Mar del Plata
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Overview
'Mardel' is the classic Argentine beach destination, and popular with people from all over the country. A little too popular, in fact. If you end up here on a summer weekend, the string of beaches that fringe the shoreline are shoulder-to-shoulder sunburned bodies: not exactly a relaxing getaway. Out-of-season visitors, however, will find that Mardel, once a glamorous seaside resort in the 1920s and 1930s, and again during a midcentury development boom, has become a large and interesting city with stunning architecture and plenty of cultural attractions that have nothing to do with the beach. Many of them are connected by attractive pedestrian thoroughfares that link to an oceanfront promenade that winds along the city's gorgeous arced coastline.
Attractions
Must-see attractions
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is one of Argentina’s most important fishing centers. Its port area, 8km south of the city center, is worth a visit, though public access to…
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Centro Cultural Villa Victoria
Mar del Plata
Victoria Ocampo, founder of the literary journal Sur, hosted literary salons with prominent intellectuals from around the world – Borges, Le Corbusier,…
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Mar del Plata
Grand and castle-like, positioned on a cliff over the ocean, Torreón del Monje is hard to miss – look for the red domes and the stone footbridge…
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Mar del Plata
This interesting medieval-style water-storage tower, atop Stella Maris hill, was finished in 1943 and is still functioning. It's 88m high (that's 194…
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Museo Municipal de Arte Juan Carlos Castagnino
Mar del Plata
Built in 1909 as the summer residence of a prominent Argentine family, the turreted Villa Ortiz Basualdo now houses this fine arts museum; its interior…
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Catedral de los Santos Pedro y Cecilia
Mar del Plata
Facing the leafy Plaza San Martín, this neo-Gothic building features gorgeous stained glass, an impressive central chandelier from France, English tiled…
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Mar del Plata
For the adventurous, there’s Playa Escondida, some 25km south of Mardel, which claims to be Argentina’s only legal nude beach.
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