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Planning your stay

One, two or three days in El Calafate

What to book first, what to keep flexible, and how to fill the evenings. A plan for short stays, built from the day tours on this site.

Most-reviewed tours on this page
Perito Moreno Glacier walkways day with optional boat
Patagonia Dreams · About 8 hours Perito Moreno Glacier walkways day with optional boat
★ 4.7 (2,767) from $69
Book now
Full-day tour to El Chaltén from El Calafate
Patagonia Dreams · About 11 hours Full-day tour to El Chaltén from El Calafate
★ 4.4 (1,036) from $117
Book now
Nativo experience with lakes and caves
Patagonia Profunda · About 3 hours Nativo experience with lakes and caves
★ 4.9 (115) from $130
Book now
See all 5 tours in detail

El Calafate has more full-day trips than most short stays can hold. The glacier is the one fixed point. Everything else depends on how many days you have, how far you are willing to ride in a bus, and whether the weather in the north plays along.

One tour for each part of your stay

The most-reviewed full-day trips, a half day and two evenings, so you can see at a glance how long each one takes.

Photo Tour Trip Duration Hotel transfer Reviews ↕ Price ↕ Book
Glacier walkways day Patagonia Dreams Perito Moreno 8 h Hotel pickup ★ 4.7 (2,767) $69 per person Book now
El Chaltén full day Patagonia Dreams El Chaltén 11 h Hotel or meeting point ★ 4.4 (1,036) $117 per person Book now
Nativo lakes and caves Patagonia Profunda 4x4 and nature 3 h Not stated ★ 4.9 (115) $130 per person Book now
Stargazing evening Calafate Night Evening 3 h Transfer included ★ 4.8 (81) $80 per person Book now
Estancia 25 de Mayo evening Patagonia Dreams Estancia 5 h Pickup 4:30 or 7:15 pm ★ 4.8 (67) $125 per person Book now

Tour prices are per person and refresh from GetYourGuide and Viator; the booking page shows the final amount for your date.

The tours in this plan in detail

Each tour with transfer, park entrance and time on site. Open a card for the full listing summary.

Perito Moreno Glacier walkways day with optional boat
Patagonia Dreams

Perito Moreno Glacier walkways day with optional boat

  • Duration: About 8 hours
  • Transfer: Hotel pickup
  • Park entrance: ✕ Not included Not included; the listing points you to the official park website for the ticket.
  • At the walkways: About 3 hours on roughly 4 km of walkways

✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start

from $69 ★ 4.7 (2,767 reviews)
Book on GetYourGuide
Full tour details

Highlights

  • Hotel pickup in El Calafate
  • About three hours on the walkways facing the glacier
  • Optional boat ride of about an hour from Puerto Bajo las Sombras

About this tour

The most-reviewed glacier day out of El Calafate on this site. Patagonia Dreams collects you at your hotel and drives the road of about 80 km to the Perito Moreno Glacier, where the listing plans around three hours on the walkway network in front of the ice.

The short boat ride below the ice face can be added as an option. The national park ticket is not part of the price, and the listing sends you to the official park website to buy it.

Know before you go

  • Buy the park ticket online before the day; it is not in the tour price
  • With the boat option, one review reports about two hours left for the walkways instead of three

Summarised from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in October 2026.

Full-day tour to El Chaltén from El Calafate
Patagonia Dreams

Full-day tour to El Chaltén from El Calafate

  • Duration: About 11 hours
  • Transfer: Hotel pickup at places with a reception desk, otherwise a meeting point
  • Park entrance: ✕ Not included Not included, according to the listing.

✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start

from $117 ★ 4.4 (1,036 reviews)
Book on GetYourGuide
Full tour details

Highlights

  • Short walk to the Mirador de los Cóndores
  • Chorrillo del Salto waterfall
  • About five hours in and around El Chaltén

About this tour

El Chaltén lies 220 km north of El Calafate, so a good part of this day is the drive. In the village you get around five hours for two short walks: up to the Mirador de los Cóndores (about 700 m according to the listing) and to the Chorrillo del Salto waterfall.

This is a sightseeing day with short hikes. The long trails to Laguna de los Tres or Laguna Torre are not part of it. Lunch is optional.

Know before you go

  • Pickup only from accommodation with a reception desk; otherwise you go to a meeting point
  • Not a Fitz Roy trek: the long day hikes do not fit into this schedule

Summarised from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in October 2026.

Nativo experience with lakes and caves
Patagonia Profunda

Nativo experience with lakes and caves

  • Duration: About 3 hours

✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start

from $130 ★ 4.9 (115 reviews)
Book on GetYourGuide
Full tour details

About this tour

A three-hour outing to lakes and caves, run by Patagonia Profunda. The listing describes it as a nature experience rather than a hike.

Summarised from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in October 2026.

Stargazing tour with transfers
Calafate Night

Stargazing tour with transfers

  • Duration: About 3 hours
  • Transfer: Transfers included

✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start

from $80 ★ 4.8 (81 reviews)
Book on GetYourGuide
Full tour details

About this tour

A three-hour evening under the southern sky outside El Calafate, with transfers.

Summarised from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in October 2026.

Estancia 25 de Mayo with dinner and transfer
Patagonia Dreams

Estancia 25 de Mayo with dinner and transfer

  • Duration: About 5 hours
  • Transfer: Pickup at 4:30 pm or 7:15 pm

✓ Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start

from $125 ★ 4.8 (67 reviews)
Book on GetYourGuide
Full tour details

Highlights

  • Mate and wine tasting
  • Dinner with folklore show, by option

About this tour

An evening rather than a day: pickup in the afternoon or early evening, mate and a wine tasting at Estancia 25 de Mayo, and depending on the option a dinner with a folklore show.

Drinks with the menu are charged separately.

Know before you go

  • Drinks with dinner are not included

Summarised from the tour listing on the booking platform, checked in October 2026.

A plan by length of stay

One dayA guided Perito Moreno Glacier tour of about eight hours, then an evening at Estancia 25 de Mayo or under the stars.
Two daysAdd El Chaltén for the mountains, or a boat day on Lago Argentino.
Three daysAdd a ranch day at Nibepo Aike, a ride on Cerro Frías or a half day by 4x4, and a walk at Laguna Nimez.
A spare dayOnly then Torres del Paine, a day of 15 to 16 hours across the border.

Why the glacier comes first

The Perito Moreno Glacier is about 80 km from town on a paved road and the walkways stay open all year, so it does not depend on a particular season. Book it for your first full day; everything else on this list is optional by comparison. The park ticket is extra on every glacier tour; how to buy it is on our entrance fee page.

If you want the ice from the water, the boat trips, minitrekking on the glacier and the longer lake cruises are compared on our sister site’s boat tour comparison.

Keep El Chaltén flexible

The drive north is long and the view of Fitz Roy depends on the cloud. Travellers on cloudy days describe a long bus ride for little. With free cancellation up to 24 hours before on the El Chaltén tours here, booking it early and moving it to a clearer day is the practical approach.

Evenings

Two evening outings are bookable from town. Estancia 25 de Mayo at the edge of El Calafate offers mate, a farm visit and, by option, dinner with a folklore show; our estancia evening page compares the two tours. Calafate Night runs a stargazing evening of about three hours with transfers. One guest praises how the guide explains the night sky; another was unhappy with the food, so do not count on it as dinner.

El Calafate without a tour

Laguna Nimez is a municipal nature reserve about 1 km from the town centre on the shore of Lago Argentino. A self-guided trail of a little over 2.5 km takes about an hour and a half, and around 80 bird species have been recorded there, flamingos and black-necked swans among them. You can walk there from town.

Source: ámbito.com, 30 March 2022.

The Glaciarium, a glacier interpretation centre, sits about 6 km west of the centre just off the road to the glacier. It has an ice bar built from glacial ice, and according to Atlas Obscura a free shuttle runs there from central El Calafate. Check its current hours and the shuttle times in town.

Source: Atlas Obscura.

From the glacier to the night sky

The one-star review is about the food on the stargazing evening and says nothing about the sky itself. We show it so you know not to plan the outing as your dinner.

“Unforgettable day with Nati and Daniel. Memories and photos I’ll treasure forever. Nati even recommended a great laundrette for me!”
Paul · United Kingdom · April 2026 Glacier walkways day · Patagonia Dreams
“Great tour! The guide explained complex astronomy terms in a very easy and engaging manner allowing us to gain a better understanding of what we can see on the night sky, how to tell apart different types of stars and planets, how to identify quite a few constellations and even …”
Andrei · Armenia · October 2026 Stargazing evening · Calafate Night
“Food was terrible. Not worth the time and money.”
Verified traveler · United Kingdom · January 2026 Stargazing evening · Calafate Night
“It was a great trip, guide was excellent and very knowledgeable. Great to get some history of the area. Lunch was really good.”
Sharon · Ireland · September 2026 Nativo lakes and caves · Patagonia Profunda

Quoted from GetYourGuide reviews in their original English, shortened where marked (…), collected in October 2026.

Questions about this tour

Is one day in El Calafate enough?

For the Perito Moreno Glacier, yes: a guided day tour of about eight hours covers the walkways, and an estancia or stargazing evening fits afterwards. For El Chaltén or a boat day on the lake you need a second day.

How many days do I need in El Calafate?

Two to three days cover the glacier, El Chaltén or a boat day, and an estancia or a half-day outing. Torres del Paine as a day trip only makes sense with a spare day on top.

What can I do in El Calafate in the evening?

Book an evening at Estancia 25 de Mayo with mate and, by option, dinner with a folklore show, or a stargazing tour of about three hours with transfers.

What can I do in El Calafate without a tour?

Walk to the Laguna Nimez nature reserve about 1 km from the centre for birdwatching on the shore of Lago Argentino, or visit the Glaciarium interpretation centre outside town.

Should I do El Chaltén or Torres del Paine?

With limited time, El Chaltén: it is a shorter drive, stays in Argentina and needs no border crossing. Torres del Paine takes 15 to 16 hours with passport controls in both directions.

Related on this site

Perito Moreno Glacier tours

Walkway time, pickup and the boat option per tour.

Estancia tours

Nibepo Aike and Estancia 25 de Mayo compared.

Bus or guided tour

Doing the glacier on your own by scheduled bus.

Start with the glacier

Every guided Perito Moreno day from El Calafate side by side.

Back to the overview