Patagonia, not to be confused with the outdoor clothing company, is the area at the southern tip of South America in both Chile and Argentina. This area of the world is known for the beautiful Andes Mountains, lakes, glaciers and incredible viewpoints. Here is our 5 day Winter Patagonia itinerary including how we got around and what we were able to do in the winter months.
We weren’t sure what we would find traveling to Patagonia in their winter. Visiting in July meant we were smack dab in the middle of the coldest months of the year. We found it difficult to find information out there as far as what would be open and what we would be able to do. Hopefully this guide helps you if you’re struggling to find the same information!
Chile or Argentina?
Because technically the region of Patagonia is in both countries, we had a decision to make when planning our trip. We were coming from Buenos Aires, Argentina which made it easier to stay on the Argentina side. So for this trip (and this travel guide) we are discussing the Argentina side of Patagonia. We know there is a lot to discover on the Chile side and hope to one day be back and explore even more!
Getting to El Calafate, Argentina
We flew from Buenos Aires, Argentina to El Calafate, Argentina which sits over 2,700 km southwest in the province of Santa Cruz. El Calafate is most notably known for being close to Los Glaciares National Park. It’s a great spot to start your Patagonia itinerary because there is so much to do nearby! It’s a big enough city that you can easily fly into it and still have options for accommodations and restaurants.
Most domestic flights from Buenos Aires fly from the smaller Aeroparque Internacional Jorge Newbury (or AEP) which is in Palermo and actually significantly closer than the larger Ezeiza Airport. In July it cost us $175 USD for a roundtrip ticket from Buenos Aires to El Calafate on Aerolineas Argentinas.
Read our Travel Guide to Buenos Aires for everything to do in this amazing city!
Where to Stay in El Calafate
We stayed at the Folk Hostel and would HIGHLY recommend it! It was seriously the nicest hostel we have ever stayed in! Theres a big common area with plenty of tables and both people we interacted with were so helpful. They helped us book all the things we did during our time there! The kitchen is huge with double sinks and stoves, plenty of utensils to cook plus they offer a free breakfast included in your stay. The bathrooms were very clean and by far the best part was that the rooms have heated floors! After being freezing cold outside, it was amazing to walk around on and something we both could not stop talking about! All of that for just over $25 USD meant it was also a really good deal.
- It’s located like a 5 minute walk to the bus station which made it so convenient as well!
Day 1: El Calafate & Perito Moreno Glacier
On day 1 we flew from Buenos Aires, Argentina to El Calafate Airport. We took the Ves shuttle from the airport that dropped us off at our hostel. It cost 500 Pesos roundtrip per person so 1,000 total or about $22 USD for both of us. You simply give them the name of where you’re staying and the day you’re leaving and they will pick you up for your return flight.
Because the weather was the nicest on our first day we decided to hit the ground running and visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. It is by far one of the biggest draws of the area and you can’t visit El Calafate without checking it out! It is located about 75 km from El Calafate and takes about 1 hour by bus. The really cool thing about this glacier is it’s actually one of the only glaciers in the world that is moving forward instead of falling back.
We were able to book our bus tickets to get to the glacier right from our hostel. Bus tickets from El Calafate to Perito Moreno Glacier cost 800 Pesos per person or about $18 USD. We thought this was very expensive just to get to the glacier not even your ticket into the park. But it was something that we knew we wanted to do and there isn’t really another option to get there.
On the bus when you get to the entrance of the national park you can buy your ticket. That ticket is another 800 Pesos so the bus and national park ticket together come to 1,600 Pesos per person or $36 USD. So in total for us both to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier it cost $72 USD. We had a bit of sticker shock with that number but ultimately we had made our way down to Patagonia and we couldn’t not visit!
Honestly the Perito Moreno Glacier is so large its hard to capture the size in pictures. There are plenty of signs detailing the various walkway routes. The paths are well built and easy to walk on even in winter. You can choose how long and in which direction you would like to walk. It started out as really nice weather and then the longer we stayed more and more fog and rain rolled in and before long it was pouring on us! Visiting this area in the winter means dealing with the unexpected weather as it comes so we put on our rain gear and toughed it out as long as we could. Even though it’s expensive visiting the glacier is absolutely worth it! It is so beautiful and we have about a thousand pictures from that day.
We ended the day with dinner at La Zorra Tap Room in El Calafate. A burger and fries was the perfect way to warm up after a wet and cold day! For about $15 USD we got two burgers with fries that were delicious and only about a 10 minute walk from our hostel.
Day 2: Bus to El Chaltén & 2 Short Hikes
The next morning we woke up bright and early and got on an 8:00 AM bus from El Calafate to El Chaltén. El Chaltén is a very small town that’s about a 3 hour bus ride from El Calafate. Situated near Cerro Torre and Mount Fitz Roy, most visitors come not for a bustling city but for the close proximity of trails leading to both of these breathtaking mountains.
We arrived on our bus around 11:00 AM and saw only a handful of other people as we walked down the main street to our apartment. We counted about 5 restaurants that were open while many others were boarded up and closed perhaps for the winter season. You will definitely find less options in the winter months in El Chaltén compared to El Calafate.
Travel Truth: One thing we did to prepare was make sure we had cash as we had read it can be hard to find an ATM with money in both places. So we took out a bunch in Buenos Aires and then after trying a few in El Calafate we were able to take out some more at the Santa Cruz bank. We only saw one ATM in El Chaltén so try not to wait!
Even though we had an early wake up call that morning, we took advantage of some nice weather to do two very short hikes nearby. We walked out of town past the bus station and the national park visitors center to hike up to Mirador de Los Condores. It’s a very short 1 km hike that takes about 30 minutes to hike up. You get views of all the colorful buildings of El Chaltén as well as the surrounding snowcapped mountains.
With the weather seeming to hold out, we continued on to hike to Mirador de Las Aguilas. It’s described as a 2 km hike to be completed in 45 minutes but because we were already about halfway there it took us another 20 minutes before reaching the viewpoint. If you’re already at Mirador de Los Condores we would recommend also doing Mirador de Las Aguilas as they are so close together but really provide different views. Mirador de Las Aguilas is almost completely flat and at the end gives you views of Lago Viedma.
Travel Truth: While these two hikes don’t give you views of the most famous mountains of this area, if you are short on time or only have a short gap of nice weather they are both beautiful! We went around 4:00 PM in the afternoon and did not see a single other person on the trail.
Read More: 5 Tips for Visiting Patagonia in the Winter
Day 3 & 4: Bundle Up & Hike!
Earlier in the post we say to use two days to hike nearby for two different reasons. First, there are countless hikes close by to see different lakes and mountains. Some are shorter and much quicker while others are much farther out and subsequentally take longer. It depends on how far (and long) you want to hike as well as what you want to see.
Some of the most popular hikes are Laguna Torre which brings you to Cerro Torre and Laguna de Los Tres which brings you to Cerro Fitz Roy. They both take about 6-8 hours roundtrip depending on how fast you hike and how many times you stop. If you look up pictures you will without a doubt understand why so many people choose these!
However, being in Patagonia in the winter means you don’t always get the weather you would like. We would have loved to do either of these longer hikes as they give you closer views of both mountains. However, we got one really rainy day and then another snowy day back to back. Neither of which lent itself for hours of hiking. So the second reason we say to give yourself more than one day to hike is to have a little bit of wiggle room in case you get bad weather. As everyone down there will say, the weather can and does change quickly!
One of the few restaurants we found open in El Chaltén was Rancho Grande. Our host told us it was open 24 hours as it’s also a hostel. We got a burger and a large pizza for 830 Pesos or about $19 USD. The pizza ended up being so large that we actually ended up having the rest of it for dinner the next night making it a really affordable option!
Day 5: Laguna Capri & Back to El Calafate
On our last day in El Chaltén we lucked out with blue skies! So we put our hiking shoes on and hiked to Laguna Capri. It’s classified as moderate and while the beginning is a bit uphill, the hardest part was because much of the path was covered in ice from the snow the day before. However, if there’s no snow when you’re there it really is not that bad!
The Laguna Capri hike is about 4 km. It brings you about halfway on the Laguna de Los Tres hike to Mount Fitz Roy. So again, if you don’t quite have 8 hours to complete the longer one this is a great alternative. We were taking a 5:00 PM bus back to El Calafate therefore this one was perfect for our timing!
Initially we were overall bummed about the weather we had gotten and the missed days of hiking. But that hike to Laguna Capri alone made our trip down to Patagonia completely worth it! The snow we were mad about the day before made the entire trail absolutely beautiful. It was like walking in a winter postcard with everything snow-covered and glistening. Although we may not have been as close to Mount Fitz Roy as other, longer hikes it felt like we were right there on top of it.
The path splits at one point. One way going down to the lagoon and the other going the opposite direction to Mirador del Fitz Roy. We first hiked down to Laguna Capri where we found the entire lake frozen and covered in snow. We then hiked along the water where the views just kept getting better and better. If you continue on you’ll find yourself on the opposite going up to the viewpoint which will then join back up with the trail leading back to El Chaltén. The whole hike took us about 4 hours with endless stops to take more and more pictures because we just couldn’t get enough!
We ended our hike and got on a 5:00 PM bus back to El Calafate. The bus station is very small so don’t worry there is no way you will miss your bus! We arrived back around 8:00 PM that night again to the same hostel we stayed at earlier in the week.
Travel Truth: When booking our return bus back from El Chaltén to El Calafate the guy at our hostel encouraged us to book it as an open bus ticket which means a ticket for that day but no time. There is a bus at 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM so it gave us the flexibility to pick which one we wanted to take once it got closer. We were so glad we did this because the 5:00 PM bus allowed us to do the Laguna Capri hike. Had we booked the morning bus (like we were going to) we wouldn’t have had time! We are SO thankful he made this recommendation!
We stayed one more night in El Calafate before flying out back up to Buenos Aires the next day. That concluded our 5 days in Patagonia in the winter! While it may not be the most popular time to visit and definitely requires some patience with the weather, it was so worth it! Everything we saw was beautiful and it was so nice to not have to deal with crowds and lots of other tourists.
