Top 5 El Calafate Sightseeing Tours Reviewed

So, you are thinking about a trip to El Calafate, which is pretty much the main stop for seeing Patagonia’s giant ice fields. Honestly, standing before a glacier that stretches for miles is a moment that just stays with you. The real question, then, is that with so many tour options, how do you actually pick the right one for your style? As a matter of fact, it can feel a little overwhelming. Well, that’s what we are here for. We have personally looked into the best sightseeing tours you can find in El Calafate, you know, to help you figure out which amazing day out is the perfect fit for you. Basically, we’re going to walk through the top five choices right now.

1. Perito Moreno Glacier Minitrekking: Actually Walk on Ice

Okay, so this one is sort of the big one. Imagine putting on crampons, you know, those spiky things for your boots, and literally walking on the Perito Moreno Glacier. The minitrekking tour is a bit of an adventure, for instance. First, you usually take a bus to the park and then a small boat ride that takes you right across the water to a spot at the glacier’s side. It’s pretty wild seeing that massive wall of ice get closer and closer. Honestly, once you’re on the ice, it’s a totally different world. The guides show you how to walk safely, and then you spend about an hour and a half exploring a place that is, like, otherworldly. You’ll see these incredibly blue streams of water and deep crevasses, and you sort of feel like you’re on another planet.

Typically, a tour like this gives you the bus ride, the boat crossing, and the guides who fit your crampons and lead the way. You usually need to bring your own lunch and, right, pay the national park entrance fee separately. To be honest, this tour is really for people who are fairly fit. You have to be able to walk on uneven ground for a while, so there are often age limits, usually between 10 and 65 years old. Anyway, my personal take is that this experience is just one for the books. Actually walking on that ancient ice, feeling its texture under your feet, is something you, like, never forget. It’s a completely humbling feeling.

“Frankly, the sound of the ice crunching under my boots was the only thing I could hear. It was completely surreal, in a way.”

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2. The Glacier From All Angles: Balconies & Boat Safari

So, if trekking on ice sounds a little too intense, there is an absolutely fantastic alternative. The classic tour to the Perito Moreno viewing platforms, or ‘pasarelas’, combined with a boat trip, is probably the most popular option for a reason. Basically, these platforms are a series of very well-made walkways that are built on the hill opposite the glacier. You know, they give you these stunning, panoramic views from lots of different heights and angles. You can spend hours just walking along them, waiting and watching for a huge chunk of ice to calve, or break off, into the lake. I mean, the sound it makes is like thunder, and it’s something you seriously have to hear for yourself. It really puts the power of nature into perspective.

Then there’s the boat safari part, which is just as amazing. A boat takes you right along the southern face of the glacier, sometimes getting pretty close to that towering wall of ice. From the water level, you get a completely different feeling for its scale—it is, you know, just enormous. This combination tour is more or less perfect for everybody. Families with kids, older travelers, photographers, really anyone who wants to see the glacier without a very physical workout. In some respects, you get a better sense of the glacier’s total size from these walkways than you do when you’re standing on it. At the end of the day, getting both the wide-angle view from the balconies and the close-up view from the boat is the best way to see it all.

Read our full review: Perito Moreno Balconies and Boat Safari Full Review and Details

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3. Beyond Perito Moreno: The “Todo Glaciares” Boat Tour

Alright, so Perito Moreno is the star, but it is not the only glacier around. The “Todo Glaciares” or “All Glaciers” tour is, like, a full-day boat excursion that shows you some of the other giants in Los Glaciares National Park. You actually leave from a different port, Punta Bandera, and spend the entire day navigating on the massive Lago Argentino. By the way, the scenery is just unreal. You are constantly sailing past these gigantic icebergs, or ‘témpanos’, that have broken off from the glaciers. They float in the milky, blue-green water and come in all kinds of wild shapes and sizes, and you just want to take pictures of all of them.

The main destinations on this trip are often the Upsala Glacier and the Spegazzini Glacier. You typically see Upsala from a distance because there are so many icebergs, but it’s one of the biggest in the park, and it’s quite impressive. Spegazzini, on the other hand, is known for being extremely tall—its walls are, like, way higher than Perito Moreno’s. Sailing right up to it is a really incredible moment. This trip is seriously perfect for people who just love being on the water and want to see the variety of glaciers in the area. Photography buffs, well, they will be in absolute heaven. Honestly, it has a slightly different vibe, kind of like an expedition to see things not everyone gets to.

“As a matter of fact, floating among those giant blue icebergs felt like being in a different part of history, in a way. So quiet and huge.”

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4. For the Hiking Fans: A Day Trip to El Chaltén

Now, if your heart beats a little faster for epic mountains and hiking trails, then you might want to look at a day trip to El Chaltén. It’s a bit of a long day, to be honest, as El Chaltén is about a three-hour drive from El Calafate. But it’s famously known as Argentina’s “National Capital of Trekking” for a very good reason. The town sits right at the base of the iconic Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre. The drive itself is actually part of the adventure. You travel along the legendary Route 40 across the vast, empty Patagonian steppe, and on a clear day, the moment the Fitz Roy range appears on the horizon is, frankly, just breathtaking.

These day tours usually include a guide who will tell you about the region and take you on one of the shorter, more manageable hikes. For instance, a common one is the trail to the Mirador de los Cóndores (Condors’ Viewpoint), which gives you a fantastic view of the town and the whole mountain range. Other tours might take you on the start of the trail towards Laguna Capri. At the end of the day, it’s designed to give you a real taste of what El Chaltén is all about. This tour is obviously for people who love to hike and see some of the most famous peaks in the world. Still, you don’t have to be a super experienced mountaineer to enjoy it. Just be prepared for a long, but very rewarding, day.

Read our full review: El Chaltén Day Trip Full Review and Details

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5. Up High for Big Views: 4×4 Balconies of El Calafate Tour

Finally, there’s a really cool tour that gives you a completely different perspective on the entire region. The 4×4 ‘Balcones de El Calafate’ tour takes you in a big off-road vehicle up into the hills that rise up right behind the town. It’s a half-day trip, which is nice, and it’s a bit of an adventure as you climb up the winding, rugged tracks. You pretty much get to see things that most visitors miss. As you get higher, the views just open up in this really amazing way.

From the top, you get these incredible panoramic views over the town of El Calafate, and you can see the whole expanse of Lago Argentino with its strange, round bay, the Bahía Redonda. On a really clear day, you can actually see the distant peaks of the Andes, sometimes including a faraway glimpse of Mount Fitz Roy and even the area where the Perito Moreno Glacier is hiding. Your guide usually tells you all about the geology of the area, like how the glaciers formed the landscape, and points out local plants and stuff. Some of these tours even stop at a cozy little mountain hut for a warm drink and a snack. In my opinion, this is a fantastic tour for an arrival or departure day, or for someone who wants an adventure that doesn’t involve a glacier. It kind of helps you get the lay of the land, you know?

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A Quick Recap to Help You Pick

Okay, so that’s a lot of information, right? It might still be a little tough to choose. Here is a very quick summary to help you sort of match a tour to what you’re looking for:

For the Ice Walker: The Minitrekking tour is absolutely what you should book if you want to set foot on a glacier.
For the Best Photos: The Balconies & Boat Safari tour seriously gives you every possible angle of Perito Moreno.
For the Lake Explorer: To see more than just one famous glacier, the “Todo Glaciares” navigation is your best bet, really.
For the Mountain Hiker: I mean, the El Chaltén day trip is just made for you if you want to see Fitz Roy.
For a Quick Adventure: The 4×4 tour gives you, you know, incredible views and a different kind of thrill pretty quickly.