HIKING IN PATAGONIA – 16 Days

You have just got to Patagonia!—your dream trip is about to start. Upon arrival in El Calafate you will take a public bus to start your 3 hour long trip to El Chaltén.

You’ll travel along the famous Route 40, surrounded by the Patagonian steppe, pass through La Leona River, which connects Lake Argentino and Lake Viedma and where stands La Leona Road house, where the famous thieves, Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid hided for a month. After discovering other rough gems of this particular landscape, you’ll reach El Chaltén and we’ll leave you at your hotel.

El Chaltén is the top rated hiking destination in Argentina. This charming little village sits at the foot of Fitz Roy Mountain and it’s surrounded by glaciers, lakes, rivers and forests. It’s also the jumping-off point for most hiking trails. A paradise for sunny walkers and hikers alike.

Enjoy your first afternoon of leisure in Patagonia to relax in the local brewery or explore the surrounding areas—Maybe stroll around a little waterfall…

Say Hueque Tips

Take a look to our favorite hikes in our Chaltén Travel Guide, and take note of our travel advice on how to visit the area.

Today, our recommendation for truly hiking lovers: make all the way to Cerro Torre  and Laguna Torre, one of the most famous hiking trails of the area. Walk into the wild for about 8 hours and 20 kilometres, this is a moderate difficulty hike so no previous experience is needed!

It starts at that gorgeous wooden sign with the Laguna Torre and the woodpecker at his side that you probably have already seen if you visited the Cerro Torre Viewpoint the previous day. From there, you will continue through a multi-colored landscape: snow capped mountains will rein over the native forest of lengas and ñires. You’ll pass by the De Agostini campsite and continue till the front moraine…you can hit the summit in 15 minutes! From here you can descend to the lagoon and see a floating iceberg passing by or continue to the Mascardi viewpoint, 2 kilometres down up the hill.

Enjoy an early walk around town or a short easy hike during the morning: you can walk to El Chorrillo del Salto, 3-4 hours away from the village and get to a Little waterfall encircled by native trees and flora, like the Patagonian Orchid.

Bear in mind that in the afternoon you will board your bus back to El Calafate, so you need to be back in time.The 3 hour long driving back will be a good opportunity to rest or just relax enjoying the passing landscape at your window.

Once you arrive at El Calafate, the bus will leave you at your hotel. It’s your your chance to try the tender and exquisite Patagonian Lamb or a heavenly tasting Calafate ice-cream. At Calafate, food options are varied: from veggie delicacies to the best demonstration of international cuisine. You can choose a fancy  restaurant or a traditional local tavern to spend an unforgettable time.

El Calafate is much more than haunting glaciers…today is your free day, and as there is no activity scheduled for this day, our recommendation is to take a day tour (not included) to immerse yourself in rural culture of Patagonia.

Inside Glaciers National park, at the end of NR 15, after a 1 h 30 drive over a rubble road, sits one of the oldest and traditional Patagonian ranches of the area. It’s the only ranch that maintains sheep and Hereford cattle breeding as its main occupation. You can take a day trip to visit its 12 000, learn about its history and witness a shearing demonstrations and a test for horse reins. At the end of the day, a grilled lambed will awaits sizzling in its Patagonian traditional cross stake.

Say Hueque tips

Looking for things to do in El Calafate, we found a wide variety of activities and day trips to share with you. We write it all in our blog, “Travel Tales of Argentina”.

Torres del Paine is one of the most beautiful protected areas of South America, and the best way to explore it is by foot. If you like hiking and nature, this should be one of the highlights of your trip. Depending in which area of the Park you are logging, you will be able to explore different paths— Please check with your travel advisor which are the best options from your location.

Our recommendation is to take by your own the hike to Base de las Torres del Paine. This is the most famous hike of the park since it takes you to the base of Paine Horns (2600 m.o.s.l.), a challenge for climbers all over the world. It takes 8-10 hours for the round trip.

The very first 2 hours are very tiring, since you are walking up, leaving the valley where the Hosteria and Refuge Torres del Paine sit. You’ll cross Ascensio Valley taking its windy path and gazing Ascensio River till getting to the first stop, Refugio El Chileno. From here, you’ll continue for one hour  through a lenga forest—the changing landscapes will be a palliative for tiredness!

You’ll finally get to the moraine, the last beat of the trek and the hardest. The last hour will be in permanent ascend but take it easy, you’ll definitely make it to the top! Every effort will be compensated with breathtaking views of this massif granite mountains that grow next to a blue lake and up to the sky.

In the early morning, and after enjoying a delicious breakfast, you will hike approximately 4 hours from Refugio Paine Grande to the Grey Mountain Hut. This is an amazing hike which will lead you to meet Grey Lake and its floating glaciers, some stunning views of the massive Southern Ice Field and the Grey Glacier that pinch together and extend their white cloak far beyond eyes can see.

You have a boat scheduled for this day. Right after the hike,  you’ll take the cruise at Grey Lake’s beach and after crossing the blue waters punctuated by floating icebergs and dramatically framed by glaciers and snow-capped mountains, you’ll get to Hosteria Grey. At your arrival, a transfer will be waiting for you to take you in a 3-4 hour long trip throughout mountainous and dry steppes to finally reach Puerto Natales where you’ll overnight.

In the early morning, you will make your way to the bus station to embark on a full day bus trip to Ushuaia. Take into account that you’ll be crossing borders so keep in mind our previous advice.

This is a 12 hour long trip in a semi-reclinable bus, crossing the Patagonian steppe: yellow and green grasslands, Chilean gauchos riding into the wild and grazing unworried sheeps will rolle on the square landscape of your window, till you reach the ferry crossing. It will take around 45 minutes to cross  the mythical Strait of Magellan and hit the road again to cross the border and finally enter to Tierra del Fuego Island in Argentine lands.

As the end-of-the world most famous city approaches, grazing sheeps will turn into wild guanacos and horses, snow capped mountains and evergreen woods will arise at the vicinity of Ushuaia. Once you get the “Southernmost City in the World” passport stamp, you’ll realize this intrepid journey through Patagonian remote roads was absolutely worthy.

This bus trip allows you to see the landscape and the other lesser known parts of Chile, having a much more complete view of the area. However, it’s long journey (in a semi-reclinable bus, ferry crossing and dusty roads) and it can be a tiring day. For an additional cost you can choose a less adventurous option: from Torres del Paine, you can drive back to El Calafate and fly to Ushuaia.

Upon arrival in Ushuaia you will make your way to your hotel (taxis to and from the bus station should cost less than 10 dollars). Ushuaia is a small town, really easy to get around on foot. The Yamanas, its first inhabitants, called it Ushuaia which means “protected bay” in their language. Ushuaia was officially incorporated into the Republic of Argentina in 1884, and it soon became a penal colony, in order to establish a permanent Argentine settlement.

Take the afternoon to explore the town, learn of the region’s history at the Prisoner’s Museum or visit the Galleria of Fueguian History (its restaurant is also very nice!). Please, don’t forget the local gastronomy! Ushuaia is the number one place to try the best seafood in Argentina.    

Say Hueque tips

You’ve got farther than ever in the globe…there are two words you shouldn’t forget: Blake Hake and King Crab. Our Ushuaia Travel Guide will unveil the mystery.

In 1833 Charles Darwin sailed the  Beagle Channel and discovered something great. Today is your turn: become another explorer of this channel, primitively named Onashaga Channel since the Onas where its first sailers.

You’ll make your way to the tourist pier (at downtown) to embark on a 3 hour long  boat trip  along the famous Channel (there’s a port tax of around 1-2 dollars you’ll have to pay). As the vessel leaves the coast, you will gain panoramas of Ushuaia Bay where the city lies proudly crowned by the Martial Glacier. Unearth the diverse marine wildlife, such as cormorants (flying birds, closely related to penguins) and fur seals which frolic their time away on Alicia Island. Argentina standing at your left and Chili at your right, you’ll sail this natural border till reaching the iconic end-of-the-world lighthouse, the ancient guard of the bay. On your way back, you’ll stop at Bridges Island to walk a wildlife interpretative path, learn about Yaman’s history (the native inhabitants) and see the largest shelly deposits of the region.

During the trip, you can enjoy a delicious hot chocolate with cookies or try the mate, the favorite Argentine drink. Once we get back to the port, you can make your way back to your hotel or stop by a local café or brewery to try the amber cream craft beer with a traditional Patagonian appetizer.

Say Hueque tips

Have you ever walk among penguins? If not, Ushuaia is your chance to fulfil that wanderlust dream…you can switch the Beagle Navigation to take the Magellanic Penguin Rookery tour on Martillo Island (from October to April at an additional cost) or add one day in Ushuaia to make both. At Martillo Island you will also see a very rare type of penguin only found in Antarctica: the yellow-crested penguin.