Photo Credit: Paul O Gabriel

These breathtaking images are sure to prove you’ve got to visit Patagonia. This sparsely populated region located at the southern end of South America, shared by Chile and Argentina, has become a popular bucket list destination with its amazing scenery and the opportunity for all types of outdoor recreation.

El Chalten, pictured above, is located in the riverside of Rio de las Vueltas, within the Los Glaciares National Park at the base of Cerro Torre and Cerro Fitz Roy mountain.

Laguna Torre

Photo Credit: Joel Santos

Patagonia is legendary for hiking. The hike to Laguna Torre sets out from El Chalten, winding through Patagonia’s distinctive beech forests before turning towards the lake itself. Against the backdrop of the jagged mountains, small icebergs can be seen floating in the crystalline lake.

Penguins

Photo Credit: Smithsonian

Photo Credit: Corbis via Daily Mail

Patagonia is also one of the best places in the world to see penguins in the wild. A popular spot for penguin viewing in Argentinean Patagonia is Punta Tombo, a peninsula in Chubut Province where a large colony of Magellanic Penguins congregates in late September as they migrate North to Brazil. King Penguin Park also recently opened, allowing Chilean Patagonia to provide year-round, inexpensive, easily accessible trips to see the formally-dressed, feathered inhabitants. It sits on Tierra del Fuego’s west coast overlooking the Magellanic Straight that joins the Pacific and Atlantic.

Perito Moreno Glacier

Photo Credit:  1000LONELYPLACES.COM

Photo Credit: Flickr: Matito

You can also see spectacular glaciers like Perito Moreno, spanning nearly 100 square miles of ice formations as the third largest freshwater reserve on the planet, located in Los Glaciares National Park. The ice bridge, pictured above, could be seen a few years ago, but with a rumble and a roar, the enormous bridge that was connected to the glacier, crashed into the lake below, creating a mini-tidal wave, delighting the tourists who happened to witness the event.

Cerro Fitzroy

Photo Credit: landofwinds

The Fitzroy is a high peak that rises out of the Patagonian ice caps. There are several peaks in the region, but the Fitzroy is undoubtedly the most breathtaking, with its rocky pinnacles providing thrilling challenges for rock climbing enthusiasts.