El Calafate: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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El Calafate, named after a thorny Patagonian berry, grew from a wool-trading post founded in 1927 on the shore of Lago Argentino, the largest lake in Argentina, into the gateway of Los Glaciares National Park, a World Heritage site since 1981. Patagonia’s glaciers and peaks are a favourite of Israeli trekkers. Half a day; the wind is strong and constant.

A short history of El Calafate

El Calafate was founded only in 1927, as a small settlement for sheep farmers on the shore of Lake Argentino, and its name comes from a Patagonian shrub with blue berries. For decades it had only a few houses. In 1937 Los Glaciares National Park was created nearby, and in 1981 it was declared a World Heritage Site for the Perito Moreno Glacier and dozens of other glaciers that flow down from the Patagonian Ice Field. In 2000 an airport opened in the town, and since then it has grown quickly around tourism.

The ten best sights in El Calafate

1
Centro de Interpretación Histórica
Patagonia from dinosaurs to settlers
2
Laguna Nimez
A bird reserve on the lake shore
3
Bahía Redonda
The bay of the town; skating in winter
4
Glaciarium
The museum of ice, with an ice bar
5
Cuevas de Walichu
Rock paintings on the lake shore
6
Península de Magallanes
The road to the glacier
7
Perito Moreno Glacier
The walkways facing the ice wall
8
Upsala Glacier
A great glacier reached by boat
9
Spegazzini Glacier
The tallest ice front in the park
10
Estancia Cristina
A remote pioneer ranch by boat

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in El Calafate →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in El Calafate:

Free walking tours in El Calafate

The town on the lake

Centro de Interpretación Histórica · A small museum of Patagonia’s story, from dinosaur bones and the Tehuelche people to the wool ranches and the outlaws who passed through.
Laguna Nimez · A reserve of wetlands at the edge of town where Chilean flamingos, black-necked swans and dozens of other species gather against the turquoise lake.
Bahía Redonda · The bay of the town, whose milky turquoise colour comes from rock flour — rock ground to powder by the glaciers and carried into the lake.
Glaciarium · A museum dedicated to ice, explaining how glaciers form and why most of the world’s are shrinking, with a bar made entirely of glacier ice where visitors drink in thermal coats.
Cuevas de Walichu · Shallow caves on the lake shore with rock paintings of hands and geometric shapes made by the ancestors of the Tehuelche, some thousands of years old.
Bus terminal · From here buses leave for El Chaltén, three hours north, and for Puerto Natales in Chile, gateway to Torres del Paine; the main street below is lined with outdoor shops and chocolate.

The Perito Moreno Glacier

About eighty kilometres west of town the Perito Moreno Glacier ends in a wall of ice some five kilometres wide and sixty to seventy metres high, from which blocks crash into the lake with a roar. A full day by car or bus; bring warm, waterproof clothes.

Península de Magallanes · The road along the peninsula passes estancias and forests of lenga beech, and at a bend the first view of the glacier appears between the mountains.
Puerto Bajo las Sombras · The small port from which boats sail close to the ice wall and guides take walkers onto the glacier itself in crampons for a mini-trek, ending, by tradition, with whisky poured over glacier ice.
Perito Moreno Glacier · Named after the explorer Francisco Moreno, it is one of the few glaciers in the world that is not retreating. Every few years it advances across the lake and dams one arm of it; the water rises behind the ice until it breaks through in a spectacular rupture, last seen in recent years.
Spegazzini Glacier · Reached by boat across the lake, a glacier whose front rises over a hundred metres, the tallest in the park, flowing down from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.
Upsala Glacier · One of the largest glaciers of the park, which has retreated by kilometres in recent decades, leaving its arm of the lake full of drifting icebergs.
Estancia Cristina · A sheep ranch founded in 1914 by an English family, the Masters, reached only by boat across the lake, now a lodge with a museum of the pioneers’ hard life.

El Chaltén and Fitz Roy

Three hours north lies El Chaltén, a village founded in 1985 to strengthen Argentina’s claim in a border dispute with Chile, now the national capital of trekking. Its trails are free and need no guide. Two to four days; the weather changes fast.

Hotel La Leona · A lonely roadhouse on the way north where, local legend says, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hid in 1905 after robbing a bank in Río Gallegos; today buses stop for its cakes.
Lago Viedma · The second great lake of the park, along whose shore the road runs north toward the jagged skyline of Fitz Roy.
El Chaltén · A village of a couple of thousand people at the foot of the peaks, full of hostels and climbers, where all the trails begin from the edge of town.
Laguna Torre · A lake with floating icebergs beneath Cerro Torre, a needle of granite whose first ascent, claimed by Cesare Maestri in 1959, is one of the great disputes of mountaineering history.
Laguna Capri · A small lake on the trail to Fitz Roy, with a campsite and the mountain reflected in the water on calm mornings.
Monte Fitz Roy · A granite tower of about three thousand four hundred metres that the Tehuelche called Chaltén, the smoking mountain, for the clouds that cling to its summit; the Patagonia clothing company drew its logo from this skyline.

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Getting to El Calafate and getting around

El Calafate Airport · Flights from Buenos Aires and Ushuaia
Bus terminal · Buses to El Chaltén and Chile
Puerto Bajo las Sombras · Boats and ice treks at the glacier

Cheap eats in El Calafate

Patagonia eats cordero patagónico, a whole lamb split open on an iron cross and roasted for hours beside a wood fire; calafate berries in jam, ice cream and beer; trout from the lakes; and in winter, guiso de lentejas, lentil stew. A plate of lamb costs about fifteen to twenty dollars.

Bus terminal · Lamb on the cross
El Chaltén · Craft beer after the trek
Hotel La Leona · Cakes on the road

Museums in El Calafate

Museums of ice, of Patagonian history and of the pioneers.

Glaciarium · The ice museum
Centro de Interpretación Histórica · Patagonian history
Estancia Cristina · The pioneers

Nature and day trips near El Calafate

Glaciers, granite peaks and turquoise lakes of the Southern Ice Field.

Perito Moreno Glacier · The ice wall
Monte Fitz Roy · The peaks
Laguna Nimez · Flamingos

Things to do in El Calafate with kids

With children: falling ice, an ice bar with hot chocolate and an easy waterfall walk.

Perito Moreno Glacier · Watch the ice fall
Glaciarium · The ice museum
Chorrillo del Salto · The easy waterfall

Nightlife in El Calafate

Nights here are short in summer — it is light until eleven — and spent over beer and lamb.

Bus terminal · Bars of the main street
El Chaltén · Climbers’ pubs

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Frequently asked questions about El Calafate

What is there to see in El Calafate?

The top sights in El Calafate are Centro de Interpretación Histórica, Laguna Nimez and Bahía Redonda. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in El Calafate?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of El Calafate without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in El Calafate?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in El Calafate, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The town on the lake.

How do you get to El Calafate and get around?

The main ways are El Calafate Airport, Bus terminal and Puerto Bajo las Sombras. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in El Calafate, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in El Calafate that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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