Grab a cup of tea for this one folks, its long!

Argentina – Bariloche

We flew from Mendoza to Bariloche, you can get a 20 hour bus but we thought the £40 flight was worth the money! We arrived in the afternoon and once we had checked into Hostel Achalay, we headed out to wander around the town. We were luckily enough to have stunning sunshine and the town is pretty with its Bavarian-style architecture and mountain-surrounded lake. There were people tanning on the pebble beach, drinking in the bars and eating in the cafes. In the evening we grabbed burgers at Belek and then bought food at the supermarket to make for our lunch the following day. Before bed, we drank some wine and played a couple rounds of monopoly deal, this was soon becoming our routine!

In the morning we were up early and got an Uber to the airport to pick up our car for the day, we were going to do the road trip named the ‘7 Lakes’. Funnily enough, the point is to see the 7 lakes next to Bariloche! We had tried to hire a car in town (only Hertz allow you to hire for less than 3 days) but they were charging $200 for the day! Luckily we got one at the airport for $70 and the taxi there is only $8. Our first stop on the trip was to the town of Villa La Angostura. This is about 1.5 hour from Bariloche and here we grabbed coffees and a sweet treat to keep us going for the rest of the drive. Our next stop was at Lago Espejo for a swim as it had a cute pebble beach. For lunch we decided to drive all the way up to Lago Traful but then couldn’t find the beach… There is no signal out there so make sure you pin everywhere you want to go on Maps.Me before you leave town! It didn’t matter too much though as we stopped at Lago Faulkner instead, had lunch on the beach, tanned and swam. We did forget half our lunch in the hostel fridge but thankfully we had enough snacks to tide us over! Throughout the whole day we stopped at many view points, they are really easy to spot along the roads. If you’re looking to do this trip we found this blog to be very helpful!

It was a long day (shout out to Nia for driving for 6 hours!) and once back at the hostel we gave ourselves a tight 30min turn around to be back out for dinner, I was starving after only having the salad half of our planned lunch. We went to Carnero for a steak and it was delicious, I would highly recommend. Another night of wine and Monopoly deal followed, with us even staying up past midnight – can you believe it!?

We had a longer lie the next morning, grabbed more cash and then jumped on the local bus to the bike hire shop for the Circuito Chico. The bus is easy to use, just buy and load a SUBE card at one of the connivence stores, you can use 1 card for multiple people and the same card can be used for all public transport throughout Argentina. Circuito Chico is a ~30km cycle circuit around Lago Perito Moreno, our hostel helped us reserve our bikes with Circuito Chico Adevnture when we arrived as it is high season and they can run out! You can pay extra for an e-bike but we wanted to make things harder for ourselves so didn’t bother. One thing I will say though is if you’re not into cycling, maybe get an e-bike as there are hills. A lot of hills. And they are steep. The first hill nearly made me turn around after 4km.

Luckily, about 6km in you stop at the Patagonia Brewery which felt like a well-earned break (even though we were only a fraction of the way into the loop). They have a picturesque beer garden overlooking the lake and serve cold beers and burgers. If you want, you can do tours there and there is a proper restaurant. In fact, you could spent the full day here and the thought did cross our minds but in the end, we had 1 pint and continued on our journey.

The next stop was only a couple of kilometres away and was a hot dog stand. Definitely stop here before continuing on as its the last place you can get food for about 15km! They are delicious hot dogs to be fair and when we were fuelled up, we pressed on. For some reason, the rest of the cycle didn’t feel as bad as the first hill.

Perhaps it was all psychological and the shock of the inclines had subsided, or we were getting stronger – either way, the remaining 20km flew by and, although sweaty and panting, we all made it to the end with a sense of achievement!

We jumped on the bus back into town and even though we had planned to go out for Mexican food, instead we grabbed a quick drink at Manush, a micro brewery in town and had a charcuterie board plus some fried chicken. This was supposed to be a snack but was huge so ended up being enough! It was an early night for all of us.

Bariloche Summary

• Length of stay: 3-5 nights, we only stayed 3 but could have stayed longer
• Where to stay: Hostel Achalay was lovely – great location, good rooms, free breakfast and decent kitchens.
• Itinerary: Day 1 – Explore town, Day 2 – Circuito Chico, Day 3 – 7 Lakes road trip, Day 4 – Hike to Refugio Fray (we didn’t have time to do this but was next on our list!)
• Top tip: You could easily spend a week here, the scenery is stunning and there is so much you can do. This isn’t a stop to miss! Also, getting cash here was a lot easier than Mendoza it Buenos Aires so stock up here if needed, there was a Western Union 2 minutes from our hostel.

Chile – Puerto Varas

So, we only really went to Peurto Varas as it was the easiest way to get Puerto Natales (the gateway to Torres del Paine). You can get a relatively inexpensive internal flight down Chile instead of flying back up to Buenos Aires or Santiago and back down again. The bus from Bariloche is only £30 and is easy enough, we got the 10am bus and had no issues.

We arrived into Puetro Varas around 4pm and walked to MaPatagonia Hostel. This was one of the nicest hostels we had stayed at so I would highly recommend! It was a converted house so had lovely chill-out spaces with tables, sofas, log burners and tons of games you could borrow. It also had 2 large and well stocked kitchens which is a dream in Chile as its so expensive. Once we had checked in we grabbed dinner and breakfast food from the supermarket, made dinner, drank wine and played some games. It was nice to have a chilled evening!

After breakfast the next morning, we walked into town. It was raining so already we weren’t in the mood to be outside too long, but also after Barlioche and knowing how much we’d be doing the next couple of days once we got to Torres del Paine, we wanted to be outside even less!

Puerto Varas as a town is fine, we preferred Bariloche but that’s just personal opinion (also probably swayed by the weather). There is loads you can do here if you want to, there are hikes, bike rides, hot springs, you can visit Volcán Osorno (normally you can see this from the town but it was too cloudy when we were there), I think you can also do boat trips on the lake. In the end though, we had a look at some local markets, went to the Puntilla view point and got an ice cream from Francois (10/10 and massive) before slinking back to the hostel for some down time. In the evening we made a huge lasanage, drank wine and played more games – are you starting to see a pattern here?

Puerto Varas Summary

• Length of stay: 1-2 nights, if you are short on time you can probably skip here
• Where to stay: MaPatagonia Hostel, it’s won best hostel in South America on Hostelworld twice! We loved it here
• Itinerary: Day 1 – Explore town & Hot Springs, Day 2 – a hike/bike ride/Volcán Orsono
• Top tip: You can skip Puetro Varas if you’re going to Bariloche or other parts of Patagonia, but it is a useful stepping stone to Torres del Paine as you’re already in Chile

Chile – Peutro Natales and Torres Del Paine

Our flight to Puetro Natales the next day wasn’t until 2pm so we whipped up a shashuka for breakfast before grabbing an Uber to the airport. The flight was only 2 hours so by 7pm we had landed, picked up the hire car, hired camping equipment, checked into the hostel, done the food shop for the next 3 days, bought our national park tickets and were in the kitchen making garlic bread and heating up our leftover lasanage.

We stayed at Lili-Patagónicos partly because they offered camping equipment hire. The hostel was lovely, with good sized rooms, hot showers and a good kitchen, but they had run out of hire equipment! It wasn’t a problem though as Yagan House down the road had plenty so we picked up walking poles and sleeping bags from them.

As we weren’t doing the main treks (the W or the O), we hired a car so that we could do parts of it. Our plan was to do the first and half of the second day, as well as the last day of the W trek, which included the Grey Glacier and the famous Towers (Las Torres). Honestly, this was enough walking for me, I was knackered after both days!

In the morning we packed up the car slightly later than planned and raced to Estancia Pudeto to get the 9am ferry to the start of the Grey Glacier trek. We made it just in time which was needed as our plan had been to hike to the Refugio Grey (where people doing the W stay on their first or last night, depending on which direction you go) and then back to catch the last ferry at 6:30pm. The hike would have been 24km in a total which is hard to do in 8 hours if you actually want to enjoy any of it! We managed to get about 1km away from the Refugio before we had to turn back, I think that’s pretty good going!

Once back at the car we drove for 30 mins to our accommodation for the evening, Cabanas Lago Tyndall set against the Serrano river. This place was amazing! We had booked the Canabanas as it was one of the cheapest options in the area and it was perfect, 2 twin rooms with a bathroom, kitchen and small living room. Our own little house in the middle of the valley, surrounded by stunning views of the national park. We were all pretty tired so made a very basic egg fried rice for dinner, had long hot showers and relaxed for the evening.

After breakfast we drove to the visitors centre at the start of the Las Torres hike, stopping at view points along the way. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. The whole drive through the park, let alone the hikes, were insane, I didn’t really know what to expect but it wasn’t scenery like this. You see blue glacier filled lagoons, rolling green hills against sharp black and white mountains separated by winding rivers glistening in the sun. No way I can describe it or any pictures I have taken will do it justice, it’s just one of those things you have to see for yourself.

We had booked the Las Torres Refugio Chileno which is half way up the hike to the towers. We had done this so that we could split the way up up into 2 x 2 hour stints. I know it may sound lazy but otherwise to do the full hike in a day would take 10 hours and honestly, we weren’t in that much of a rush. We parked the car at the visitors centre, repacked our bags to fit our sleeping bags (we had booked basic camping which doesn’t supply them) and set off up the hill. Although the hike up to Chileno was quite steep, the time passed quickly and before we knew it we were there.

The Chileno Refugio was lovely, its next a river and as we were so lucky with the weather, we could sit out in the sun, have a cold beer and relax for the afternoon. We had also been upgraded which was good (really cool elevated tents with a foam base and storage pockets) and bad (they provided sleeping bags so we had hired and carried them for no reason!). No but really we were very happy to have been upgraded and not just in a basic tent on a wooden platform. After impressively hot showers, we sat down for dinner. We had booked half-board here (dinner & breakfast) as we didn’t know what would be available and had heard stories that the food can run out by 5pm as they bring everything up on horses, so once its done, its done! We were served soup, salmon and lemon pie so can’t complain. If you have the chance, stay at this refugio, its stunning.

We set off just after 4am the next morning for a sun-rise towers hike. The hike takes around 2 hours but we gave ourselves nearly 3 to beat the sun there, we should have stuck to 2! The hike is only 4.5km and the first 3km are relavtively easy, the last 1.5km will take you an hour. It’s steep and there are lots of big rocks you need to clamber over. Saying that, on the way back down, in the light, it didn’t seem half as bad as it did at 5am in the pitch black! It didn’t help that both mine and Nia’s torches died so we only had 2 between the 4 of us. Either way, we made it up just after 6am, put on all the clothes we had (it was freezing at the top), and waited for the sun. The towers themselves were spectacular but when the sun came up and they glowed red, that was really special.

We stayed at the towers for an hour before heading back down in order to grab breakfast before it shut at 9am. We got there with 15mins to spare and were glad for it, we were starving! It felt good having 3/4 of the days hike done by 9am but the pause for breakfast caused us all to seize up and blisters to grow! The final walk back to the car felt like a long slog, even though it was 90% downhill and only took an hour and a half! It felt so good to take off our boots once we had got back to the visitors centre. We bought a couple souvenirs and then drove back to Puerto Natales. It was a quick operation of checking back into Lilli-Patagónicos, dropping the car and camping hire stuff off and repacking our bags to leave for El Calafate in the morning. Once clean and ready, we went for a pizza at Pizzeria Napoli which was decent, even if it was a bit too cheesy. After that, we basically went to bed, it was 7pm.

Puerto Natales & Torres del Paine Summary

• Length of stay: How long you stay really depends on how you want to do Torres Del Paine, the W takes 5 days, the O 8-10 days and you only need 1 night in Puerto Natales either side of this. Many day trips also leave from Puerto Natales so you could only do a couple of hikes if that’s your preference and come back to your hostel each night.
• Where to stay: In Peutro Natalas, Lilli-Patigonicos has everything you need. If you can, stay at the Chileno Refugio do – its a really cool spot and everyone on the hike stops here for a drink as a minimum. I would also recommend the Cabanas Tyndall we stayed in. It’s only a 40 min drive from the Grey Glacier ferry (only 5 minutes once you leave the park), so it’s a good base for that side of the park. They also have a hotel and camping options.
• Itinerary: Go to TDP, any which way you prefer. If you only want to do 1 hike, do the The Towers Hike.
• Top tip: If you only want to hike parts, hiring a car is the best way to see TDP. We only really did 2 full days of hiking but having the ability to drive and stop off at any point for the views and pictures, plus being able to spend a couple nights in the park itself were amazing.

Argentina – El Calafate

The bus from Puerto Natales to El Calafate was easy, we booked Bus-Sur through BusBud and it took 6 hours including the border crossing – we were finally leaving Chile behind!

We arrived at America del Sur hostel in the afternoon and spent the rest of the evening at the hostel, it was nice having time to do nothing! They had a BBQ on at the hostel which included unlimited meat, chips, salad and a glass of wine for £20. More than we were paying in Mendoza but is as to be expected in Patagonia. The hostel was lovely, big open chill space, a garden with hammocks, a bar/restaurant and they can help you book tours. It was a bit expensive so we stayed in a dorm but the beds were comfy and each bed has a charging port and shelf to put your phone etc. We definitely ended up drinking more than we had planned that evening but when the wine is £7 a bottle from the bar, it’s hard not to!

The 7am wake up the next morning for the Mini-Trekking was a hard one. This was one of the most expensive things we had booked ($250pp) but its worth it. First of all, the tour company Hielo y Adventura were so good, the trip ran like clockwork! The transfer picked us up ontime at 8am and took us to the coach, we then drove 1.5 hours to the Moreno Glacier view point. Here you can do walks of varying lengths or just chill out on the viewing platform to see the glacier. This glacier is massive! It’s the second largest in the world, spanning 250 square km. It’s hard to describe its vastness.

After a couple of hours at the viewpoint we were taken down to the boat which you spend 20-30 mins on to get to the other side of the lake, again, amazing views of the glacier and if you’re lucky you can see carvings fall off into the lake. Up until 2020 the glacier was at a steady-state – ie. Enough snow/ice was being produced to allow for parts to fall off at the front without it affecting the size of the glacier. Unfortunately, since 2020 its been retreating – 3 guesses as to why! Therefore, although the carvings are cool to see, you feel a bit guilty and don’t really want to see too many.

Once on the other side of the lake you move onto the main event, which is walking on the ice. The tour give you helmets and crampons (I’d never worn these before!) and you spend 1.5 hours on the ice, ending with a glass of whisky (or water) with a glacier ice cube. It was a very cool experience, they show you different features of the ice, such as rivers, sink holes, lagoons and cracks. The intense blue colour takes you by surprise, it just doesn’t feel real. After the walk we were back on the boat, bus and back at the hostel by 6:30pm. It was a long but fantastic day. By the time we were home we were starving so had the hostel BBQ again which didn’t disappoint.

Lewis had a 5:40am wake up the next morning as he was doing a day trip to hike Mt. Fitz Roy (the mountain the Patagonia logo is based off). I had bruised my ankle in Torres Del Paine so couldn’t walk another 20km, this was a blessing in disguise as there was only 1 space left on the transfer! Most people do this trek (and others) from El Chalten but it didn’t fit in with our plan so a 2 hour bus from El Calafate was the next best opinion. This hike is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in Patagonia and Lewis confirmed as much, saying it rivals Las Torres! I was sad to have missed it but it wasn’t meant to be.

Nia, Charlie and I had a lie in, grabbed breakfast and then went into town for a coffee. We stopped at Calafate Coffee Roasters which actually did have fantastic coffee and juices. Just to rub my relaxed day into Lewis more, I went and got a massage at Masajes Terapéuticos Harmony. I just messaged them on Google and they fit me in an hour later. I had a 60 min full body massage and it was only £21, absolute bargain. I spent the rest of the day catching up on admin, including booking an airport transfer through the hostel (only £5pp so would recommend) and planning our time in Rio.

Sadly, Nia and Charlie left in the afternoon for their flight to Buenos Aires so I had to keep myself busy until Lewis got back at 9pm. Then it was a quick turn around to repack bags and get ourselves ready for our 5am airport transfer for our flight to Ushuaia.

And just like that, our time in Patagonia was over. We did so much but there is so much more we could have done, I will definitely be back.

One big tip I have for anyone planning their trip to Patagonia is book everything months in advance. Things get booked up so early, especially in the summer months (Nov-March). As a bare minimum, book your Torres del Paine accommodation (particularly if you’re doing the W or the O) and the Mini-Trekking/Big Ice for the Moreno Glacier. Nearly all hikes can be done without a guide so just make sure you know where you’re staying!

El Calafate Summary

• Length of stay: Similar to Torres Del Paine, how long you stay really depends on what hikes you want to do. There is loads you can do here but the main attraction is the Moreno Glacier, so at a minimum, 2 nights.
• Where to stay: America Del Sur hostel is the best hostel you’ll find here!
• Itinerary: Day 1 – Explore town, Day 2 – Moreno Glacier (the view point, the Mini-Trekking or the Big Ice trek are the 3 main options for this), if you have extra time you can loads of other trips and treks, the hostel can help you book all of them
• Top tip: The Mini-Trekking is expensive but worth it, remember to bring warm clothes, especially gloves as they are mandatory on the ice! If you want to spend longer on the ice and want an overall longer hike, go with the Big Ice.