Ultimate Two Week Patagonia Itinerary – What You Need To See

Where Is Patagonia

Patagonia is a vast region located in the southern ranges of South America. Stretching from the central plains and mountains of Argentina and Chile all the way to Ushuaia “the southernmost tip of South America. It is one of the most amazing place I have ever visited and should be on everyone’s bucket list. Being from Canada I am not easily “wowed” by hiking but Patagonia definitely wowed me. The landscapes are mesmerizing and the area legitimately has some of the best hiking in the world.

The region referred to as Patagonia spans across both Argentina and Chile. Most people when they think of Patagonia are referring to the Chilean national park of Torres Del Paine. This area is just a small part of the greater area. There are actually many other parks in Chile and Argentina. I think Los Glaciares national park in Argentina was one of my favourite destinations I have ever been to. If you have a higher budget some of the hotels in this area are legitimately some of the nicest in the world. We made a list of our favourites here.

Because Patagonia is such a vast area it is really important to have a good plan and itinerary before you go. I am going to help you out with this below

• Chile Or Argentina?
• When To Visit
• How To Get To Patagonia
• Stay In The Park Or Not?
• Where To Stay ( Our hotel list here)
• Where To Go & What To see!
• How Much Time For Patagonia
• Renting a Car
• Gas For Your Car In Torres Del Paine

Chilean or Argentinian Patagonia?

Depending on the amount of time you have you may not be able to see both. If you have 7 days or less you want to pick one or the other. If you have 10 or more days I would recommend doing both as a busy but fun highlights trip. Remember the area is massive you could easily spend months exploring here and never get bored. There are two very famous hikes you have probably seen, The base towers, and Laguna De Los Tres. The base towers are in Chile and the Laguna hike is in El Chalten Argentina. Chile is a bit more developed and feels more like a North American nation. Argentina on the other hand feels a bit wilder and has a much stronger Latin/ European vibe.

What to expect from Chilean Patagonia

In south Chile the main highlight is Torres Del Paine National park. The park is the golden plains and the famous mountain range that houses the W and O trek. The world famous base towers trek is also in these mountains. Torres Del Paine is one of the best places in the world for Puma and condor sightings. The park is incredible and these are some of the most beautiful and wild mountain ranges in the world. There are also several incredible glaciers you can hike drive or boat trip too.

The Stunning Base Towers In Torres Del Paine

Outside of the park in the town of Punta Arenas there are also several penguin colonies where you can see the bigger King, or cuter Magellanic penguins on a tour.

What to expect from Argentinian Patagonia

Argentinian Patagonia is a broader area with more varied terrain. Around the town of Calafate you have epic plains leading to the most impressive glacier we have ever seen. Further north in the hiking mecca of El Chalten are pointy peaks with dramatic lakes and waterfalls. The famous Patagonia logo is based on the view of these peaks. There is also a very famous hike to a lake lookout below the mountain called Laguna De Los Tres.

One of many fabulous views at the lake Laguna De Los Tres in El Chalten

Which Patagonia To Choose

This is nearly impossible to answer for me. My favorite single view was the Laguna De Los Tres hike in El Chalten Argentina but I thought the prettiest area was the park of Torres Del Paine Chile. Wherever you go you will not be disappointed so try not to stress it, and just pick some highlights you like from our pictures and plan accordingly.

When To Visit Patagonia

Patagonia is a very southern destination on the world scale. Because of this the weather can be wild and unpredictable. To give yourself the best shot at a good weather window for views and hiking I recommend going in high season. Remember this is the southern hemisphere so your normal winter is summer and vice versas.

Spring November to early December – This can be a great time go with flowers starting to bloom and the whole area starting to warm up. It can also still be cold and snowed in and make trekking difficult. Do you feel lucky? – temp 0 – 15C

Summer Late December, January, and February – This is when we recommend going to Patagonia. There are exceptionally long days (16 hours +), the best chance of good weather/views and no issues with snow clearance. – temp 5 – 25C

Fall March and April – This can be a magical time to visit. Fall colours are starting to set into the famous lenga trees, and there are far less visitors. The famous winds are lower than in spring. Temperatures are starting to drop at night but the weather could still be good. Same weather risks as Spring. – temp 0 -10C

Shoulder season is less windy but it’s more prone to rain and the cold. Because of this we recommend high season. It can still be unpredictable and windy but it gives you the best chance at having views. After all you don’t want to fly to the literal end of the earth and not get to see anything! For your best chance at warm clear days (15-22C) you want to be there peak season December to February. There is going to be a bit more traffic in this time but if you follow our plan you it won’t be to bad at all.

How to Get To Patagonia

There are two major hubs for Patagonia. Buenos Aires for Argentina, and Santiago for Chile.

If you are coming from the east coast or Europe you are going to want to fly to Buenos Aires and then to El Calafate. From El Calafate you can easily do this itinerary in reverse.

If you are coming from the west coast you are going to want to get to Santiago or Puerto Montt. From Santiago you have a couple options. The most Convenient for Torres Del Paine is Puerto Natales as its closest to park. However the town is smaller so the flights are less frequent and more expensive. There are also less car rental options here but that doesn’t matter if you are bussing. The main hub for the area is Punta Arenas. Punta Arenas has the bigger airport, more car rental options, the penguin tours and great restaurants. Generally most people fly to Punta Arenas due to the difference in flight and car rental costs so we are basing the trip from there. Whichever direction you are coming from sometimes the flights are cheap one way and expensive another so I always recommend checking with Kayak here.

Staying In Torres Del Paine Park Or Not?

There are some amazing places to stay inside the park like Eco camp , Lago Grey hotel and the famous Hotel las Torres. These are super convenient beautiful and boy are they ever priced that way. We found the best of both worlds was to stay in the park for one night to do the Base towers hike and the spend the rest of the time just outside it. By staying just outside the park gates you can stay in a far nicer hotel for less with just a little bit of driving.

Ultimate two week Patagonia Itinerary – What to do and see

Day 1 Fly into Punta Arenas pick up your rental car and drive to the town of Puerto Natales. Puerto Natales is the biggest town close to Torres Del Paine national park and a great place to base yourself. If you don’t drive or are not going to rent a car you can easily bus here from Punta Arenas. Most of the day trip tours to the park and the shuttle all leave from here.

If You Don’t Rent A Car – The Bus Sur booking website here gives you a list of the daily departures. You can use this bus schedule for daily tours to the park, as well as getting between all the towns. You can easily bus between Puerto Natales – EL Calafate – and El Chalten. There are also some great full day tours from Puerto Natales like this one.

Whichever you choose spend the night in town go out for dinner and stock up on snacks and groceries for your hiking days.

Day 2 – 4 – Hiking Torres Del Paine Park

We recommend staying closer to the park to minimize your drive time. We stayed at the Rio Serrano hotel in the area of the same name. This is one of the closest places you can stay by the south gate to the park, meaning you can get in and out for sunrise and sunset. This allows you to miss the crowds and see as much as possible. Full disclosure Rio Serrano was pretty swanky and definitely on the pricey side we liked it so much we wrote a whole blog about it. If that’s not your style there are plenty of other places to stay that are far more affordable. Surprisingly if you are not doing the W trek and electing for day hikes like us the costs can be less but your hotels are faaaaaar nicer in the Serrano area. I think the park eco fees are quite exspensive for the resorts within the park.

This is a good budget option in the Serrano area. There is also a glamping stay if you are looking to stretch those dollars.

We are going to list the highlight hikes for us to fill your days and we suggest picking your favorites and prioritizing them for the good weather days. Patagonia is wild by nature and when you get a good weather window make sure you take advantage of it!

Salto Chico Waterfall & Boardwalk Hike

Mirador Condor

Guarderia / Mirador Lago Grey

There is a very cool glacier boat tour you can take from the Lago Grey Mirador that takes you all the way to the glacier in the distance. The top rated tour here!.

Salto Grande Lookout

Mirador Cuernos Hike

Cuernos is a bit of a hike from the Salto Grande parking but it is a very pretty walk and a great sunset spot looking at Torres Del Paine Massif.

Mirador Nordenskjold Lookout

If you don’t want to hike this lookout is literally a drive up!

Cascada Rio Paine & Laguna Amarga area

Cascada Rio Paine and the Flamingos at Laguna Amarga. You can walk right down to the lagoon to see the flamingos better but after our hike days this hill was not going to happen!

Laguna Toro Hike

Laguna Toro is just inside the south entrance to the park and virtually everyone skips it. This is a great warm up hike and we liked the views over the Serrano area.

If you have extra time, the Glacier Grey trek, Mirador Francis and Mirador Britannica all looked amazing.

Day 5 – Staying in Torres Del Paine Park + Base Towers Hike

Today you are going to change accommodation and stay in the park for a night. We found the Eco Camp to be a great location for hiking and your best value for a stay. They include all meals wine and trekking snacks. This makes it a perfect spot to get up early and do your sunrise hike. We ended up having to change our itinerary and did this in the middle of Rio Serrano days solely for a weather window. So be prepared to change your itinerary around.

There is another way you can do this that works quite well also. You can pack the car leave Rio Serrano super early do the hike and then check into the Eco Camp after your done and just relax all day. We we left for our hike at 7 am and were back around 1 leaving plenty of time to enjoy the Eco Camp.

Wake up early and do the Base Towers hike. The base towers are the hike everyone thinks of when they book a trip to Patagonia. This is not overhyped, it is 100% as beautiful as it looks, do not skip. We met many people who did this hike 2+ times to get a view because it was so important to them and they were glad they re did it. Do not let any people you meet try and talk you out of it.

Day 6 – 8 Drive to El Calafate to see the most impressive glacier in the world.

After your big drive day we elected to stay somewhere simple and found the América del Sur Hostel Calafate to be more than adequate. I have put up a live accommodation map here to help you out.

El Calafate Accom

Wake up early the next day and drive the hour to Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park. There is a ticket booth to enter the park that was charging $29USD pp. At the time they accepted debit but as a rule for the majority of Patagonia always have cash just in case. This park is incredible and the included walking trails around the glacier are amazing you can not go wrong here. There is also a phenomenal boat ride here that is totally worth the $40 it was at the time.

If you have some extra cash these people kayaking looked like they were having the time of their lives. There are also some incredibly cool glacier trekking tours .There are not many spots on the planet where you can glacier trek and this would be AMAZING.

If you don’t have a rental car and would like to day trip from El Calafate there are a ton of options. Here are some of the highest rated tours.

Day 8 – 12 El Chalten + Los Glaciares National Park + Lago Desierto

El Chalten is the undisputed hiking capital of Argentinean Patagonia. I think this may have been my favourite place on the whole trip. It doesn’t matter so much where you stay here as the town is small and most everything is walking distance. This is the only spot on our itinerary where a car doesn’t help at all. We stayed at the El Chalten Suites as it was in a great location and good value. There are tons of place to stay so feel free to shop around here. I have attached a map showing where the best area to stay is.

Anywhere around this part of town has a great mix of walkability and dining options.

There are several can’t miss hikes in the El Chalten area, once again for weather I will list them and you can prioritize based on weather.

Laguna De Los Tres is the equivalent of the Base Towers in Torres Del Paine but possibly more impressive. This hike was absolutely incredible and should not be skipped for any reason. It is worth the 20+km grind!

This is legitimately one of the best views I have ever seen. Absolutely mind blowing in person!

Torres Lagoon

This lake is famous for Icebergs but unfortunately we arrived after a hot spell. The warm weather caused a lot of run off and the brownie blue water. This lake is sometimes spectacularly blue with lots of icebergs.

Fitzroy Viewpoint Patagonia Logo viewpoint

This is the famous Patagonia logo viewpoint!

The Secret Waterfall

The secret waterfall and the trail views heading up to the lagoons

Mirador De Los Piedras Blancas Glacier

Chorillo Del Salto

If You Have Extra Time

If you have an extra day or several to spare the Lago Del Desierto area north of EL Chalten is spectacular. We particularly enjoyed the Huemul Glacier hike as well as the Vespignani glacier lookout. If you have a healthier budget there is a private trekking lodge there we absolutely loved called Aguas Arriba that includes all these hikes on private land. If you don’t have the time for another stay but still want to see the lake and the glacier there are some tours here.

Lago Desierto had some of the most impressive Sunsets I have ever seen in my life. We wrote more about Lago Desierto here.

Day 12 – 14 Punta Arenas + Penguin Tour + Fly out

Today you are going to start the long drive back to Punta Arenas. We stayed in the Central Hostal Boutique Puerta Roja. Nothing to crazy but a comfortable stay in town good walking distance from everything. There is not a ton you have to see here but there are some cute cafes a couple museums and some great restaurants. What makes Punta Arenas special is the Penguin Tours.

Penguin Tours Punta Arenas

There are two tour options you can choose from. We picked the one day Magdalena island boat tour from Punta Arenas. They pick you up early in the am at their downtown Punta Arenas locations and shuttle you 30 minutes to the boat launch. From here you take an enclosed boat to Magdalena island and get to walk around with the Magellanic penguins. Magellanic Penguins are the little cute black and white ones. Officially you have to stay within the walking path but it doesn’t matter at all because the penguins are EVERYWHERE. They are running around yelling crossing the path. Certified good time. After this you go to another island for whale watching and spotting Lion seals.

Your other option is to see the bigger more colorful King penguins. This option looked amazing but it was a very long day. I believe the tour was 14 hours and we were just not feeling that long in a car after our big drive from El Chalten the previous day. But if King Penguins is on your bucket list this is a great ethical way to go see them .

Crossing the Chile Argentina border with your car

Not all the rental companies allow you to cross the border. Make sure you check with your company beforehand. We used Emsa in Punta Arenas and had zero issues but there were lots of options. You can search for the cheapest and most reliable here. We like to compare Expedia and Kayak for the best deals. Kayak is usually a bit cheaper but Expedia has better rental protections. If you have a good travel credit card that doesn’t matter save that $$. If your company allows you they will give you another piece of paper that allows you to clear customs. Crossing the border was big nothing and went fairly easily. No searches or hard times just have to make sure you get both sides of your paperwork stamped. It’s important to know that not all the border crossings are open all the time so make sure your route is open. Your car rental company is great for this.

Gas In Torres Del Paine Park and Patagonia

Gas in the entire Patagonia region can be a but hit or miss. If you see a gas station fill your car completely whether you need it or not. Many people run out of fuel on their Torres Del Paine driving loops so planning is required. We had a nissan sentra that got great mileage so we were okay for our 4 days of park driving.

The gas stations in Puerto Natales are reliable but farther north into the park area there are not many options. Many of the hotels in the Rio Serrano area will sell you 10-15 litres in an emergency but the prices are double or triple what it is in town. Most of these hotels will only take cash as well so make sure you have bills. Many people recommend bringing a jerry can with you but most rental companies (ours) will not allow it. If you plan out your route in advance you should be absolutely fine but it is something to pay attention to.

This is a similar story driving through to El Calafate and El Chalten. El Calafate is a big town and has many stations but El Chalten only has one and it does run out sometimes. The in between town of Esperanza is reliable and a great place to get a snack at the roadside cafe and fill up on your way to El Calafate.