Argentina &TDP-8th-18th April.
 

My wife and self will reach BA on the 8th.Our plan is as follows.
9th early morning flight to El calafate. Visit Perito Moreno.
10th morning -depart for TDP.I may drive or avail the bus transfer. My plan is to spend 2 full days at TDP.Would prefer to stay inside the park .In addition would like to visit Isla Magdelena for the Penguins
Leave El Calafate for BA on 15th evening/16th morning.Plan to visit Iguazu for 2 days and depart BA on 18th .
Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

You realize that to reach Isla Magdalena, you will need to make at a 4-5 hour drive (one way) to Punta Arenas where you will need to catch the boat?

So your itinerary is looking like this:
9-Fly 3 1/2 hours to Calafate visit Perito Moreno
10-Drive 4-5 hours to Torres del Paine
11-TdP
12-Tdp
13-Drive 4-5 hours to Punta Arenas
14-Visit Isla Magdalena then drive 6-7 hours back to El Calafate
15-Fly BA

Just me personally, but this doesn't sound like too much fun. There is a lot of windshield time involved here. I think I would skip the penguins.

What is it you are wanting to do? hike? photography? or just gaze out the window at the scenery?

I will skip the penguins.Bit of hiking and photography.
thanks

Hi!

I also think you're going to feel very rushed with this itinerary. Torres del Paine is ideally a 4-5 day stop, and you need at least one full day in El Calafate if you want to do the glacier trek. Honestly, given the time you have, I would suggest doing either Torres del Paine or El Calafate and El Chalten.

If you do Torres del Paine, you can do a boat trip to see Grey Glacier, and you'll have more time to enjoy the different hiking options in the Park. Are you traveling on the 8th of November? If you are traveling in December, LATAM will be offering a flight from Buenos Aires to Puerto Natales starting on December 6th, which would cut down on your travel time. I also wouldn't necessarily recommend the Isla Magdalena excursion, but I think if you are set on seeing the penguins, you should definitely not stop in El Calafate in order to have more time in Torres del Paine.

If you do El Calafate and El Chalten, you will need a full day for the glacier trek / boat excursion (I'm not sure what time your flight arrives, but generally the flights don't make it in time for the tours). You could also spend a full day on a kayaking or boat tour in the Upsala Glacier. You could then spend the rest of your time in El Chalten doing some of the different hiking trails in the area.

Obviously this is a very personal decision, but given the distances between all of the places you are interested in and the time it takes to see the major sights, I think you will have a more enjoyable trip if you settle on fewer destinations.

Good luck planning!

Michelle, Say Hueque Argentina Journeys

Didn't see that you had already replied, sounds like you've already made a decision. Have a wonderful trip!

Still don't know what month you are talking about but...

If you are only into very light hiking, then El Chalten will be lovely and the views and scenery are hard to beat, but...the real draw of El Chalten is the more serious hiking-Google Laguna de los Tres and see the images (no other words necessary).

Torres del Paine has more views available by car/road with some lighter hikes, of course it also has it epic hikes with scenery that is hard to beat (but again this is some serious hiking).

I agree with Michelle, given your very short time frame I would choose The C's or TdP and if a serious hike is not in your plans, I think I would choose TdP-especially if you are not planing on trekking on a glacier but only looking at it. You can see Glacier Grey (though it does pale in comparison to Perito Moreno) from a nice mile or so walk.

The title says April..Which should be beautiful if you catch the forests changing color.

ONe thing to know is the catamaranschedules change in TdP in April.
There is only one catamaran each direction daily. Also the penguins tend to be mostly gone by April, I'm not sure the ferry even runs after March. The colony at Seno Otway is now very small and probably not worth the time.


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