Patagonia - Advice

The following link is provided as information only. Please, do not take it as a recommendation.

www.chaltentravel.com</a><BR><BR>Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.

http://www.hieloyaventura.com/ for day trek on Perito Moreno glacier. I did this in April and loved it.

It is easy to trek in Fitzroy on your own - the paths out of El Chalten tend to be 1 or 2 day treks at most, the trails are well marked and there are good maps available.

Something I heard of while I was there was the Helsingfors to Cristina trek. We stayed at Estancia Cristina and were totally blown away by the amazing location, it's pricy though. The people coming through on that trail from Helsingfors arrived at Cristina mid-morning for lunch, spent the afternoon chilling and then got the boat out in the evening. I would definitely look into this trek if I went back to the region.

I think having your own transport might help depending on where you decide to go, rather than rely on good but infrequent buses.

Most things are very easy to do on your own and in any case you can take some guided tours locally. The most important thing is to get a flight (if you want to fly down) well in advance. For example trekking around El Chalten is very easy to do on your own. The same for the glaciar in Perito Moreno or going to Torres del Paine and do the "W". (book refugios in advance if you want to stay in one of them). Ushuaia and Peninsula valdez is also very easy on your own. If you take the whole trip with an agency it will be much more expensive.

I agree with everything Nahuel said. If you're used to planning trips on your own, there's no need to use an agency to see the beautiful sites of Patagonia.

Hi
Chlaten Travel looks interesting with a diverse offering. Tours can make life a bit easier and can also be a way to meet people but add to the cost, so it depends on your preferences. Here are some more suggestions for additional operators you can take a look at:

Enjoy Patagonia has a variery of Patagonia circuit tours most of which are around two weeks long. Their Total Patagonia tour goes to most of the major destinations. You go to the Puerto Madryn area and Peninsula Valdez, Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego National Park, Calafate and the Glaciers and Bariloche and its lakes and mountains. Prices start at US$1268 and the tour is 16 days long. You get to go Buenos Aires too.

Latour has some shorter tours in the area and also has their 12 day Patagonian Odyssey tour which starts in Santiago and then goes to Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine National Park, to the Glaciers and Calafate and ends at Buenos Aires.

Check out Gap Adventures, they have all kinds of active Patagonian trips which sound great.

Good Luck