One could call El Calafate the gateway to Argentinian Patagonia. The airport is about 20 minutes from the town and this is where you enter the “world of Patagonia”. It’s worth staying a day or two on the front or back and of your trip to see the Perito Moreno Glacier and just enjoy the beauty of the area.
How to get there
By Plane
You can fly into El Calafate from other airports in Argentina. This is a domestic airport only and it is the gateway to Argentinian Patagonia. We flew here from Buenos Aires and it was about a 2.5 hour flight that was gorgeous the whole way!
By Car
Once you arrive you have options for how you want to get around. We chose to rent a car to have the ultimate freedom during our trip and I am so glad we did. First of all, driving here is incredibly gorgeous. We have never jumped out of our car on a road trip so many times. To have the freedom to do so was amazing. It was also nice to have the freedom to arrive to tours, towns, and activities on our own schedule. For example, we were able to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier at an off time instead of when all of the buses run in.
Bus & Group Tours
You can also easily get around by taking buses and group tours. The only issue is less flexibility in your movements. There are tons of options, tons of price points, and this is certainly a viable option if you aren’t a confident driver or want to save a little money.
Where to stay in El Calafate
You have options in El Calafate at a wide range of price points.
Hotel Las Dunas
This is where we stayed and we found it to be excellent value for what we got. We stayed in the Deluxe suite room with a balcony and really appreciated having the balcony. The views here were FANTASTIC and sunrise was SO dreamy. The room was VERY large which is nice when you’re dealing with all kinds of weather. Admittedly it was also very bare, there wasn’t much to it besides the basic furniture. But at the price point, we found it to be good value for money.
The breakfast room and evening dining area have absolutely gorgeous views over Lake Argentino. There is also parking at the hotel. The location could be seen as a pro or con depending on how you look at it. For us it was a pro because it was peaceful, had parking, and had the AMAZING Lake Views. The con would be if you do not have a car it would be a significant walk to get into town.
You can click here to check out the views and book this hotel —–> Hotel Las Dunas
Xelena Hotel & Suites
We did not stay here, but this is definitely one of the more high end options in town. It has really nice reviews, is in a nice part of town, and would be another option we’d have chosen if we go with Las Dunas.
You can check out and book this hotel here —–> Xelena Hotel
Places to Eat
We visited in April so it was getting close to being the off season in Patagonia. We didn’t have trouble finding places to eat even without reservations. However, I highly recommend making reservations for dinner. I have read stories about peak season travel in which people were highly disappointed that they couldn’t get into places. We did see a number of people getting turned away from Pura Vida when we were eating there. So I think it pays to be safe.
La Trinchera wine and beer
We ducked into this spot in the pouring rain and we were so glad we did. It was so cozy and way bigger inside than it looks from the outside. I had some delightful red wine here and we had an empenada trio. Quite honestly I think they were the best of our trip, and we had a lot! After we had them we wished we’d just stayed and had a meal here too. I would recommend this place for happy hour or a meal.
UCO Wine Bar & Shop
I’m so glad we didn’t skip this one. This shop is so cute and I did a little red wine tasting flight here. They were super kind & explained each wine and the region they were from. If we hadn’t been rushing to a dinner reso I probably would have tried more.
Merino
We had to find a dinner last minute and we got lucky popping into Merino. We shared some great bread & dips, a nice salad, some empenada, and then a meat platter. Admittedly the meat platter was hit and miss. The lamb was amazing but some of the meat was a bit more rough to get through. Overall, for a quick last minute stop we enjoyed this spot. There was also some live entertainment as a duo of tango dancers came through which was really neat.
Pura Vida
I highly recommend this spot for so many reasons! First of all it is so cute and unique. The place is built over a few levels, all with nice seating areas for groups or couples. The menu was different than most of the menus we’d be eating and it was refreshing! We had meat stew with veggies served inside a pumpkin and we had a lamb stew. We had unfortunate weather for a lot of our trip, but had it been nice, this spot also has some lovely views of the lake.
Moala Chocolates
I’m not going to lie, we tried a few chocolate shops in El Calafate. It’s a nice activity for a rainy day. But we LOVED the chocolates at Moala. We tried a variety of different things and all of them were delightful.
Mi Viejo
We did not eat here, but you may want to look into it. I mention this because both nights we were in town there was a line out front to get in. We didn’t see this at any other spot so I wonder if people knew something we didn’t. The reviews on trip advisor are mixed, so who knows. But I thought I’d add it here just in case.
Things to do
Visit the Perito Moreno Glacier
This is by far the number one thing to do here and the reason many people come to El Calafate. The Glacier is only about an hours drive from the town and it is a fantastic attraction. There are many ways you can choose to explore the Glacier and the surrounding area. If you want to explore on your own, you can simply drive to the park, pay the entrance fee (included in the National Park pass), and you can walk the boardwalks to view the Glacier. On a nice day you could honestly spend hours here just wandering, exploring the different viewpoints and checking out the Glacier from every possible angle.
You also have the option to take a boat tour to get closer to view the glacier. There are varying levels of boat tours as well. You can do a tour that simply takes you to see it, you can do gourmet lunch tours, you can also do half day tours that take you to see a lot of the surrounding area as well.
Finally, and most intense, you can go trekking on the glacier. You can join a tour that actually takes you out walking on the glacier and experience it from as up close as humanly possible.
If you’re interested in visiting the glacier you can check out your tour options here —–> Perito Moreno Glacier Tours
Horseback Riding/ATV Riding
We didn’t get to do this on our trip as it was dumping rain on the day we wanted to go. They said they would still run the tour for us, but honestly we opted out. This would be such a fun experience though as the area surrounding El Calafate and overlooking Lago Argentino is so gorgeous. So if you do find yourself with some extra time and good weather, this would be a great option.
You can find some options for horseback riding tours here —–> Riding Tours
Visit the Glacier Museum
This is outside of El Calafate town and is actually on the way to the Glacier. We did not stop here but I have read that people really enjoyed it and found it informative.
Wander the Town/Walk along the Lake
We honestly really enjoyed just wandering around town, popping into shops and cafes and enjoying the scene a little bit. There is also a lovely promenade down by Lago Argentino that you can walk along and it is incredibly beautiful and relaxing. You can do a ton of bird watching along the lake and we even saw flamingos just hanging out in the water!
Practical Information
If you’re looking for more “know before you go” and practical type information about visiting El Calafate and Patagonia in general I wrote a whole post about it.
You can find my post here —–> Know Before You go to Argentinian Patagonia
This post contains affiliate links, if you book through my links I earn a small commission at NO cost to you. This helps me to keep this blog as ad free and easy to read as possible.