Patagonia
Patagonia, in a few days
Two weeks of glaciers and granite on both sides of the border: Perito Moreno, Fitz Roy from El Chaltén, then Torres del Paine in Chile, all the way to the Strait of Magellan. You drive long straight roads across the steppe, with ripio gravel, a wind that tears car doors open and very few petrol pumps.
- Day by day
- 1 El Calafate Days 1-2
- 2 El Chaltén Days 3-5
- 3 El Calafate (return) Day 6
- 4 Cerro Castillo Day 7
- 5 Torres del Paine (Lake Pehoé) Days 8-10
- 6 Puerto Natales Day 11
- 7 Punta Arenas Days 12-14
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
Day by day
El Calafate
The way in. Pick up the car at the airport, then drive 78 km to Perito Moreno, a 5 km wall of ice seen from a network of walkways.
- Minitrekking on the Perito Moreno Glacier · from Crampons on, and out onto the glacier whose 5 km front stands 60 m above the lake. The walkways show you the wall; this puts you on top of it.
- El Calafate Airport
- The Perito Moreno Glacier
- Brazo Rico
El Chaltén
The trekking village under Fitz Roy. The trails to Laguna de los Tres and Laguna Torre start from the village itself.
- Viedma Glacier ice trek, with a boat trip on the lake · from The boat crosses Lake Viedma to the ice, then you walk on the glacier itself. A change of pace between two days of trails under Fitz Roy.
- Laguna de los Tres
- Laguna Torre
- Lago del Desierto
El Calafate (return)
A slower day back in town: the glacier museum, cave paintings on the shore of Lake Argentino and a lagoon nature reserve 1.5 km from the centre.
- Glaciarium
- Punta Walichu
- Laguna Nimez
Cerro Castillo
Border day. You leave Argentina at Río Don Guillermo and clear Chilean customs in this hamlet, the seat of the Torres del Paine municipality.
- Río Don Guillermo border post
- Cerro Castillo
Torres del Paine (Lake Pehoé)
Three nights inside the park, by Lake Pehoé: the granite towers, the Paine waterfall and the floating ice of Grey Glacier.
- Boat trip on Grey Lake to the glacier front · from Up the lake past drifting ice to the face of a glacier 6 km wide, which you only see from a distance on foot.
- Base of the Towers
- Salto Grande
- Pudeto
- Grey Lake and Glacier
Puerto Natales
A harbour town on the Señoret Channel, with the cave where mylodon remains were found in 1895 just outside it.
- Cueva del Milodón
- The Señoret Channel
Punta Arenas
The end of the road, on the Strait of Magellan: an 1843 fort, a cemetery of cypresses and a boat out to the penguins.
- Boat to Magdalena Island and its penguin colony · from About 7,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins on one island in the strait. Boats run from October to mid-April only.
- Magdalena Island
- Fuerte Bulnes
- Sara Braun Cemetery
Worth sorting before you go
Hire a car · The whole route is driven, stage by stage, from El Calafate to Punta Arenas. Fill up whenever you can: pumps are scarce, and there are none between El Calafate and Puerto Natales by way of Cerro Castillo.
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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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.
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 practical page
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/patagonia
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos: Pexels and Wikimedia Commons (Fernando, CC BY-SA 4.0 ; CamiPetenatti, CC BY-SA 4.0 ; See-ming Lee from Hong Kong SAR, China, CC BY 2.0 ; Manxuc, CC BY-SA 4.0 ; Liam Quinn from Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 ; Burbujita75, CC BY-SA 4.0 ; CARLOS TEIXIDOR CADENAS, CC BY-SA 4.0) · Details are indicative, check before you leave.