Itinerary · South America · 15 days · Moderate
Argentine Patagonia and the Lakes
Buenos Aires→El Calafate→Perito Moreno glacier→El Chaltén→Laguna de los Tres→Laguna Torre+6 stops
Buenos Aires to the far south and back up the spine: the Perito Moreno glacier calving into Lago Argentino, the granite towers above El Chaltén, the lake district around Bariloche, and the long empty distances in between that are the actual point of Patagonia.
Buenos Aires
Day 1–2 · 2 daysBuenos Aires
Land, sleep off the flight, and give the city a day at its own tempo: San Telmo in the morning, a long café stop somewhere with marble tables, Recoleta cemetery late in the afternoon when the light gets into the mausoleums.
The city properly
Colón opera house tour, the bookshops of Corrientes, a bodegón lunch in Villa Crespo, and an evening milonga where the dancers are locals rather than a dinner show. Book the domestic flight south for tomorrow morning.
Fly to El Calafate
Three and a half hours south and the country empties out - steppe, wind, and Lago Argentino’s improbable milky turquoise on the descent. El Calafate is a service town for the glacier; use the afternoon for supplies and the Laguna Nimez bird reserve at the edge of town.
Perito Moreno
One of the very few advancing glaciers on earth, five kilometres wide at the face and about sixty metres high above the water. Walk the full boardwalk system and then stop moving: the reason to stay four hours is the calving, which announces itself with a crack like artillery several seconds before anything falls.
North to El Chaltén
Three hours up Ruta 40 with the Fitz Roy massif appearing on the horizon an hour before you arrive. El Chaltén was founded in 1985 essentially to establish a border presence and is now the national trekking capital - every trail starts from the street.
Laguna de los Tres
The big one: about 20 km round trip, with the last kilometre a brutal 400-metre climb to a glacial lake directly beneath Fitz Roy. Go early, take everything warm you own, and accept that the mountain may not show itself - the Tehuelche name Chaltén means smoking mountain, for the cloud.
Laguna Torre, or a rest
A gentler 18 km along the Fitz Roy river valley to a lagoon with icebergs and the impossible needle of Cerro Torre behind it. If yesterday emptied you, El Chaltén is a fine place to read a book and eat.
The long haul north
Back to El Calafate and onward - this is the day Patagonia charges you for its distances. Either fly north via Buenos Aires, or take the Ruta 40 bus service that runs the steppe to Bariloche over two days with a night in Perito Moreno town. The road is emptier than anything most visitors have driven.
Bariloche
The lake district: alpine-styled chalets, chocolate shops, and a setting that justifies the cliché. Circuito Chico by bike or bus, the chairlift up Cerro Campanario for the view that appears on every poster of Argentina, and a beer brewed within ten kilometres.
Into the Nahuel Huapi
A day walk from Colonia Suiza toward Refugio Frey or López - mountain huts run by the Club Andino, reached through lenga forest with the lake below. Book a bunk if you want to stay up; otherwise it is a long, satisfying out-and-back.
Ruta de los Siete Lagos
The seven-lakes road north to San Martín de los Andes, one of the best drives in South America: 110 km of paved road threading between lakes with names that all sound invented. Rent a car for this if you rent one anywhere on this trip.
Lanín and the araucarias
Lanín volcano stands alone on the Chilean border, a near-perfect cone above forests of araucaria - the monkey puzzle tree, sacred to the Mapuche, whose nuts were a staple food. Lago Huechulafquen has the best angle on the mountain.
Buenos Aires
Day 13–15 · 3 daysBack to Buenos Aires
Fly from Bariloche or San Martín in the morning. Spend the afternoon on the parts of the capital the first two days missed: the Malba for Latin American art, or the ecological reserve on the reclaimed land behind Puerto Madero.
A last parrilla
Free day. Feria de Mataderos on a Sunday for gaucho skills and folk music at the old stockyards; otherwise a long lunch, a bookshop, and one more café with a waiter in a waistcoat.
Out
Ezeiza is a long way from the centre and the traffic is real. Leave three hours before you think you need to, and change any remaining pesos before you go.
Good to know
Patagonian distances are the budget. The El Calafate–Bariloche leg is either a two-day bus or a flight routed through Buenos Aires; there is rarely a cheap direct option, and pricing it before you book the trip avoids an unpleasant surprise.
Wind, not cold, is the defining weather. December to March is the season; shoulder months are quieter and colder, and many El Chaltén services close entirely in winter.
The currency situation changes often. Check the current card-settlement arrangement in the month you travel rather than relying on older advice.
Shorter or longer?
El Calafate and El Chaltén only, flying both ways from Buenos Aires - the glacier and the towers with none of the transit days.
Cross from El Calafate to Puerto Natales for Torres del Paine and rejoin at Punta Arenas.
Add four days on the Atlantic coast for right whales (June–December), elephant seals and Punta Tombo’s penguins.
Practical guide
Visa check for this route
Budget
Mid-range · per person · sharing a double room. Excludes international flights - they depend on where you fly from.
Editorial estimates · checked August 2026
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