Provincia de Santa Cruz Travel Forum

Hello everybody,

we would like to travel Patagonia for 4 weeks with backpacks and tent doing 3-4 trekking tours.
So far we only booked the flight to and from Buenos Aires (Arrival 18th of Dec, Departure 15th of Jan).
I mainly used the lonely planet trekking guide Patagonia so far.
On the top of our list we do have "Around Monte Fitz Roy" combined with "Laguna Torre" (5 days) and the
"Paine Circuit" (8 days).
The question is now where else to go and how to combine these trecks?

- We though about either Ushuaia/Port Williams (Sierra Valdiviesco Circuit or Dientes Circuit) or
Bariloche (Nahuel Huapi Traverse). What would you suggest/prefer?

- Which order would be preferable? Which is the most crowded place that we might then want to do first
before/during Christmas?

- Is there an option to to reach the Paine Circuit from EL Calafate without going through Puerto Natales?

We would be gratefull for any comment or recommendation.

Cheers,
Detlef.

Just about a couple of your questions:
- most crowded places will be El Calafate en Torres del paine
- it must be possible to tra vel by bus from El Calafate to Torres; you have to go by bus (Bus Sur and Zaahj) to Cerro castillo, where you can pick up a bus to Torres del Paine; otherwise by bus to Puerto natales and the same afternoon to Torres.
- recommendation for a hostel in El Calafate: America del Sur Hostel (very friendly staff - see tip on my Argentina page); be aware the prices in El calafate for lodging are much more expensive then in other parts of Argentina.

happy travels
Jaap

from El Chalten (Fitz Roy ) you can go to Bariloche by bus taking the 40 road; you can stop in Perito Moreno and visit Cuevas de las Manos and other interesting places.

Thank you for the information and recommendations. It did help us a lot to defíne a rough schedule for our trip. We decided now to book 3 flights: BA -> El Calafate, El Calafate -> Bariloche, Bariloche -> BA. The rest will be decided on site. Cheers, Detlef.