About an hour and a half flight from Ushuaia, El Calafate is much bigger and touristy than Ushuaia. On first glance, I did not warm to El Calafate as much as Ushuaia. This could have been partly due to the air bnb being in a bit of a dodgy end of town, and the fact that everything was falling apart did not help either! There are way more restaurants, cafes and bars than Ushuaia, it really does cater to the outdoor tourist.
The main thing that made this place so special for us was the doggies! When we arrived, we went on a walk and we were accompanied for about 2 hours by these very special dogs (gordo and perrito, perrito was defo my fave she just wanted love and affection). They were so cute and protective, especially as we accidently walked down a side street lined by rather aggressive street dogs. Gordo and perrito proceeded to walk very close to us and protect us. We also picked up a third shaggy looking dog who joined us partway. Saying goodbye to them was heartbreaking, it’s crazy how attached one can get.
Another day, another tour (in hindsight I think Mum booked too many tours but I am very grateful for her exceptional planning), this time it was to El Chalten and Mount Fitzroy. If you love hiking then definitely stay here, it is the most popular place in the world for hikes! The tour consisted of a minibus with a guide to El Chalten, we then walked up to the view point (40 minutes hike) of Mount Fitzroy. I would have much preferred to hike closer, I know that on the O treck in Chile you can get much closer. What’s super interesting about the Patagonia region is that it is so close to Chile! The tour finished with lunch, a look around the town and then a waterfall stop. If you are interested the tour company was called ‘Tolkeyen’s tour’, the tour guide was super informative I just think it was a little bit too pricey.
The third and final tour of El Chalten was to the Perito Mereno glacier which was well worth it! We went with Hielo and Aventure tours as theypick you up in the afternoon and you spend the evening there. There were fewer people in the national park which was better. The only issue was that the cafe was closed so make sure you bring snacks!
The tour also included a boat ride which takes you right up close to the glacier, which is absolutely phenomenal. I had never seen anything like it. The glacier was so blue in colour and huge, it reminded me of the white warkers from Game of Thrones. Getting up so close to the glacier meant that you could also hear parts of the glacier breaking off and crumbling into the sea. The noise that this produced was super loud! We were all waiting for a huge chunk to break off and fall in, unfortunately this did not happen.
The second part of the tour was entering the park and walking the trails to the different view points. I would definitely recommend the boat tour as the view points do not get as close. Another super cool thing to do (expensive) is mini trecking on the glacier, but make sure you book in advance, we unfortunately missed out on this. You can only do this was Hielo and Aventura tours.
Some of the restaurants we visited were mediocre. The first night we went to Isobel after being recommended by one of the tour guides. Unfortunately the steak was tough, I had trout and it was tasty. The second night we visited a pizza restaurant- Pietros. I am not too keen on the pizzas in Argentina, they are way too cheesy. One of the best meals we had in Argentina was on the third night in a beer house called X. The steak was much better and the veggiie burger was also really good. There is also a really good ice cream place called Tinto’s.
If I came back to this area, I would suggest only staying in El Calafate for one night for the glacier. I would definitely spend more time in El Chalten.
Romy's Roamings 