El Chalten Full-Day Tour from El Calafate

Route 40 and the Patagonian steppe

Route 40 is the road that runs the whole length of Argentina along the Andes, and the stretch between El Calafate and El Chaltén is among its most beautiful. The drive is about 220 kilometres each way, roughly two and a half hours, first across the open steppe where guanacos and rheas cross the road, then along the Santa Cruz River and the shore of Lake Viedma as the mountains rise ahead. The guide explains the geography and wildlife, and the early start shows the steppe in its best light.

The air-conditioned vehicle makes a stop at La Leona roadside inn, a wooden house from the end of the nineteenth century that has served travellers, gauchos and explorers for more than a century. There are twenty minutes for a hot drink and freshly baked pastries at your own expense, a look at the old photographs on the walls and the river views outside. It is a stop that gives the El Calafate to El Chaltén road a sense of history.

Lake Viedma and the Fitz Roy skyline

Lake Viedma is a huge glacial lake fed by the Viedma Glacier, and the road follows its shore for many kilometres before turning towards El Chaltén. On a clear day this is where the peaks first appear: Fitz Roy, the granite tower that rises to about 3,400 metres and gives El Chaltén its name in the Tehuelche language, and the needle of Cerro Torre beside it. The guide stops at the best viewpoints for photos of the mountains reflected in the water, and sometimes you can spot icebergs that have broken off the Viedma Glacier floating near the far shore.

The Fitz Roy massif makes its own weather and is often wrapped in cloud, so the views are never guaranteed; mornings tend to be clearer than afternoons, which is why the tour leaves El Calafate early. Even when the summits hide, the approach along the lake with the Andes ahead is a highlight of any Patagonia day trip from El Calafate.

El Chaltén, the trekking capital of Argentina

El Chaltén is a small mountain village founded in 1985 at the foot of the Fitz Roy range, inside Los Glaciares National Park, and it has grown into Argentina's trekking capital because the trails to the famous viewpoints start right from its streets. It has a few blocks of lodges, bakeries, craft shops and restaurants, a visitor centre and a relaxed atmosphere that feels very different from El Calafate. The tour gives you about five hours here, split between the two guided walks, lunch and free time.

The default option includes a main-course lunch at a restaurant in the village, with the guide explaining the menu choices on the way. After lunch you are free to wander, buy souvenirs or sit outside with a view of the peaks before the group regathers at the agreed meeting point for the drive back, arriving in El Calafate around half past six. Many guests say this El Chaltén tour is the best single day of their Patagonia trip.

Mirador de los Cóndores

The Mirador de los Cóndores is a viewpoint on a rocky rise just above El Chaltén, reached by a trail of about one kilometre that starts beside the national park visitor centre. The guided hike takes around forty-five minutes up and back at an easy pace, climbing gently through low scrub to a platform with views over the whole village, the valley of the Río de las Vueltas and, on a clear day, the full Fitz Roy skyline. Andean condors nest in the cliffs nearby and are often seen soaring overhead.

This is the only real uphill section of the day and it is manageable for anyone used to walking, but wear proper shoes and bring a windproof layer, because the wind at the top can be fierce. The Mirador de los Cóndores hike is the best short walk in El Chaltén for the time available, and the guide times it so the light on the mountains is at its best.

Chorrillo del Salto waterfall

Chorrillo del Salto is a waterfall a few kilometres north of El Chaltén where a stream drops about twenty metres over a rock wall into a pool surrounded by lenga forest. The tour drives to the trailhead and you walk the last five hundred metres through the trees on a flat, well-marked path, which takes about ten minutes each way. The spray, the moss-covered rocks and the sound of the water make it a peaceful contrast to the open views of the morning.

Allow around forty minutes here for the walk and photos. The path is easy enough for children and for anyone who found the viewpoint hike enough, and the forest gives shelter from the wind. The Chorrillo del Salto waterfall is a favourite stop on El Chaltén tours because it shows the gentler side of the park, the beech woods and streams that lie beneath the granite peaks.