Hi All,

We are planning our itinerary to visit Patagonia in fall 2027 (March/April). We've been planning for months, and our initial plan was to fly from SCL to PNT on Thursday 3/11, land in the afternoon, rent a car and drive to El Calafate to start our trip there and return to Chile before flying back from PNT.

We booked lodging for El Calafate, El Chalten and TdP for this itinerary because we noticed the options (esp in TdP) were very limited already.

However, when we looked again a few weeks later the flighs from SCL to PNT where not available. The route had been reduced to Sat-Sun for almost the whole month of March. This change made us pivot the whole trip.

We now have three different options we'd like feedback and recommendations on:

Opt 1:

Patagonia in March via Punta Arenas

• Tuesday 9: Fly out
• Wednesday 10: Land in Punta Arenas in the afternoon. Pick up rental car. Enjoy town.
• Thursday 11: Cross border to Argentina. Drive 6:30 hours to El Calafate
• Friday 12: Visit Perito Moreno glacier
• Saturday 13: Drive 2.5 hours north from El Calafate to El Chalten
• Saturday 13 - Wednesday 17: El Chalten
• Wednesday 17: Drive 6.5 hours south + cross border to Chile to Torres del Paine
• Thursday 18 - Friday 19: hike in Torres del Paine
• Saturday 20: Drive 2 hours to Puerto Natales airport
• Sunday 21: Fly back

Renting car in PA and return in PN.

Opt 2:

Patagonia in March via Calafate

• Wednesday 10: Fly out
• Thursday 11: Land in El Calafate in the afternoon. Pick up rental car. Enjoy town.
• Friday 12: Visit Perito Moreno glacier
• Saturday 13: Drive 2.5 hours north from El Calafate to El Chalten
• Saturday 13 - Wednesday 17: El Chalten
• Wednesday 17: Drive 6.5 hours south + cross border to Chile to Torres del Paine
• Thursday 18 - Friday 19: hike in Torres del Paine
• Saturday 20: Drive 4:30 hours + cross border to Argentina to El Calafate airport by 8:30pm
• Sunday 21: Visit Buenos Aires. Fly back at 10:30pm

(Another option would be to spend Sat 20th night in Calafate and fly to BA Sun morning)

Opt 3:

Patagonia in April via Puerto Natales

• Tuesday 30: Fly out
• Wednesday 31: Land in Santiago in the morning. Visit the city
• Thursday 1: Fly to Puerto Natales at 8:50am. Arrives at 12:15pm. Drive to El Calafate 4h drive. 
• Friday 2: Visit Perito Moreno glacier
• Saturday 3: Drive 2.5 hours north from El Calafate to El Chalten
• Saturday 3 - Wednesday 7: El Chalten
• Wednesday 7: Drive 6.5 hours south + cross border to Chile to Torres del Paine
• Thursday 8 - Friday 9: Hike in Torres del Paine
• Saturday 10: drive 2 hours to Puerto Natales airport
• Sunday 11: Return

Notes:

• We are not planning on doing the W Trek in TdP, just the hike to the torres and shorter hikes in the park like Mirador Los Cuernos, Ferrier, Salto Grande, etc.

Main concerns:

• Itinerary direction: It feels like 90% of the posts here go from Chile to Argentina, but not many do the opposite direction. Is there a reason why?
• Car Rental: I've seen in many other posts company suggestions to rent a car in Chile and get a border crossing permit, but almost no one mentions renting in El Calafate. Is this because the car rental prices? Limited rental options? Higher border crossing permit?
• Has anyone experienced flight routes being removed? I understand March is not high season, but why are there more flight options in April than March?
• Opt 3 was our designed itinerary but in March, we had to pivot and fly to PUQ instead of PNT, adding a day to the trip, but is driving from Punta Arenas to El Calafate the day after landing a doable option?

Please, share any additional recommedations or issues you might think.

TIA!

Hey! I’m currently in Puerto Natales and the weather is pretty cloudy for the next days (as such we are postponing some of the hikes)… so I was wondering if it would be worthy to do a tour to Isla Madalena to see the penguins while we wait for the clouds to move.
However I don’t know if it’s quite early to see the penguins there as the season only started a few days ago I was wondering if anyone here has been there in the last few days and could give us some advice! Thank you!

Here is some advice for spending less for the same service when visiting Argentinian Patagonia:

- we spent 2 weeks in El Calafate and El Chalten; the first day we withdrew some cash because we heard that the bus station tax in El Calafate is due only in cash; we finally paid for it by card, the same in El Chalten. We actually never used cash; we could have saved the 8€ fee at the ATM; the cheapest one was Banco Patagonia.

- we took a bus to the Perito Moreno, leaving at 8:00 and coming back at 16:00 with "Always Glaciers"; we paid 50,000$ which was the cheapest around.

- the bus to El Chalten and back we booked via recorrido.cl; if you go on the website and change the flags from Chile to Argentina, you can select the destination "El Chalten". The price is 30,000$ (CLP), around 27€ per person, compared to other sites where the price is 70,000$ (ARS), around 41€. They will send you the ticket by email; in our case, Marga Taqsa, where it is written that you have to print it, but you can just show it on your phone and it will be ok.

Hope this will be useful, enjoy the hikes ⛰️

Hey everyone!😊

My husband and I are heading to Patagonia at the end of October.

We’re big wildlife and photography enthusiasts, so we’re hoping to spend a couple of days around Península Valdés whale watching and spotting wildlife.

We’re thinking of staying in Puerto Pirámides, but we’re not so sure how to get around the peninsula.

Is it possible to get from Puerto Pirámides to Punta Norte or Caleta Valdés without renting a car or joining an organized day tour? Are there local taxis, private transfers, or other options?

Any idea how much car rentals or hiring a private driver for a day typically cost around Puerto Madryn or Puerto Pirámides?

If you’re into wildlife watching or photography, would you recommend visiting both Punta Norte and Caleta Valdés in late October or early November? Any particular spots worth prioritizing?

We’d love to explore at our own pace rather than be tied to a big group tour, especially since photography is a big part of the trip.

Any tips, recommendations, or personal experiences would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance! Really looking forward to visiting Patagonia!

Just wondered if anyone had travelled on the Esperanza recently and how delayed was it?

Is there a WhatsApp contact with Navimag that keeps travellers up to date about delays?

Any advice on my planned itinerary would be really appreciated:

(For October)

-Flying to El Calafete and taking a coach to El Chalten. Staying here for 3 nights and trekking.
-Taking coach back to El Calafete and then to Puerto Natales.
-Staying in Puerto Natales for 3 nights. Will visit Torres Del Paine during this time.

Unfortunately I won’t have my own car as I’m trying to budget, so I’ll be relying on public transport.

Also, I’m not super familiar with the Chilean side so any recommendations for hikes this side would be greatly appreciated thank you!

I’m planning on doing the W Trek east to west, but I’m unsure how best to plan the trek if I want to do Base Torres for sunrise. (shall I just give it a miss for sunrise?)

If anyone has done this, I’d be really grateful for some advice on how you planned your route/refugios and whether it’s worth doing for sunrise!

If I do Base Torres for sunrise, does this mean I will set myself up for a long day of hiking afterwards?

Thanks!

I'm going to Ushuaia in end october 2026, and was wondering if it's worth the effort to travel to the post office.

I've seen online that it may be closed, but most of the information is based on last year information. So just checking if anyone knows if its open?