3 Best Sights in Patagonia, Argentina

Following the coastal road 14 km (9 miles) north from Puerto Madryn brings you to this whale-watching spot. The ocean floor drops away steeply from the beach, so between June and mid-December you can stand on the sand with a close up view of the southern right whales right from the shore, usually mothers teaching their young to swim. During the rest of the year, it's just a regular beach. It's a pleasant 1½ hours' bike ride from Puerto Madryn. Alternatively, taxis charge about 2,500 pesos for the round-trip including a 45-minute stay. Grab some food to go and make it a picnic spot. 

Trelew's star attraction is the paleontology museum, where four hushed and darkened galleries of fossils both real and replica take you back in time. You start among the South American megafauna (giant armadillos and the like) that may have cohabited with the first humans here, then plunge back to a time before the Andes existed. Back then Patagonia was a subtropical rain forest filled with dinosaurs, including one of the largest creatures ever to walk the earth: the 70-ton, 120-foot-long Argentinosaurus. Replicas of its massive leg bones are on display, along with countless other dino skeletons, including the latest discovery of the largest dinosaur in the world—a 130-foot-long herbivore. Other highlights include a 290-million-year-old spider fossil with a 3-foot leg span and the 70-million-year-old petrified eggs of a Carnotaurus. The visit ends with a peek into the workshop where paleontologists study and preserve newly unearthed fossils. Tours in English are available—they're a good idea, as only the introductions to each room are translated.

Walk among life-size and scientifically accurate replicas of a dozen different dinosaurs whose fossils were discovered in the region. Guided visits in English leave directly from the tourist office every hour on the hour—arrive 10 minutes ahead to get your ticket.