Day 1 – Fly into El Calafate, Walk the Town, Enjoy a Dinner

It took almost 30 hours to get to El Calafate from Seattle. When I was shopping flights, I tried to find the least amount of travel time. Since I was flying out of Seattle, I googled what US cities fly non-stop to Buenos Aires. This ended up being Houston, Dallas, JFK and Atlanta. It took took three flights to land in El Calafate (SEA-JFK-EZE-FTE).

Due to COVID protocols, it took several hours to get through customs. Luckily, I had almost a five hour layover in Buenos Aires as I waited to fly to El Calafate. I needed all but 15 minutes. Customs was extremely slow to get through and we also had to wait almost 60 minutes to even get into customs. If you plan to fly straight to El Calafate, I highly suggest you give yourself several hours between flights so you do not miss your connecting flight.

If you are wondering what documents you will need to travel anywhere outside of the United States, use this website. It shows all the documents you will need to enter as well as entering back into the United States.

I flew Aerolíneas Argentinas to get from Buenos Aires (EZE) to El Calafate (FTE).

I had private transportation to get from the airport to our hotel in El Calafate. It took about 20 minutes to get to the hotel.

El Calafate is a small town that consists of one main street filled with an abundance of restaurants, shops and tourism shops. Our hotel for the first two nights was slightly outside of town.

Dinner: La Tablita (recommend)

This is known as a barbeque restaurant where you get to see lamb roasting over a fire pit. This was a great restaurant. Since we showed up early (7:30 PM), we were able to get right in. Reservations are encouraged if you want to eat later.

Day 2 – Mini trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier 

Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the biggest glaciers in the world. There are a few ways to experience this glacier; big or mini ice trek (hiking on top of it), boat tours (seeing the glacier walls up close) or walking the boardwalk in front of the glacier. I chose the mini trekking experience & loved it. There is an age restriction to do this (10 years old to 65 years old). This tour lasted four hours. I took a boat ride to view the glacier up close, then walked on the glacier in a small guided tour for 1.5 hours with two guides. You’ll need to pack your own lunch & you can enjoy it after your tour.

Tips – 

My travel agent (Venture Patagonia) helped me coordinate private transportation to take us to Perito Moreno Glacier. It took a little less than 1.5 hours to arrive from El Calafate. This was an all day event as we were taken to the boardwalk after the mini trek excursion. You can spend several hours on the boardwalk walking the different colored sections.

Bring sunglasses as the reflection off the glacier can be hard on your eyes. You will need to wear closed toe shoes if you plan to hike on the glacier.

Be sure you are moderately physically fit. You will be provided crampons & a helmet. Since you will be walking on the glacier, good balance is necessary.

You’ll be treated with a shot of whiskey (over glacier ice) and a chocolate afterwards. This was a nice surprise.

Once your tour is over, head over to the boardwalk for another point of view. When I was there, there were a few professional photographers who can take your photo. I felt the price was reasonable. They will take 5-10 photos of you then you can choose your favorite(s). Make sure you have cash.

Dinner: Nina 

I enjoyed a delicious lamb ravioli. Dinner begins at 7:30 PM. We actually showed up early & they served us the bar menu. We made a reservation for 7:30 instead so we could enjoy their dinner menu.

Day 3 – Guided tour to Upsala Glacier on Lago Argentino (stay in Estancia Cristina)

This day started early as a bus picked us up from our hotel (and then several other groups from other hotels) to drop us all off at a dock on Lago Argentino. We all took a guided tour on Lago Argentino for an up close view of Upsala Glacier. Lago Argentino is a bright turquoise lake & is the largest lake in Argentina. As the boat brought us closer to Upsala Glacier, it was neat to see chunks of glacier ice floating in the water. Large chunks of glacier ice can change daily and as a matter of fact, the guide mentioned there was not any chunks of glacier ice the day before.

After the boat tour, we arrived at Estancia Cristina. This is a lovely ranch located right on Lago Argentino. You can stay many days at Estancia Cristina or you can stay one night like we did. Activities include horseback riding, hiking, fishing, 4×4 and more. Learn where we stayed here.

Estancia Cristina is an all inclusive stay so your meals and drinks are included. Alcoholic drinks are additional. The meals here were fantastic. We enjoyed a lunch, dinner, breakfast and they included a packed lunch for the next day.

After lunch, we did a few short hikes near the lodging area.

Day 4 – Fossil Canyon Hike in Estancia Cristina. Boat Back to El Calafate. Stay in El Calafate. 

After a tasty breakfast, we were guided to an overlook of Upsala Glacier with a guide. It took close to 50 minutes by vehicle to get to the overlook. Once we were there, we experienced typical Patagonia weather with intense wind gusts. Afterwards a small group of us were guided through a fossil canyon. This hike was mostly flat with some downhill sections. There were a few beautiful fossils & we spotted several condors throughout the hike. The packed lunch was also fantastic, which included a sandwich with homemade bread, homemade desserts and more snacks than you needed.

We finished the hike around 2:30 PM then took a boat back to El Calafate around 5 PM. We checked into our hotel, made dinner reservations and walked the town of El Calafate.

Hotel: Calafate Parque Hotel (recommend)

Dinner: Pura Vida (highly recommend)

This meal was by far the best meal of the trip. Fresh bread was served before dinner & we split a salad & lamb pot pie. Dessert was also wonderful. Reservations are required.

Day 5 – Drive to El Chaltén (3 hours). Hike Mirador Los Cóndores/Mirador de las Águilas. Stay in El Chaltén.

We did not head to El Chaltén until 12:00 PM, therefore, we did a little shopping in El Calafate as we waited for our ride. El Calafate has many cute shops for souvenirs but the best place was the chocolate shop, Guerrero. The store is small and there was always a line to wait to get inside the store. We finally checked it out & the chocolate was delicious.

The drive out to El Chaltén was beautiful. Although the weather was stormy & cloudy towards El Chaltén, it was still scenic. This was our first time seeing some of the wildlife. We saw dozens of guanacos and a few rheas on the drive.

Once we arrived in our hotel (Los Cerros), we settled in then headed out for a short hike.

Mirador Los Cóndores has a great view of the mountain range on a clear day. Unfortunately, it was not a clear day so we did not have any mountain views. It took about 20 minutes from our hotel to get to the trailhead. It is right next to the visitor center.

Distance – 3.3 miles roundtrip

Elevation – 688 feet

Dinner: Pizzeria Ruca Mahuida

This pizzeria was a short walk from our hotel. Pizza was good & service was friendly. We arrived right when they opened so we were able to get right in. Just like a typical taco salad (with a fried shell), they offered pizza salads where the salad sat in folded pizza crust.

Day 6 – Hike Chorrillo del Salto. Stay in El Chaltén.

This was our worst weather day. Clouds were thick & it rained on & off most of the day. We booked a massage at the hotel to stay busy during the morning & then headed out for an afternoon hike. If you have a car, you can take a short drive to the trailhead & that makes this trail very short. But, since we walked to the trailhead from El Chaltén, it took a few hours to do.

Distance – 4.6 miles roundtrip (walking from El Chaltén)

Elevation – 456 feet

Dinner: B&B Burger Joint

This restaurant served typical pub food. If you are craving a burger or other pub style food, this place does the job.

Day 7 – Hike Laguna Torre. Stay in El Chaltén.

The weather slowly started to clear up, but we still experienced typical Patagonia weather – wind, rain, snow, sun. When we first arrived at the lake, it was completely fogged in. We headed back towards El Chaltén and about 15 minutes later, it stopped snowing & the sun was trying to shine through the clouds. We took our lunch & tea break & decided to head back to Laguna Torre to see if the views improved. Unfortunately, Cerro Torre was still mostly covered with clouds, but we were able to see the bottom third of the mountain.

Distance – 11.8 miles roundtrip

Elevation – 800 feet

Dinner: Maffia Trattoria 

This restaurant specialized in Italian cuisine. We also tried guanaco empanadas. The meat seemed a little tough so that was my first and last time trying guanaco. The goulash was amazing!

Day 8 – Hike Laguna de los Tres. Stay in El Chaltén.

Laguna de los Tres is the best hike I have ever done. You can choose to do this trail as an out & back from El Chaltén or you can make it more of a loop trail. We chose to do a loop trail & had a taxi drop us off near Rio Blanco. This allowed you to see Laguna Piedras Blancas from a distance.

Distance: 12.9 – 16.5 miles roundtrip (depending on where you start)

Elevation gain: 3,000 feet+ (depending on where you start)

The trail is mostly flat from the route we took, but becomes very steep at the very end as you trek up to Laguna de los Tres.

Dinner: La Viñeria Grill & Pasta

The service and food were fantastic. The restaurant is located off the main street, but still easily walkable from your hotel. Reservations were recommended.

Day 9 – Hike Loma del Pliegue Tumbado. Stay in El Chaltén.

We were blessed with two clear days. Our 2nd day was for the 2nd best hike in El Chaltén. This had panaramic views of Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre, Lago Viedma (as you look back the other direction), Laguna Torre and the rest of the mountain range. Since we could not get clear views of Cerro Torre on Day 3, we were pleased to see it crystal clear this time. I personally thought this viewpoint was better than being at the Laguna Torre. We hiked up to the summit to have the highest view of the area. This also allowed us to look back to see Lago Viedma.

Distance – 13.6 miles roundtrip

Elevation – 3,600 elevation gain (more if you summit)

Pictured below: beautiful snow capped Cerro Torre.

Happy Hour: La Cervecería Chaltén

This restaurant was really good and I wish we didn’t have leftovers so we could enjoy dinner here. We had empanadas as appetizers & a cold beer. The empanadas were the best of the trip. I’m sure the food was even better. Reservations required. We tried to get dinner here during our 5 night stay but it was packed every night.

Dinner: leftovers!

Our hotel had a community fridge for guests to store lunch or leftovers. This worked out great as many meals at restaurants provided large servings.

Day 10 – Watch the sunrise outside of El Chaltén. Fly home.

I was sad to leave El Chaltén. I almost extended my stay because there were two more decent weather days left in the forecast until the clouds & rain came back. There are still other areas to explore, but after doing extensive research, I felt like I saw the best views already. I would have considered hiking the backside of Fitz Roy, which consisted of a icefield. However, I did have a prior obligation back in the United States that I thought I should not miss.

The last morning I hired a taxi for one hour to take me slightly outside of El Chaltén to watch the sunrise. If you have a car and the weather is clear, I highly suggest you add this to your itinerary. Hiring a taxi was $2500 pesos for one hour. I took photographs just outside of El Chaltén, along the road looking at the towering Fitz Roy range over El Chaltén and also near the canyon.