SOUTHERN PATAGONIA

All the way south to the Chilean border, southern Patagonia’s Atlantic coastline is a scenic cornucopia of whales, seals, penguins, and other wildlife. The southern province of Santa Cruz is famous for the dramatic Moreno Glacier, a crackling outlier of the Campo de Hielo Sur, the southern Patagonian ice sheet.

Most of the region’s population is urban, but the rural economy supports everything from subsistence plots to extensive grazing of cattle and sheep.

While most of Argentine Patagonia is desert steppe, the densely wooded sector near the Chilean border boasts numerous national parks. Centered around the city of San Carlos de Bariloche, this is the country’s conventional holiday destination, but activities-oriented travel, including hiking, climbing, rafting and kayaking, and fly-fishing, has grown rapidly over the past decade. At select locations, ski resorts take advantage of the heavy winter snowpack.

Ecocentro Puerto Madryn: This environmental center is home to living tidepools, gardens, a research library, and more. It is a testament to the ecological commitment of Puerto Madryn, coastal Patagonia’s largest beach resort. (read more)

Reserva Provincial Península Valdés: It’s hard to choose among coastal Patagonia’s countless wildlife reserves, but Península Valdés has everything: guanacos, rheas, penguins, elephant seals, sea lions, orcas, and the great right whales. It doesn’t have everything at the same time, though, which makes every season a different experience. (read more)

Reserva Provincial Punta Tombo: Every austral spring, nearly 250,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins come ashore to nest in this remote spot, but you’ll also see plenty of other seabirds here. (read more)

Parque Nacional Monte León: This newly created, less-visited coastal park features plenty of opportunities for wildlife-viewing. But the landscape is also unique—where the sea meets the headlands, the tides formed deep caverns. (read more)

Estancia Monte Dinero: On the coastal steppe southeast of Río Gallegos, Monte Dinero is a model working ranch that also provides homey accommodations and access to the giant penguin colony and other sites at Cabo Vírgenes. (read more)

Hostería Alta Vista: Southwest of El Calafate, this country lodge on the historic Estancia Anita is the place to vacation like the Braun-Menéndez dynasty. (read more)

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares: The constantly calving 60-meter face of groaning Glaciar Moreno, west of El Calafate, is one of the continent’s most awesome sights (and sounds). Sector Fitz Roy, near the hamlet of El Chaltén, offers some of the Andes’ most exhilarating scenery, hiking and climbing. (read more)

Parque Nacional Perito Moreno: In what is perhaps Patagonia’s wildest park, you’ll find varied terrain—from sub-Antarctic forest to high Andean pastures—that makes braving RN 40 worthwhile. (read more)

Cueva de las Manos: Some of this area’s rock paintings (of hundreds of human hands and other more abstract forms) are nearly 10,000 years old. It’s one of the finest detours off RN 40. (read more)