We travelled between the Argentinian and the Chilean Patagonias, chasing hikes, views and comforting post-effort beer.

For adventure seekers and avid hikers, Patagonia feels like disneyland. The views on the treks are actually addictive – its hard to turn your back and hike away.

This is our detailed guide on the destinations we got to visit:

1. Peninsula Valdés;
2. Torres del Paine National Park – Puerto Natales;
3. Los Glaciares National Park – El Chaltén;
4. Perito Moreno Glacier – El Calafate.

Peninsula Valdés

We love wildlife watching and when we were drafting our plan for Patagonia, Peninsula Valdés popped as the best place to do it in the Argentinian Patagonia. Eventhough we didn’t go in whale season (Aug-Oct), it was still an amazing experience. We got to see plenty of guanacos, armadillos, killer whales, elephant seals, magellanic penguins and swim with sea lions!

There are essentially two ways to visit Peninsula Valdés – you can either stay in Puerto Madryn (closest city) and do tours to the park from there or sleep on the peninsula in Puerto Piramides (1h from Puerto Madryn). We decided to stay in Puerto Piramides, even though accommodation is more expensive, and rent a car to visit the sites by ourselves. You can rent a car in Puerto Madryn online using platforms like booking.com or rentalcars.com. 

We definitely recommend staying in Puerto Piramides and renting a car. The view points are 1 to 2 hours away from Puerto Piramides and visiting them at your own pace is definitely worth it. Please note that routes inside the park are gravel, though generally in good condition.

As you drive from Puerto Madryn to Puerto Piramides you will eventually get to the park entrance. There you will have to pay around 13€ per person to enter the park, and you only need to pay this fee once if you’re staying in for multiple days. We recommend stopping at the first visitor center to get a map of the park and get some insights to maximise your chances of seeing the animals – it will depend on the season but also on the tides.

For swimming with sea lions (warning: it’s an unforgettable experience) you can book a tour in Puerto Piramides. We strongly recommend our tour operator: Patagonia Scuba. The tour takes around 3 hours and takes you way closer to the sea lions than you would ever be on land. When it’s time to swim, you will jump to the water with your wetsuit and snorkling gear and the sea lions will come from the shore to play with you. At first, it might feel a bit scary to be so close to these animals but you’ll soon forget about your fears and enjoy this unique experience.

Torres del Paine National Park – Puerto Natales

To be honest, while we were planning our visit to Torres del Paine National Park, we almost gave up on visiting. The complexity of the booking websites, the not-budgety cost, the miss information on the trails… It was a nightmare. However we kept hearing over and over how this was the most beautiful national park, so we ignored all of the bad to guarantee we would be blessed with the all the goodness – and (spoiler alert) we were 🙂

Lets make it easy for you: to visit Torres del Paine National Park you can either sleep in Puerto Natales and take day trips to the park, or sleep inside the park in camping, refugios or a hotel.

The most common multi-day treks are the W-circuit and the O-circuit, where you spend 5 or 10 days hiking in the park. You can do them self-guided, by booking your sleeping spot on the two websites managing the refugios and campsites (all the relevant links here: https://parquetorresdelpaine.cl/sistemas-de-reservas/) or you can book a fully guided tour that includes all of the accomodation and food.

These tours and accomodations do not come cheap, and you need to reserve your spot some months in advance. In case you missed any of these, our itinerary may come in handy.

We were sleeping in Puerto Natales – at the very cosy Corner Hostel. We still wanted to trek as much as possible in the park so this is what we did:

1. Day hike to Mirador Base Las Torres:
   • Bus to the park at 7h.
   • Hike ~ 7 hours.
   • Bus back to Puerto Natales at 20h.
2. Hike from Hotel Las Torres to Refugio Los Cuernos
   • Bus to the park at 13h.
   • Hike ~ 4 hours.
   • Sleeping at Los Cuernos (managed to book short notice, but at a high cost)
3. Hike from Refugio Los Cuernos to Paine Grande
   • Hike ~ 8 hours.
   • Catamaran from Paine Grande to Lake Pehoé
   • 20h bus back to Puerto Natales

Important information when visiting Torres del Paine National Park:

• Buy the park entrance online to avoid queuing.
• There at least 3 companies doing the route from Puerto Natales to the park. Bus Sur is the only one with only ticket purchase available. The other companies have offices on the bus terminal, they all have the save price – 21€ return ticket in 2023.
• From the entrance of the park to the beginning of the trek, there is a shuttle payable only in cash: 3,5€ one-way in 2023.
• Catamaran is not bookable in advance. Payable only in cash on the boat: 28€ one-way in 2023.

By combining a 1 day hike and sleeping one night at the park were were able to do ~70% of the W trek! Apart from the epicness of the end of the Mirador las Torres hike, we felt like the paths from Hotel Las Torres to Los Cuernos and Los Cuernos to Paine Grande were much more scenic all the way through.

Recommendations on where to eat in Puerto Natales:

• Comercial Masay Pizza for delicious sandwiches
• Onde el Jano for affordable yet delicious Completos – the chilean hotdog
• Strauss for delicious pies

Puerto Natales does not have a lot to offer, apart from a nice base to visit the park. The town is quite sleepy and expensive.

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares – El Chaltén

As you reach El Chaltén from the road, you may be lucky to imediatly see Fitz Roy and Cerro torre in front of you. This charming little town sits on the base of these enormous montains, and it existis for the purpose of hosting trekkers, climbers and bird affictionates.

In contrast with visiting Torres de Paine from Puerto Natales, by staying in Chaltén you can just leave your accomodation and your hike starts right away. No need for buses, shuttles or even park tickets. The hikes are very well marked and doable in one day.

The most famous hikes are the Laguna de los Tres – to gaze at Fitz Roy – and Laguna Torre. They take 6h (12km) and 8h (16km) both ways, respectively. They have similar profiles: moderate difficulty in 90% of the trek, ending with a very steep hike in the end. Both hikes offer great views of the prize from the beginning, so if you don’t want to hike for so long, on km 3 you have viewpoints to Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre in each trek.

For a short hike within the city, go for Mirador de los Condores, where you get a view of the hole town, with the backdrop of the mountains, and adding to that spectacular flights of the Condor de los Andes.

Away from town, reachable by shuttle (request a booking with the staff at your accommodation), is the Lago del Desierto hike or even the hike to the border with Chile.

Recommendations on where to eat in El Chaltén:

• Laborum for delicious and huge pizzas
• Maffia for home made ravioli
• Ahonikenk for Chielan Patagonia’s tipical dishes
• Lo de Haydee for hot chocolate and sweet treats
• La Zorra for craft beer

Perito Moreno Glacier – El Calafate

A bit more of a town than El Chalten, El Calafate still has the charms of a small installement. The main draw that brings tourists to this town is the visit the Perito Moreno Glacier, which is just 1 hour away.

You can reach the Glacier by public transportation our organised tour. The entrance to the park can be purchased online or on park entry, payble in cash or card.

The basic visit will give you access to the pathways where you can walk to get different views of the glacier and of the frequent blocks of ice coming off of the glacier’s wall. For a few more bucks, you can get a boat ride around the lake, which will get you closer do the Glacier.

The ultimate experience is to hike on the Glacier, which will bring the cost to around 100€. The mini-trekking tour includes the pathways, the boat and walking on the glacier, always accompanied by friendly knowledgeable guides. The experience of trekking on the glacier is not an adrenaline experience, but rather a WOW moment. The company organizing these tours is Hielo y Aventura.

If you have some spare time in El Calafate, you can walk the Paseo Costanera along Argentina Lake and spot some bright pink flamingos.

Recommendations on where to eat in El Calafate:

• Pura Vida for oven-baked meals in a homey atmosphere
• Pietro’s Cafe for huge sandwiches
• Viva La Pepa for heartwarming crepes
• La Tablita for Patagonian Lamb and meats
• Don Luis for sweet treats