Introducing Patagonia
A star-riddled sky and snarled grasses dwarf the rider on the steppe as his horse closes the gap on the horizon. In South America’s southern frontier, nature, long left to its own devices, grows wild, barren and beautiful. Spaces are large, as are the silences that fill them. For those who come here, an encounter with such emptiness can be as awesome as the sight of jagged peaks, pristine rivers and dusty backwater oases.
The paving of Ruta Nacional 40 (RN 40) is well under way, but it remains among the world’s loneliest stretches, a spellbinding road to nowhere that has stirred affection in personalities as disparate as Butch Cassidy and Bruce Chatwin. On the eastern seaboard, RN 3 shoots south, connecting oil boomtowns with the remains of ancient petrified forests, Welsh settlements and the spectacular Península Valdés. The map will tell you that Patagonia is a very large place, but motoring its distant horizons offers a whole other level of insight.
Then there is the other, trendy Patagonia: the tourist hubs studded with Ray-Ban shops and reggae bars, where you will meet a dozen other travelers before one local. El Calafate and El Chaltén boast spectacular sights, but they remain a world apart from the mythical RN 40.
Sights in Patagonia
Activities in Patagonia
El Calafate
Named for the berry that, once eaten, guarantees your return to Patagonia, El Calafate hooks you with another irresistable attraction: Glaciar Perito Moreno, 80km away in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares.
Tours in Patagonia
Puerto Madryn
This sheltered port facing Golfo Nuevo is best known as the gateway to the wildlife sanctuary of Península Valdés.
Patagonia destination guides
Esquel
If you have tired of the gnome-in-the-chocolate-shop ambience of Bariloche and other cutesy Lakes District destinations, regular old Esquel will feel like a breath of fresh air.
Hotels in Patagonia
Budget Hotels & Hostels in Patagonia
Guesthouses and B&Bs in Patagonia
Apartments in Patagonia
Río Gallegos
Hardly a tourist destination, this coal-shipping, oil-refining and wool-raising hub is a busy port with a few merits worth mentioning.
Need to know
Entertainment in Patagonia
Comodoro Rivadavia
Surrounded by dry hills of drilling rigs, oil tanks and wind-energy farms, tourism in the dusty port of Comodoro (as it’s commonly known) usually means little more than a bus transfer.
Shopping in Patagonia