The blue waters of El Calafate

Even though days are longer in Patagonia, you always have the feeling you’d need more hours. After wandering the chilean fjords, climbing active volcanoes, passing through stunning landscapes, seeing winter-versions of llamas and hiking among glaciers – nobody want to acknowledge it but it’s already Christmas Eve. Time literally flies by when you’re having a great time, isn’t it?

It’s on this same morning that, as we cruise around the crystalline waters of Lake Argentino, we see El Calafate. At a first sight, the town feels a little too touristy in comparison to Chaiten, Puyuhuapi or Rio Tranquilo but it doesn’t take long to get used to it. And to be honest, having something different from the typical loneliness of Patagonia is a nice (hopefully not too long) change.

Entrance to the Los Glaciares National Park

Things to do

Similarly to El Chalten, the best activities you can do in town are centred around the stunning glaciers of Los Glaciares National Park.

Perito Moreno – Without a doubt among Argentina’s most visited attraction, the unique Perito Moreno deserves a visit while in town. Even though the place has plenty of tourists all year-long, having a chance to see chunks of ice falling off from the glacier is a crazy experience. Entrance to Perito Moreno is currently 700ARG and on-site you can also take a boat (800ARG) to see the glacier walls from a different perspective.

Falling ice chunks at Perito Moreno

Trekking on glaciers – Another major hit in Calafate is trekking on glaciers. Currently, you have the option for a (1) short tour a.k.a. Mini-Trekking or (2) longer one known as Big Ice. Both tours involve hiking over the Perito Moreno glacier and not other glaciers, as some may think. The Mini-Trekking lasts about 2h and costs 3’500-5’000ARG/pp whereas the Big Ice lasts about 12hrs and costs 7’000-8’000ARG/pp. Be aware that prices vary depending if you have your own transport or not and the total doesn’t include the entrance fee for Los Glaciares National Park (and port fees when applicable).

Cruises around the Glaciers – Many travel agencies also offer a great variety of boat excursions to explore the inaccessible glaciers of the park. Usually, all excursions include a visit to Uppsala Glacier or Spegazzini Glacier (or both) and the only big variable is food and time spent on-board. Some cruises are full-days, others half-days, some offer gourmet lunches + open bars while others offer simple snacks – it depends what you’re looking for and willing to spend. Prices for these cruises range between 6’000ARG up to 10’000ARG (entrance to National Park excluded).

Laguna de Nimez – At a walking distance from the city center, not longer than 10min, sits a beautiful avian reserve called Laguna Nimez. Here you can wander around the wooden paths on the edge of the lagoon where you can observe flamingoes, geese and a great number of other birds feeding on-site. Even though the entrance is cheap (250ARG), birdwatching on El Calafate’s coastline can easily be as good as the Laguna (sometimes better).

Flamingoes along El Calafate’s coastline

Glaciarium – Just outside town, on the road to Perito Moreno, you can also find the Glaciarium. As the name suggest, this place is an interpretative center to learn about creation, development and disappearance of glaciers. Visiting the place is a relaxing activity to do (2hrs max) and the entrance to the Glaciarium set at 480ARG is not too expensive either. There are daily shuttles (11am to 6pm) connecting Calafate with the Glaciarium for free departing from the parking lot of the Tourism Bureau.

Where to stay

During high season, is pretty normal for most of the accomodation to be booked well in advance so be aware! That said, around town you can find plenty of options for all budgets ranging from home-like hospedajes to self-catering cabañas. Remember that hostels are not always the cheapest option!

During our time there, our group of four decided to spend our Christmas Eve just outside the touristy area along the town’s coastline in a beautiful place called Renting in Calafate. We were welcomed with warm empanadas, wine bottles and an unforgettable view of the Laguna.

Eating out

In town there are plenty of restaurants all offering anything from argentinian specialities to international food. Those can be pretty expensive (even the smaller lesser known ones) so a good option is to grab some basic stuff at Distrisur or Anonima supermarkets and cook it yourself.

Onward Journey

After El Calafate, our next stop was Puerto Natales. Here’s all you need to know for companies that operate this route. TIP: If you plan travelling to P. Natales during high season, make sure to book at least one week ahead if you have little flexibility on times.

Andesmar – 950ARG (Mondays 6.30am, Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays 4.30 and 5pm, Wednesdays/Fridays 8am)

Cootra – 950ARG (All days at 6.30am).

Chaltentravel – 950ARG (All days at 6.30am) but include door-to-door pickup.

Turismo Zaahi – 850ARG (Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays 4.30pm, Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays 8am)

NOTICE: The bus terminal tax of 10ARG is not included in the fares.

All in all, we did enjoy our time in El Calafate quite a lot. Even though the city crawls everywhere with mass tourism, it has still retained – to some extent – some of that fascinating atmosphere we found back at El Chalten. To top that off, being able to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier and see chunks of ice falling was just an amazing experience, definitely worth the “annoying” extra-tourists dressing.

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