Patagonia Panorama

Day 1 Arrive Buenos Aires

Arrive Argentina today and transfer independently to your comfortable hotel.  Spend your free time exploring the amazing architecture of Buenos Aires, or simply relax after your long international flight.  Overnight.

Day 2 Fly El Calafate. Onward to El Chalten

A morning flight takes you to the lively town of El Calafate to begin our Argentina travels. Upon arrival, you'll begin the four hour drive across the rugged landscape toward Chalten. Along the way, a Patagonia guide will introduce you to the region's history, ecology and magnificent geography. This evening, meet your trekking guide for a briefing of the next day's trek.

Day 3 Patagonia Trekking

Your four day trekking adventure begins today  as we hike through subantarctic forest and passing the small glacier lake named Piedras Blancas that is situated below and filled by waters from a glacier that bears the same name. Your route runs parallel with the Rio Blanco before you begin the toughest part of your trek - a fifty minute climb that zigzags up a 45º slope. Your efforts are more than rewarded when you arrive at the eerily still glacial Laguna de Los Tres with one of Patagonia's best panoramic vistas (and quite possibly in the world)! Enjoy lunch and feast on the views of the colossus of granite, ice, and sky. As you near your campsite on Lake Capri, Mount Fitz Roy looms ahead in the distance. 7 hours of hiking covering 11 miles (18 km)

Day 4 Patagonia Trekking

After breakfast near Lake Capri, we start our trek to Camp Torre and pass two lagoons appropriately named Madre and Hija (Mother and Daughter). We'll be passing through a living natural history lesson on glaciation and learn about the history that created this stunning landscape. We'll keep our eyes out for Andean condors, Magellenic woodpeckers and other Patagonian wildlife along our way. This segment lasts six hours to get to the camp. There is an optional extra hike from Lago Torre to Mirador Maestri for an extra two hour hike to the old base camp for climbers who explored the Torre Massif in the early 1970's. 7 hours of hiking covering 9 miles (14 km) if completing the full hike.

Day 5 Torre Glacier

 After an early breakfast, we prepare for the most active day of our trip, and we make our approach towards the Torre Glacier after crossing the Fitz Roy River by rope harness. We then put on crampons, and after some instruction, we begin to trek across the Torre Glacier (this is designed for people who have never tried ice hiking with crampons). We'll have our lunch with us so we can enjoy the ethereal experience of picnicking on the glacier, with the 10,259 feet granite pinnacle of Cerro Torre towering above us and the jagged Adela mountain chain rising beyond. After our glacial adventure, we'll hike through dense southern beech forests as we descend toward the valley of the De las Vueltas River and El Chalten, being rewarded with the most stunning views on either side of these great mountain ranges before returning to El Chalten. 9 hours hiking (2 hours on the glacier) covering 15 miles (24 km)

Day 6 Pliegue Tumbado. Return to El Calafate

For our last views of the Fitz Roy, hike from El Chalten to Pliegue Tumbado range with great vantage points of the area we have hiked over the past days with Lake Capri, Torre Glacier, and Mount Fitz Roy as well as of Mount Huemul and Lago Viedma to the south. Return to El Chalten for the late afternoon bus to El Calafate. 8 hours of hiking covering 13 miles (21 km)

Day 7 Perito Moreno Glacier

 Today you'll drive into Parque Nacional Los Glaciares for views of the stunning Perito Moreno Glacier. This huge advancing glacier is more than 3 miles wide at its front and over 20 stories high. You'll take a boat across Lago Argentino and pass the massive front wall of blue ice, all the while watching for icebergs. After landing on a small beach you'll start hiking through the beech forest to the ice pack of the glacier and have the opportunity to hike on the glacier with crampons. You'll eat your lunch sitting on the lateral moraine of the glacier, where you can absorb the magnificence of the glacier's anatomy and listen to its thunderous concerto of groaning and cracking ice dropping into the lake below. Tonight, sample some of El Calafate's Patagonian nightlife!

Day 8 Torres Del Paine National Park

Take the bus to Puerto Natales (5.5 hour bus trip on a comfortable bus) before setting off for your drive to Torres del Paine National Park (two hours in a private vehicle). On the way, stop at an enormous cave that once sheltered a prehistoric sloth, the Milodón. You'll arrive to the EcoCamp, a deluxe tent camp of large igloo-shaped tents built to minimize environmental impact while providing a comfortable setting. You'll find no noisy diesel generators or destructive septic systems. Instead, EcoCamp provides candlelight, feather comforters, composting toilets, and plenty of quiet to enjoy your spectacular surroundings.

Day 9 Los Cuernos Pass

Click here for detailed W Circuit hiking itinerary

Look out for Andean condors as you begin a relaxed hike along the shores of Lake Nordenskjold this morning. Your path follows the Paso Los Cuernos trail under the Paine massif west towards the Refugio Los Cuernos. Your day is spent hiking between the turquoise lake to the south and the imposing mountains and vertical rock walls to the north and below the Cuernos (horns) of black slate that sit atop the grey granite of the massif. The views are magnificient from the refugio, nestled in the center of this landscape and protected from the Patagonian wind. The refugio provides clean dormitory style accommodations where you can swap stories with travelers from around the world.

Day 10 French Valley

Waking to a brisk Patagonia morning, you'll prepare for one of your fullest hiking days. Your first trail takes you from Lago Nordenskjold to Camp Italiano and ascends Mirador del Frances. Your route follows undulating terrain of rich grasslands, sparse forest and the torrents off Frances River. Upon reaching the lookout point, you are treated to magnificent views of Frances Glacier and the lakes below. You'll descend in the afternoon to the charming Paine Grande Mountain Lodge on the shores of Lake Pehoe.

Day 11 Grey Glacier

You'll begin today's hike through dense forests to Mirador Grey. Here you're rewarded with views of the towering walls of Grey Glacier and floating icebergs below. This huge glacier represents the end of the Southern ice field. Depending on conditions, you might continue another few hours to the very walls of the glacier. Your pathway leads you through a rainforest very different from the equatorial Amazon and more akin to the Pacific Northwest's ecosystem. Along the way you'll spot some of the 115 species of birds and learn a bit about this unique southern forest. In the afternoon, you'll embark on the ferry and set off across the Lago Grey. Passing amongst icebergs of fantastic colors and shapes. From the decks of the boat, you can appreciate the vastness of the glacier. Occasionally there are times when such large chunks have fallen from the Glacier that it becomes impossible to navigate the ferry too close. You will disembark on the banks of Lago Grey and transfer back to the EcoCamp where dinner and drinks are waiting for you.

Days 12-13 Torres Del Paine Excursions

On either day depending on the best weather conditions you'll hike to the foot of the gigantic spires of El Paine (8 hours roundtrip). Weather permitting, you'll witness the most famous sight of the Torres del Paine - the three granite monoliths reaching 9,400 feet- a testament to the massive glacial forces that carved them out of the earth. The other day is saved to walk to the Mirador Laguna Azul and then to the eastern side of Sarmiento Lake, a good spot to observe guanaco. Later you'll hike the Paso Las Cornizas with a view of the Paine River, Pehoe Lake, and the Paine massif. Back at EcoCamp, enjoy a farewell dinner to celebrate the experiences of the past week and say your goodbyes to your wonderful hosts.

Day 14 Punta Arenas

Early this morning, you'll transfer to Punta Arenas for the late afternoon flight to Santiago (must be a flight departing after 5:00 pm from Punta Arenas).

With a few more days, you can add extensions to the Atacama Desert, Isla Chiloe, a cruise around Tierra del Fuego to Argentina, or rafting in the Lakes District to continue your Patagonia travel adventures.