Camping in Patagonia: What to bring, tips and best spots

Who doesn’t love camping? Having a laugh while setting up your tent, cooking marshmallows over a campfire or waking up early to catch the best sunrise ever. Camping is a great experience for everyone. On top of being a cheap (sometimes free) way to sleep, often is also your only choice to visit some less-explored areas where tourists facilities are yet to show up.

That said, good planning and preparation is essential for making the most of any camping trip. From choosing the right season to your favourite pair of socks, everything counts toward the final goal, no exceptions. In this article, we’ll talk about what to bring, some tips and best spots for camping in Patagonia.

Max on the trail to the camping grounds of Los Glaciares National Park

Picking the right time

If you ask anybody in Patagonia, what’s the weather gonna be tomorrow, the answer is always going to be “Nobody knows”. And that is nothing but the truth! In this part of the world, you can only try guess the weather and plan accordingly… for your worst expectations. One second it’s raining, the next is sunny and then is back to snowing.

Nevertheless, picking the right time of the year to camp is crucial for a top-notch experience. The best season to camp in Patagonia is during the summer months, Dec-Feb, when the weather is nicer (yet equally unpredictable) than the other seasons. Obviously, this corresponds to the high season so for those looking to avoid it, November and March are so-so months when you can gamble it.

Picking the right tent

Summer tents, winter tents and four season tents: the choice can be hard. In our opinion, independently of what season you’re visiting, a winter or four season tent is always the best choice. Also, in order to have a bit more space inside the tent, make sure to get a tent made for 1+ person than your group size (e.g. in a couple get a 3-people tent). Some brands are better than others so make sure to read some reviews in your country before you go.

On our trip, we used a tent by Doite named Toluhaca 3: a four season tent for three people. We chose this cause we also wanted to used the tent further one in our trip where climate was warmer.

Our much loved tent

What to bring

Our Camping Essentials

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best spots in Patagonia

All throughout Patagonia there are plenty of camping spots pretty much everywhere from big cities to national parks. Sometimes the facilities are awesome, sometimes horrible and sometimes there are not facilities at all! Here’s two of the most amazing spots we felt in love with on our trip.

Los Glaciares National Park: Definitely among the best spots we’ve ever camped at, it is located on the argentinian side just next to the small city of El Chalten. Inside the park there are several basic camping spots at which you can stay indefinitely, all free of charge.

Tierra del Fuego National Park: Camping at the end of the world sounds cool, eh? Even though the park is not so easily accessible, camping inside it is going to be a wild-to-wild beautiful experience. The entrance fee (490ARG) must be paid every 2 days camping but the camping areas are all free of charge.

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How was your camping experience in Patagonia? Did you like it? Anything you would add to our packing list? Tell us in the comment section!

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