Peninsula Valdés
By Rebecca
What is Peninsula Valdés?
Peninsula Valdés is a small peninsula in Argentina’s Patagonia region featuring incredible wildlife such as whales, elephant seals, penguins, orcas, and sea lions – just to mention a few!
The peninsula covers around 360,000 hectares (1,390 square miles) of land extending out into the Atlantic Ocean. The entire peninsula is a protected natural park, known as Área Natural Protegida Península Valdés in Spanish.
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Puerto Pirámides is the only town on the peninsula, where you can find a few restaurants and hotels.
Apart from Puerto Pirámides, the peninsula offers multiple points of interests such as Punta Cantor, Caleta Valdés, and Punta Norte, among others, where you can observe the area’s amazing wildlife first hand.
Why is Peninsula Valdés a UNESCO World Heritage site?
Peninsula Valdés is a UNESCO World Heritage site primarily because of its importance to local marine wildlife in the area. As UNESCO highlights, the peninsula “is home to an important breeding population of the endangered southern right whale as well as important breeding populations of southern elephant seals and southern sea lions.” At the same time, it is a breeding ground for many shore birds and Magellanic penguins. On land, it supports a range of endemic animal and bird species including guanacos and the Patagonian mara.
What can you expect on a visit to the peninsula?
When visiting the peninsula you can expect to be amazed by the impressive wildlife and untouched nature. It is impressive to experience first-hand, for example, how penguins and sea lions go about their lives right in front of your eyes in this remote corner of Argentina.
Another striking thing about visiting Peninsula Valdés is the long swathes of seemingly empty territory that abruptly turn into rocky cliffs and crystal-clear water. You can drive along the dirt roads of the peninsula for long stretches without seeing anything other than high brownish grass and the blue sky.
During the whale season (June to December) at the peninsula, southern right whales come to breed in the quiet waters of the bay by Puerto Pirámides, and you will find several tour operators offering whale-watching tours from the beach in Puerto Pirámides or from nearby Puerto Madryn.
Is Peninsula Valdés worth visiting?
The peninsula is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Argentina, completely worth visiting for anybody who enjoys the outdoors and experiencing unique wildlife in its natural habitat. But its remote location also makes it best to visit as part of a longer trip to Argentina. A visit to the peninsula can easily be combined with visits to other parts of Patagonia. Los Alerces National Park, for example, also a UNESCO site, is on the other side of Patagonia in the Andes mountains. Iguazu Falls is a very popular destination in the north.
What sorts of travelers would like Peninsula Valdés?
The peninsula is best for travelers who enjoy outdoor activities, and who don’t mind relatively low-key basic facilities and getting a bit dirty.
Tips for visiting the peninsula
While there are a couple of hotels for you to choose from in the peninsula’s old town, Puerto Pirámides, this remote wildlife paradise in Argentina doesn’t include great luxury hotels or big resorts. Most travelers instead choose to stay overnight in the bigger city of Puerto Madryn, commuting to the peninsula for the day.
The peninsula itself can easily be covered in one to two days: one day for exploring the different main spots for watching the area’s wildlife, and one day for whale watching or diving with sea lions.
Bring clothes in layers as the wind in the area can be pretty chilly, even in the summer! Put on your comfortable walking shoes: most of the peninsula is dirt roads.
The best time to visit the peninsula is from June to mid-December when the most animals visit the area – including the southern right whales.
Consider this 12-day tour of Patagonia from Buenos Aires.
Remember to bring a camera or have plenty of extra space on your phone to snap lots of photos!
Where is Peninsula Valdés?
Peninsula Valdés is located in the northern part of Argentina’s Patagonia region. The nearest bigger city is Puerto Madryn, which is located around 62 miles (100 km) from the peninsula.
If you’re traveling from Buenos Aires to the area by plane, you’ll either fly to the airport in Puerto Madryn or the one in Trelew. Trelew is a town located around 100 miles (160 km) from Peninsula Valdés.
There is only one entrance to the peninsula: on Provincial Road 2 (Ruta Provincial Número 2) on the narrow strip of land that connects it to mainland Argentina. Since the area is a natural park, you have to pay a fee to enter.
The two best ways to get to the peninsula are:
- Renting a car – You can rent a car in either Puerto Madryn or Trelew and drive to the peninsula on your own. The drive from Puerto Madryn takes around 1 hour, while the drive from Trelew is around 2 hours. At the most popular spots on on the peninsula, there is parking available.
- Public transportation – You can also reach the peninsula using public transportation. A local bus operated by the bus company Mar y Valle runs between Trelew, Puerto Madryn and Puerto Piramides on Peninsula Valdés. During the week, the bus runs once a day from Trelew and three times a day from Puerto Madryn. On weekends, the bus only runs once a day from either stop. From Trelew the bus takes around 3 hours to Puerto Piramides, and from Puerto Madryn it takes around 1.5 hours. Check the bus schedule on Mar y Valle’s Instagram page.
For more information about Peninsula Valdés, its opening hours and admission fees, see its official website.
Have you been to Peninsula Valdés? If so, do you have any additional information or advice about this UNESCO World Heritage site? Please add your comments below!