The Patagonian coast in its simplest form: one base on the Golfo Nuevo and two long days out. One goes round Península Valdés, from the whale harbour of Puerto Pirámides to the elephant seals of the outer coast; the other south to Punta Tombo, the largest Magellanic penguin colony on the continent, and back through the Welsh valley of the Chubut.
Day 1 · Puerto Madryn
Highlight · Puerto Madryn on its cliffs over the Golfo Nuevo.
From the airport at Trelew to Puerto Madryn, on the cliffs over the Golfo Nuevo.
Night · Puerto Madryn
Day 2 · Península Valdés
Highlight · A path down the cliffs at Punta Delgada, close to the elephant seals.
Drive · 400 km
A full day round the peninsula. First Puerto Pirámides, an hour away, where whale-watching boats go out from May to November; outside the season, sea lions, cormorants and, from December to March, dusky dolphins. Then south past the Salina Grande and Salina Chica to Punta Delgada, where a path goes down the cliffs close to the elephant seals, on to Punta Cantor and the outer coast at Caleta Valdés, with its geology explained on the spot, and back across the Ameghino isthmus. Guanacos, rheas, foxes, maras and armadillos cross the roads on the way. Back in Puerto Madryn at sunset.
Night · Puerto Madryn
Day 3 · Punta Tombo, Trelew and Gaiman
Highlight · Penguins spread across the scrub and down to the sea, then tea in Gaiman.
Drive · 400 km · 160 km paved
Another full day. Punta Tombo first, a penguin colony that spreads across the scrub and down to the sea. Then Trelew, its old centre and the Egidio Feruglio paleontology museum, one of the most important in the country, and Gaiman, the Welsh settlement in the Chubut valley, with its brick chapels and the tea houses no one drives past without stopping.
Night · Puerto Madryn
Day 4 · Puerto Madryn
Highlight · The road back to Trelew for the flight out.
Back to Trelew for the flight out.
