Mar del Plata

'Mardel' is the classic Argentine beach destination, and popular with people from all over the country. A little too popular, in fact. If you end up here on a summer weekend, the string of beaches that fringe the shoreline are shoulder-to-shoulder sunburned bodies: not exactly a relaxing getaway. Out-of-season visitors, however, will find that Mardel, once a glamorous seaside resort in the 1920s and 1930s, and again during a midcentury development boom, has become a large and interesting city with stunning architecture and plenty of cultural attractions that have nothing to do with the beach. Many of them are connected by attractive pedestrian thoroughfares that link to an oceanfront promenade that winds along the city's gorgeous arced coastline.