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Travel guide
Patagonia
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: November to March
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Welcome
Patagonia, in a few days
Argentine Patagonia runs some 2,000 kilometres along Ruta 40, from the ice wall of Perito Moreno and the granite spires of Fitz Roy to the whales of Península Valdés and the bay of Ushuaia. Distances are measured in flight hours, the wind crosses the steppe at 80 km/h, and the glaciers calve with a sound like thunder.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Perito Moreno Glacier · half a dayA 5-kilometre ice front about 60 metres high, 80 kilometres from El Calafate, faced by 4 kilometres of walkways where you watch it calve.
- Afternoon · Upsala Glacier · a full dayReached only by boat from Puerto Bandera, across a milky lake full of blue icebergs to a front that has retreated fast since the 1990s.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Posada Los Alamos€130 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Laguna de los Tres and Fitz Roy · a full dayTen kilometres from El Chaltén to a glacial lake below Fitz Roy: easy through beech forest, then a steep final kilometre climbing 400 metres.
- Afternoon · Cueva de las Manos · half a dayA cliff in the Río Pinturas canyon covered with some 800 stencilled hands and guanaco hunting scenes about 9,000 years old, UNESCO-listed since 1999.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Design Suites Calafate€120 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Bariloche and the Seven Lakes Route free · several daysAlpine-style chalets and chocolate shops on Lake Nahuel Huapi, then 110 kilometres of road past seven glacial lakes to San Martín de los Andes.
- Afternoon · Península Valdés · a full dayA UNESCO-listed Atlantic reserve where southern right whales come to calve from June to December, watched from boats out of Puerto Pirámides.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Esplendor by Wyndham€140 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel · half a dayCatamarans leave the port for the Les Éclaireurs lighthouse, cormorant and sea lion colonies and, from October to April, the Magellanic penguins of Martillo Island.
- Afternoon · Tierra del Fuego National Park · half a daySouthern beech forest, peat bogs and a ragged coastline 12 kilometres from Ushuaia, where Ruta 3 ends at Lapataia Bay, 3,079 kilometres from Buenos Aires.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Kosten Aike€140 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Asado: the national barbecue, several cuts over wood, eaten slowly and with company.
- Empanadas: baked or fried pastries, with a different recipe in every province.
- Milanesa: a breaded cutlet, served flat or buried under ham, cheese and tomato.
- Dulce de leche and alfajores: caramelised milk, in or on almost every sweet thing.
- Malbec and mate: one poured, the other passed round a circle through a metal straw.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Change money through official channels, and check the rate on the day: it moves fast.
- The distances are huge. Plan night buses or internal flights rather than improvising.
- Book El Calafate and Ushuaia early in high season. Beds and tours run out first.
- Keep small notes. Taxis and kiosks rarely have change for a large one.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Spanish
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Hello | Hola |
| Thank you | Gracias |
| Please | Por favor |
| Yes | Sí |
| No | No |
| Excuse me | Perdone |
| Goodbye | Adiós |
| Do you speak English? | ¿Habla inglés? |
| I don't understand | No entiendo |
| How much is it? | ¿Cuánto cuesta? |
| Where are the toilets? | ¿Dónde están los baños? |
| The bill, please | La cuenta, por favor |
| Help! | ¡Socorro! |
| Cheers! | ¡Salud! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyArgentine peso (ARS)
BudgetAbout €145 a day, mid-range
Best seasonNovember to March
PlugC/I · 220V
Tap waterSafe to drink in the cities
TippingAround 10%
Emergency911 / 107
EntryVisa-free for 90 days for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well outside the tourist trail.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/patagonia
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.