Patagonia Guided Hiking Tour

Welcome to Argentina! After being met at the El Calafate airport you and your luggage will be taken to El Calafate to your first accommodation. After you settle in, you’re welcome to enjoy the town before the next day when your Patagonian guided hiking adventure will commence.

Today you’ll board a bus for a 220 km journey through beautiful countryside to a quaint village called El Chaltén which is situated beneath the mountains of Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy. The tour bus will stop at the halfway point for you to stretch and partake of some local coffee and pastries. After arriving in El Chaltén your Patagonia hiking tour will begin. Since you only need to bring things for the three day journey, you’ll be able to leave your additional items in the office where it can be sent to your room on day 4. Your hike will take you up a gentle ascent along the Fitz Roy trail until you get to the overlook above the River de las Vueltas Valley. Over the next couple hours you’ll find viewpoints from which to take in the dazzling mountain scenery. Two more hours and you’ll be coming through dense forest and bogs to arrive at the first Full Camp where you can enjoy a panoramic view of the whole Fitz Roy massif rising to the clouds with glaciers flowing below.

Your trek begins today as you chase the morning light up the path and watch it warm the granite face of Fitz Roy. You’ll walk along the Fitz Roy trail using the Cerro Fitz Roy ridge to reach Rio Blanco. From there you’ll take a steep incline for an hour up to Laguna de los Tres and enjoy one of the most coveted vistas in the park. Bathe in the beauty of nature as you take in bright blue water dancing below the monumental peaks of the Fitz Roy massif while they scrape the sky above.

The hiking path begins to the south as you pick your way along the Hija Valley en-route to the Fitz Roy River Valley. There you’ll locate the Cerro Torre Trail and begin the trek through a landscape of beech forest, bogs, and shrublands until you reach Laguna Torre. From here you’ll encounter the gorgeous panoramas of Grande Glacier slicing its way west, while above you the monolithic spike of Cerro Torre juts heavenward. During your explorations, be on the lookout for icebergs that have been blown in toward the coast as they can be quite spectacular. You’ll return to El Chaltén that afternoon using the Cerro Torre trail.

Your guided Patagonian adventure today will take you to some of the best vistas to be seen in the El Chaltén region! The climb will bring you to overlooks for Cerro Torre, Fitz Roy, and many glaciers and lakes. Once you’ve gained the summit, you’ll see Paso del Viento and the several mountains jutting up from the Patagonian Ice Field. You’ll come back to El Chaltén by late afternoon.

Feel free to take the morning and look around in El Chaltén. Also, make sure you look into any of the optional excursions that may interest you. Once you’re finished, you’ll return via bus to El Calafate in the late afternoon.

It’s time to get up close and personal with a glacier as you visit the famous Perito Moreno Glacier! This ice-field type glacier is classified as a natural wonder and it has the raw natural beauty to earn it. Perito Moreno flows all the way down from the Patagonian icefield, which is the world’s third largest. You’ll have a chance to see the only glacier on earth that has a visible closure and rupture process. By the time you get to the end of the road you’ll be practically on top of the glacier, just a few meters away. Experience the crashing sound and raw power of the ice as large chunks break off and fall, sometimes landing within the glacier, and other times splashing into the shimmering water beneath.

You’ll start the day off with a six-hour scenic drive to the camp located in Torres del Paine National Park. Sit back and take in the view as you journey over the Patagonian steppes, circling the Sierra de los Baguales mountains to reach the Park. You’ll cross the Chilean border and have a chance to see Paine Grande, the Horns, Admiral Nieto, and the Towers on the way into Torres del Paine. Once you arrive, you’ll join a 1-2-hour nature walk that will let you take in the local landscape and see many local birds and wildflowers. Immediately after the walk you’ll head to camp.

Today your guided trek begins steeply as you hike up to the Ascencio River Valley. Once you make it there, you’ll continue downhill to Refugio Chileno lodge. Then follow the riverbank, through a beech forest, until you come to the stunning Paine Towers viewpoint. Look below to see a glacier-formed lagoon and the three colossal towers rising 1000 meters above the glacier’s surface.

A one-hour drive to Port Pudeto will bring you to a catamarán ride to the other side of Lake Pehoe. Once you’ve crossed, you can drop by your tent and leave behind any items you don’t need for the day before beginning your guided trek down French Valley trail. You’ll walk among the south slopes of the Paine Grande, skirt Lake Skottsberg, walk through many hills and valleys, and arrive at the hanging bridge spanning the French River. The view to the west shows the southeast face of Paine Grand rising a jaw-dropping 2700 meters, while the easterly view displays the striped crags of the Horns towering over all.

Lake Grey trail leads from Pehoe valley across ridges to reach Grey valley. This magnificent valley flows down 60 km from the Patagonian Icefield, featuring the huge glacier calving down in the grey colour lake. Our trail skirts the lake, going up and down the westerns slopes of Paine Grande, offering some of the most impressive sights of the Park. From the trail we can see the south end of the lake where the blue icebergs gather, the mountains rising far in the distance above glaciers Grey and Tyndall. We come back along the same trail, crossing bogs, shrublands and forest. Once again at Paine Grande Refuge we take the boat to cross lake Pehoe back and then we go to our accommodation in Puerto Natales, a picturesque fishermen town located in the shores of the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) fiord.

Long drive today, though quite worthwhile. After breakfast we continue south to reach the legendary Magellan Strait, which we will keep on sight up to Primera Angostura, where we board the Ferry in which we will cross the Strait. This Pass, discovered by Hernando de Magallanes in 1520, was the natural and logical way to all vessels until de Panama Channel was open at the beginning of the XXth century. You will find yourselves wondering how those brave men dare to sail those waters in such fragile caravels!!!
Once in Tierra del Fuego (literally, Land of Fire, due to the fires seen by the first white sailors in the coast, done by the local Indians to cook and heat) we enter back Argentina through Paso San Sebastián. Once we arrive in Ushuaia, a transfer will take us to our hotel.

Enjoy a free day in Ushuaia.

After breakfast you’ll walk down to the pier in Ushuaia where a boat will be waiting to take you over the historic Beagle Channel. You’ll visit Alicia Island and get a chance to see a sea lion colony and then you’ll head to the Island of Birds to watch the cormorants as they fish. While you’re there, check out the Lighthouse Les Eclaireurs which was built in 1919. You’ll return to port in the afternoon where you can watch the spectacular views of the Darwin mountains to the west, while to the north you’ll see the Andes rising high above Ushuaia.

In the morning, take some time to explore the sights and history of Ushuaia. In the afternoon, you and your luggage will be transferred to the Ushuaia airport so you can catch the flight to Buenos Aires. You’ve traveled all over Patagonia and now your journey has come to an end.