Blue ice below, granite spires on the horizon
When to go
November-March
Trip length
11 days / 10 nights
Typical investmentPrice
from $10,500 pp
This 10-night route keeps the focus on southern Patagonia. After two nights in Buenos Aires, fly to El Calafate for glacier country, then continue by road to El Chaltén for guided trail days beneath Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. Each base gets a buffer day built in for Patagonia’s weather, so a windy morning doesn’t cost you the trip’s best views.
Along the way
Stand before a glacier still growing, one of the last of its kind on the planet
Trek beneath granite spires so dramatic they draw climbers from every continent
Trade cities and schedules for a landscape of ice, wind and light
Watch a lake change color by the hour, and skies filled each night with millions of stars
Your route
A city prelude before Patagonia
Arrive in Buenos Aires and settle into your hotel. The rest of the day is free, time enough for a walk through the city before the far south comes into view.
Take a private half-day city walk or food-focused outing, keeping the afternoon light before tomorrow's flight south. One last taste of the capital's energy before Patagonia's wide open spaces take over.
Ice fields, steppe & glacier walls
Fly to Patagonia and settle into El Calafate on the edge of Lago Argentino, with the surrounding steppe giving the first sense of the region's scale. This is Argentina's largest lake, fed by glacial melt and rimmed by golden grassland that stretches to the horizon in every direction.
Spend the day at Perito Moreno Glacier with a private guide, using the network of walkways and a boat crossing to see the ice wall from several angles. Massive slabs of ice calve from its face into the turquoise water below, one of the few glaciers on the planet still advancing rather than retreating.
Head out on a full-day lake excursion or a visit to a remote estancia, chosen around the weather and whether glaciers, wildlife or local history draw you more. Behind it all lies the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the largest expanse of ice outside Antarctica and Greenland, feeding dozens of glaciers across the region.
Keep a flexible day in El Calafate for another guided outing, a shorter walk, or time to rest before heading north. Patagonia moves at its own pace, and an open day here is its own kind of luxury.
Fitz Roy country on foot
Travel across the Patagonian steppe to El Chaltén, with Fitz Roy's granite massif appearing ahead once the weather clears. Considered Argentina's trekking capital, this small town sits at the base of some of the most dramatic peaks in the Andes.
Set out with a private mountain guide on a trail chosen for current conditions and your preferred level of challenge, often toward Laguna de los Tres. The turquoise lake sits directly beneath Fitz Roy's jagged spires, a reward that draws hikers from around the world to this single view.
Choose a second guided route toward Cerro Torre, a forested valley, or a series of viewpoints, with the choice made on the day around weather and how your legs feel. Cerro Torre's needle-thin spire, capped in ice, ranks among the most striking summits anywhere in the world.
Use the final full day for a shorter trail, photography, or a relaxed afternoon in town, keeping flexibility for Patagonia's changing skies. Fitz Roy and its neighboring peaks have a way of catching the last light in colors that seem almost invented.
Travel back toward El Calafate for your onward flight, the granite spires of Patagonia now etched firmly into memory.
Let's discover your next adventure
Our top picks
Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires combines 165 rooms and suites in a contemporary tower and the restored early-20th-century La Mansión in Recoleta. A garden pool, spa, steakhouse, asado restaurant, and 49 suites make it the city’s most complete classic luxury hotel.
Faena Hotel Buenos Aires places 88 rooms and suites inside a converted grain warehouse in Puerto Madero. Philippe Starck interiors, a long outdoor pool, spa, cabaret, art center, restaurants, and nightlife make it the city’s most theatrical luxury hotel.
Explora El Chaltén places 17 rooms and three suites inside the private Los Huemules Conservation Reserve north of town. More than 30 guided explorations, all meals, transfers, five outdoor hot tubs, two saunas, and direct access to quieter trails create a complete Fitz Roy expedition.
EOLO places 17 rooms on a 10,000-acre estancia in the Anita Valley between El Calafate and Perito Moreno Glacier. Panoramic rooms, full-board dining, riding, hiking, sauna, hot tub, and a quiet all-inclusive format make the lodge a destination beyond the glacier day trip.
Boat-access-only isolation across Lago Argentino paired with the closest lookout to Upsala Glacier inside Los Glaciares National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, plus an on-site heritage museum tracing Patagonian exploration history from 1877 to 1970 inside the original 1914 estancia buildings. The property operates only October 1 through April 30, closed for the Southern Hemisphere winter, and access is strictly by scheduled daytime boat with no overland alternative, so itineraries must build around a fixed sailing schedule; there is no dedicated spa, connectivity is satellite Wi-Fi only, and the property advises guests to bring their own medication given the isolation.
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