Curator’s statement
Patagonia, the region in southern Argentina and Chile, has long been on my list. I was first exposed to the location in the late 1980s when I had a part-time job at REI during college and learned about the clothing brand (which is also fascinating and ask me about my collection, and then, therefore, the region.) Hard to get to, vast and sparsely populated, dramatic landscapes. This is a trip of a lifetime.
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Day 1: Patagonia arrival
Fly from positioning airport into EZE, departing Saturday evening. You will land in the morning so get as much rest as you can on the flight. When you land, find a ride-share or taxi to get from EZE to AEP. This can be about an hour long depending on traffic and you will want to make your way to get there, so keep moving even though you have just flown all night.
From AEP you will fly to FTE and it's about a 3.5 hour flight. When you land in FTE (El Calafate), go to the rental car counter and get your rental car. Driving into downtown El Calafate is easy and only about 20 minutes.
Stay at the Mirador del Lago, on the western side of El Calafate. Check in, refresh a little, go for a good walk in mountain air. They have a great restaurant for dinner and go to bed early. They also serve a great breakfast for the next day.
Day 2: Journey to El Chalten
Breakfast and coffee and hopefully your group got a great night's sleep. Check out but store your bags. Drive to Perito Moreno Glacier, which is about an hour and 45 minute drive west of El Calafate. Take a walk down the walkways. There is a good amount of walking. You can grab lunch at the cafe there.
Drive back to El Calafate and pick up your luggage. Drive to El Chalten, which is at the base of Fitz Roy. This is about a three-hour drive.
You are spending a good amount of time in the car today. The scenery is stunning but there is literally no place to stop; no gas stations, no rest stops, no tourist traps. Be prepared with snacks, playlists, etc.
Check in to your hotel at El Chalten. Lots of great places for dinner and stop by the supermarket after dinner to grab lunch and snacks for tomorrow. Lots of places have premade sandwiches for hikers. El Chalten is a cute little mountain town. Prep for an early start for tomorrow.
Stay at the Hotel Las Piedras de Patagonia, a family run hotel at the edge of town, and they include breakfast.
Get dinner at La Tapera.
Day 3: Hiking Fitz Roy
This is your day to hike Fitz Roy so it's best to get a relatively early start. Keep an eye on the weather and be sensitive to summit fever. The last mile of the Fitz Roy hike is no joke so don't underestimate it. I didn't do the very end of this. Get dinner in town when you return.
Day 4: The road to Chile
Check out of your hotel and plan for another long drive to Chile. This is about a seven-hour drive. Again, no places to stop except for Esperanza, where you will fill up with fuel. There are a few small places to eat here as well as the gas station to pick up snacks. Make sure to get fuel though. It's the only place close and you'll be driving a bit in Torres del Paine park which does not have any places for fuel. Google maps may tell you to circumvent Esperanza but do not do this.
Again, a long but stunning drive. Part of it will also be gravel roads so take your time on these. You will also have to do a border crossing from Argentina into Chile. There are a few small stops at the border crossing but no fuel.
Check in to your hotel. Lodging in TDP is notoriously hard to get if you don't plan early. You can also stay in Rio Serrano which is just outside the park. We stayed in Hotel del Paine in Rio Serrano, highly recommended. Great cabins right on the Serrano river with mountain overlooks everywhere. Breakfast and dinner included in the rate. You'll see grazing horses right out your window.
Day 5: Pampa Lodge trail ride
We took it easy today and reserved an afternoon horse trail ride right near our hotel in Rio Serrano. We booked the trail ride at the Pampa Lodge.
Day 6: Torres del Paine National Park
Hike in TDP today. We did these two-day hikes, relatively easy, and took our time on them as well as driving through the park. The park is massive so do your research before you book lodging. The Mirador Condor is excellent for views for the TDP massifs and Mirador Cuernos is also great for TDP massifs.
Day 7: Grey Glacier
Take the Lago Grey boat to see the Grey Glacier. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Remember the winds in Patagonia are legendary and therefore the boat ride can be rough.
Day 8: More hikes in TDP
Hike the the Sarmiento Lake trail on this day as well as stopping for lunch at Hosteria Pehoe. This is puma country. Hosteria Pehoe is the hotel and restaurant across the lake that you see in a lot of pictures of TDP.
Day 9: Starting for home
You start the long, and I mean long, journey home. Check out of your hotel, drive 4.5 hours back to El Calafate. Stay at the Calafate Parque hotel right off the center of town. Get dinner at Casimiro Biguá and relax and decompress before your final travel day.
Day 10: Flying back
Drive to the airport. Return rental car. Fly FTE to AEP. Ride share AEP to EZE. Fly EZE home. Congrats, Patagonia is everything an adventure should be!
Need to know
Driving: We rented a car because we wanted more flexibility for our party of 5. Rental car selection was very limited and we ended up with a Ford Ranger pickup and it was the only vehicle left even though I had requested an SUV. Most of the driving in TDP is over gravel roads. Would not recommend driving after dark. If you drive between TDP, El Chalten and El Calafate, most of the drive will be hours on vast, unpopulated highways - no bathrooms, no rest stops, etc. The only fuel between El Calafate and TDP is in Esperanza and the total trip is about 300 miles. I have heard the Rte 7 shortcut to skip Esperanza from TDP to El Calafate is a gravel road. Our drive between those three locations over 10 days was over 880 miles.
Weather, packing, gear: Do not underestimate the weather so pack in layers - wicking layer next to skin, midweight insulation, rain gear. The wind is legendary and the dust gets everywhere. We went in the summer and low temps at night were in the 30s. If you are doing a wilderness trek, note that NOLS Patagonia does not allow their participants to bring any down insulated items because of the wet weather in the region.
Activities: Most everything here is hiking focused on multi day backpacking types of hikes. But I'm a 56 year old man with a desk job so everything we did were day hikes and it was exactly what I wanted. We also did a horse ride outside of TDP and took the boat tour to see the Lago Grey glacier inside TDP. You can reserve the horse trail ride at Pampa Lodge and the Lago Grey glacier boat ride is booked via the Lago Grey hotel website. There are a lot of options to do multi day treks in both parks so make sure you do your research. Both parks are huge and lodging highly depends on what you want to do - otherwise you will spend a lot of time in transit.
You need park passes for both Fitz Roy in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares and Torres del Paine. Best to get those early. TDP can sell out at peak times.
We used credit cards for a lot of things and more than we expected. Still have cash handy.
The sun stays up until 9pm in the summer time so you can hike and be outside until late.
There are lots of stray dogs.
This land cost for this itinerary was about $2200 per person.
Most hotels include breakfast in their rates. You will not have a bad meal. This is wine country.
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Tony Sheng
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For more travel inspiration and insider recommendations, check out our Argentine Patagonia and Chile page.