Day 1: Depart Home town for South America
Day 2: Fly to Calafate, Argentina, The Patagonia Adventure Starts…
Los Glaciares NP, Argentina
Depending on your arrival time in Calafate, you'll have a chance to explore the downtown of this Patagonia outpost. After stowing your luggage at the airport or bus terminal, enjoy lunch at any of of the interesting cafes, or just bum around a bit. We'll meet up with our guides the afternoon, where we'll embark from the bus terminal on about a 4 hour regular bus ride to Chalten. The drive is on isolated dirt roads across the pampas and along the northern end of Lago Viedma. Chalten is a tiny outpost beside the National Park at the foot of impressive Mount Fitzroy. Once we've checked in at the hotel, its time to get a well-deserved rest, which will be needed for the next couple of days!
Day 3: Hike to Laguna Torre or Ice Climb Torre Glacier
Los Glaciares NP, Argentina
We do a full day hike along Cerro Torre Trail to Laguna Torre, an extremely pretty mountain lake with majestic Mount Torre in the background. After breakfast, we walk eastward, following the trail through beech forests and bogs to a pleasant encounter with the Fitzroy River. We continue advancing and reach Camp Base de Agostini and then do a short hike to Laguna Torre, escorted in the west by Cerro Torre and the Adela range. Icebergs can be seen peacefully floating on Laguna Torre as the wind pushes them to the coast. We stop at different points to take in the magnificent view and enjoy a picnic. Later, we return to Chalten following the same trail. There is an optional day trip for those wanting to trek on Torre Glacier. Those taking this exciting option get up earlier and do it apart from the main group. Upon returning from the trek, the evening is free for you to enjoy a delicious dinner at one of Chalten's cozy restaurants.
Day 4: The Challenge: Monte Fitzroy, Mountain of Mountains
Los Glaciares NP, Argentina
Today's trek is to Laguna Los Tres with the best available view of Monte Fitzroy - THE landmark in Los Glaciares NP! Once again, a big breakfast and lots of enthusiasm is required. We begin our hike by heading towards silent Laguna Capri, passing just beside its northern corner. Then we follow the Fitz Roy Trail up to Rio Blanco, passing Poicenot, the mountaineering camp. Finally, a short but steep trail will take us to Laguna de Los Tres to take in one of the park's most marvelous natural scenes! The turquoise-blue of the Lagoon is a stunning sight and this is of course magnified by the accompanying view of Fitz Roy's spires and glaciers. If Torres del Paine is the king mountain of Patagonia, Fitz Roy is surely the beautiful queen! Time for a picnic. In such a memorable place the food can not help but taste better than ever! When everyone is ready, we will hike back to Laguna Capri and continue along the trail back to tiny Chalten. We return with time to recover and enjoy our last night in this beautiful park.
Day 5: Last steps in Chalten
Los Glaciares NP, Argentina
This morning we will trek to Loma del Pliegue Tumbado and we will have covered the best spots of the Park. After some hours of challenging trek we will reach the western bank of the Massif with superb views of Cerro Torre and the picks around Mount Fitzroy. We come back to Chalten in the afternoon to sadly prepare our luggage and start our way back to Calafate. We are transferred to the terminal and board the regular bus back to Calafate, following the same road filled with Argentinean pampas that welcomed us some days ago. We will arrive in Calafate late at night with little time to have dinner. Nevertheless we will probably be exhausted after today's adventure and will go straight to bed!
Day 6: The Big Daddy is on the Way: Glacier Perito Moreno
Calafate, Argentina
Once we finish enjoying an early breakfast we board the minibus and start the drive that will takes us to Perito Moreno Glacier. After a couple of hours we will reach Los Glaciares NP and continue driving to Bajo de las Sombras Bay sector, where we board the boat that will sail approximately twenty minutes on Lago Rico reaching the south wall of the glacier. On the other side, the guides give us a short talk about the formation of glaciers together with other interesting details about the local geology. From this point we do a short walk to the edge of the glacier where we are given the crampons to be fitted to our shoes. Now we start the ice trekking adventure! Although we feel somehow strange walking with the crampons, it will take us just a few minutes to get used to it. As we walk ahead we face terrific views of the glacier and surroundings. Our trek finishes with a little ice bar serving whisky on freshly shopped millenary ice from the glacier, a nice touch. After the walk and lunch, we continue on to the footbridges with multiple view points of the glacier's superb north wall with its incredible cracking walls. Here we are left free to enjoy the surroundings at our own leisure. After the thrilling encounter with the glacier, we drive back to Calafate. This is our final night together and the tour leader will ask us for feedback on the trip. It's time to review our personal notes, socialize, look for a great farewell dinner and exchange contact info with new friends. After celebrating our last night we return to the hotel for a sweet overnight.
Day 7: Adios!
Calafate, Argentina
Today we finish this memorable trip, Adios Patagonia! Hopefully we will meet somewhere else. After having breakfast, a transfer will take us to the airport and we are free to continue traveling on our own or making our way to Futaleufu for more adventures with Expediciones Chile.
Day 8: Return Home
3 Star Hotels in El Calafate http://www.hotellaraike.com.ar/
4 Star Hotels in El Calafate http://www.kostenaike.com.ar/
3 Star Hotels in El Chalten http://www.senderoshosteria.com.ar/hosteria_en.html
4 Star Hotels in El Chalten http://www.hosteriaelpuma.com.ar/english/index.html
| Price per Person: $1995.00 USD |
Special Flexibilities: Exchile will be flexible to make your trip a total success. The actual program for your custom trip will vary according to the desires and skill level of your group, weather, or other factors. Patagonia has constantly changing weather patterns that might affect what day is best for a certain activity. If a certain part of your trip is not possible due to danger risks and weather extremes, our experienced guide staff will work with you to figure out the best possible option to substitute for the weather complications. If you have any concerns, please feel free to ask us more about the situations and what is guaranteed on the trip.
Included:3 stars hotels: 3 nights in El Chalten, 2 nights in Calafate City, all transportation as indicated in the itinerary, park fees, 1 bilingual escorting guide during Chalten excursions, 1 bilingual escorting guide during Perito Moreno ice-trekking excursion, crampons during Perito Moreno ice-trekking excursion-
Meals:
day 1: L
day 2: B, BL
day 3: B, BL
day 4: B, BL
day 5: B, BL
day 6: B
B: breakfast, BL: box lunch, D: dinner.
Not Included: Single room supplement in Calafate and Chalten, single group supplement, flight tickets, insurance (it is mandatory you purchase appropriate insurance for this trip), voluntary tipping to guides and staff, items of personal nature, optional finish in Punta Arenas, optional ice trekking on Torre Glacier.
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| Season: October through April |
| Experience Needed: None |
| Physical Challenge: High |
| Cultural Experience: High |
| Nature Experience: High |
| Comfort Rating: High |
| Max Trip Size: 14 |
| Min Trip Size: 2 |
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| Region Visited: Southern Patagonia |
| Lakes, Rivers, Sites Visited: FitzRoy and Los Glaciares National Park |
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Direct Line, USA:
+1.208.629.5032 (7am/5 pm mst)
Toll Free, USA:
+1.888.488.9082 (7am/5 pm mst) |
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| Travel Consultant 1 |
Travel Consultant 2 |
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Other non Torres del Paine Trekking options include: Trekking Patagonia in the Futaleufu Valley Lodge , Trekking Chile's Route of the Cowboys, Torres del Paine Trekking Tours , FitzRoy Trekking Vacations . We also offer two weeklong Futaleufu, Cerro FitzRoy and Torres del Paine combination trips: Trekking in Patagonia: Torres del Paine and Futaleufu Combo , Chile Trekking: Trekking FitzRoy & Futaleufu Combo , Patagonia Trekking: Trekking in Torres del Paine & FitzRoy. For further information see our Trekking in Chile FAQs
Downloadable pdf Brochure: Chile Trekking
