El Chaltén and El Calafate
On one side the vertical granite of Fitz Roy, on the other a 60-metre glacier cracking and calving before your eyes: the 215 km between the two villages concentrate the best of Patagonia.
Suggested stay — 4 to 5 nights (2 Calafate, 2-3 Chaltén)
El Chaltén is Argentina's national trekking capital, and the title is earned: trails leave from the village itself, free and permit-free, towards Laguna de los Tres at the foot of Fitz Roy (20 km return, steep final hour) and Laguna Torre facing the needle of Cerro Torre. The granite only reveals itself by grace of weather — on clear-sky days you set off at dawn, no debate, and postpone everything else.
In El Calafate, the Perito Moreno upends glacier logic: this one advances, up to two metres a day, and its 5 km face collapses in whole slabs into Lago Argentino under the gaze of the boardwalks. You spend a hypnotic half-day there — the crack precedes the fall, your eyes always racing too late — topped off, budget permitting, with a boat cruise or a crampon-shod minitrekking on the ice itself.
Don't miss
- Laguna de los Tres at dawn for a Fitz Roy on fire (set off by headlamp)
- The Perito Moreno boardwalks in late morning, when the ice works hardest
- Laguna Torre and its iceberg lagoon facing Cerro Torre
- The Mirador de los Cóndores above El Chaltén, one hour for the full view
Our tips on the ground
- Schedule the big hikes around the weather window, not your itinerary: Windguru and the noticeboard at El Chaltén's guides' office are gospel — a clear Fitz Roy is earned.
- Book Perito Moreno entry online the day before (timed ticketing for Los Glaciares national park) and aim for the afternoon if you want the boardwalks quiet after the tour-bus wave.
- El Chaltén has no reliable bank and no cheap fuel: fill up and withdraw cash in El Calafate before the 215 km of route 23, superb and empty.
Our flagship guide — €29
Guide available“Argentina Self-Drive”, the complete edition, is out
10 chapters: day-by-day itineraries, driving and transport, a costed budget and checklists — the same method as our Namibia guide.
The guide is currently written in French — an English edition is in the works.
Before you go
Readers' questions about El Chaltén and El Calafate
Do you need a guide to hike in El Chaltén?
No: the Fitz Roy sector trails are free, waymarked and permit-free — unique in Patagonia. A guide only becomes compulsory on the ice (minitrekking on the Perito Moreno, glacier crossings) or off-trail. Do, however, register the weather mentally: the wind can turn a harmless ridge dangerous.
Perito Moreno: boardwalks, boat or minitrekking?
The boardwalks first, always: they're the best viewpoint and the theatre of the collapses. The boat gets you closer to the face without overlooking it; the minitrekking (crampons provided, about 2 h on the ice, book well ahead in summer) turns the visit into an experience. If the budget forces a choice, boardwalks alone — nobody comes back disappointed.