Have you ever heard about Patagonia? It’s the southern part of Chile and Argentina and a popular travel destination for nature lovers. With its wonderful national parks, mountains and glaciers, Patagonia has landscapes you’ll certainly fall in love with. I traveled through Patagonia a few years ago as part of a big trip through South America. During this trip, I visited various places like San Carlos de Bariloche, the Perito Moreno glacier, Ushuaia and a couple of national parks like Torres del Paine and Tierra del Fuego. In this article, I show you some places you definitely have to visit as well as some tips on what to see there.
How To Get There And Travel Around
Most larger cities like San Carlos de Bariloche, El Calafate, Punta Arenas and Ushuaia can be reached by plane. From and/or between these places, you can catch buses. However, make sure to make your reservation in advance as there might be limited availability.
San Carlos de Bariloche
San Carlos de Bariloche lies in northern Patagonia on the Argentinian side and is a popular place for outdoor activities like skiing and hiking. Back in the 19th and 20th century, many Italian and Gerrman immigrants came to live here. Nowadays, you can still see these influences in the architecture, culture and way of life. The town with wonderful views on the lake is also known because of the chocolate and ice screams. Although Bariloche is a more popular place to visit during winter, also during summer, you’ll will not get bored. The whole area is perfect for hiking and walking trips.
Perito Moreno Glacier
The Perito Moreno glacier is one of the biggest glaciers in the world and a real must when being in Patagonia. The glacier lies close to El Calafate and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Argentina. From El Calafate, various tour operators are offering tours to Parque Nacional Los Glacieros. The drive to Perito Moreno is spectacular but the best comes when you enter the park and walk down the platforms to see the magnificent glacier! The Perito Moreno is self-sustaining which means that the glacier is expanding and advancing itself without any effects of climate change.
While the platforms offer great views on the glacier, I highly recommend to go on a boat trip to see the glacier also from the other side. You’ll then can come as close as 120 ft. (30 m) from the glacier. The boat cannot come closer as big pieces of ice can fall into the water. However, apart from some small pieces of ice that were broken of the glacier, I haven’t seen anything that could lead to a danger. Grab yourself a whiskey on the rocks and watch this magnificent glacier cracking and calving.
Torres Del Paine
About 5 hours driving south from Petiro Moreno, you’ll find Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine. The park is much bigger than Parque Nacional Los Glacieros and you can easily spend a couple of days here. Puerto Natales is the town where most tourists will start their trip. Here you’ll also find various shops with all the things you need for the hiking trip. The park itself offers many places to stay during the night. If you don’t like hiking and sleeping in the park itself, no problem! You can also book day tours from Puerto Natales and still see many beautiful things like mountains, waterfalls, glaciers in the park like I did.
Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas is the biggest city in the region and a perfect place to start or end your trip through southern Patagonia, mainly because of the airport. Apart from some beautiful buildings and monuments like the Maritime Monument, Punta Arenas itself hans’t that much to offer compared to all the national parks. However, It’s certainly worth it to spend a couple of days here to relax before or after your trip through the parks.
Ushuaia
Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world, about 4 hours flying from Buenos Aires. The city with a relatively young population of 60,000 people is known as the gateway to Antartica. The population has grown fast over the past few decades, mainly because of tourism. The main street in the center is a popular place to do some shopping before traveling further. You’ll see various shops for outdoor activities here. From Ushuaia, you can make several day trips like a ride on the Tren del Fin del Mundo (train to the end of the world). On the other side of the Beagle Channel, you can see Chile.
Tierra Del Fuego
Another day trip that can be made from Ushuaia is to Parque Nacional Tierra Del Fuego. This is undoubtedly something not to miss out when being in Ushuaia and I highly recommend to do this. A wonderful walking trail leads to lakes with beautiful coast lines with views on mountains with snow. There are also glaciers in the Ushuaia region. However, I wouldn’t give this a priority as these are not that spectacular, especially if you already visited the famous Perito Moreno glacier.
General Travel Tips
- For Accommodations, always check Airbnb and Hotels Combined for the best price options
- For specific tours and to know what’s around, always check Get Your Guide and Viator.
Bottom Line
In this article, I have listed some of the most popular places to go in Patagonia as well as some of the tourist attractions. As you have seen, Patagonia offers many beautiful landscapes you don’t see in other parts of the world. Myself, I really loved the Perito Moreno Glacier as well as Parque Nactional Torres Del Paine. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the famous Grey Glacier during this trip but I see this as a good reason to come back.
It has to be said that a visit to Patagonia is not something you do in just a few days. Myself, I traveled through Patagonia for about 3 weeks as part of a 2 month trip through South America. Plan your trip wisely and book transportation in advance as there might be limited availability in some cases. I’v seen quite a lot of Patagonia during this trip and I’m definitely planning to come back here in the future.
ALSO READ: Travel Tips For Peru
Have you already visited Patagonia or have you planned a trip? Is there any particular place you would like to visit? Let me know in the comments below.
