Bahía Blanca's best day trip is Monte Hermoso, a beach resort about 100 km to the east on the Atlantic coast. The beach there is wide, the water relatively calm, and the town has the relaxed character of a place that caters mainly to Argentine families rather than international tourists. Buses run regularly from the Bahía Blanca terminal in summer; in winter services are reduced.
The Sierra de la Ventana mountains, about 100 km to the north, offer hiking and some of the most dramatic scenery in Buenos Aires province. The range rises abruptly from the flat Pampas and contains Cerro Tres Picos, the highest point in the province at 1,239 metres. The town of Sierra de la Ventana at the base of the hills is a pleasant base. Buses run from Bahía Blanca.
Punta Ninfas, on the Patagonian coast to the south, has sea lion colonies and dramatic coastal cliffs, but distances are long and a rented car is effectively necessary to reach it in a day.