El Chaltén is the mecca of Argentine hikers. This is the starting point for trekking to Fitz Roy (the very mountain depicted on Patagonia t-shirts) and Cerro Torre. The place is interesting not only for rock climbers but for all people who love nature. It is not necessary to climb the mountain; trekking to the foot will also bring a lot of pleasure. People of all ages gather here in one place (our 8-year-old child was not the youngest on the route). Elderly people with walking sticks slowly but surely reach the finish line. On the trail, you can meet both athletes in the most advanced gear and ordinary people in simple tracksuits (we were in regular clothes, we only bought thermal underwear). In total, there are 5 famous trekking routes in El Chaltén, but I will share a short version of what you can see in one or two days.
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About El Chaltén
One can hardly call El Chaltén a “city.” It’s not even a settlement, but a very small village. Only a few hundred people live here, serving tourists. Hotels and guesthouses here are not cheap; our room in a hostel cost 50 euros, and that was the lowest price that could be found.
How to get to El Chaltén
From El Calafate
El Chaltén is located just 200 km from El Calafate. To get to El Chaltén from Buenos Aires, you first need to fly to El Calafate, and then reach El Chaltén from the El Calafate bus station. Buses run throughout the day, and the journey takes 3 hours. The last bus usually departs at 18:00, although sometimes there is a trip at 20:00, but not every day. In any case, it’s better to buy tickets in advance. Tickets can be purchased at busbud.com
From Puerto Natales
It is very logical and cool to combine a visit to El Chaltén with a visit to the Chilean Torres del Paine. To do this, you need to buy a bus ticket from El Calafate to Puerto Natales. There is a slight variation in bus prices, but in reality, there isn’t much difference between the buses. They have toilets and good wifi throughout the journey. The travel time is stated as 6 hours, but in reality, it took us 10 hours. The Chilean border guards are quite strict and search very thoroughly for various prohibited products (meat, fish, seeds, fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, and cheeses). They essentially emptied every single bag on the bus: all suitcases, backpacks, and packages.
Tickets can be bought on busbud.com or here:
Laguna de los Tres Route
Trail Entrance
The route to Laguna de los Tres is the most popular trekking route. Its length is 23 km, or 11 km each way. The first 10 km are relatively easy, but for the last kilometer, you should set aside an hour. But it is definitely worth it.
The entrance to the national park is “conditionally” paid. Conditionally, because entry to some trails is paid, while for others, no fee is charged.
Throughout Argentina, there is a single price for national parks – AR$ 45,000 / $31.5, with a 50% discount on the ticket for the second day.
Entrance number 1 is marked on the map above; this is where you need to buy a ticket. The ticket office is already open at 6 am. I don’t know what time it opens to avoid the entrance fee. Nevertheless, the trail is beautiful and well-maintained; we didn’t find a single candy wrapper or empty bottle on all 13 km of the way, though there wasn’t a single toilet on the route.
The paid and closest path to Laguna de los Tres
If you have the strength, you can go a bit further to the left; then you will have to walk an extra 10 kilometers, visit a few more cool viewpoints, and avoid the entrance fee. In the end, we did exactly that route, but we started from the paid entrance and exited where the free entrance is. We walked 34 km, 50,000 steps, but our 8-year-old child managed without difficulty, played snowballs at the top, and rode down an ice slide.
How the route goes
There is no mobile signal in the national park, so you need to download maps.me, but the paths and trails are well-marked, and there are signs everywhere, so it’s not difficult to follow the route even without a phone. I especially liked that the climate zone changes every 2 kilometers – first you walk through forests, then you get into marshes, then forest again, but somehow lifeless. This is truly a very beautiful route and worth flying so far for. However, the weather also changes. It rains even with a blue sky, and the sun is replaced by a gray sky in a matter of seconds; the weather forecast cannot be trusted at all. Therefore, you need to bring thermal underwear, a waterproof jacket, a thermos, and food; you can’t buy food in the park, but you can collect water from the streams, it is drinkable here.
And the force with which the wind blows here is something I have never encountered anywhere else in my life. The wind is not cold, but it literally blows you off your feet.
And here is how the route looks in photos (it was January 11, 2026):
If you arrived in El Chaltén at lunchtime and don’t have time for a full trek, you can go along the route towards Torre Lagoon, marked with the number 2 on my map. It is 9 km to the lagoon, you don’t have to go to the end; already at the beginning of the trail, there will be very cool views of both El Chaltén and the river of the same name, which flows at an incredible speed in the canyon.
Here is how it was:
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