Patagonia
Patagonia
This had been on my bucket list for many years and was by far the hardest trip I have had to plan! This was also my first time to South America. Read below for some tips if you’re planning to go to Patagonia!
When I Went:
February 2020
Itinerary:
Santiago, Chile (1 day) > Torres del Paine (3 days) > El Chalten (3 days) > Buenos Aires (2 days)
How long:
9 days
Notes:
1) We did not want to go the camping or backpacking route so we went the complete opposite! Haha. The less stress, more relaxing route. Planning this trip was a lot of work because there are so many places to see, but unless you have a lot of time (and money) to spare, you will have to decided where you want to go the most.
The area is large and the time it takes to get to places will have to factor into your itinerary. Whether you want to rent a car or take buses/shuttles is also something you’ll have to think about.
2) Flying between Chile and Argentina is not cheap. You would think it wouldn’t be too bad, but for whatever reason, it is. If you want to cross the border, it’ll be a cheaper option to take a bus, shuttle, or car.
3) I can’t remember what our Buenos Aires lodging host said, but the exchange of Argentinian pesos can be weird and fluctuate a lot. It is not a bad idea to bring pesos, but a lot of places will take card. There might be an extra fee at places though.
4) The weather can be fickle in Patagonia. Be ready for wind, rain, sun, and everything in between.
How I got there:
Nonstop from Los Angeles to Santiago, Chile. To get to Torres del Paine, we flew from Santiago to Punta Arenas. You can go to Puerto Natales, which is closer, but there are not as many flights. Punta Arenas to our hotel was around 4.5 hours. From Puerto Natales, it would’ve been 1.5 hours or so.
From our hotel in Torres del Paine, we were shuttled to El Calafate as part of the all-inclusive program. From El Calafate we took a shuttle to El Chalten, and took the same service back to El Calafate.
From El Calafate, we flew direct to Buenos Aires. For our journey home, we flew from Buenos Aires with a layover in Lima, Peru and then back to Los Angeles.
How we got around:
Santiago - we used Uber to get to and from the airport. While in the city, we walked everywhere since we had less than 24 hours in the city.
Patagonia - as part of our all-inclusive package, we were shuttled everywhere in Torres del Paine. We also crossed the border to El Calafate via the all-inclusive package.
When getting from El Calafate to El Chalten in Argentina, we booked a shuttle bus via Zona Austral Turismo. It was $46 USD per person, round-trip. On the way there, we only shared the shuttle with two people. On the way back to El Chalten, it was a full shuttle with around 8 other people. You can designate your pick up and drop off place.
Buenos Aires - we used Uber to get to and from the airport as well as in the city, but we mostly walked everywhere.
Accommodations:
We stayed at Rio Serrano Hotel in Torres del Paine. This was the first time I did an all-inclusive program and let me tell you, it was lovely. The hotel is in a really nice location and it was so peaceful and serene.
The all-inclusive program including pick up from the Punta Arenas airport. We also took the shuttle to El Calafate, which is the main city in the Argentinian Patagonia area. We had to time our stay with this shuttle transfer since they’re at certain times. We picked our excursions based off their daily schedule and they took us everywhere within the park.
In El Chalten, we stayed at Chalten Suites Hotel. El Chalten is an incredibly small area, so most of the places in the town will be in a very accessible to the restaurants, shops, and trailheads. Chalten Suites was in a good area and a nice hotel. It was only a 10 minute walk to the start of the trailheads.
Activities/Sights To See:
Like I mentioned before, so many things to see, so little time! We opted for Torres del Paine National Park and Los Glaciares National Park. Patagonia is a nature lovers dream. There are many lakes, glaciers, hikes, and outdoor activities to chose from.
Torres del Paine National Park
Everything that we went to was part of our Rio Serrano all-inclusive program. These are easily accessible if you have your own transportation.
Popular hikes that we missed are the W trek, French Valley, and Base of Las Torres del Paine. If you have time, these are hikes you should look into.
Mirador Los Cuernos - (2 hours, 6.2 km / 3.8 miles) this was an easy, wonderful hike. At the beginning, you pass the Salto Grande waterfall right away. While you hike, you have a beautiful view of Lago Nordenskjöld. The water is so blue and beautiful. There is very little incline so it’s a pretty flat trail. Your end destination is the viewpoint to see Los Cuernos (“the horns”) from across the lake.
Lago Grey / Grey Glacier - this was an extra excursion that was not included in the all-inclusive package, but we weren’t going to see the famous Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina, so we couldn’t go to Patagonia without seeing glaciers up close!
Our hotel did have a partnership with the Lago Grey glacier tour, so they took us over to Hotel Lago Grey where the cruise took off, about 25-35 minutes away from where we are staying.
There’s a gift shop, restaurant, and restrooms before you cross a bridge to walk on the beach. You have to walk on the beach for about 10 minutes before getting to the boat.
The boat was pretty packed and the ride was smooth, however there can be a lot of wind when you’re on deck. They take you pretty close to the glacier and go to two areas where it’s more prominent.
Hidden Lagoon hike - (2.5-3 hours, 6 km / 3.7 miles) this was a trail about a 15-20 minute walk from our hotel. There was a medium incline at the beginning of the hike, but then it leveled out. I would say it was a easy-medium hike. There was a great view of rio Serrano and our hotel.
Since we didn’t have a ton of time, we took an all day tour to shuttle us to a lot of the highlights of the park. Here are some of the beautiful lakes we visited - Lake Pehoe, Sarmiento Lake, Cascada Paine, and Laguna Azul.
El Chalten
El Chalten is located in the northern part of Los Glaciares National Park. It is a three hour drive from El Calafate.
Our main goal was to see the famous Mount Fitz Roy. We were there for a little over two days and did a couple of hikes.
Laguna de Los Tres - (25 km / 15.5 miles) this is the longest hike I have ever been on. It took us around 8 hours round trip, and yes, our bodies were really feeling it afterwards.
Definitely start your hike early! We started a little after 7am and it was perfect in terms of timing. It’s not as hot and you have less people on the trail with you.
There is a slight incline at the beginning then it levels out for awhile. You are also amongst a lot of trees so it never felt too hot. There are also kilometer markers so you know how far you’ve gone. Towards the beginning you will reach Mirador Río de las Vueltas, and then Mirador del Fitz Roy.
After that, you will see signs for Poincenot campsite and Laguna de Los Tres that lead you over a small wooden walkway. Once you arrive at the campsite, there is a small bridge that will lead you uphill. There is a little bit of a rest before you start going up the rocky, 1 km uphill climb to Laguna de Los Tres. It is daunting looking up and seeing no end, but just go at your own pace! On the way down, there were many more people going up so if you don’t go early, this will slow you down too.
There is a slightly slippery path immediately leading up to the final destination, so hiking poles and good shoes helped. Doable without the poles, but a little sketchy.
The view of the Fitz Roy is really magical. The mountain feels so close and in your face. We enjoyed a small snack at the top and rested before heading back down. Side note - we meant to get sandwiches before our hike, but everything was still closed. If you go early, get your sandwiches the night before!
As mentioned before, there were many more people coming up on the trail as we were going down. By starting out early, we had most of the trail to ourselves the whole 8 hours!
Chorrillo del Salto
(2.5-3 hours, 7 km / 4.3 miles) this is a very easy hike, if you want to call it that. There was just the slightest uphill at the beginning, but then we realized there is also a dirt road below for cars that you can walk on. The uphill trail eventually leads back down to it anyway.
The start of the trail is the same place as the Laguna de Los Tres trail, but you’ll want to stay right. We barely saw any people on the trail, and only a few people once we reached the waterfall.
Since we did the Chorrillo del Salto
Food & Drinks:
Torres del Paine
Since we had the all-inclusive at Rio Serrano hotel, we only had that food. I would say the food there was good, but it wasn’t amazing. I tried guanaco (the llama-looking animal that is found in the park). I was a little skeptical, but it tasted like chicken haha.
The calafate berry is found in Patagonia and they say if you eat them, you will return to Patagonia. We ate some raw ones in the wild with guidance from our tour guide. They were like the blueberry’s bitter cousin. They had their spin on the Pisco Sour and had a Calafate Sour.
El Chalten
La Zorra Taproom Chaltén - first place we went to after our Laguna de Los Tres hike, and boy were we hungry. They have a bunch of beers on tap, burgers, and sandwiches.
La Cervecería Chaltén - this was a cute little biergarten with outdoor seating. I got a pizza and a smoothie.
Heladería Domo Blanco - ice cream shops with lots of flavors to chose from. The portion size seemed pretty generous too.
Chalteños, Alfajores Y Dulces Artesanales - cute shop that sells artisanal alfajores. They are a famous Argentina cookie/sandwich sweet. While you’re there, there is a cute gift shop a couple stores down called El Viento Nos Amontona.
Enough time?
We spent six full days in Patagonia and that is definitely not enough. We could’ve easily spent six days in one of the parks alone, but we wanted to see a little bit of both. If you’re going to both parks, five days in each would be a good amount. Ten days in Patagonia feels like a good minimum amount.
