Top Things to do in El Chalten
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10 Things to do in El Chalten That You Shouldn't Miss
The postcard-perfect landscape of El Chalten sets the scene for some incredible hiking and horseback riding. Trails of varying degrees of difficulty crisscross the national park, winding through beautiful stretches of greenery inhabited by rare birds. Recharge after a long trek with a visit to a local brewery or chocolatier.
Restaurants in El Chalten
1. Cerro Fitz Roy
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 2,867 reviews
Reviewed By Cjs800 - Shanghai, China
The Fitz Roy hike is absolutely amazing. It begins through varied terrains and finishes with a steep climb up to beautiful lake with views over the mountain peaks. Words cannot do this place justice.
2. Laguna Torre
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 1,515 reviews
Reviewed By watergirls2 - Cardiff-by-the-Sea, United States
Beautiful scenery, the hike was relatively easy to moderate. Recommend this hike if you are in El Chaltan for a few days. Mount Fitz Roy hike was our favorite! As others have said, the weather is unpredictable and you may start out with sunny weather and by the time you get to the Laguna Torre or other destinations it can be clouded over. We were lucky with abnormally warm weather and mostly clear good weather; however, if you can plan to spend some time at Laguna Torre or Fitz Roy since the weather changes so quickly you will likely be rewarded with clear views at some point during the day!
3. Sendero Loma del Pliegue Tumbado
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 264 reviews
Reviewed By CerroHike - San Francisco, United States
We waited for clear day for this hike based on the other TA reviews and the wait was well worth it. The hike itself is easy when compare to Fitz Roy or Cerro Torre because it gradual up hill (expect when you are inside forest and second viewpoint). When we were at first summit, the wind was super crazy, making hike hard. Since wind was crazy we didn't go second mirador. It was clear day so can't complain :). It was cold!!!. This is the best view among all the hikes, I would recommend this if you have extra days and clear day to make it worth your time.
4. Road to El Chalten
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 611 reviews
Reviewed By IN_Travelers47906 - West Lafayette, United States
There is one way in and one way out of El Chalten. Fortunately, it is so intriguing that you don’t need a second route. Stretching 132 miles/200 km from the El Calafate Airport or roughly 145 miles/225 km from El Calafate it is a hard-surfaced high-speed road safe at 110 km/hr except where turns and bridges require a reduction in speed. Traffic in both directions is common but passing is generally easy as long as you pay attention to no passing zones and blind spots. Expect a 3-4 hour trip, perhaps more if you have nice weather for once-in-a-lifetime photos. Getting there from El Calafate Airport is easy. The road follows the path of a backward C so you Just take a left turn every time you have the opportunity. The two largest lakes in Argentina, Lake Argentina and Lake Viedma, stretch east to west with Lake Viedma north of Lake Argentina. El Calafate is south of Lake Argentina, so you leave El Calafate, or its airport, headed east to go around the eastern shore of Lake Argentina and head north toward the eastern shore of Lake Viedma. Once you pass Lake Viedma, you head west into El Chalten. The landscape out of El Calafate is interesting, but not remarkable. Similar to areas of the American southwest. At about the halfway mark you will reach La Leona, a must stop for rest, history, bathroom break and excellent food. Plan on 30 well-spent minutes at La Leona. From La Leona, the landscape gets more remarkable with each kilometer as you get closer and closer to the beautiful peaks of the Andes that make Ell Chalten such a popular place with hikers and climbers. With a little luck, you will see some wild llamas along the way, staying especially alert to the possibility that they may cross the road in front of your car. There are several turnouts provided for photography along the road but that won’t prevent you from wanting to stop every few kilometers for another picture. Keep in mind, the picture opportunities continually improve, so the next picture you take will almost certainly be better than the one you are taking, and the very best photo ops come once you have passed the clearly marked entrance to the park. If the weather is good, perhaps the best photo-op is the last one provided by a large turnout overlooking El Chalten just before you make your final descent into the town. Also be advised that the weather and cloud coverage around the peaks changes literally by the second. If you have a great picture now, it may get worse if you wait, and vice versa. Pay close attention to the El Chalten weather forecast. With luck you will have a few hours with bright blue skies behind the peaks.
5. Laguna Capri
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,340 reviews
Reviewed By P4117SZstevel - Los Altos, United States
The lake was not hard to get to and was not crowded at all. If you got here by following the trek on the left at Punto de Encuntro, then follow the trek passing the lake and do the loop back up to the Fitz Roy view point (see the map attached in the photo) and then to town if you don't want to hike all the way to Laguna de Los Tres. The view of Fitz Roy along the trek just pass the lake was even more spectacular.
6. Mirador del Torre
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 456 reviews
Reviewed By Kreber668 - Bentonville, United States
Leaving Hostel Pilar you hike up to this viewpoint and it is amazing. Had some fantastic picture perfect shots of my husband and I from there. It was a nice walk up into the woods. We made our way to the Laguna de los tres trailhead. The river there past the campsite is beautiful and a great spot for light lunch. Decided that my legs would not make the last hour direct ascending to the base of Fitz Roy. Legs were tired from two days of hiking already - you need to be fresh for that.
7. Viedma Glacier
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 619 reviews
Viedma Glacier is located in Los Glaciares National Park in the Province of Santa Cruz and is the largest in Argentina. It flows directly from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field to the lake. Its front is 40mt from the level of the lake. Their risings are located in the heart of the ice field between 1.500 y 2.200 msnm. It has some dark, deep lines on the surface that are volcanic ashes strips mixed with ice. Also, it has suffered many repressions but not as important as the rest of the glaciers. Viedma Lake was discovered by Antonio de Viedma, in 1877 when Francisco Pascacio Moreno and Carlos Maria Moyano where on an expedition and discovered is location and characteristics. It belongs to the hydric basin of the Santa Cruz River.
Reviewed By Z6476DGbarbarae
A thoroughly nice and knowledgeable young mountain guide was assigned to our bus and boat tour on Feb. 20th, when splendid weather made this excursion through the solitary Patagonian landscape an eye-candy with vistas of Fitz Roy on the way to the boat landing on Lake Viedma and a spectacular lake-bound trip to the glacier.
8. Glaciar Huemul
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 623 reviews
Reviewed By Bezi - London, United Kingdom
You can get a bus from El Charlten to the lake, the road is unpaved but fine. then you can get a boat to the start of this shortish walk. There are 3 trails (red, yellow and green) you want to take the red trail to the top. The trails are well marked and you won't get lost. This will lead you up to the lake before the glacier. There are probably tours that do this as the land is privately owned or Las Lengas do a bus service down to the lake. I suspect a tour would be the best way as it would tie in the boat ride you need to do. Well worth it in my opinion.
9. El Mirador De Los Condores
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 792 reviews
Reviewed By paulrW967KS - Barnsley, United Kingdom
This trail leads out from the town past the visitors' centre and would be easy to overlook - but it provides outstanding views and a satisfying shorter walk compared to the main longer trails. We saw lots of condors circling around and had fine views of the mountains.
10. Chorillo del Salto
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1,302 reviews
Reviewed By JamesOC1987 - Tilford, United Kingdom
Only an hour hike (flat) through the forest from El Chalten gets you to this lovely waterfall. We visited after a lot of rain and it was unbelievably powerful. All well signposted and if you have a car you can drive to within a 5 minute walk (although you miss out on a nice walk beside the river)
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