The short version, done properly: return flights, two nights with breakfast and a full day at the Perito Moreno Glacier with the navigation to its front wall. The minimum that still does the place justice.
The tour to El Calafate, Patagonia, begins taking off from the Buenos Aires airport. Once you land in El Calafate airport our tourist guide will be waiting for you with a sign with your last name, to transfer you to your hotel in El Calafate, where you can check in and enjoy free time in the afternoon.
Breakfast at the hotel and departure for the full day tour. You will visit one of the greatest marvels of the world: the Perito Moreno Glacier, declared a World Heritage site.
You begin at the floating quay of the southern branch of Lago Argentino, riding across the Ice Floe's Canal up to the front of the glacier to see its typical ice slides.
Then you come across the footbridges, which are very near to the ice wall. There will be enough time to enjoy the spectacle and to witness the famous ice detachment phenomena, hearing the hollow sounds of ice falling and becoming smaller floating glaciers. There are some experiences that leave marks in our lives, and watching the Perito Moreno Glacier is definitely one of them.
Breakfast. Free time in the morning and transfer to the airport. Return to Buenos Aires. End of our services.
This trip can be tailor-made to suit your dates, your interests and your budget.
Tell us your travel dates and how many of you there are. We'll send a free, no-obligation quote within 24 hours — with hotel options from comfortable to lodges with a glacier view.
The 4-day Tour in El Calafate adds the long navigation north across Lago Argentino to the Upsala and Spegazzini glaciers — the ones with no road — and still leaves you a free afternoon. If your dates allow it, it is the version we recommend.
Two nights is tight, but there is room for something short. These three fit around the day at the Perito Moreno — tell us which one and we add it to the quote.
The rock art Perito Moreno recorded in 1877, 8 km from town, plus the old quarter, the lake shore and the interpretation centre.
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East along the cliffs by 4x4 to a clifftop lookout and rock art on the shore — then dinner served inside a cave. Runs all year.
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Minitrekking, kayak, the estancia, the caves, El Chaltén and Torres del Paine — compared side by side, with how long each one takes.
More information →It is enough for one thing done well: the Perito Moreno. You arrive, you spend a full day at the glacier, you fly home. Nobody regrets seeing the Perito Moreno; what people regret is landing in Patagonia and only having time for that. If you can add a night, the 4-day tour gives you the long navigation to the Upsala and Spegazzini and an afternoon of your own. We will tell you which one fits your dates.
It is the short navigation included in the Perito Moreno excursion. You board at the quay on the southern branch of Lago Argentino and cross the Ice Floe's Canal to the front wall of the Perito Moreno, which is where you get the sense of scale. Then you spend the rest of the day on the boardwalks, which is where you watch it calve.
No. The park fee is paid on site, as with every operator, and it changes. We tell you the current amount when we quote.
The front is about 5 km wide and stands roughly 74 metres above the lake, with around another hundred metres of ice below the surface. It covers some 250 km² and runs about 30 km back into the mountains. It sits inside Los Glaciares National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981. Unusually for a glacier this size, you can stand directly in front of it — which is why it is the most visited glacier on the planet.
October to April has the long days and the full excursion list. December to February is peak season. March and April bring autumn colour and fewer people. The glacier arguably looks better under cloud, so poor weather is not the problem people expect.
Layers, a windproof and waterproof outer, closed walking shoes, sunglasses and high-factor sunscreen. Patagonian weather changes by the hour and the wind is the constant. A warm layer is worth carrying even in January.
Yes. We can quote the same itinerary fully private, with your own guide and driver, which also lets you set the pace at the glacier. Ask for both options and compare.
For December to February, as early as possible — the internal flights close first and this is a short trip built around them. For the rest of the year a few weeks is usually enough. We reply with a plan and a free quote within 24 hours.
Set inside Los Glaciares National Park, a few kilometres from El Calafate, the Perito Moreno moves constantly and draws travellers with its ruptures — sudden, loud and impossible to schedule. It is the most famous glacier in Patagonia but not the only one: it shares this park with the Upsala, the Spegazzini and many others, all equally deserving of a visit.
Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981, it is surrounded by a system of boardwalks along the Magallanes peninsula that let you see the ice from a dozen different angles. And that is what makes it exceptional. Sitting just 200 metres above sea level, you can reach its face easily — which is not the case with glaciers of equal or greater size, where you need a long trek or a boat to see anything at all.
No photograph prepares you for the sound. Every crack, every gust of cold air off the ice, every block that falls into Lago Argentino. We include the flights, the transfers, two nights with breakfast and the whole day at the Perito Moreno with its navigation. Tell us your dates and we come back within 24 hours with a free quote — and, if we think three days is too tight for what you want, we will say so.
