El Calafate, Argentina
How to get from El Calafate Airport to City Center, Where to Eat/Stay in El Calafate, and what we would and would not do again
Getting from El Calafate Airport into City Center
After your 3.5h our flight from Buenos Aires, you will land about 20-30 minutes outside of the El Calafate City Center.
In order to get into town, you can either:
Pick up your rental car if you happened to be so lucky to book it from the airport
Take a shuttle bus into town (~1200 ARS)
Hire a private taxi (~4000 ARS)
Yes, if you do the math -- 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 1-2000 ARS) 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
Landing in El Calafate around sunset, recommend sitting on the right hand side of the plane (window!)
Places We Ate In El Calafate
We were quite amazed at all the kinds of food options (and how good they were) in El Calafate, given how remote the location is:
COFFEE: Miles Coffeehouse, Elba'r
Miles Coffeehouse - has pastries and your standard cafe drink options. This place offers a relaxed atmosphere to start your morning slow or get some last-minute work/reading done.
Elba'r - has a variety of sweet (and espresso) drinks, some including alcohol! Super fun atmosphere with food options as well. Can please a variety of tastebuds with their coffee. I'm the sugary drinker in the couple, but my boyfriend loves pure espresso -- and I liked this place over Miles, but for my black coffee/espresso people, my boyfriend said the espresso at Miles was superior.
BEER: Patagonia Cerveza, La Zorra Taproom
Patagonia Cerveza - they have this in Buenos Aires (in the Palermo district, I believe), if you wanted to try it there instead. This place gets LIVELY during a soccer/futbol game, and can be a bit hard to find seating when that happens. They have some table games (such as foosball) you can play - great spot to hang out. Personally, I thought the beer was better at La Zorra and we didn't get the food here. Come here if you want
La Zorra Taproom - we LOVED this place; we went here on our first night, and also to the location in El Chalten. The one in El Calafate was far better, in terms of the beer and food (though we got different things). The prosciutto pizza was surprisingly SO good. They have a well-priced happy hour (but only certain beers). Locals seemed to go here also after work. Very casual, fun, relaxed vibe.
QUICK AND EASY (and cheap!): Big Pizza El Calafate
My boyfriend LOVES pizza, and this place made it easy on our excursion days to grab something cheap and go! We tried their empanadas and pizza- the empanadas win, and the ones with Jamon were the best; I love veggies and sometimes try to go the full veggie option -- but this time that bet didn't win! A no frills take-out spot, that has plenty of casual seating if you want to eat in-store. This place was for convenience and it was decent, but don't expect to be blown away!
FINER DINING: Mako Fuegos y Vinos, Kau Kaleshan
Mako Fuegos y Vinos - this was recommended to us by our taxi driver into town and by our hotel when we checked in; it's got GREAT service and a wide variety of food selections (even featuring a seafood dish - I forget which - exported from Vietnam!). We had their steak and lamb options, and steak won out. Full-bar, so you can get your cocktail kick in here!
Kau Kaleshan - we stayed at their hotel a few nights, and decided to have dinner here one night! The restaurant is small, so be prepared to book half-day to full-day ahead (otherwise you may miss out). Only sits about ~10-15 tables, and the service is quite slow -- so it won't turn around fast. The risotto dish was SPECTACULAR.
Where We Stayed in El Calafate
Our top pick for cost/location
Kau Kaleshen - $100/night tier
Hotel/hostel is a small 2-story building in the back with ~10 rooms. Quiet and cozy!
1 street over from the main street in-town, and a relatively easy 5-minute walk from everything we needed (except the supermarket/rental car, which was ~15 minutes).
Ask for help with the heater though, because we could not figure out how to turn it on; it's the older-style oil-based heaters.
There's a kitty on the grounds, who loves saying hello!
What We Would (and wouldn't) Do Again
What We Would Do Again
Ice Trekking Tour in Perito Moreno, but book the earlier one (see my page HERE for more information on the glacier tour)
Rent a car, so that we could easily get to El Chalten/Perito Moreno
Go back to La Zorra time and time again...
What We Wouldn't Do Again
Spend so much time in-line trying to exchange money!
Do this in Buenos Aires if you can! Bring extra USD (don't rely on the ATMs) or your home currency to exchange, as there were some people we met that voiced issues with withdrawing. There were 2 locations we found that had the best exchange rates, but their lines were LONG (about 1 hour wait). I found out that some restaurants here do currency exchange also closer to blue dollar than the official, but you'll lose a bit more
Stay out of the center of town without a car
Our last night, we came back from Torres Del Paine and booked a last-minute (bargain) hotel. We dropped off our car that evening and took a taxi back, but felt like (though it was only 10 minutes) we should have gotten one closer to town.