Rural Tourism - Patagonia Region

This region extends over La Pampa, Neuquén, Rio Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur. The wonderful scenery that characterizes the Andes Range, with its lengas, ñires and araucarias (monkey puzzle trees) woods, lakes and glaciers, contrasts widely with the Patagonian region east of the Andes: a desert area whose rocky high plateaus - similar to the steps of a huge irregular staircase - descend to the Atlantic Coast, where the cliffs fall steeply to the sea. Separated from the South American continent by the Strait of Magellan, the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego best illustrates the diversity of the scenery: to the south, the wooded mountainous range, cold and damp; to the north, the pampas covered with undulating pasturage rolling toward the mountainous area.

This region is characterized by vast fields devoted to ovine production. Tourists can choose whether to carry out traditionally rural activities (sheep shearing, herd driving), visit tambos (milking yards) and breeding establishments, or practice sports (fishing, hunting, horseback riding, trekking, mountaineering, tours on four-wheel-drive vehicles, sailing). Alternatively, they can indulge in ecotourism (wildlife watching, photographic safaris) or cultural activities (visits to caves with rupestrian paintings, fossils and petrified trees, and rural museums).

Number of rural establishments: 190

Area / hectares: 154.050

N° of Beds: 1,262

N° of rooms: 524