Day 1 El Calafate - Arrival Arrive in El Calafate and transfer to your hotel. Welcome dinner.
Day 2 El Calafate - El Chalten - Beginning of the Fitz Roy Trek We will travel along the steppe (220 km) until reaching El Chalten, at the foot of the Mounts Fitz Roy & Torre. Upon our arrival, we start the adventure, carrying only the necessary things for our 2 nights/3 days the first experience in some of the most amazing trails of Patagonia. We will be following part of the Fitz Roy Trek, gaining height over the River de las Vueltas valley up to the first viewpoints over Fitz Roy massif. We will continue walking across bogs and forests (a gentle walk) until reaching our Full Camp in the Poinconenot area. In the area, there are beautiful views of the Fitz Roy group spires rising from the surrounding glaciers. We will travel along the steppe (220 km) until reaching El Chalten, at the foot of the Mounts Fitz Roy & Torre.
Upon our arrival, we start the adventure, carrying only the necessary things for our 2 nights/3 days first experience in some of the most amazing trails of Patagonia. We will be following part of the Fitz Roy Trek, gaining height over the River de las Vueltas valley up to the first viewpoints over Fitz Roy massif. We will continue walking across bogs and forests (a gentle walk) until reaching our Full Camp in the Poinconenot area. In the area, there are beautiful views of the Fitz Roy group spires rising from the surrounding glaciers.
Day 3 El Chalten: Trekking Laguna de Los 3 Early in the morning, before breakfast, we can try to catch Fitz Roy granite walls colored by the first lights of the day: spectacular scenery. After breakfast, carrying only the very basic stuff (leaving the rest at the camp) we’ll continue our Fitz Roy Trek towards Rio Blanco, where a steep 1-hour trail leads us to one of the most spectaculars viewpoints of the National Park: Laguna de Los Tres. Its zephyr blue color lies at the foot of the massif, offering full close-up views of Fitz Roy massif spires and glaciers. The Fitz Roy Mount (3405 mts) is considered the “King of Patagonia”, and one of the three most beautiful mountains in the world.
Return to our campsite. Walking hours today: around 5-6 hs.
Day 4 El Chalten - Trekking Cerro Torre We’ll pack our personal gear and walk south along Lagoons Madre and Hija, until reaching the Cerro Torre trail. On the way we’ll go through beech forests, bogs and shrublands; and we’ll finally get to Laguna Torre, enclosed by moraines and with Glacier Grande calving in its west side. Usually, we can see icebergs pushed by the wind in the coast of the lagoon. The main highlight in the area is the Cerro Torre, a thin and elegant needle 3128 mt high. The Adela range in the background completes this spectacular view. In the afternoon, we head back to El Chalten, hiking along the Cerro Torre trail.
Day 5 Trekking - Loma Del Pliegue Tumbado This mountain, immediately south of Cerro Torre, offers some of the best panoramic views of the Fitz Roy and Torre Mount, and the spectacular glacier valley in between both. As a bonus, we might see Paso del Viento with a view of the mountains that stick out from the Patagonian Icefield. Depending on the rhythm that we take, we choose the lower terraces or try the summit, a long but gentle climb in scree. We’re back in El Chalten around late afternoon.
Day 6 El Chalten - El Calafate Free day to enjoy at leisure, or to take optional activities (for instance, Lago del Desierto). In the late afternoon, we return to El Calafate
Day 7 Glacier Perito Moreno We dedicate this day to one of the World’s Natural Wonder: the Moreno glacier. We will walk along the tracks and will make stops to take photographs. From the view points, we will clearly see ice blocks of different sizes continually detaching from the glacier and falling into the water, causing a tremendous sound and amazing waves, which makes this view an unforgettable sight. Transfer back to the lodge.
Day 8 Torres Del Paine National Park We’ll depart from El Calafate early in the morning towards our camp in Paine (6 hours drive through the Patagonian Steppe, crossing the Chilean border at Cancha Carrera/ Cerro Castillo). The landscape starts changing while approaching the Park. The main highlights (mountains) are the Paine Grande, the Horns, Admiral Nieto, and the Towers. Once in the Park, we’ll familiarize ourselves with the surroundings through a 1-2 hours trek. The wildlife at the Park is very rich: guanacos, lesser rheas, condors, and all types of wetland and buzzard birds surprise us at every step. Also lots of flowers. After the walk, we drive towards our camp at the foot of Paine massif.
Day 9 Paine Towers - Ascensio River Valley - W Trek We’ll work towards the bridge over the Ascensio river, headrail for the world-famous Paine towers. We “warm-up” hiking a steep one-hour slope, to get inside the valley itself, a narrow “V” shape alpine valley coming from inside the Paine massif. Those who are not willing to do the full-day hike can get back at the “Refugio Chileno”, a comfortable point on the way. We continue at a gentle march along the riverside and inside the beech forest. After a final climb on the moraine, we reach the Towers viewpoint: a glacier origin lagoon and the three towers rising vertically 1000 mt from the glacier: just amazing!!! We hike back to our camp along the same trail. The hike takes around 7-8 hs.
Day 10 Lake Pehoe Crossing - French Valley - W Trek We’ll drive to Pudeto’s Port (still in the Park), in order to board a Catamaran that leads us to the other side of Lake Pehoe (another area of the W trek). Once we reach it, we start our French Valley trek. We’ll skirt Paine Grande's south slopes and lake Skottberg, until reaching the hanging bridge upon the French River: a breathtaking location view to the Horns. We continue our walk 1 h further (Italian camp), surrounded by beautiful landscapes. After lunch and some photos, we retrace our steps back to Paine Grande Full Camp. Walking time: around 5-6 hs.
Day 11 Lake Grey and Glacier Grey - W Trek Lake Grey trail leads from Pehoe valley across ridges to reach Grey valley. This magnificent valley flows down 60 km from the Patagonian Icefield, featuring the huge glacier calving down in the grey color lake. Our trail
skirts the lake, going up and down the westerns slopes of Paine Grande, offering some of the most impressive sights of the Park. From the high sections of the trail, many different viewpoints allow us to see the south end
of the lake where the blue icebergs gather, the mountains rising far in the distance above glaciers Grey and Tyndall, and of course lake and glacier Grey. We reach the main viewpoint, a rocky point somewhat 2 hs away
from Pehoe, with views over the Lake and Glacier Grey and the surrounding glaciers and mountains. We come back along the same trail, crossing bogs, shrublands, and forest. By noon we take the boat to cross lake Pehoe back and then we go to our accommodation in Puerto Natales, a picturesque fishermen's town located on the shores of the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) fiord.
Day 12 Puerto Natales - Rio Grande We’ll drive from Puerto Natales all the way south to the Río Grande, crossing the legendary Magellan Strait !! The Strait separates the Continent from the island of Tierra del Fuego, the gate to the End of the World. Already in Argentina, we’ll reach Estancia Las Hijas, near the Rio Grande, a typical lunch where a delicious lamb will be cooked in the classical Patagonian style.
Day 13 Rio Grande - Ushuaia - Tierra Del Fuego National Park After visiting the Estancia, still in the morning, we’ll continue south towards Ushuaia, going through the Andean Range and seeing how the landscape changes drastically from the dry Pampa to the forests and lakes of the Mountains. We pass by lake Fagnano, and we reach Ushuaia-southernmost city in the world- around noon. We take advantage to visit Tierra del Fuego National Park in the afternoon. The main attraction of the Park and the whole Island actually are the mountains coming down to the sea.
Day 14 Ushuaia - Beagle Channel Navigation Today, we’ll navigate on the legendary Beagle Channel. We’ll see the Sea Lions & Birds Islands (with Cormorans), and the Light House Les Eclaireurs built-in 1919. Afternoon free.
Optional excursion *recommended (not included): Estancia Harberton and Penguin colony in Isla Martillo.
Day 15 Ushuaia - Departure At an agreed-upon time, transfer to the airport.
Additional extensions or services are available on request (check our tours in the rest of Argentina, Chile, and Antarctica!).
