Puerto Madryn was founded in 1865 by settlers from Wales, who were looking for a new start. They named it for the founder's estate back home, making the new nameplate a permanent signpost of British culture... not that it would be easy to forget. Its roots can be seen throughout the port city and nearby Gaiman, with not only traditional Welsh teahouses, but also a paleontological museum boasting a huge collection of  local dinosaur fossils. Head a bit further out and take in Península Valdés, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that gives the local gulf its shape and provides a home to marine mammals, including breeding grounds for endangered whales. If penguins are more your species, Punta Tombo National Reserve lets you get pretty close to the Magellanic penguins — about a half-million of them — in their natural habitat.