Argentinean Patagonia travel guide

Best time to visit

The summer months from December to mid-April are best for trekking: though January should be avoided everywhere but the most remote places, if possible, since this is when most Argentines go on holiday, and transport and accommodation are both heavily booked. From mid-April onwards most hotels close until mid-November and many bus services don’t operate. This is because temperatures in the south plummet to -20C, making it very inhospitable. For Península Valdés, the season for spotting whales is between September and November, when all services are open.

Getting there

Fortunately Patagonia is served by good public transport. There are daily flights from Buenos Aires to Viedma, Trelew, Comodoro Rivadavia, Río Gallegos, El Calafate’s airport, Lago Argentino and also to Ushuaia. However, it’s vital that you book these flights in advance in the summer (December to March) and the winter ski season for Ushuaia (July and August). Aerolíneas Argentinas (freephone from within Argentina T0810-222 86527, http://www.aerolineas.com.ar) and LADE (freephone from within Argentina T0810-810 5233, http://www.lade.com.ar) fly these routes, and flights get booked up very quickly. At other times of the year, flights can be booked with just a few days’ warning. The Chilean airline, Lan Chile (freephone from within Chile T0600-526 2000, freephone from within Argentina T0810-999 9526, http://www.lan.com) now flies to Ushuaia from Argentine destinations as well as Punta Arenas, Puerto Montt and Santiago in Chile.

Air

Flying between these small main towns is complicated without flying all the way back to Buenos Aires, since there are only weekly fights with the army airline LADE connecting all the towns. To get between Puerto Madryn and Ushuaia or El Calafate, for example, your best bet is an overnight bus. Long-distance buses cover the whole of Argentina, are very comfortable – if you choose coche cama (bed seat), and reasonably cheap. There are several daily services between all the towns in Patagonia, though note that tourist routes book up quickly.

Train

There’s just one long-distance train across this expanse: a comfortable overnight service between Viedma and Bariloche in the lakes, also taking cars. Check out www.tren patagonico.com.ar, for further information. It’s cheap, but takes as long as the bus, and is only useful if you happen to be in Viedma in the first place.

Ins and outs

Patagonia is vast, and it’s no surprise that getting around takes some organization. Strictly speaking, Patagonia is the whole southern cone of South America, combining all parts of Argentina and Chile, south of the Río Colorado, which runs from west to east, just north of Viedma. It includes the Andes, running north-south along the extreme west (marking the Chilean border) and therefore the Lake District, which has been given its own chapter in this book . The Patagonia chapter, includes all of Argentine Patagonia apart from the Lake District and Tierra del Fuego, the island at the very bottom, which also has its own chapter .

For Puerto Madryn, whale watching at Península Valdés, and the Welsh village of Gaiman . For marine wildlife reserves at Puerto Deseado and Puerto San Julián, and the petrified forest . For the Cueva de las Manos, estancias and the Parque Nacional Perito Moreno . And finally, for both trekking around Mount Fitz Roy from El Chaltén, and for visiting the glaciers from El Calafate . The main centres, with good accommodation and services, are Puerto Madryn, El Calafate, Río Gallegos (which all have airports) and El Chaltén.