allisoncw

Hello Fodorites,

My husband and I (46 and 52 y.o.) are in the beginning stages of planning as trip to Patagonia for December 2016. Our entire trip would likely be 10-12 days. We love to hike, enjoy beautiful nature and be adventurous. That being said, we are in decent shape, but don't aspire to do anything grueling or treacherous....2-5 hour day hikes would be fine and/or white water rafting, kayaking, etc. We neither want super expensive accommodations, nor do we need to slum it.....somewhere in between that is nice, but not too crazy pricewise would be great. Good food and a romantic setting would be great.

Not sure if we fly (from Nashville) into Argentina or Chile? Who offers the best airline prices? Are there any day hikes that are "must sees?" We can do this with or without a tour company....we prefer not to be part of a group and we're comfortable planning and executing a trip without a lot of help (except from YOU!) and I speak decent Spanish too

Any suggestions you may have of an itinerary that has us enjoying some of the gorgeous beauty of the region without too many crazy logistics would be very helpful. Thank you in advance for any help you can offer! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

dwdvagamundo

Allison--bookmarking in the hope that someone knowledgeable answers.

yestravel

We were in that area a couple years ago. Loved Patagonia. Skim thru our TR to id the portion on Patagonia.
http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-chile-arg.cfm

odie1

We spent three weeks in southern Patagonia in Dec 2013 and we too will be returning Dec 2016 (at least that's the plan).

Patagonia is an immense area that is found in two countries. You really need to concentrate on narrowing down the area to northern Patagonia or southern Patagonia with 10-12 days, depending on your interests. Southern has glaciers, incredible mountains, fantastic hiking and is more remote. If you are doing southern Argentina Patagonia (El Calafate and El Chalten) then you need to fly into BsAs. If you are doing southern Chile Patagonia (Torres del Paine) you will fly into Santiago. You say no crazy logistics but none of this area, except El Calafate and Puerto Natales, is easily reached. It took me almost three years of planning, along with the help of fabulous Isabel, to get our three week trip to come together and we travel a lot so I am not a novice.

I have never been anywhere as raw and wildly beautiful as southern Patagonia. Once you have an area/country you are interested in, come back and post some more questions. In the meantime, I think you need to read some previous posts.

If I remember correctly, yestravel spent time in northern Patagonia as well but did not make it to El Calafate/El Chalten so our trip reports will cover different areas, as well as some of the same (PN and TdP).

http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...reath-away.cfm

yestravel

Odie makes some excellent points. It is defintely a tough area to figure out the logistics for. Decide which places you'd like to visit and go from there realizing you may have to make adjustments due to logistics and your time constraints. You may want to fly into one city and out of another depending upon you itn.
TdP remains one of the most scenic places I have ever seen & has some great hiking.

We picked up a car in PN and drove to and from TdP. We did go from TdP via Puerto Natales by bus to El Calafate, but never made it to El Chalten. I believe the bus ride from PN to El Calafate is 5-6 hours. I have since read that you can get a tour from TdP directly to El Calfate & vice versa. But I believe that is just for a day and I would definitely want to spend time in TdP.

There are several of us on this board who have spent time in this area and can hopefully help some.

odie1

that's right yes travel, you were so close (for Patagonia distances that is) to El Chalten and wished you had gone.
I correct the above in saying that Punta Arenas is easily reached as the airport in Puerto Natales is not open now so for southern Patagonia that leaves you with airport options in El Calafate (Arg) and Punta Arenas (Chile) a huge distance apart.

thursdaysd

I, too, had a wonderful time in Patagonia. See:

http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-patagonia.cfm

I did not do much hiking, and saw TdP by bus tour. I traveled entirely by public transport.

You do not have a lot of time. Flights from Nashville will almost certainly require two changes to get to El Calafate - see skyscanner.net or itasoftware.com for routings. I would definitely start in El Calafate for two full days, followed by a side trip to El Chalten. Then you have a choice. You can go back to Bariloche for the Lake District and return to Buenos Aires to fly home. Or you can cross the Andes to Chile and fly home via Santiago, but with limited time you will have to fly from Punto Arenas to Santiago.

allisoncw

Dear Odie 1, Yes Travel, & ThursdaySD, Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to me and for your blogs and links which I look forward to reading in great detail in the next few days. I have decided I am going to spend the bulk of my vacation in Torres Del Paine. Since my original post, I have done quite a bit of research. Unfortunately, some of the wonderfully rated hotels are upwards of $800-1000 per night, per person, which is out of my budget. I am open to arranging everything on my own or finding a company that may be able to help me with logistics as long as the fee for this help is reasonable. I am open to renting a car and driving from Punta Arenas to TdP or Puerto Natales - OR coordinating a pick up and drop off (I realize the drive is 5 hours each way). Here's where I need some help. I would be willing to hike 8.5 hours to the Valley de Frances and 10+ hours to the base of the Paine Towers, but I am not fancying an ALL DAY EVERY DAY HIKE. I would rather see Glacier Grey by catamaran and give my body a rest from those other hikes. It seems like staying in Puerto Natales it a waste of time, given that you are driving 2-3 hours a day to TdP park. Is there a place (or PLACES) in or near the park that are not outrageously expensive (less than $800USD for TWO people) that could accommodate a variety of hike and excursions and transportation? If I find that, perhaps I shouldn't rent a car. I also know that the hikes don't need guides...but if I could get one reasonably, it would be nice. I'd rather go home each night to a soft bed and a good meal than hiking from campsite to campsite or to refugio. Any ideas? THANK YOU! Allison

odie1

allison-
We stayed in TdP and had a rental car that we drove around. This worked well but there was a problem with finding gas in the park. My blog discusses this and ways around it. We only hiked to the base of the torres (as a very long day hike) and went to Glacier Grey by car. The hotels offer guide services but as you said, they aren't necessary. The best thing to do is to stay in two different parts of the park as driving times are slow. We stayed at the Rio Serrano.

yestravel

Allison- right, don't stay in PN and go back and forth. Unfortunately hotels and food and everything in TdP is expensive. We stayed in Hosteria Lago Tyndall which is across the road from the park entrance so a touch less expensive. There are other places to stay nearby, not in the park. The park is easily accessible from this location, but you do need transportation. And as oldie said gas is an issue.

We did some nice hikes and didn't hike everyday. You will need to check with the hotels to see what they offer in terms of transportation. To get around the park you do need transportation. I don't recall general shuttles running throughout it.

I don't recall specifics from our trip as it was a few years ago, but all the details are in the TR...you can skim thru to find the portions that interest you.

mlgb

What kind of research did you do?

You can stay in the Hotel Las Torres for about $300 a night if you go non-inclusive. That is ideal for hiking to the base of the towers.

www.lastorres.com

The same company (Fantastico Sur) also has the Refugio Torre Central (the newer refugio) which has somewhat lower rates here, but it is a bunk-style dorm.

http://www.fantasticosur.com/en/rates/

To take the catamaran over and spend the night at Paine Grande, the company is www.verticepatagonia.com

allisoncw

Thank you Odie !, Mlgb and YesTravel....those were excellent suggestions...I am excited now that I have enough info to start putting a plan of action together! The research I did was on-line, looking at TripAdvisor, Fodors, Frommers....then going off to links of tour companies, hotels, etc. With enough reading and great ideas and suggestions from people who have BEEN there, it all starts making more and more sense. Thank you all very much again and I wish you a 2016 with more wonderful travel adventures!

yestravel

Once you've decided pretty much where you want to go you may get some you help pulling it all together., Isabel who odie and many others on this board have used, is supposed to be a great travel agent. She's based in Argentina.
Have fun putting this all together.

And lots of adventures for you in 2016!

yestravel

I meant to add -- just to reinforce your choice of Patagonia, I was organizing and working on photos from trips gone by. We have been to some beautiful places in our travels, but Patagonia esp TdP still stands out as one of the most spectacular places we've been. I bet you love it!

mlgb

I have a trip report, although it's old, you can find some info for an independent trip there. I don't think a lot has changed (other than I'm sure everything costs more!). But the bridge to Las Torres has improved (can't recall who reported that).

If you want to see Glacier Grey, a car would be convenient. I don't think there is any public transfer, and tours are probably fairly pricey.

http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-del-paine.cfm

Be sure to bring walking sticks for the hike to the Towers. It's more to save the knees on the downhill! You don't need a guide, really, the path is well marked and there are tons of people anyways.

allisoncw

Thank you MLGB and YesTravel - Excellent reports and details that are very helpful! I appreciate your taking the time to share this with me/us!

odie1

allison, the hike to the towers that mlgb mentions is easily 9 hours RT. You said you were looking for hikes no more than 5 hours. The two most remarkable hikes were the Towers in TdP and Laguna de los Tres in Chalten (a 10 hour hike).
Just a FYI for us-we were grateful for the sticks in Chalten but glad we did not have them for TdP as we used our hands some times maneuvering through the boulders.
Don't know if you read my TR report yet or not but it will give you a good idea of the hikes.
Come back for more help and questions once you have an idea of which parts you are going to visit.