Ruta 40
5,194 km along the Andes, hours without meeting a soul, fuel stations you tick off like rally checkpoints: the 40 isn't a route, it's the destination.
Suggested stay — 3 to 4 days on the road (Bariloche–El Calafate)
La cuarenta, as Argentines call it, follows the cordillera from Bolivia to Tierra del Fuego, but it's the Patagonian stretch — Bariloche to El Calafate, about 1,400 km — that makes the legend: bare steppe to every horizon, guanacos by the hundred, giant skies and staging-post villages 200 to 300 km apart. Tarmac has conquered almost everything; a few ripio sections remain south of Gobernador Gregores depending on roadworks. The adventure has changed nature: less mechanical, more contemplative.
The essential detour is the Cueva de las Manos, a canyon of the Río Pinturas where negative handprints painted 9,000 years ago constellate the rock — guided visit compulsory, one of the major rock-art sites of the Americas, 160 km south of Perito Moreno (the town, not the glacier: the shared name traps every GPS). You sleep at Estancia La Angostura or in Gobernador Gregores, leave at dawn, and understand why Argentines talk about the 40 as a state of mind.
Don't miss
- The Cueva de las Manos and its 9,000-year-old painted hands (guided visit on site)
- Lago Cardiel, an improbable blue in the middle of absolute steppe
- The herds of guanacos and rheas, the crossing's finest wildlife
- A night on an estancia for the asado, the silence and the southern sky
Our tips on the ground
- Fill up at every single pump: between Tres Lagos and Gobernador Gregores, 340 km without a station — and the Tres Lagos pump closes early and sometimes runs dry. A 10 L jerrycan in the boot buys peace of mind.
- Don't confuse Perito Moreno the town (a stop on the 40, 750 km from the glacier) with its namesake glacier: check what your GPS understood before accepting the route.
- The wind strengthens through the afternoon: drive in the morning, keep both hands on the wheel when trucks pass, and open doors into the wind while holding them firmly.
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 Ruta 40
Do you need a 4x4 for Ruta 40?
Not any more on the main axis: the Patagonian stretch is over 90% paved, and a saloon in good condition handles the remaining ripio sections at gentle speed. A 4x4 (or at least decent ground clearance) becomes relevant again for the detours — Cueva de las Manos via the north bank, estancia tracks, Lago Cardiel. Above all, check the spare wheel and the windscreen cover on your insurance.
Can you rent in Bariloche and drop off in El Calafate?
Technically yes, but one-way fees between provinces are ferocious — often €300 to 600 — and few agencies accept it. The proven alternatives: a loop from Bariloche, or a separate rental in El Calafate after a domestic flight. If the full traverse is your dream, budget the one-way like a plane ticket and book weeks ahead.