El Calafate walking tour & city guide

Perito Moreno

Walkways face the glacier's 70-meter-high wall of ice, where huge blocks regularly crash into the lake. Boat trips and ice-trekking tours get even closer. The glacier is part of Los Glaciares National Park, a UNESCO site.

The town

Avenida del Libertador is the main street of shops and restaurants. The Glaciarium museum explains the ice fields, and El Chaltén, the trekking capital, is a few hours north.

Seeing the glacier

The walkways in front of the Perito Moreno Glacier let you watch huge blocks of ice crash into the lake. Boat trips sail close to the ice wall, and guided mini-trekking tours walk on the glacier itself with crampons.

Other boat trips visit the Upsala and Spegazzini glaciers on Lake Argentino.

Good to know

El Calafate is the base for the southern part of Los Glaciares National Park. El Chaltén, the trekking capital, is three hours away, with trails to Mount Fitz Roy.

Legend says that if you eat a calafate berry, you will return to Patagonia.

Life in El Calafate

El Calafate grew quickly thanks to tourism, and its main street, Avenida del Libertador, is lined with outdoor shops, chocolate shops and restaurants serving Patagonian lamb roasted on a cross over an open fire. Laguna Nimez, a small reserve at the edge of town, is home to flamingos and black-necked swans. The best months to visit are October to April, when days are long. In winter, the glacier is still visible and the town is very quiet.