Trelew & Gaiman

The Welsh who landed at Madryn in 1865 settled in the lower valley of the Chubut river, and their towns are still there. Trelew is the commercial centre, with the airport that serves the whole coast and the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, which holds the bones of some of the largest dinosaurs ever found. Gaiman, a few kilometres upstream, is the most Welsh of the towns, with its brick chapels and its tea houses, where tea is served with cakes made from the settlers' recipes.

The valley takes half a day from Puerto Madryn, or fits on the way to or from Punta Tombo: the dinosaur museum in Trelew and a long Welsh tea in Gaiman. Self-drive journeys often begin here, collecting the car at Trelew airport and heading for the peninsula.

It works all year. The tea houses keep going in winter, when they are at their cosiest.