El Calafate Travel Forum

If you rent a car to get to and travel around in Torres del Paine and stay in some of the accommodations that you must hike to. Are there places to park?
Are there places to park at Paine Grande?
or other hotels within the park?

We want to drive from el calafate to torres del paina (during December).
please advise:
1/ what is the best and short road (please write no of road) and how many Km is it more or less
2/ the name of the border crossing point
3/ is 4x4 car nessesary or regular car is ok also for the road

Thank you very much for help!

Hi!

Can anyone tell me what is the distance and how long in the drive from El Calafate to Torres Del Paine National Park?

Thanks in Advance,

Michael

Hi,

I will be traveling with a group of friends to El Calafate. We were thinking of spending 1 day at Perito Moreno Glacier, 2 days in the El Chaten Region (hiking in the Fitz Roy Region) and 1 day visiting the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.

Since our time is limited we don't know if we should only focus on the Perito Moreno Glacier and the El Chaten region and forget about Torres Del Paine... or do Torres de Paine for 3 days and Perito Moreno and forget about El Chaten.

Has anyone visited El Chaten region and Torres de Paine? Which one would you choose? What region is more beautiful to visit?

Thanks!

Michael

I have heard that some parts like El Chalten are closed in August and am wondering if I should still book flights down to see the glaciers?

el Calafate I mean!

Hi!

Am starting to plan a 2 week trip to Patagonia in September and would really apreciate some advice from someone who knows.

If we do one journey by bus, should it be this one?:

Fly: Buenos Aires - Trelew

Bus: Trelew - El Calefate

Fly: El Calefate - Buenos Aires


Thank you

My boyfriend and I have five days spare during a trip to Patagonia (we are spending most of the time in Los Glaciares. We were hoping to try and do some cycling, possibly riding from El Calafate to Torre Del Paine (via Tapi-Aike) and cycling in the national park - is this possible to do and does anyone have an suggestions for good routes or alternatives ideas?

Is is possible to hire tents & cookers for hiking in El Calafate?

Has anyone any experience (good or bad) with America del Sur Hostel in El Calafate?

Does it suit also couples and not too young? We plan to stay in El Calafate for 3 night in mid February 2009.

Of course, recommendations of other hotels will be greatly appreciated.

We are back here in the states, but a pile of our clothing is still on vacation in El Calafate. We thought we had lots of time to pick it up before our plane left; but then Lan moved the flight time forward an hour, and the laundry didn't open when they said they would. We waited outside as late as we could, finally gave up and barely made the plane.

So, could somebody pick up our laundry and bring it back? We'll cover all the shipping of course, and something for your time.

Thanks,
HB

I am having difficulty finding flights that correspond to our travel dates of Nov 23 or 24 - BA to Calafate and Nov 28 or 29 - Calafate to BA. Are there airlines other than Aerolineas and LAN that fly this route?
RE: Aerolineas 1) I have been unable to enter the website. 2) I am concerned about flying them because of their track record with delays and cancellations. 3) Just read an announcement dated July, 2008 that the President of Argentina is planning on purchasing the airline along with partner airline, Austral, from Spain and making it Argentina's national airline. The two airlines together are reported to be $800 million in debt.
RE: LAN Only one flight available on Nov 24 @ 5:30AM. To make this we have to arrive one day early from the US and stay overnight near the AEP airport. The only return flight that whole week is on Nov 25 which won't work because we will be at Estancia Helsingfors, from Nov 25-27. The transfers times in an out of Helsingfors are 3hrs long and have set pick-up and departure times. Need to be in BA on Nov 28 or 29 where we will meet friends for a two week vacation.
I thought of hiring a driver for the transfer to Helsingfors. Any other suggestions? I'm out of ideas.

We plan on travelling by car from El Calafate to Perito Moreno Glacier, to El Chalten and to Torres del Paine National Park and to go around in the park a bit. What is the state of the roads there? Is it necessary to rent a 4x4 or will a normal car do? (The 4x4 are a lot more expensive). Does anyone know an affordable car rental company there?

Does anyone know how best to do this and how long it should take?

Hello there,
We are planning to go to Argentina in August - the height of winter. We are getting conflicting information from friends and travel agents regarding El Calafate - one says that it is fine to go in August, some hotels will be open, and we will be able to visit the glaciers, and the other says that everything will close down and it might get down to -10 degrees (celsius) and it would be impossible to visit the glaciers.
HELP! Has anyone been there at that time of year? What was your experience?
Many thanks.

I'm heading to Argentina in June for my honeymoon. My fiancee and I would like to go to El Calafate, but I understand a lot of services and tours aren't available in winter. We'll probably still go for a day or two if we can take the All Glaciers boat tour. I've read in other forums that the tour is available year round, but the Fernandez Campbell web site seems to suggest it only runs October-April. Anyone have any info?

Here's the link to the web site -- note my spanish sucks, so if I'm misreading, please let me now.

http://fernandezcampbell.com.ar/puntosventa1.html

Trying to lighten the load of baggage, because of heavy camera equipment. Is there a place in El Calafate to buy trekking clothes/shoe?
Thanks,
EG

Hi, I will be hiking in Patagonia soon and want to take my 1-person
Jetboil stove/mug with me. You are not supposed to
bring the small 100 g. fuel cannister on-flight, and I know
that Jetboil has no distributor in that region.

Does anyone here have any experience with how to obtain or
get such a fuel cannister in El Calafate? Are similar cannisters
(the Jetboil rep told me the cannister is pretty standard,
though they use an 80% isobutane and 20% propane mixture)
Is it possible to mail my fuel cannister ahead down to my
hostel in Calafate by USPS?

Thanks, Joe

Hi, I'm going to be in El Calafate in late February for 3 nights. For the two ful days we have there, we are planning to do the "Big Ice" and the Upsala Explorer / Estancia Cristina excursion.

I've been trying to book space for these ahead of time, but I haven't been getting responses from the emails I've sent to Hielo Y Aventura and via the Estancia Cristina website.

- Do I need to get advanced booking for these, or can I just safely take care of this when I arrive in town the afternoon before?

- If I need advance booking, does anyone know the best way to go about it? Do I need to go through a separate agency or something?

Any help much appreciated, thanks.

Hello,
I have read that in high season it is possible to take a bus directly from Torres del Paine NP to El Calafate. Can anybody tell me if thatīs true and if itīs true if I can book in advance?

Iīm travelling thru the christmas holidays. Does anybody know if there are busses in general on 25th an 26th december from Torres del Paine to El Calafate or Puerto Natales?

Thanks for your help!

My friend and I are wanting to fly from El Calafate to Mendoza (preferably without going back through Buenos Aires). Does anyone have any information on flights that might go directly between the two cities?

Also, we're looking to stay in El Calafate the 28th-30th. Any recommendations on accomodations that are nice but not overly expensive?

Thanks!!

Hi there,

I am planning to visit Argentina in January for a wedding in Buenos Aires. After the wedding, my goal is to fly down to the Santa Cruz region and to see: a) the Perito Moreno Glacier (and hike on it) and b) to hike and preferably camp out in the Parque Nacional Los Glacieres (and see Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Norte). I would also like to see these (as secondary goals) if possible: Alta Vista Estancia, Lago Viedma/Viedma Glacier, Lago Azul. Here are my questions:

1) My plan so far is to fly out from Buenos Aires and arrive at El Calafate on Tuesday, January 15th. I would return from El Calafate to Buenos Aires on Friday January 25th (I will leave to head back to U.S. on Sunday the 27th). Can anyone suggest a realistic itinerary that would cover seeing the above?
I would *greatly* appreciate it!!

Also, is it possible to get in Torres del Paine (or alternatively, to reserve a few days to fly out to see Bariloche before returning to Buenos Aires), or are these additions just too ambitious given my time allotted?

2) As I said, I would preferably like to camp out (with tent, backpack, etc.) and 'rough it' in Parque Nacional los Glaciers rather than stay in hostels for my entire stay there (unless this is heavily recommended), but one concern is that so far I am going solo with no other companions. I have read the park is relatively safe (I mean in terms of robbery and other human-based crimes) and that it is easy to hook up with other English-speaking campers and hikers once there? Is there any way to safeguard against robbery, etc., while there?

Thanks for reading, and any other tips/helpful hints would be appreciated, especially if you live in the region or have done what I'd like to do...Also, if you are going to be in the area at the same time as me, would love to hear from you!

Thanks, Joe

Hi
travelling to Argentina in 2 and half weeks for 3 weeks
the plan is to go to Salta (fly return), then down to El Calafate (fly one way)
and then get to Bariloche for a week before getting a night bus or flying back to Buenos Aires.
The part we are having trouble with is getting from El Calafate to Bariloche the flights are coming for that stretch alone are around 400 euros. Is this possible to bus? has any one done it - roughly how much and how long does it take?
thanks

PATAGONIA travel information
Posted: Sat September 15, 2007 11:21 AM UTC
Hi,

i plan to travel early december for 20 days to argentina and patagonia.
How is the weather in PATAGONIA this time?
Is it too windy?, what clothes shall i take?
Is December a nice period for Patagonia.?

Thanx for your info

Ilias

is august a good time of year to visit el calafate or is the weather bad?

Hi All,
I'm planning to fly into PA from BA to then have roughly one week to cram as much into it as possible. I appreciate there is a wealth of things to do. I am able bodied though not an experienced mountaineer so I'm aiming to do as much as I can with the time I have. Advice, suggestions or similar would be greatly appreciated. Personally I hope to visit glaciers, do some hiking and horseriding. Rather than arrive and plan from fresh I would really appreciate some tips to pre-arm myself with so as I can hit the ground running when I get there so to speak.

Cheers

Russ

Are there any Irish that are going to be in El Calafate for Paddy's day? I know it's the most remote place to celebrate it but what can you do?! With a great day of rugby as well it's going to be a messy day. If anybody (Irish or otherwise) is up for celebrating on Saturday, let me know!

Does a flight exist that goes from El Calfate to Mendoza?

I'm trying to find out what is the ebst way to go from Perito Moreno city (not glacier) to El Calafate.
My itinerary is coming from Chile through the carretera austral and cross to Argentina from Chile Chico arriving to Perito Moreno City. I want to find out what is the fastest and cheapest way to arrive to El Calafate. Ideally by plane...?
Any help? Many thanks,

Wer are planning an extended tour of Southern Argentina and I would appreciate hearing from anybody who has travelled from Calafate to Esquel &/or Baririloche.

I know the "Ruta 40" is the main road but are there any coach services on this route. Alternatively is it possible to fly from Calafate to Esquel or Bariloche. I know of the LADE Airline but understand it can be very unreable. Has anybody tried them?

Best regards
bev Colson