Patagonia: Doing It Right

[tesstafarian]

Hi everyone,

For those of you who have traveled to Patagonia (Argentine and/or Chilean sides) I'd like to get your insight on planning a trip. My schedule is super flexible and I can go anytime between now and February, and I'd like to get opinions on:

• The right time/month to go
• Areas not to be missed/areas that were a waste of time
• To use or not to use a tour company (and if so, which one?) (***I will be traveling by myself and I'm not sure if going alone as a late-twenties woman makes any difference, safety wise, on using a travel agency)
• Since flying is fairly pricey, is the 20 hour+ bus trip a viable option? What companies are the best?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts & suggestions!

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Hi everyone,

For those of you who have traveled to Patagonia (Argentine and/or Chilean sides) I'd like to get your insight on planning a trip. My schedule is super flexible and I can go anytime between now and February, and I'd like to get opinions on:

• The right time/month to go
• Areas not to be missed/areas that were a waste of time
• To use or not to use a tour company (and if so, which one?) (***I will be traveling by myself and I'm not sure if going alone as a late-twenties woman makes any difference, safety wise, on using a travel agency)
• Since flying is fairly pricey, is the 20 hour+ bus trip a viable option? What companies are the best?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts & suggestions!

The spring is windy, but December days are long and prices may be marginally lower than in January and February. You can find a lot of the information you're looking for on my Southern Cone Travel blog (http://southernconeg...ks.blogspot.com) and in my iPhone app (https://itunes.apple...d487452504?mt=8), which also has an Android version (https://play.google....ide758&hl=en_GB). The blog has a lot of info on the Chilean side as well, and I have comparable apps for Chile.

Underrated area you must see - Puerto Deseado. Take the day trip to Isla de los Pingüinos, the northernmost breeding site for the rockhopper penguin.

 

[LorenzoQuiero]

I just spent a few days in Patagonia (Argentine Side). My takeaways were that Rio Gallegos can easily be skipped, but that Glacier Perito Moreno shouldn't be missed. I didn't use a tour company for the overall trip, but did use a bus service from El Calafate to Perito Moreno. I can't remember the name of it though there are a few that leave from a central station in El Calafate and they all appear similar.

El Calafate is a neat little town and you can spend a day or two there, but the real highlight of the area is Perito Moreno. I was there in the winter (July I think) so while it was very cold, there weren't many tourists which was nice. I'm not sure how overrun it may be in the warmer months.

 

[lucha54]

OK well this is a huge topic, Patagonia, because there are three main touristic parts and it depends if you are talking about all 3 or just 2 out of 3....
Bariloche Lakes District, Calafate/ El Chalten, and Ushuaia. They are all 20+ hours by bus from each other.

Ushuaia is best for penguins and Antarctica, and to say you've been to the southernmost city in the world. I'd personally go for Puerto Madryn for penguins but it's also complicated to get from certain parts of Patagonia to there (closest place is Esquel , 8 or 10 hour and it's already 4 hours south of Bariloche if you're going to that region). Also you would have to time it with the season, depending on when you go as the penguins are there only for a certain part of the year.

But I'll assume you're just talking about mountainous Patagonia and not Puerto Madryn.

If you go to El Calafate to see the glacier, I highly recommend the town of El Chalten for hiking... lots of day hikes including two famous full-day hikes to 'Laguna de los Tres' and 'Laguna Torre'. I did both, can tell you more about them if you end up going that way. There are plenty of glaciers to be seen on the hikes and at these lagoons, but of course you must see Perito Moreno glacier too and hence stay in El Calafate at least a night or two, but El Chalten is much cuter/quainter, great vibe, awesome people and scenery/hiking/climbing/mountain biking. I'm not a big hiker but I went for the scenery and it was spectacular.

I went in February and got lucky with weather (and booked some extra days in Chalten just in case I hit a few rainy days- which I did). A friend went in December and had crazy weather; it's just less stable and less consistent at that time of year unfortunately. And there are a ton of tourists anyway in December because a lot of people from the northern hemisphere take their holidays before Xmas so that they can be back home in time to be with their family. The problem is though, that after Xmas you get Argy vacation time and it is usually very crowded, especially with more Argies traveling domestically because of currency controls. January is the worst time for the crowds and everything would have to be booked in advanced and well planned/decided on before-hand; February is a little more flexible but not by much; still better than January. I heard early March is great; a little colder but less windy and WAY less crowded (that is coming from a tour guide friend who leads groups around the circuits through Patagonia every summer, every year).

I'd say for Patagonia don't go with an agency, you'll save so much money doing it yourself and it's not all that complicated nor unsafe AT ALL. Especially compared to BA/Salta/Mendoza... any big city really (safety-wise I mean, not ease of planning). Patagonia is pretty tame! If you have any specific questions about what I've said you can PM me!

 

[arlean]

As for the bus, I find it comfortable and I think it is part of seeing Argentina. I like to see everything I can between here and there. But time is a factor.

 

[franklin1218]

hellow, hope to find a partner to travel in argentina on weekend, would you like ?

 

[Azagarth]

I lived all over the Patagonia for 2 years, its a different experience thats for sure.

Time to go depends what you want to do, others have already chimed in on this enough. It all depends what you want to do.

Places that I have been to are 1. Bariloche, in both winter and summer. I Don't ski so I personally preferred the summer, plus things are oftentimes cheaper, ok always in the summer haha. If you go there, the main things to do is hike the mountains they have. They also have some other cool things, but overall I kind of got bored after awhile.

2. Puerto Madryn- its on the atlantic coast. This is a cool little city, and I am actually going to go back soon. Lots of Argentines go there for vacation, so it can't be to bad. I actually enjoyed things to do there a lot. If you time it right you can see whales, penguins, sea lions, and a ton of other wild life. I never did it but the locals said you can swim with the dolphins, plus there is always fishing and snorkeling. I find that you could easily pass 2 weeks on vacation there and not get bored.

I havent seen the glaciers yet, but I would love to do it. Go there if you have a chance, all my friends rave about how cool it is and always tell me summer is the best time. Which means the busiest too.

If you give me a bit more info like, time, money, what you like to do, I can probably help


I would stay away from Comodoro though, I always get robbed there.... plus I hated that town and the people.


oh I forgot too, Obviously you can go to the end of the world, thats cool to do and I hear its nice. I am planning in february myself to go to el calafate and Ushuaia.

 

[Montauk_Project]

These are old videos (from 2007! look at that old school compression) but are good highlights on Puerto Madryn. Had a blast filming them, Puerto Madryn is a really nice city, make sure you go when the whales and penguins are there (we filmed in November).
http://www.geobeats.com/video/7768ab/puerto-madryn-overview
We got around with public transport (but rented a car to see the penguins). If you go with a sense of adventure you will be fine, people are very nice. You will be fine alone but if you go off hiking or to any remote areas ALWAYS take a buddy, ALWAYS let people know where you are going and ALWAYS let them know when you get back safe. There have been cases of people getting reported missing because they didn´t call their mom for a few days.
I have also filmed in Calafate and Bariloche. Both are more impressive in turns of scenery.
Probably the best way to go is to rent a car and explore if you have time (at least three weeks, and that is probably not enough) but you will need a driving buddy.
Bring stuff with you--everything from Yerba to shampoo is much more expensive the futher south you go.

 

[Iwaslukky]

I´m planning a trip for the second week in february to Calafate and Chalten. It's the most hectic period, i know, but it was the only time possible for vacations etc. What i was interested in was some price information from anyone that has been there recently. For example bus between the two towns, bus from calafate to perito moreno (is there any entrance fee?), has anyone done the glaciar walk, heard its expensive but can it be worth it?, boat from calafate to clacier upsala. Any tour you did in chalten? Was planning on mostly day trekking on our own but maybe some organized guided tour of something could be nice? Thanks.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

I´m planning a trip for the second week in february to Calafate and Chalten. It's the most hectic period, i know, but it was the only time possible for vacations etc. What i was interested in was some price information from anyone that has been there recently. For example bus between the two towns, bus from calafate to perito moreno (is there any entrance fee?), has anyone done the glaciar walk, heard its expensive but can it be worth it?, boat from calafate to clacier upsala. Any tour you did in chalten? Was planning on mostly day trekking on our own but maybe some organized guided tour of something could be nice? Thanks.

No tours necessary in Chaltén, unless you're utterly helpless away from any city street. All the trailheads are easily walking distance from town. Do you mean the town of Perito Moreno, Parque Nacional Perito Moreno, or Glaciar Perito Moreno?