The Perito Moreno glacier is one of the most famous sights of Patagonia. The glacier is part of the third largest ice sheet in the world, after Greenland and Antartica. It is relatively easy to visit this glacier and even by not doing a trek you can come really close to the glacier. We booked a minitrekking tour of this glacier, which is definitely a must when you are in Patagonia!
Where we stayed
El Calafate is the main hub to visit the Perito Moreno glacier. El Calafate has an airport and the buses to other parts of Patagonia also go from here, so you are bound to visit El Calafate. El Calafate is quite a touristy town because of this. Touristy towns can be a bit annoying, but in the case of El Calafate it’s not a problem.. The town itself has a nice wintersport feel to it and features many great restaurants. Trekkers also aren’t rowdy tourists, so you are not bothered by other tourists 😉 We especially loved having dinner at the Patagonia Cerveceria (which we previously encountered in Bariloche) and Casimiro Bigua. Casimiro Bigua is a touristy steakhouse, quite expensive, but the service and the quality of the meat are very good. They also have a traditional dance show and very nice Christmas decorations, which I missed in other restaurants. We stayed in a private room in a hostel, which cost € 30 per night. I would recommend to spend a little bit more per night to have a more comfortable stay. € 30 is very cheap for Patagonia and it showed in the facilities and the quality of the bed.
El Calafate is located at a beautiful blue lake, where you can even spot flamingos, so if you have some time left, I would definitely recommend walking to the lake for some flamingo spotting.
Minitrekking Perito Moreno
We chose to do a minitrekking with Hielo & Aventura, which allows you 1,5 hours on the glacier, but you can also choose to do a “big ice” which gives you 3 hours on the glacier. The minitrekking is the most popular activity in El Calafate, so there are lots of buses leaving in the morning for Perito Moreno. Definitely don’t expect to be on the ice by yourself! The minitrekking costs us about € 140 per person, which is a splurge, but cheaper than glacier tours in most other countries. For example, in New Zealand you need a helicopter ride to access the glacier, so it is much more expensive to do it over there. You can also choose to visit the glacier from the boardwalks, instead of going on the ice, but we really wanted to experience what it was like on the ice. When you book the minitrekking you get the opportunity to walk on the boardwalks after your trekking. If you want to visit Perito Moreno you need to pay about € 10 for entering the Los Glaciares National Park.
The minitrekking starts off with a pick up from your hotel, after a drive of about 90 minutes you will board a ferry-like boat. The boat will bring you to a refuge, from which you will do a little walk to the start of the glacier hike. We already loved being on the boat, from the boat you have super views of the part of the glacier that you are going to hike on. We had quite a rainy and cloudy day, which you definitely see in the pictures, but on the other hand that does make the blue of the glacier stand out 😉 I expected quite a hike to the beginning of the glacier, but that was not the case. Pretty much the whole path to the glacier was made of boardwalks, so that shows how popular this activity is despite the high price. After the “hike” you receive a helmet and crampons. I wore the crampons with low hiking shoes, which was not ideal but doable. I would recommend to bring high hiking shoes if you have them, because it takes off some pressure of your feet.
Our guide explained a lot about glaciers and luckily he spoke very understandable English. In 1,5 hours you don’t walk very far, it just doesn’t go fast on the ice. Our group consisted of 15 persons and everybody was taking pictures all the time, so the day did consist of waiting a lot. That wasn’t a problem as you could enjoy the amazing views, but it did take a bit away from the experience. We made sure to walk in the top of the group and that created a lot of interaction with our guide, which was very nice.
After the glacier hike we had our DIY lunch (bananas!!) and after that we were brought to the boardwalks at the other side of the glacier for some more Perito Moreno views. I didn’t expect to like the views from the boardwalks as much as I did. From the boardwalks you get a really good overview of how large the glacier really is (something you don’t notice when you are standing on it). Every five minutes or so, large pieces will fall off the glacier and create loud noises, which was a spectacular sight. The Perito Moreno glacier is currently expanding in the direction of the boardwalks, but unfortunately global warming also has an effect on Perito Moreno. The Perito Moreno glacier is considered stable, but that is only true when you measure at the “wall side” that enters the waters. We saw measurements that show the glacier has been decreasing in surface for over the last 10 years, which is a real shame..
Concluding: our Hielo & Aventura minitrekking was a full day of fun, we would recommend to do this tour. It was very well organized and if you are interested in glaciers, you will not be disappointed.