The Valdes Peninsula is a UNESCO heritage site and a protected reserve within the Atlantic Patagonia. It is an incredible ecosystem of wildlife and a breading center for a number of animals, including the right whales and magellanic penguins.
The Best Time to Go to the Valdes Peninsula
Wildlife
One of the big reasons to visit this area of Patagonia is for the incredible wildlife, especially the ocean-life that makes this area so special. The wildlife that appears in the area is periodical and is never guaranteed.
However, by following this calendar, you will have the highest chance to see the wildlife you want to see. Blueprint Travelers visited the Valdes Peninsula at the beginning of November to get the best chance to see whales, penguins, sea lions, and seals. While there are chances of seeing orcas at that time of year, they did not have the opportunity to encounter them. The orcas of this region have a very unique style of catching and hunting their prey.
Weather
Because the peninsula is in the southern hemisphere, the warmest months are December through March. Keep this in mind when planning your trip to the area. It can get pretty cold in the Argentine winter.
Day 1 : Getting to the Valdes Peninsula
The best way to get to the peninsula
First, let’s talk about flying to El Tehuelche Airport (PMY). This airport is the closest to the peninsula and your accommodation (most likely). While you can rent a car from this airport, you can also get to the downtown of Puerto Madryn for less than 1 US dollar. This option is great if you want to use organized tours to explore the peninsula and the region rather than driving yourself.
Second, you could fly into Trelew International airport (REL). It is a 45 minute drive from this airport to downtown Puerto Madryn. You can rent a car from this airport as well. We recommend renting the car as soon as possible if you need an automatic vehicle.
Don't forget to rent your car to visit the Valdes Peninsula.
Where to Stay in On the Valdes Peninsula
Puerto Madryn
For those who want EASY ACCESS TO RESTAURANTS AND THE PENINSULA...
This is the largest town in the area and it is just off of the peninsula. There are not many tourist activities in this town but there are a number of restaurants and it is a good landing place between many of the activities that the area has to offer. The town has many hotels and short-term rentals. In addition, all the tour companies of the area are stationed here. If you want to use them to tour the island, go whale watching, go to the penguin colony, etc. you can book them online or even here, in-person, after arriving in Puerto Madryn.
Puerto Piramides
For those who want the quaintness of staying right on the peninsula
This is the only town on the peninsula and has some family-run hotels/hostels and camping sites. While this location makes it easy to tour the peninsula and eliminates continuous fees to get onto the peninsula, there are fewer restaurants and cafes in this area, and it adds an hour drive to see the largest colony of magellanic penguins (see day 3). If you want to prioritize seeing the colony, you may want to avoid Puerto Piramides.
Estancias
For those who want a local and unique rural experience
These are farms on the peninsula and have day passes or lodging opportunities. The lodging is limited so make sure to book in advance. To find estancias, you can google “estancia valdes peninsula”. You may have to email the estancia to find out their availability. While these are the most expensive accommodations in the area, they are typically all-inclusive and include experiences that could provide a unique local perspective to life and wildlife on the Valdes Peninsula.
Looking for where to stay for on the Valdes Peninsula? You can check out various hotels here.
Food at the Valdes Peninsula
The only places on the peninsula itself that have provide food are Puerto Piramides and Punta Cantor. For those who do not want to schedule their time on the peninsula around meal periods and accessing food, consider grabbing snacks and sandwich materials from the grocery store in Puerto Madryn to hold yourself over during the day (for those not staying at an estancia).
Puerto Madryn, the town right outside of the Valdes Peninsula, has a number of restaurant, cafe, and bar options that will allow you to have a lot of flexibility in the evenings. Some of the seafood focused restaurants are the most popular spots in town and tend to fill up but you can always make a reservation for the following day. The access to the variety of restaurants is one of the reasons you should consider staying in Puerto Madryn.
Day 2 : Exploring the Valdes Peninsula
What to expect when arriving to the peninsula
Prior to going to Peninsula Valdes, make sure to download a map of the area on google to help you navigate. You will not have service while on the peninsula.
Entrance Fee
There is only one road to get onto the peninsula and everyone will have to stop at an entry gate to pay the entrance fee per person and per car. In November 2023, that fee was 7,200 pesos per person and 700 pesos per car. This fee will change based on inflation (find out more about this here) and the official peninsula website has the latest fees. The entrance, visitor center, and viewpoints in the park are open from 8 am to 8 pm.
Visitor Center
After paying for the entrance fee, you should head straight to the visitor center. This is crucial for anyone visiting the peninsula. Here, they can give you a map, tell you the last orca sighting (if it’s the season), and show you the roads and viewpoints that are closed. Because the roads are not paved and the viewpoints are minimally invasive in the landscape, the wind and sand has a large effect on them. You can also learn about these closures from their Instagram story. They post every day in their stories about the state of the park.
Finally, they can tell you about the tide levels at the different viewpoints to help you plan your drive around the peninsula. It is easiest to see whales at high tide because they are closer to shore. You can also see this prior to your visit at their website here.
The visitor center is the last location that you will have cell phone service. We highly recommend downloading the map of the Valdes Peninsula on Google Maps on your phone so you can always have directions while you are driving around the peninsula.
Driving the Peninsula
The roads on the peninsula are all unpaved dirt roads. Make sure to drive with caution, especially since you will see many guanacos (llamas) running through the road. Besides the guanacos, you may see some sheep farms and dry barren land as far as the eye could see. The distance from the visitor center to any of the viewpoints is about 1.5 hours and so make sure to have music, audio books, or podcasts downloaded to help the drive go by faster.
The Various Viewpoints Around the Valdes Peninsula
Determine the order in which you want to visit the various viewpoints based on the tide times, knowing that with a high tide, you have the opportunity to see the whales closer to shore.
Caleta Valdes
Caleta Valdes has a small penguin colony. The penguins like to stand right along the pathway! If you have the opportunity to see them, you may see them moving around and making their mating call.
Punta Cantor
The beach at Punta Cantor has a colony of elephant seals. Here, there is a small walk that gives you the opportunity to see even more elephant seals laying out in the sun. The orcas here may feast on baby seals laying out on the beach and actually ram onto the beach to try to catch them. It is the only place in the world where orcas behave in this way but you do have to get lucky to have the opportunity to see them behave in this way.
Note: Punta Cantor is the only place on the peninsula, besides Puerto Piramides, where you can get food.
Punta Norte
Punta Norte is the other place where you may have the opportunity to see the orcas hunting on the beach. Here, you may see some sea lions on the beach. We would only recommend this viewpoint if there is a strong chance of seeing orcas (based on what the visitor center shares), because it really takes luck to see them at these specific viewpoints. If you do get the opportunity to see them, they are typically hunting in packs of five or more.
Punta Delgada was closed during our visit but we would have preferred to visit Punta Delgada over Punta Norte.
Punta Delgada
Punta Delgada is another viewpoint that has the opportunity to see some elephant seals. Unfortunately, the viewpoint was closed in November 2023. Talk to the visitor center to determine which viewpoints are available when you visit the Valdes Peninsula.
Punta Piramides
Above Puerto Piramides, there is a viewpoint that allows you to see whales and more sea lions. You have the opportunity to see the right whales and their large size as they swim below you. You may also see them swimming with their young, breaching, and breathing.
Day 3 : Searching for Right Whales
El Doradillo
If you want the opportunity to see the right whales swimming close to the shore, visit the El Doradillo beach early in the morning during high tide and during peak whale season for the best chance to see them. This beach is particularly unique because of the steep pitch that allows whales to have the space to get close to the shore. (Tide times can be found at the same website as the other tide information).
Bird Island
Depending on when your whale watching tour is, consider visiting the Bird Island, right by the visitor center. The island is covered in birds and sometimes, flocks of flamingos can be seen on the shore. If you are short on time, this is a stop that can definitely be skipped.
Whale Watching Tour with Bottazzi
The highlight of your day was an incredible whale watching tour with the company, Bottazzi. Read about the whole experience here. The right whales are incredibly curious animals and will approach the boats that come out to see them in their natural habitat. It is truly impressive and magnificent to be so close to such mysterious and large creatures.
We recommend this tour with Bottazzi as the family-owned company avoids chasing the whales and is an important partner in maintaining the wellness and safety of the wildlife in the area.
Day 4 : Walking with Magelligan Penguins
For your last day in the region, we recommend taking a late flight so you can have the time to visit the penguins of Punta Tombo early in the morning and later enjoy high tea in Gaiman.
Punta Tombo
Punta Tombo is a reserve with the largest colony of magellanic penguins, with 400,000 penguins. They use the area to lay their eggs and raise their young. The penguin colony is 3 hours from Puerto Madryn (4 hours from Puerto Piramides) so consider this when determining when to leave your accommodations to visit the colony.
The reserve opens at 8 am and has the fewest visitors for the first hour and a half. This is because many visitors come by tour bus, and they do not start to arrive until 9:30 am. To get to experience the penguins with as few people as possible, staying at Puerto Madryn makes this more reasonable than staying in Puerto Piramides. If you do not want to wake up at 5 am to be the first in the reserve, you can stay in Trelew for your final night because it will only be a 2 hour drive from the reserve.
Walking through this land with penguins living their lives around you is really cute. You can see them laying on their eggs, calling to their mates, jumping into the ocean for food, and fighting each other over their homes and mates. You can read more about our visit to the reserve here.
Getting there so early to experience such a unique location alone is a special experience.
Gaiman
Between Punta Tombo and the Trelew airport, you can stop in Gaiman, formerly a Welsh settlement. They have the unique tradition of providing high tea at 2:30 in the afternoon at four different tea houses in the town. (Many of the tour groups go from Punta Tombo to Gaiman for this experience).
Blueprint Travelers recommends Ty Gwyn for a tea experience. There, they provided you with tea, toasts, and cakes.
From here, head to the Trelew airport to return your rental car at the airport and fly onto your next destination (most likely back to Buenos Aires). You can look at the itineraries below to compare the breakdown listed above with how to visit the region without a car and using tour groups.
Two Itinerary Options
4-Day Itinerary
Daily Activity
Day 1
Arrival in Trelew, walk around Puerto Madryn, book your whale watching tour this weekend
Day 2*
Drive around the Peninsula to the different viewpoints
Day 3*
Visit El Dorradillo beach and do a whale watching tour
Day 4
Punta Tombo, Gaiman, and leave from Trelew
*Days 2 and 3 are interchangeable and are dependent on weather for the whale watching tour
3-Day Itinerary - Without a Car
If you do not want to rent a car, you could do this in 3 days. You could do this with a car but it would be exhausting to drive this much.
Daily Activity
Day 1
Arrival in Puerto Madryn, walk around Puerto Madryn, book tours for Day 2 and Day 3. You can also book these organized tours online
Day 2
Take an organized tour of the Valdes Peninsula. Make sure to book the whale watching tour as well
Day 3
Take an organized tour of Punta Tombo and Gaiman, take one of the last flights out of Puerto Madryn airport
This itinerary will only work if you fly out of the Puerto Madryn airport. You will need an extra day if you are flying out of Trelew.
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