A week in El Calafate

[RBski]

My wife and I are heading to Patagonia in two weeks for our honeymoon! Yay! Our first couple of days we will be in Bariloche relaxing, being tourist, and enjoying the city. The last 4 days we are in Ushuaia doing day trips and maybe a tour to see penguins.

I would like to get some ideas for the middle week of our trip when we fly into El Calafate. We are both avid backpackers and looking for recommendations. 2-5 days trips, 2 2 days trips, a bunch of day trips would all work for us. I am torn between trekking in El Chalten around Fitz Roy and the W in Torres del Paine, but also want to see the Perito Moreno Glacier. We are not climbers but an easy peak would also be in the cards, just nothing above colorado class 3.

I look forward to the recommendations.

Thank you,
Ryan

[onebyone]

So, I've been to all the places you mentioned. Can't go wrong with either place. Torres del Paine has a lot more wildlife, even cougars. If you go to Torres del Paine, be sure to also hike on some of the rolling hills to the east. Most people stick closer to the giant granite massifs. But if you mix in a few hikes more to the east, you will see guanacos, condors, emus and lots of bird life. Both Fritz Roy and Torres NP are amazing, but I prob lean more toward Torres. Less people at Fritz Roy though. Bariloche is nice but pales to southern patagonia. souther patagonia is where its at so I would spend as much time as possible there.

[vusteph]

I have been to Chalten, Calafate, Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, and Ushuaia. Makes me miss my trip so much! I couldn't do the W trek because I was there when they had the fires and they literally just opened the park towards the end of my trip. But! I squeezed a day in and took a touristy tour through the park (I had spent the last 2 weeks straight trekking in Chalten so I opted for a break). TdP was rediculously breathtaking and was one of those places that really lived up to my expectations and hype. I also loved trekking around Chalten, which is gorgeous in itself and is more of a day trekker's paradise.

Perito Moreno is gorgeous, but it was by far the most touristy part of my trip (besides the penguin trip on Isla Magdalena, but that's unavoidable )

[DanR]

Like the others have said, you have two amazing choices and you can't really go wrong. Both areas feature tremendously spectacular mountains, beautiful lakes, and potentially interesting weather. One thing to keep in mind if you're coming from Calafate, particularly when time-limited, is that Chalten is easier logistically with a shorter bus ride, no border crossing, and a common currency. Also, a number of trails leave directly from town, perhaps granting some nice flexibility. Whatever you choose, I hope that you have a wonderful honeymoon!

[Somewhat of a Prick]

I just got back on Sunday from spending a week in El Chalten and a week in Bariloche/Puerto Varas (also a 3rd week in Buenos Aires and Montevideo)

El Chalten is awesome. Day hikes out the wazoo (right from the entrance from your hotel/hostel), and if you want to camp a night or two or three (we did) you can easily do that on either the cerro torre trek or the fitz roy trek. If you're torn between Chalten and Calafate just because of the Perito Moreno glacier, keep in mind Chalten has the Viedma glacier, which is actually bigger than Perito Moreno. We did that glacier trek through Viva Patagonia and it was one of the best experiences of my life. They take you on about a 30 minute bus ride to a small port, and sail you for an hour across Viedma lake (passing giant icebergs) all the way to the mouth of the glacier where you go trekking. Unreal. Not to mention, the Viedma has no crowds as you cant just simply drive up to it with the other 1000 tourists.

Bariloche is great too. If there is one hike you do, do the Camp Campanario hike (or you can take the ski lift up). The best views of the area. Also, taking the bus to Llao Llao is awesome too, great hiking there and unreal views around the hotel. Bus 20 or 22 is the one you want (can't remember which exactly). Finding the bus card place was a PITA, but I know where it is and exactly how many pesos to put on your card for a round trip to llao llao. Also depending where you go I can tell you a reliable place to get a good rate for currency exchange. Stay away from the guys on the street shouting "CAMBIO", numerous people there told me they are dodgy. Like I said, I have connections though.

Message me with questions if you have them, it's all fresh in my mind.

*edit*

To the comment above saying Bariloche pales to southern Patagonia. It's apples and oranges. Both are special and shouldn't be written off. The lush greens combined with the massive blue lakes and mountains of Bariloche is nothing to sneeze at, and I'd recommend anyone to go there. Great historic town to boot.

[RBski]

Thank you all. This is exactly the help I was looking for.

[desertdog]

I was in Patagonia last year at this time and it was great!

A couple things to add to the comments above...

Torres NP is wonderful, but it is crowded. Consider the O route rather than just the W. The top part of the O trek is much less crowed.

Take a taxi from El Chalten to Hostel Pilar then hike back to El Chalten visit the Laguna De los Tres along the way. This trek will get you close to Fitz Roy.

Loma del Pliegue Tumbado (class 2) is a day hike from El Chalten , while not a great mountain in itself it has wonderful views from its summit.

Cerro Solo can be seen from El Chalten. It is glaciated, so you may want a guide for this one depending on your experience. This is an overnighter.

I don't know if currency exchange is still an issue in Argentina, but when we were there the exchange rates varied from 8 pesos (official rate) to 13 pesos to the dollar. Shop to get the best rate.

Buy bus tickets in advance, we talked to several people that had to wait for bus service because they were sold out at the times they wanted to go.

Look at the Chalten Suites Hotel as a place to stay. Really wonderful. Not the cheapest place in town, but it's your honeymoon. Really good full cooked breakfast included in the rate. We got a 15 percent discount by paying in US dollars.

Have a great honeymoon!

[Somewhat of a Prick]

I was able to get 14 pesos per dollar rate, for what it's worth