During our recent trip to Patagonia we learned a few things about visiting this remote and southernmost region of South America. While many people visit during the warmer, summer months few people venture down during the cold, winter months. In this post we go through our 5 tips for visiting Patagonia in the winter that will make your trip go much smoother!
Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean you can’t visit this beautiful place. It just means you need to remember a few things. Here are 5 tips that are helpful if you are planning a trip to Patagonia in the winter and are not quite sure what to expect. Even if the weather is crazy, we would still highly recommend visiting Patagonia in the winter. Everything covered in fresh snow made the cold temperatures completely worth it!
1. Give Yourself Extra Days for Unexpected Weather
Being so south you just can’t predict the weather. We actually had a hard time even pulling up a weather forecast for El Chaltén. The closest area The Weather Channel app could bring up was for Lago Argentina which wasn’t all that applicable. So while on the app it said blue skies, outside our window it was snowing pretty hard.
For that reason it’s best to give yourself a few extra days to take into account any unexpected weather. If your plan is 3 days in Patagonia go ahead (if you can) and make it 4 or 5 just in case. We found ourselves with two days where the weather stopped us from being able to do any hikes. The one day was pouring rain the entire day and then the day after we woke up to snow and it continued to come down until later that night. We were bummed to have 2 days of bad weather but there really isn’t anything you can do about it which leads us to #2 on this list.
2. Take Advantage of Windows of Good Weather
We promise this whole post is not about the weather in Patagonia! But going off of the previous point, if you do find yourself with a small window of good weather take advantage! On our first day we were a bit tired from waking up so early for our 8:00 AM bus but the sky was blue and calling for rain the next day. So we took advantage and did 2 short hikes nearby. We’re actually so glad we did because the next few days in fact did have bad weather. Had we not taken advantage of that window of good weather that first afternoon we would have missed out on those 2 hikes!
Even if it’s not the longer hike you initially wanted to do, any chance to get outside and see the beautiful surrounding mountains is worth it! There are hikes of all distances and time frames so do one that seems manageable and make the most of the situation!
Read More: 5 Day Winter Patagonia Itinerary
3. Don’t Expect Everything to be Open
In El Calafate we found almost everything in the main town area was open. There was a big supermarket, plenty of restaurants to choose from and we saw many other hotels and accommodations where people were staying. We never felt in El Calafate like we couldn’t find what we were looking for.
El Chaltén is a very small town that sits near Mount Fitz Roy and is known for being a good spot to base yourself if you’re looking to do nearby hikes. While in El Chaltén we found about 4-5 restaurants that were open and serving food. There were a couple different grocery stores but don’t expect a big grocery store like back home. Each one had different items and all of them have pretty limited variety because it’s such a small town and so remote.
There were many restaurants, travel agencies and hostels that were boarded up or had signs saying they were closed for the season. So if we visited during the summer I am sure we would find many, many more things open as well as more visitors. It’s just good to know ahead of time though that you won’t find everything open in the winter months that you might come summer.
Travel Truth: Winter or summer it’s best to take out cash before coming down to Patagonia as the ATM’s are notorious for not having money in them. We paid for everything including our accommodations with cash so it’s best to be prepared!
4. Bring Wind & Rain Proof Layers
This might seem silly because it’s winter but wind and rain proof layers are essential! If it’s raining and you are short on time, sometimes you just have to tough it out for a while. Having rain proof layers will make it a lot more comfortable!
We were visiting the Perito Moreno Glacier near El Calafate when it started completely pouring on us. That combined with the cold wind coming off the glacier made it very cold and wet. We were both very thankful to have rain proof pants and rain jackets to block some of the wind as well as keep our other layers dry.
If you’re planning on going on a longer hike, it’s good to go prepared as the weather can change very quickly! In El Chaltén we had no cell phone service in the town or in the national park so make sure before you leave you are fully prepared!
5. Patagonia is Very Spread Out!
Patagonia refers to the entire region which is extremely large! Technically the region covers parts of both Chile and Argentina with the Andes Mountains in the middle of the two. It’s important to remember that Patagonia is very spread out!
If you have no time limit then by all means spend as much time as necessary seeing the entirety of Patagonia! We are jealous! However, most people will have somewhat of a limit as to how long you plan to spend in this area. For that we say it’s best to pick one general area within Patagonia and explore what’s around there. The reason we say this is because transportation between places can take a long time! You don’t want to spend your entire time in Patagonia on buses and planes.
For example, to get from the town of El Calafate to the Perito Moreno Glacier (which is a big draw in El Calafate and something you should definitely do) it takes about 1- 1 ½ hours by bus. That makes it nearly a full day trip with transportation to and from as well as amble time to explore the glacier. Then to get from El Calafate to El Chaltén we took a 3 hour bus ride. The distances between the places you’re most interested in going to is something to consider when planning your itinerary in Patagonia. Then also take into consideration that some travel can be harder in winter when the snow and ice is particularly bad or in areas that don’t have good roads or many transportation options.
