There are few places on earth that can match Patagonia for natural beauty. The landscape is simply breathtaking, with prehistoric forests, deep blue-green lakes and massive glaciers.
The best of the region is undoubtedly the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Los Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz province with its Moreno Glacier centrepiece, a constantly moving behemoth of ice. It is one of the few places where you can see icebergs calving, as the glacier spills into Lake Argentino . This southern tip of the Andes spine is an incredibly bleak place, with severe granite mountains and sparse vegetation. It is an incredible wilderness that can't help but fascinate.
Bariloche is the capital of the Andean part of Patagonia . A popular destination in winter when the surrounding mountains offer some of the continent's best skiing, it is likewise popular in summer with climbers and trekkers who come to try their skills on the imposing peaks. The coast of Patagonia is as fascinating as the interior - the Valdes Peninsula juts out into the South Atlantic and in its shelter you can see southern right whales during the breeding season of May-December. Further south at Punta Tombo is the world's largest colony of Magellan penguins .
If there are few places on earth like Patagonia , there is nowhere on earth like Tierra del Fuego . This very tip of the continent is shared between Argentina and Chile and it is hard to imagine a more inhospitable territory. The "land of fire" lies on a geological fault and the entire peninsula is characterised by volcanic activity. The geography bears evidence of the violence of the earthquakes that have shaken the land here, it has literally shattered into fragments.
On the Argentinean side of the region you'll find the most southerly city on earth, Ushuaia . The city is the embarkation point for Antarctic surveys and, as such, it is very much a working town. But there are still some sights of interest here, most notably the Museum at the End of the World , which bears testament to the fact that people have been eking a living out here for centuries.
The Tierra del Fuego National Park is an amazing region of jagged coastline, massive spiked peaks and glaciers. The best way to get here is to catch the "Train at the End of the World", a steam train that runs from a station just to the west of Ushuaia into the park.
