Hello,
I'm traveling this Friday on a last minute trip down to Argentina for 11 days. All I have booked so far is my r/t flight from NYC to BA. I'm thinking of doing 3 days in BA, then flying down to El Calafate. Was going to spend 3 days there, take a bus to El Chalten, and spend 5 days there. I love hiking, running, photography, etc, so figure this would be a good spot to travel.

A few questions:
- Am I allocating my time appropriately between the 3 spots?
- Do I need to book the r/t bus trip ahead of time or can I just buy it once arriving in El Calafete?
- Are there any activities that are "must dos" in those spots?

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give.
Thanks!

Unless you're a heavy duty hiker (planning to climb Mt. Fitz Roy?), 5 days in El Chalten might be a little much.

We spent three nights/two days and it was plenty, it takes about 3 hours to get there from Calafate, you can walk around the whole town in about 1/2 hour and there are lots of nice day hikes, but it's extremely windy there.

In Calafate, the glaciers are the main attraction, again I felt that 3 nights with three days was plenty for this area too. You could hike the glaciers one day and take the all day boat tour the next.

I would add another day to BA, maybe plan a day trip to Colonia? There's so much to do in BA. I always like to spend my last day in BA to shop before the night flight home.

Owlwoman: Thank you VERY much for your immediate input.
I have actually adjusted my schedule a bit. Here's the new itinerary...

Arrive Sat morning in BA. Spend Sat, Sun and Mon there.
Depart Tues morning for El Calafate. Spend Tues, Wed and Thurs there.
Depart Fri morning for El Chalten via bus. Spend Fri and Sat there.
Depart Sun morning for El Calafate via bus, take flight to BA and then flight to Iguaza Falls. Spend Sun night, Monday and Tues morning there, and then fly back to BA for flight back to NYC.
Thoughts?

Nice Itinerary banker123.

If you do a bus or bike tour on one of your days you'll likely see the main highlights of BA, and on your other days you can look deeper into anything that interested you from your tour. And as you can tell by your itinerary the outdoors will be far more interesting than the city like it was for me.

We did the mini-trek at El Calafate, and it was awesome.

Iguazu is spectacular as well. The one thing to be careful of though is your flight leaving back to BA on Tuesday. Our flight was delayed 3 hours. So, I would recommend not taking a late afternoon flight expecting to arrive at BA just in time to transfer to your flight home.

A few quick follow-up questions:

Did you guys book the bus rides between El Calafate and El Chalten ahead of time?

Did you bring granola bars/hiking food with you from the States or are there places to purchase once in those towns?

I think I will be staying at the Patagonia Rebelde while in El Calafate and either at El Puma or Senderos while in El Chalten. Did you stay at either of these places or are there places you would recommend other than these?

Also, my flight from Iguaza leaves at noon and my flight back to NYC from BA doesn't leave until 9:15 pm...hopefully that gives me more than enough time!

Thanks again for all your help!

Great plan, only one suggestion, go to El Chaltan first, then Calafate, this way you don't have to worry about getting back in time for your flight, we did it this way and I thought it was much more relaxing.

We stayed at Los Cerros Lodge and transportation to/from El Calafate was included, so cannot help you with the bus ride there.

In Calafate we stayed at the Kosten Aike, two blocks from town. Good location, but lots of dogs barking at night, so if you're a really light sleeper, might not work for you. We did enjoy staying here and the location was great.

I also like to spend my last night in BA, you just never know if flights might be cancelled, or weather problems, etc. I would cut one day in BA out of the front end and put it at the back end (that's just me though), I wouldn't want to end my vaction with angst about catching the int'l flight home that night.

And finally, no we didn't buy any snack food here to bring with us, there's plenty to buy when you get there and it's very reasonable (my DH loved the AR candy

I would suggest that 3 days in El Calafate is too much. The town itself is a typical tourist town, so not really much to see/do. You should certainly do the day trip to Perito Morino glacier, but unless you have specific activities in mind, I'd drop a day from El Calafate and spend it in El Chalten instead.

Bear in mind that the bus ride to El Chalten is a long one, though not as time consuming as it used to be. So, you really will only have 1.5 days to hike in the park. I'd want an extra day in case of bad weather, especially if you want to do photography.

I'd book your bus as soon as you get into El Calafate. During the busy season (which is now), you need at least a day or two ahead of time. If you can book further ahead of time, you should probably go ahead and reserve.

There's a nice supermarket in town, and you can buy pretty much whatever you need there. There are plenty of outdoor gear shops, as well.

Pictures from a trip several years ago:

http://www.pbase.com/escog/los_glaciares

Have ou ever heard about the NW area f Argnetina??? Yhis area, teh upper corner of the map keeps one the most beautiful landscapes, unique and incredible!!! the wonder of the region will amaze you and the weather is just perfect..
The wines, the food, the culture, the architecture... everything is beautiful here. If you come some other time or if you change your mind.... remember, base in SALTa and take two-day tours to the north ans the south of SALTA...
Have alook.... none of the picture make justice to the place!
http://cometosalta.spaces.live.com/
Flintstones-....