Patagonia itinerary advice
Replies: 3 - Last Post: Sep 28, 2012 7:42 AM Last Post By: geraldtopsy
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Patagonia itinerary advice
Hi all!First time poster here, hoping for some advice on an itinerary for Patagonia in early November. My friend and I are heading south and we have 19 days to see some wilderness.
Bus to Puerto Varas overnight from Valparaiso
Puerto Varas (1 day)
Bus to Bariloche (1 day)
Futaleufu (2 days)
Coyhaique (1 day)
Chile Chico (1 day)
Caleta Tortel (1 day)
El Chalten – Mount Fitzroy (2 days)
El Calafate – Perito Moreno Glacier (2 days)
Torres del Paine (3 days) - not the W, easier trails
Puerto Natales (1 day)
Rio Gallegos (2 days)
Punta Arenas – penguins (2 days)
Fly from Punta Arenas to Santiago
We're hoping for mostly overnight buses on the long trips - we're not hiring a car. Also, we like hiking but will be sticking to day trips. We definitely won't be camping out!
As always, the questions are:
Is this too rushed?
Does this seem like a logical order? Maps can be deceiving.
Are there any unmissable national parks? Parque Pumalin looks difficult to access without a car.
And can anybody recommend accomodation in Chile Chico or Caleta Tortel? They sound enchanting.
Thanks for any feedback!
1
I will take charge in some partsthis schedule
Coyhaique (1 day)
Chile Chico (1 day)
Caleta Tortel (1 day)
not logical, because you are doing unnecessary backtracks
the logical path
Coyhaique-Cochrane-Tortel (2 days)
return Tortel-Cochrane-Chile Chico (other 2 days)
and a one million question how do you plan reach Chalten? a possible answer cross Chile Chico-Los Antiguos (frequent buses) and connect there with the bus of chaltentravel.com to Chalten , I guess will be running in November
" Parque Pumalin looks difficult to access without a car".
no , very easy, moreover, the treks are beside the road, you must take the bus Futaleufu- Chaiten and there some daily bus to north (Kemel Bus) or hitchhike
my advice, plan better this part, forget overnight buses, an unknown luxury here, all local buses with one frequency every 2 days, even a week, par example Futa-Coyhaique and some every day
May be skip this part (denying my love for the splendid Carretera Austral) and do a direct bus Bariloche -Chalten
2
Not at all realistic. You're going to spend all your time on the bus or waiting for it. From Esquel through the Carretera Austral to Tortel /Chile Chico is all very slow travel. There are no night busses. 10 days is a minimum for this stretch, I'd say.3
Thanks for the replies. As it seems like the Carretera Austral deserves it's own holiday, I think we will move straight from Futaleufu to El Calafate - via Bariloche. At least we'll get to see some of the Argentinean pampas!
