7-DAY Itinerary Patagonia
In my opinion, 7 days is a bit rushed to see all the major things, but it's doable! Land in El Calafate (or Puerto Natales) and spend ~3 days in each country
7-DAY Itinerary - Argentina, Chile
Argentina in 4 days
Start your adventure with a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina to El Calafate, Argentina
3.5h flight (non-stop) through Aerolinas Argentina
Day 1: Arrive in El Calafate, Argentina. Visit town & explore the Glaciarium Museum, or just relax and try the various cuisines
Shuttle bus into town or private taxi
The cost for 4 people into town by private taxi IS cheaper than buying individual shuttle bus tickets (as of 11/2023), so if you're a pair -- find another pair in line and buddy up! That's what me and my boyfriend did.
With private taxi, it's also cheaper if you purchase a round-trip ticket (by about 2000 ARS or so) at the same time. After you pay, you circle around to exit the airport and wait until the taxi driver calls your number (we waited ~15 min or so).
Drive into town is approximately 20-30 minutes
Check where your car pick-up is! There are a few different rental locations - ours was in the center of El Calafate, so we picked our car up the next morning.
Check in, relax, and explore town
Surprisingly, there's many tiers of dining in this area - as it's a hub for tourists. You can eat casually at La Zorra Taproom or fine dine at Mako Fuegos y Vinos - both which we had and was quite spectacular! Check out my tips on El Calafate!
Day 2: Full-day excursion to Perito Moreno Glacier Tour (or go on your own)
Morning: Get a good breakfast
Drive to Los Glaciares National Park (where Perito Moreno Glacier is located)
If you're not renting a car, you can opt for the tour groups that meet inside the park, which are often a bit more expensive.
Book your ticket in advance and make sure the ticket is SAVED on your phone! There's little/no service in the park.
Drive time: 40 minutes
Explore the area
Solo: boardwalk, watch the glacier pieces drop into the lake
Tour: glacier trekking, boat tour to see the glacier up close and witness calving, or private guide
Calving of an iceberg is when it splits or sheds into smaller pieces of ice
Dinner in town
Day 3: El Chalten
Drive into El Chalten, the trekking capital of Argentina
Drive time El Calafate to El Chalten: 3 hours (214 km)
Stunning drive of just empty, vast landscapes with mountain peaks in the background. Watch out for animal crossings, as you'll see some guanacos in the distance!
Explore Chorillo Del Salto or hike to Laguna Capri or Mirador de los Condores to see stunning views of Fitz Roy
Chorillo Del Salto: can be easily walked through from town (1h) or driven to if you have a car (10min)
This is a beautiful and simple waterfall, where you can enjoy a light snack and spend about 30 minutes
IF you are walking from town, you share the same pathway as the cars, so be prepared if cars are passing by to have some dust kicked into your face
Laguna Capri is the lake you will cross if you are hiking Fitz Roy the next day, so would advise not to do this if that's in your plan
AllTrails Link: HERE
Length: 6 miles, Time: 3-4 h, Elevation Gain: 1500 ft
Mirador de Los Condores: one of the shorter hikes you can do in El Chalten, will give you stunning views of the town
This is perfect hike for sunrise or sunset
AllTrails Link: HERE
Length: 1.6 miles (2.6 km), Time: 2 h, Elevation Gain: 500 ft
Explore town and relax after hike
Options for Food: La Zorra Taproom, Maffia Trattoria
Maffia Trattoria (Italian): we LOVED the food here at Maffia and thought it was one of the BEST pastas we've had ever, but the service was quite rude when we tried getting seats
Day 4: Laguna de los Tres (Fitz Roy Hike)
AllTrails Link: HERE, Length: 13.7 miles, Time: 8-12 h, Elevation Gain: 3500 ft
Start your morning early, the trailhead is just right on the edge of town
You can walk there or there's a small lot to park at (if you arrive early enough)
The hike of a lifetime - be prepared to start before 8am and be prepared for ANY weather, that can change at any moment
We got a particularly lucky day that was completely sunny, so we OVERprepared and did not need our waterproof anything -- but we had heard this makes the hike actually more challenging because the sun was beaming on us the whole time.
From everything I read, be prepared to bring layers (as the top is typically very windy and can rain suddenly).
If you've got bad knees, this would be a great time to have hiking poles -- though it's not needed for the majority of the hike until the end.
Plan for 8-12 hours, depending on your fitness level and how long you spend at the top.
One of my recent life goals is to capture beautiful photos at breathtaking spots, so I actually changed at the top into this red dress
Kudos to my very supportive boyfriend for supporting my random dreams!
Chile in 3 days
Day 5: Crossing the border and arrive at Torres del Paine National Park (TDP), Chile
Drive Time: 5-6 hours from El Chalten, longer if you make a pit stop to El Calafate
You have two options for driving from El Chalten/El Calafate to TDP and that's via Route 7 or Route 41.
Route 7: PURELY gravel road and your rental company will advise against this (because it's sort-of hard to drive through and it can damage the car). We took this way BACK, since it's considered to be the more scenic route. We had a 4x4 and drove very slowly -- but we got to see AMAZING wildlife on the drive. This includes herds of guanacos (are they called herds?) and untamed horses and sheep and condors flying. The last picture above (on the top right, for desktop viewers) is from Route 7. If you are a bit concerned about the drive and don't have much experience on gravel roads, I would NOT recommend this path.
Route 40: This is a newly paved highway and you can stop midpoint at Esperanza for gas. This is a bit longer, but you can drive at higher speeds. I would recommend getting gas in Esperanza before you get into Chile, as everything is more expensive.
If you stay in the park and arrive early enough, you can do short hikes to Mirador Condor or Salto Grande
Day 6: Torres del Paine Viewpoint via Las Torres and El Chileno Trail (Full Day Hike)
Unfortunately we did not get to do this, because I got food poisoning from something I had the day before!
Length: 12.5mi, Time: 8-10 h, Elevation Gain: 3300 ft (AllTrails Link HERE)
The alternative if you do no want to do a full-day hike (or if you got sick like me): visit Grey Glacier and take a boat ride to see floating icebergs (optional) or do a short hike on the beachfront (half-day) and visit Mirador Cuernos
We did the Grey Lake Viewpoint Hike
AllTrails Link HERE, Length: 3.4 miles, Time: 1-2 hours, Elevation Gain: 150 ft) and did the FULL loop, but highly don't recommend this.
Recommend to make a left at the fork for the loop (clockwise) and once you get to the viewpoint (pictured on the 1st picture- top left above), turn back the way you came. The full loop does not offer much more scenery viewpoints and is not well-maintained so you'll run into a lot of branches.
If you opt to do this, we had lunch at Rio Pingo after
Not very good, but food is hard to come by in Torres Del Paine.
There was only a buffet option for lunch when we came, which ended up being about $30-40 USD per person (or even more?) but it seemed like they opened up the A La Carte option after - which we should have gotten instead!
There is also a grab/go shop right outside of Rio Pingo where you can grab coffee from the dispensing machines and snacks/bars, if you want a more affordable and quick option.
Day 7: Head back to El Calafate for your flight out
This is an extremely rushed itinerary, in my opinion -- but you can make do if you have a shorter amount of time. The minimum time I would spend in this area (which is what we did) is about 10 days, but even that feels rushed! Do it at a leisurely 14 days, so you also have a bit more time in each park and maybe head down to Ushuaia