Places to Explore

• Bahía Bustamante

  Spending time in Bahía Bustamante is like having your own private Península Valdés. It was founded in 1953 by Lorenzo Soriano, who searched the Patagonian coastline for seaweed to use... (more)

• Camarones

  After driving or riding for hours along the empty coastal road (or via RP30 from Ruta 3), the tiny town of Camarones—a collection of brightly colored, tin-roofed buildings with scrollwork fascias... (more)

• Comodoro Rivadavía

  Argentina's answer to Houston, Comodoro Rivadavía is the town that oil built. Unlike Houston, however, there's not much here apart from oil drilling. Argentina's first oil discovery was made here... (more)

• El Calafate

  Founded in 1927 as a frontier town, El Calafate is the base for excursions to the Parque Nacional los Glaciares, which was created in 1937 as a showcase for one of South America's most spectacular sights... (more)

• El Chaltén

  Founded in 1985, El Chaltén is Argentina's newest town, and it's growing at an astounding rate. Originally just a few shacks and lodges built near the entrance to the Los Glaciares National Park... (more)

• Gaiman

  The most Welsh of the Atlantic Patagonian settlements, Gaiman (pronounced Guy-mon) is a sleepy country town that is far more charming than nearby Trelew and Rawson. A small museum lovingly preserves the... (more)

• Península Valdés

  The biggest attraction is the ballena franca (southern right whale) population, which feeds, mates, and gives birth here. The protected mammals attract some 120,000 visitors every year from June, when... (more)

• Puerto Madryn

  Approaching from Ruta 3, it's hard to believe that the horizon-line of buildings perched just beyond the windswept dunes and badlands is the most successful of all coastal Patagonia settlements. But once... (more)

• Punta Tombo

• Sarmiento and the Bosque Petrificado

  Built in a fertile valley formed by the Río Senguer and its two interconnected lakes, Lago Musters and Lago Colhué Huapi, the Sarmiento area is a green oasis in the middle of the hard Patagonian... (more)

• Trelew

  Trelew (pronounced Tre-leh-ew) is a commercial, industrial, and service hub that contains the region's main airport. Its biggest attractions are its paleontology museum and its proximity to the Punta Tombo... (more)