El Calafate

Population:15.000 inhabitants approximately

Climate: dry cold

Distance from Buenos Aires city: 3000 km.

The unlosable: The Glacier Perito Moreno and the Glacier Upsala.

The best time to visit us: Any time of the years is favorable to come and visit the different glaciers of the area.

The Anniversary of it’s Foundation: December 7

The unlosable party: February 15, anniversary of the baptism of the Argentinean Lake.

The city of El Calafate is located at 3.000 Km. of Buenos Aires, and at 315 Km. of Rio Gallegos, capital of the Santa Cruz's province.
Our International airport has very comfortable facilities, and also has an important quantity of flights and combinations with other destinations in Patagonia.
Lastly, we have roads in very good conditions, asphalted almost completely, that communicate us with the south of Chile, almost directly with Puerto Natales.

From Buenos Aires through the coast

You have the option of choosing any of the routes that will take you to Bahía Blanca or Río Colorado, to continue from there to San Antonio Oeste, from where you will only have the option of continuing through the National Route N°3. And if you want to venture even more you will have to go to the west and find the National Route Nº40.
If you come from the route Nº3, from this point, you will begin to enjoy the typical landscape of the patagonic steppe, and if you are a good observer, you will be able to enjoy the blue of the sea in some sections, or the gumps, sheeps, choiques, piches, hares and foxes that are usually seen crossing or beside the road.
Continuing with your trip you will go by the following points of interest: Sierra Grande (where you will be able to carry out a trip to the interior of a copper mine), Peninsula of Valdés (the whole year it will offer you wonderful faunal shows), Puerto Madryn (with its unlosable beach in a sunny day), if you can turn aside until Camarones you will be able to apreciate the second penguin colony in quantity of birds of our continent, Comodoro Rivadavia (another unlosable beach is Rada Tilly, at 15 km of Comodoro), Caleta Olivia, if you dare to 50 km of gravel you can’t loose of knowing the National Monument “Petrified Forests”, Puerto San Julián (it is worth to visit Pavon Island to know some more of our history), and from here you have 2 options:

• Continuing by the National Route Nº 3, to Rio Gallegos, taking then the Provincial Route Nº 5, then the 40 and finally the 11. All these are asphalted and in good condition.
• Take the Provincial Route Nº 9 and combine then with 11. In this case, the section of the Route Nº 9 is of gravel, which in general is in good condition during the summer, but it is always convenient to ask in the last Service Station for its current state.

From Buenos Aires through the Mountain Range

Choose the route that you prefer the most to arrive to Bahia Blanca, to branch off from there towards Rio Colorado, by the Route 22, you will go by Choele Choel, General  Roca, Neuquén, and from there you will begin to go down by the Route 237, skirting the Picun Leufu Lake, going by Piedra del Aguila, continuing to Bariloche. If you go with some time you can branch off to know the area of Junin de los Andes, San Martín and Villa la Angostura, by the routes 234 and 231, known as the Route of the seven lakes. From Bariloche you continue towards El Bolsón, Esquel, and we are already on the National Route N° 40 that continues asphalted as far as Gobernador Costa, continuing in gravel as far as meeting with the Provincial Route 11, at 15 km of El Calafate. In the gravel section you will find the following areas of interest: Perito Moreno (where you will be able to visit the Cave of the Hands), branching off about 60 kms. you will be able to know Los Antiguos (and taste the most delicious fine fruit of our country), from banks of the Viedma lake you can branch off about 90 kms to know El Chaltén and the area of the Fitz Roy, from where it will remain 220 km to arrive to El Calafate.

From the south of Chile

You can acces to El Calafate coming from the south of Chile, either through Rio Gallegos, if you took the route 255, crossing through the Pass of Southern Integration. Or if you chose the Route Nº 9 you can cross the frontier in Puerto Natales leaving to Rio Turbio of the Argentinean side (and make the most of it and know the area of the carboniferous bowl) side, or to cross by Cerro Castillo, leaving to Cancha Carrera. In both cases, you will continue by the Provincial Route 7, completely asphalted, as far as Esperanza, continuing then by the Provincial Route 5 as far as finding the Provincial Route 11.

The companies that communicate you with our destination are: Andesmar, TAC, El Pingüino, Don Otto. All they will take you to Rio Gallegos, where you will need to combine with local companies to arrive to El Calafate. The section between Buenos Aires and Rio Gallegos lasts about 36 hs.

From the Bus Terminal going by the International Airport of Rio Gallegos (4 hours).