Two names carry most of Patagonia's reputation: the Perito Moreno, a wall of ice that still advances into Lago Argentino, and Fitz Roy, the granite spire the Tehuelche called the smoking mountain. They sit 220 km apart along an empty, beautiful road, and they make the simplest and most rewarding drive in the south. A week, some 600 km in all, and most of the time spent out of the car: on the glacier walkways, and on the trails that start at the last street of El Chaltén.
Day 1 · El Calafate
Highlight · A small town on the southern shore of Lago Argentino, gateway to the glaciers.
The car is collected on arrival in El Calafate, a small town on the southern shore of Lago Argentino that lives as the gateway to the glaciers of a national park declared World Heritage.
Night · El Calafate
Day 2 · The Perito Moreno glacier
Highlight · Blocks of ice the size of buildings falling from the face of the Perito Moreno.
Drive · 160 km
An 80 km drive, less than two hours, with Lago Argentino and the glacier in view for the last stretch. The walkways in front of the ice give it from every angle, close enough to hear it crack and watch blocks the size of buildings fall into the water. A boat along the face or a walk on the ice with crampons can be added to the day.
Night · El Calafate
Day 3 · North on the Ruta 40 to El Chaltén
Highlight · The whole range across Lago Viedma, with Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre above everything else.
Drive · 220 km · 3 h
Across the steppe. The road follows the Río La Leona, past the old roadhouse of the same name, where a detour leads to a petrified forest, and then the whole range comes into view across Lago Viedma, with Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre standing above everything else. El Chaltén, founded in 1985 by the Río de las Vueltas, is Argentina's trekking capital, and its trails start in town.
Night · El Chaltén
Day 4 · Laguna de los Tres
Highlight · The last steep hour up an old moraine to the foot of the east face of Fitz Roy.
Walk · Laguna de los Tres · 22 km · 8 h · moderate to challenging
The great walk of the Fitz Roy massif: a climb through lenga forest to a plateau with the first views of the peak, two more hours along the valley, and a last steep hour up an old moraine to Laguna de los Tres, at the foot of the east face.
Night · El Chaltén
Day 5 · Laguna Torre
Highlight · Icebergs from the Grande glacier on the water at the foot of Cerro Torre.
Walk · Laguna Torre · 18 km · 6 h · easy to moderate
The other classic, gentler: past the Margarita waterfall and the views of the Adela range to Laguna Torre, at the foot of Cerro Torre, often with icebergs calved from the Grande glacier.
Night · El Chaltén
Day 6 · Lago del Desierto and back to El Calafate
Highlight · A boat on Lago del Desierto and a walk to the Vespignani glacier.
Drive · 220 km
An early start leaves time to drive north to Lago del Desierto, through forest along the Río de las Vueltas, where a boat on the lake and a walk to the Vespignani glacier fit before the 220 km back south to El Calafate.
Night · El Calafate
Day 7 · El Calafate
Highlight · A last morning in El Calafate before the car goes back at the airport.
The car is returned at the airport before the flight out.
