all over its reputation, and fair enough, but the coast deserves serious attention too. Máncora, up near the northern border, is the country's classic beach town. It's hot, dusty, and gloriously laid back, with a string of beachfront hotels and restaurants along the main drag. The surf here is consistent, the water warm, and the pisco sours flow freely. Some of the hotels are seriously stylish, places with breezy open air rooms, thatched roofs and plunge pools looking straight over the Pacific. By day you surf or swing in a hammock with a book, by night the whole town migrates to the sand for seafood barbecues and bonfires. Peru also does upscale beach escapes brilliantly, resorts further south near Lima where the desert cliffs drop into a steely grey ocean and the food, honestly the food, is some of the best in South America. Ceviche for lunch is practically a national law, and eating it at a beachside cevichería with the salt breeze in your face is one of life's great pleasures.

Then there's Venezuela, the complicated one. It's no secret the country has been through a brutal time, hyperinflation, shortages, millions leaving. But the tourism story is more nuanced than the headlines suggest. Margarita Island, off the Caribbean coast, was once the region's holiday playground and it's slowly creaking back to life. The beaches there are the stuff of Caribbean dreams, powder soft sand, coconut palms leaning over the water, and warm seas so clear you can see your toes at chest depth. Places like Playa El Agua stretch for kilometres, lined with restaurants serving fish straight off the boat. Accommodation is still astonishingly cheap by international standards, though you need to do your homework and travel sensibly. The atmosphere on the island is surprisingly cheerful, vendors selling fresh mango with salt and chilli, families setting up for the weekend with coolers and boomboxes, kids flying kites on the sand. It's a reminder that everyday life finds a way, even in hard times.

Venezuela also holds some of the continent's most spectacular natural wonders, like Los Roques, an archipelago national park of tiny coral islands that looks like a screensaver but is very real. Getting there takes effort, small planes from Caracas, simple posadas on the main island, days spent island hopping in fishing boats with nothing but a picnic and snorkelling gear. It's about as far from a resort holiday as you can get, and all the better for it.

What ties all of this together is the lifestyle, and this is really the thing that hooks people. South Americans understand leisure at a cellular level. Meals are events, not refuelling stops. Lunch is the main act, long and sociable, and dinner often doesn't happen until nine or ten at night. Music is everywhere, from bus speakers to street corners, and dancing is just something people do, without self consciousness, without needing a special occasion. The concept of mañana exists everywhere in spirit if not in name. Things happen when they happen. Your boat leaves when the captain finishes his coffee. This can be maddening for the schedule minded, but surrender to it and something shifts. You start noticing the frangipani smell at dusk, the way the light goes gold an hour before sunset, the old men playing chess in the square.

Practical stuff, briefly. The best time to visit most of the continent's beaches is during the southern summer, December through March, though the Caribbean coast of Colombia is good almost year round. Learn a few words of Spanish, it transforms everything. Book the popular spots ahead in high season, but leave gaps in the itinerary, some of the best discoveries happen by accident. And pack light, because you will live in swimwear, sundresses and flip flops, and you'll buy a hammock the moment you see one.

South America isn't a polished product. It's chaotic, warm, infuriating, generous and beautiful, often all before breakfast. The beaches are world class, the accommodation ranges from beach hammocks to colonial mansions, and the lifestyle will quietly ruin you for anywhere more orderly. Go with an open mind, a loose plan, and an appetite, and the continent does the rest. You'll come home tanned, slightly broke, and already plotting your return.