Patagonia in one week | Chile - Lonely Planet Forum

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Wed, 04 Nov 2015 18:14:07 +0000

Hey all,

My friend and I are going to South America for three weeks in December/January. We are mostly focusing on BA and Rio-but we had some extra time at the beginning before our third companion joins us and decided to check out Patagonia. We land in Santiago on December 30 and depart for BA on Jan 6. We know this is barely enough time to scratch the surface of this region, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a taste of Patagonia. Unfortunately, we do not have flexibility on arriving in Santiago or meeting our friend in BA.

Our tentative plan is below:
December 30 arrive in Santiago 10am
Flight to Punta Arenas, bus to Punta Natales
(airlines SKY, LAN)
December 31 --Punta Natales/Torres del Paine
Jan 1--Torres del Paine park excursion
Jan 2 early bus to El Calafate, Perito Moreno
Jan 3 early bus to El Chalten, see El Chalten
Jan 4 El Chalten
Jan 5 early bus to El Calafate, fly out of El Calafate

This is a lot of travel and we'd like to minimize it so we get the maximum hiking. To that end, would really welcome suggestions on how to modify our itinerary, how to access bus schedules, any group tours that are good, and other tips. We're both very active and most excited about the hiking.

Many thanks!

ONLINE

Wed, 04 Nov 2015 21:56:30 +0000

Bariloche and a small town near it called El Bolson! Bariloche has all the tourist spots and el bolson is a great "hippy" town with an awesome artisan market which alot of locals make their living from. The towns are about an hour bus away from each other both in Patagonia at the bottom of argentina

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ONLINE

Wed, 04 Nov 2015 22:55:06 +0000

In response to #0

Given that you only have one week, I think your plan is way too rushed. I would suggest either (a) spending the week at Torres del Paine and complete the W or (b) spending the week in El Calafate/El Chalten.

That would maximise your time in Patagonia more than running about. If you haven't hiked or done a multi-day hike then El Chalten would be the best with great hostels and brilliant day hikes out the back of town. You'd also fit in a day trip to Perito Moreno Glacier. With TDP - its one of those places that you need time to get from place to place and its usually by walking the W or Circuit.

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ONLINE

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 02:38:04 +0000

Trent is right. You don't have time, so choose. Torres del Paine, or Mt Fitzroy and El Calafate with the Perito Moreno glacier.

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ONLINE

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 02:41:47 +0000

Trent is right. You don't have time, so choose. Torres del Paine, or Mt Fitzroy and El Calafate with the Perito Moreno glacier.

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ONLINE

Thu, 05 Nov 2015 02:42:09 +0000

In response to #2

Thanks for the advice, Trent. Do you have thoughts on how to get to Torres del Paine and then to Buenos Aires efficiently? Part of our calculus was that we land in Santiago and have to meet in BA--regrettable, now that I know more about the region, but unavoidable. We had figured we might then take buses around the region and get to see more but I would prefer to do more hiking and less moving.

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Thu, 05 Nov 2015 06:27:18 +0000

In response to #5

If you wanted to go from TDP to Buenos Aires the easiest way would be flying from Punta Arenas > Santiago >BA. You could grab the bus to El Calafate and then fly from there.

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Sun, 06 Nov 2016 01:01:44 +0000

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