This is the reason why so many visit El Calafate, Argentina, and there is no better reason! 80 km from town you feel excitement build, when you spot the massive field of ice as you approach. Until then there hasn’t been much to see on the bus ride there. Once at the site you have two options. You can either walk the 1117 m long blue route, that will take you to the main glacier area, or you can get on a park bus. I recommend going by your own devices. You get to see the glacier from afar, enjoy Argentino Lake, spot small ice bergs floating around, and have a look at the boat that will take you on the offered up-close experience. After seeing how full the boat was, this was also a way of coming to a conclusion, I will not be spending my money on that! In the end you make it up close still, just by foot. At the main glacier area there are four more routes of different lengths, crisscrossing the area. All made up of boardwalks with viewing platforms and benches, on which you meet people you end up having dinner with in the evening 😀 After taking in the white and ice blue beauty from several angles, watching it calve, several times, wonder how it would be to walk on the spikelike surface, lunch can be had at the cafe, or out in the sunshine – my preference 🙂 There’s also a souvenir shop and restrooms. When the allotted 5 hours are up, which I thought was going to be too much, but proved to be just perfect, you’re picked up at one of two spots, the place you got dropped off or by the cafe building, and taken back home.
Not wanting to partake in a tour, I decided to buy a return bus ticket with Caltur (caltur.com.ar). No guide included, a round trip ride only. Scheduled to depart at 9 in the morning, and to be back in El Calafate at 4 pm, it should give you around 5 hours at the park. The outbound trip took longer than the estimated hour, maybe close to 30 min longer, but it didn’t take anything away from my experience. There is a second early afternoon departure with an early evening return. Might be available in the high season only. On the way you stop for the entrance fee, cash only, and at a picnic spot for toilet breaks. On our trip were one of the souvenir photographers working at the Perito Moreno site. She ended up posing as a guide giving us lots of information and tips. Perfect!
Tip: Pick a seat on the left side of the bus. Will give you the best view of the glacier upon approaching 🙂
Website: argentina.gob.ar/parquesnacionales/peritomoreno
