Arrive to El Calafate today. You are met and transfer privately to your hotel. From here you are free to pick up your rental car, or we can arrange for a drop off if staying at a centrally located hotel.

Today visit the stunning Perito Moreno Glacier. This huge advancing glacier is more than 3 miles wide at its front and over 20 stories high. This Glacier trek has a minimum age of 10 and a maximum age of 65. Alternate excursions are available for those under 10 or over 65 years of age.

Drive yourself the two hours on paved road through the National Park. Explore the multi-level balconies stretching in front of the glacier's face to get a close view of its tremendous size and witness the thunderous calving. You may arrange to book optional excursions this day (we recommend you do so in advance). Mini-trekking on the glacier may be arranged or a short ferry boat navigation on Lago Argentino to get a boat-side view of the 70m high spectacle. Entrance fees not included.

Contact us if you are interested in the Big Ice Adventure, a more active excursion that spends more time on the ice. Click here for more details. 

Total Drive: 80km on paved road.

Today drive along the Provincial Road 11 and Route 40 along the banks of the Rio La Leona until you reach La Leona Hotel on your right. Stop here after your first 2 hours of driving at an established time to meet your guide for a tour of the petrified forest. La Leona Petrified Forest and Paleontologic Field are only 15 minutes from the Roadhouse and are a protected UNESCO site. Learn about recent archeological expedition discoveries and witness ground level dinosaur fossils, silent witnesses of a remote Patagonia once inhabited by these creatures. Bask in the eroded landscape and observe the giant petrified trees. Return to La Leona mid -afternoon and set back out on your drive to El Chalten.

Return along Route 40 to Provincial Route 23 towards El Chalten. Enjoy views of Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre sticking out amongst the other impressive mountains in the range for the remaining 3 hour drive. Arrive to El Chalten, now considered the national trekking capital near Rio de las Vueltas at the base of the Cerro Fitz Roy. Upon arrival, you will meet with your guide for a briefing about your hiking options for the next day.

Total Drive: 330km on paved road: 110km to La Leona, 220km to El Chalten.

Today enjoy a full day of trekking. Depending on weather conditions and your groups' preferences, select a full or half day hike on any number of trails in Los Glaciares National Park. Options can include the well-known hikes to Lago de los Tres, Laguna Torre, or a variety of other options. Regardless of the choice, you are sure to be rewarded with stunning mountain views and remote Patagonia terrain.

You meet with the guide briefly the day before the activity to check the details and necessary equipment for the adventure on the following day. 

Meet the guide at 9:30 to begin your walk, which will take about 40 minutes until you reach the refuge, where a hot drink will be waiting for you. After 20 minutes of walking through a large lenga forest, be impressed with the view of the glacier and Creston Hill.

In the next stage, leave the vegetation and make your way over a large rock formation eroded by the glacier. It is the most demanding part of the trek.

You can reach the front of the glacier after 2 hours of walking through this formation. Make a stop to put on the necessary equipment to walk on the glacier. Getting to the glacier depends on the weather and the traveler's physical condition. Return to the refuge after enjoying your lunch.

Drive north this morning of El Chalten to Lago del Desierto, or Desert Lake. Contrary to its name, this lake has silvery transparent water located in a beautiful fertile valley with forest and surrounding snow-capped mountains. Sail on a small boat to the northern coast of the lake to enjoy this pristine spot before making the drive back to El Calafate.

Total Drive: 38km to Desert Lake, 258km to El Calafate.

Enjoy breakfast this morning before you drop the car off at the rental office or a centrally located hotel. You are transferred to the airport for your flight home, or extend your travels with visits to nearby Torres del Paine or Tierra del Fuego.