Spanish is the language of Patagonia, the vast wilderness shared by southern Argentina and Chile — but this remote region hides a couple of linguistic surprises that delight travelers who know to listen for them.
On both sides of the border, Spanish is what you’ll hear, in the regional accents of Argentina and Chile — see those guides for the local slang and pronunciation.
Here’s the surprise: Welsh is still spoken in parts of Argentine Patagonia. In the 1860s, Welsh pioneers made the eight-week voyage to Argentina and settled in Chubut Province, founding a colony known as Y Wladfa. Today around 5,000 people speak Welsh in Patagonia, especially in the towns of Trelew, Gaiman and Trevelin, where you’ll still find Welsh tea houses and chapels. There’s even a tiny community of Afrikaans speakers near Comodoro Rivadavia.
In the main tourist hubs — El Calafate, Bariloche, Torres del Paine, Ushuaia — you’ll find English spoken, and all of our guides are English-speaking, with other languages available on request.
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