Gaiman: Visiting a Welsh Town in Patagonia & Where to Find Afternoon Tea!

Did you know you can visit a Welsh town in Patagonia?

Set along the shores of the Chubut River in the Province of Chubut, you’ll find the town of Gaiman.

The town was founded by David D. Roberts in 1874, and like much of the Lower Chubut Valley, it was settled by Welsh immigrants.

While Y Wladfa refers to the wider Welsh settlements across Patagonia, in many ways, Gaiman is considered the heart of the Welsh colony in Patagonia.

Yes, you have the communities of Rawson, Trelew, Dolavon, Las Plumas, Paso de Indios and Trevelin as you cross the province from the Atlantic to the Andes. However, nowhere is Welsh culture better preserved than in Gaiman!

In fact, to this day, Gaiman celebrates the Eisteddfod, a Welsh festival where locals compete in poetry, music, dance, drama and art – in both Welsh and Spanish.

We visited Gaiman on a day trip from Trelew, and we had such a good time that we came back a second time!

In this blog post, I’m going to cover the history of Welsh immigration to Argentina, things to do in Gaiman, how to get there, and where to find an authentic Welsh afternoon tea.

If you’re planning to travel coastal Patagonia, this is one destination you won’t want to miss!

History of a Welsh Town in Patagonia

So, how exactly did a little corner of Patagonia become home to Welsh tea houses, chapels, choirs, and towns with names like Gaiman, Trelew and Trevelin?

Well, the story begins in Wales in the 19th century, at a time when many Welsh people feared their language, culture, religion, and way of life were being swallowed up under English influence. The dream was to find a place where Welsh could be spoken freely, where traditions could continue, and where a new community could take root far from the pressures of Britain.

One of the main voices behind this idea was Michael D. Jones, a Welsh nationalist and non-conformist preacher who imagined creating a “Little Wales beyond Wales.” It sounds almost romantic now, but at the time, this was a very real search for cultural survival.

Patagonia eventually became the chosen destination thanks in part to Lewis Jones — the same Lewis Jones after whom Trelew is named — and Captain Love Jones-Parry. In 1862, they travelled to Argentina to see whether this distant southern land might be suitable for Welsh settlers. They first met with Argentine officials in Buenos Aires, including Interior Minister Guillermo Rawson, and then continued south to Patagonia to inspect the area for themselves.

When they returned to Wales, they presented Patagonia as a promising place for a new Welsh colony. And so, in 1865, the ship Mimosa set sail across the Atlantic carrying the first group of Welsh emigrants to South America.

They landed on July 28 in what is now Puerto Madryn. And let’s just pause there for a second: July in Argentina means winter. These families had crossed an ocean expecting a new homeland, and instead of the green hills and rainy landscapes they knew from Wales, they arrived to the dry, windy, wide-open steppe of Patagonia.

It must have been a shock.

Those early years were incredibly difficult. The first settlers lived near the coast, including in caves, before slowly moving inland toward the Chubut River Valley. They had to learn how to survive in a landscape that was completely unfamiliar to them, and the Tehuelche people played an important role in helping them adapt, teaching them about the land, hunting, and life in this harsh new environment.

Over time, the Welsh settlements grew along the Lower Chubut Valley. Towns like Rawson, Gaiman, Trelew and Dolavon became part of this Welsh-Patagonian story, and later settlers pushed farther west toward the Andes, establishing communities around Esquel and Trevelin.

Another important figure in this westward expansion was John Daniel Evans, who arrived in Patagonia as a child and later became known for his exploration of the region. His story is especially tied to Trevelin and the Andean side of Welsh Patagonia.

And that is why, even today, you can travel through Chubut and find Welsh chapels, tea houses, traditional cakes, choirs, Eisteddfod festivals, and families who still carry Welsh surnames generations later.

Of course, this is only a very brief overview of Welsh immigration to Argentina, but it gives you a sense of why Gaiman is such a meaningful place to visit. It is not just a cute town where you can have afternoon tea; it is part of a much bigger story of migration, survival, cultural preservation, and adaptation in one of the most remote corners of Patagonia.

How to get to Gaiman

The easiest way to visit Gaiman is by renting a car and driving into town at your leisure. It’s a 15-minute drive from Trelew, or a 1-hour ride if you’re coming from Puerto Madryn.

Alternatively, you can catch a bus from the Trelew Bus Terminal, which is what we did. There are two possible routes, one that takes the highway and another that takes a parallel country road. We travelled both, of course, the latter is way more scenic.

Either way, you can expect the journey to Gaiman to take anywhere between 20-45 minutes, depending on the route and the number of stops the bus makes!

From Puerto Madryn, the bus takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

If you’d rather join a guided tour to Gaiman, that’s another option. This Welsh colonies tour departs from Puerto Madryn and includes a stop in Trelew.

Welsh Tea Houses in Gaiman

The main thing to do in Gaiman is to visit one of the town’s many tea houses for Welsh afternoon tea. My suggestion is to skip lunch and go very hungry because there will be a lot of food!

Ty Gwyn: Welsh tea with a family feel

As I mentioned earlier, we visited Gaiman twice, so we got to try two different tea houses.

We first went to Ty Gwyn which had a very cozy feel. It felt like we were hanging out in someone’s dining room.

I was a big fan of the cream pie at this particular tea house. Everything was homemade, the cake portions were big, and we honestly couldn’t finish everything.

Ty Te Caerdydd: The tea house Diana visited

We also had tea at Ty Te Caerdydd, which is the most famous tea house in Gaiman, as it hosted Lady Diana during her visit to Argentina in 1995.

This tea house felt a bit more elegant and reminded me of afternoon tea at a hotel.

They had the classics like Welsh cake and cream pie, but we also tried banana cream pie, lemon and coconut squares and apple pie, just to name a few.

Whatever tea house you choose, you can expect a similar menu, and Bara brith, known as torta galesa or ‘Welsh cake,’ is always a staple.

List of tea houses in Gaiman:

• Ty Te Caerdydd – Avenida Yrigoyen 1016
• Ty Gwyn – 9 de Julio 111
• Plas y Coed – Michael D Jones 123
• Casa de Té Gaiman – Avenida Yrigoyen 738
• Ty Cymraeg – Abraham Mathews 74
• Casa de Té Galés Nain Glenys – Bryn Gwyn, Chacra 199 lote E

Things to do in Gaiman

There are lots of things to do in Gaiman, ranging from visiting orchards and tea houses to historic homes and museums! In fact, if you want to learn more about the history of this Welsh town in Patagonia, you won’t want to miss the numerous museums sprinkled across town.

Quintas Narlú

My favourite place to visit in Gaiman was actually on the outskirts of town, so I’ll start there.

Quintas Narlú is a beautiful farm that welcomes visitors. We first walked into their shop, which features all sorts of homemade jams, freshly picked berries, Welsh Bara brith cake, honey, dry lavender bundles, plus all sorts of Argentine souvenirs.

We purchased some cake and berries, and then the owner told us we could also have a look around the farm, so we ended up having a picnic in the apple orchard.

It’s a beautiful spot where you’re surrounded by nature. Well worth the visit if you’re spending the day in Gaiman!

Central Chubut Railway Tunnel

One of Gaiman’s main tourist attractions is the old train tunnel that was part of the Central Chubut Railway. The railway operated between the valley of the Chubut River and the port city of Puerto Madryn. It was in operation from 1888 (making it the first railway in Patagonia!) to 1961. It also helped cut down travel time since this journey was previously something that had to be done on horseback.

The train tunnel was built to extend the train tracks from Gaiman to Dolavon while bypassing the centre of town.

The curved tunnel is 282 metres in length, and it is one of the last remnants of the railway. Inside the tunnel, you’ll find displays that share the history of the railway in Spanish, English and Welsh.

I’m going to be honest, as a woman, I probably wouldn’t venture into this tunnel on my own (but I did have my husband with me). It’s one way in and the same way out, and it’s not well illuminated at all – there were sections where I had to use the flashlight on my phone to see where I was even stepping. Because the tunnel is curved, you also can’t see what’s at the end or if there’s anyone there, so maybe go in with another person or a group.

Regional History Museum

Another place to visit in Gaiman for those wanting to learn a little bit more about the town’s origins is the Regional History Museum, also known as the Museo Histórico Regional de Gaiman. Just be sure to check the schedule before visiting, since at the time of writing this, the museum only opens one day a week. We were super lucky to be able to visit!

The Regional History Museum is set in the former train station and it displays a variety of items that were brought over by the early Welsh settlers.

There are rooms with furniture and crockery, others with farming equipment, and another section that focuses on the Eisteddfod – a Welsh cultural festival with a strong focus on singing, reciting poetry and dancing.

Gaiman holds the Eisteddfod in September (view the events calendar here) and the competitions are in both Spanish and Welsh. So that’s one event to attend if you want to witness Welsh culture alive and well in Patagonia.

The man working at the museum was really helpful and answered our questions and shared tidbits of history, and then he also let us explore independently.

Tehuelche-Mapuche Museum

The Tehuelche-Mapuche Museum, formerly known as the Gaiman Anthropological Museum, is set in one of the first two-story buildings in Gaiman, which dates back to 1910.

This is a great museum to visit to gain a better understanding of the original peoples (the Tehuelches and the Mapuches) who lived in this area before the arrival of the Spanish and later the Welsh.

The museum also looks at the friendship that emerged between the Tehuelches and the Welsh, and how they helped the newcomers survive in a new and hostile climate that was very different from the one they’d left behind.

Guided tours are done in Spanish, and all the info boards are also in Spanish, so it does help to know the language in order to get the most out of the visit!

First House in Gaiman

We also toured the first house to be built in Gaiman by the Welsh settlers. This first house was built of stone in 1874, and it’s where David D. Roberts and his wife Jemima Jones, the first settlers of Gaiman, lived.

The house originally had a reed and mud roof, though today there’s a metal one. Inside, we got to see some of the furnishings and special items the couple brought over from Wales, and it gave us a good idea of what life would’ve been like in the early days of this rural Patagonian community. The big takeaway being that life here was not easy!

This house can only be visited by signing up for a guided tour. The young gentleman who gave us our tour spoke Spanish, English and was also studying Welsh.

Gaiman Panoramic Point

If you’re up for a fairly short and easy hike, you can head up to the Gaiman Panoramic Point. There’s a sculpture up top called The Shape of Silence, plus you get panoramic views of the town.

The views are honestly not that impressive, but you can see the main street in one direction and some of the farms in the other.

The trailhead is right next to the Central Chubut Railway and the tourist info centre, so since we were already there, we walked up.

Is Welsh still spoken in Patagonia?

Having travelled extensively across many Welsh towns in Patagonia, I can honestly say there isn’t a significant population of Welsh speakers.

The first few generations of Welsh descendants kept the language alive, however, today the number of fluent Welsh speakers is quite small. This is understandable since the Welsh descendants live in a Spanish-speaking country, and they’ve assimilated since their ancestors arrived in Argentina several generations back!

I met a few Welsh descendants who told me they had studied Welsh as a second language in school, but their knowledge was either basic or they only remembered some vocabulary.

That being said, there is a Welsh Language Project (WLP) that promotes the Welsh language in the Chubut region of Patagonia. They send Welsh teachers to Argentina to help develop the language in Welsh-speaking communities through classes and informal social activities. So there is an effort underway to keep Patagonian Welsh alive!

Where to eat in Gaiman

If you’re planning to spend the whole day in Gaiman as we did, or if you’re planning to stay for a few days, you’ll want more than just afternoon tea! Here are a few restaurants to consider across town:

Gwalia Lân Resto – This cozy restaurant serves a mix of homemade pasta and Welsh-inspired dishes. We tried their Gwalia sorrentinos stuffed with pumpkin, basil and mozzarella in a leek and almond sauce. They were very tasty!

Na Petko – This restaurant serves up classic Argentine fare in a tranquil setting next to the river.

Cactus Cervecería – This spot serves beer, pizzas and snack platters you can share with friends.

Where to stay in Gaiman

Gaiman is a small town and since most people visit on a day trip, accommodations are few and far between. That being said, there are a few guesthouses for those wanting to spend the night in this Welsh town in Patagonia.

Posada los Mimbres – This is a 3-star hotel located 4 km from the historic district. It offers beautiful gardens, a swimming pool, free bicycles to get around, and a restaurant that serves home-cooked meals.

Hostería Gwesty Plas y Coed – This place offers private rooms in a Welsh-style house in the historic centre of Gaiman. The location is unbeatable, so it’s super easy to get around on foot.

Alternatively, you can look for accommodations in nearby Trelew like we did. The two communities are 17 kilometres apart, so if you’d rather stay in a city with a few more options, that’s something to consider.

That’s our guide to visiting Gaiman, a charming Welsh town in Patagonia, Argentina! I hope this blog post gave you a few ideas of things to do in Gaiman, and now, you should have no trouble finding a tea house to enjoy Welsh afternoon tea.