The things to do in Patagonia come in five kinds: glaciers, treks, wildlife, lake roads and one very long road south. What separates them is not how they look but what they ask of you: a distance to cover, a month to be there, a fee at the gate and a number of days. Those numbers sit on official pages, and this guide puts them side by side, so you can see which experiences fit the time you have.
Topics we already cover in depth stay in their own guides: where Patagonia sits and how far the bases are from each other, the best time to visit Patagonia and whether Patagonia is a country. If you already know which places you want and need them turned into days, our day by day Patagonia itinerary does that part.
What are the best things to do in Patagonia? Eight experiences side by side
Most visitors do some mix of the experiences below. Each row shows where it happens, when it works and what it costs you in road and money, using the official pages named in each section.
| Experience | Where | Months it works | What it asks of you | Fixed cost on paper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perito Moreno walkways | El Calafate, Argentina | All year, shorter hours May to August | 80 km each way, about 1 hour 30 by car | Park entry, about US$33 a day |
| Ice trek on the glacier | El Calafate, Argentina | All year | 6 to 8 hours in total with transfers | Park entry, plus the operator’s price |
| Torres del Paine day visit | Puerto Natales, Chile | All year, summer hours October to April | 129 km each way to Laguna Amarga, about 4 hours on the road | Day ticket, about US$33 for a foreign adult |
| W trek or O circuit | Torres del Paine, Chile | Summer season | Beds reserved before you enter the mountain area | Ticket for two or more days, about US$49, plus beds |
| Whale boats | Península Valdés, Argentina | June to December, peak in September and October | 99 km each way from Puerto Madryn | Peninsula ticket, about US$33 a day |
| Penguin colony | Punta Tombo, Argentina | Mid September to mid April | 175 km each way from Puerto Madryn | Not listed here |
| Seven Lakes road | Bariloche to San Martín de los Andes, Argentina | Summer is easiest | 190 km one way | Not listed here |
| Carretera Austral | Aysén, Chile | December to March | More than 1,200 km of road, parts of it gravel | Not listed here |
The dollar figures are reference values, converted from pesos at the official rate of the Argentine central bank (BCRA) of 1,513 pesos per dollar on 15 October 2026, and for Torres del Paine at the Chilean central bank’s rate of 979.85 pesos on 8 October 2026. The rate moves, so the amount at the gate is the one that counts.
Glaciers: Perito Moreno and the boats on Lago Argentino
The glacier everyone means is Perito Moreno, 80 km from El Calafate by Provincial Route 11, about 1 hour 30 minutes by car, according to Argentina’s national tourism board and the national parks administration (APN), both consulted in October 2026. The tourism board describes walkways at different heights that form a circuit of several kilometres and are accessible for people with reduced mobility. The park is open all year, but the corridor that leads to the glacier closes earlier in winter: APN publishes 8:00 to 18:00 from 1 September to 30 April and 9:00 to 16:00 from 1 May to 31 August.
Chilean Patagonia: The Pocket Guide
The Chilean side of Patagonia in one pocket guide: Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas, the Carretera Austral and Puerto Varas, the must sees at each base, how many days to give them and how to cross to and from Argentina.
There are two ways to go beyond the walkways, and they ask for very different amounts of time. The boats to the Upsala, Spegazzini and Viedma glaciers leave from Puerto Bandera, 47 km from town, and the tourism board gives the Spegazzini walls as up to 135 m high. The ice trek is the long option: the board puts it at 6 to 8 hours once transfers and preparation are counted, which is why it fills a whole day. Park entry for Los Glaciares is ARS 50,000 for a general adult ticket from 1 June 2026, about US$33, with the second day at 50% off if you enter within 72 hours.
The glacier is the most photographed of the things to do in Patagonia, and also the one that is easiest to size. A day with the walkways is one day, and a day with the ice trek is one day as well. For the town, the nights and the fees in detail, read our guide to El Calafate, and for the glacier itself our guide to Perito Moreno. Our 3 day trip to El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier follows this shape.
Trekking: Torres del Paine and Fitz Roy
Trekking in Patagonia has two capitals on two sides of the border. On the Chilean side, Torres del Paine is run by CONAF, the national forestry corporation, and since 1 May 2026 it sells one ticket for a single day and another for two or more days, valid for up to ten continuous days. For a foreign adult the day ticket is 32,400 pesos, about US$33, and the two or more day ticket is 48,500 pesos, about US$49, so each extra day costs roughly US$16 instead of another US$33.
The rule that shapes a multi day plan is about beds. According to the park’s reservations page, consulted in October 2026, hikers on the W trek and the Paine massif circuit must reserve accommodation in advance, and without those reservations they cannot enter the mountain area. The rule does not apply to day hikes such as Base Torres. Count the road too: the three entrances are 80, 112 and 129 km from Puerto Natales, so a day visit through Laguna Amarga is about 258 km and roughly four hours in a vehicle. For the whole decision, read our guide to Torres del Paine and the one on booking the W trek. If you travel between January and March 2027, note that the Puerto Natales airport will run on a reduced schedule, with weekends only in February and March, according to a communiqué of Chile’s Ministry of Public Works dated 14 August 2026.
On the Argentine side, the base is El Chaltén, 220 km from El Calafate on a fully paved road, according to APN, inside the same Los Glaciares National Park. APN lists the same rate for the El Chaltén entrance as for the glacier sector. Our guide to El Chaltén covers the town and its walks, and our comparison of Patagonia hiking trails puts the main routes side by side by days, distance and booking.
Wildlife: whales, penguins and orcas on the Atlantic coast
Patagonia’s wildlife is seasonal, and the calendar decides the trip more than any other fact in this guide. The Península Valdés administration lists southern right whales from June to December, and Argentina’s national tourism board puts the peak in September and October, when the most whales are in the water and calves are present. Magellanic penguins and southern elephant seals are listed from January to April and from September to December, while orcas are the hardest to pin down, because the official sources give different windows and depend on the tide.
Distance is the second filter. The boats for the whales leave from Puerto Pirámides, 99 km from Puerto Madryn, with trips of about two hours, and the penguins at Punta Tombo are 175 km from the city, which makes each one a full day. Entry to the Península Valdés protected area is ARS 50,000 per foreign adult per day, about US$33, and a second day needs a second ticket. Punta Tombo is a provincial reserve with its own dates, from mid September to mid April, according to Argentina.gob.ar. The whole plan, month by month, is in our guide to Puerto Madryn.
The Chilean side has its own penguin colony. CONAF reports about 7,000 pairs of Magellanic penguins on Magdalena Island, 35 km northeast of Punta Arenas, with visits possible from October to mid April, landings from 09:00 to 18:00 and a maximum of one hour on the island with a certified guide. The monument is closed in winter. For colonies beyond these two, our guide to South American penguins shows where and when to see them.
Lakes and the road south: Bariloche and the Carretera Austral
Not every Patagonia trip is about ice. Bariloche sits inside Nahuel Huapi National Park, which covers 717,261 hectares, and the tourism board of the city lists the trips that fill the days: the Circuito Chico, about 60 km and 3.5 to 4 hours with an authorised agency, which already contains Cerro Campanario, 17 km from downtown, and the Seven Lakes road to San Martín de los Andes, 190 km one way. The park requires free registration before any trek, and its lakes run at about 5 to 12 °C, so the water is for looking at. The full set of distances is in our guide to Bariloche.
The longest road in the region is on the Chilean side. The Carretera Austral, Route 7, runs for more than 1,200 km from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins, according to Chile’s national tourism service (Sernatur), which also warns that parts of it are gravel and recommends an all terrain vehicle. Sernatur’s own seven day route covers 1,089 km, about 180 km a day over six driving days, which tells you what the road is: distance first, sights second. It also says the ferries on the Ruta Bimodal should be booked well in advance. We cover the region in our guide to Patagonia Chile.
Things to do in Patagonia Argentina and Chile: which side holds which
Search results often mix the two countries, so here is the split. The same landscapes continue across the border, which is why one trip can cross it more than once.
| Experience | Argentina | Chile |
|---|---|---|
| Glaciers | Perito Moreno and the Lago Argentino boats | The glaciers of the Aysén fjords and Torres del Paine |
| Trekking | El Chaltén and the Los Glaciares trails | Torres del Paine, the W trek and the O circuit |
| Wildlife | Península Valdés and Punta Tombo | Magdalena Island |
| Lakes | Bariloche and the Seven Lakes road | The Lakes region around Puerto Varas |
| The long road | Route 40 through the steppe | The Carretera Austral |
| The end of the continent | Ushuaia, in Tierra del Fuego | Punta Arenas and the Strait of Magellan |
Argentina holds the larger eastern side, with steppe, coast and the big lakes, and Chile holds the western edge, with fjords, forests and the Pacific side of the ice fields. Our guide to whether Patagonia is a country explains how the border works for a trip, and our longer guide to the wonders of Patagonia adds the cultural sites, festivals and food that sit outside this list.
How many days do you need for the things to do in Patagonia?
Count the days base by base, because each experience above belongs to one base. These are our recommendations, built from the distances in each guide.
| Base | Floor | Comfortable | Counted in |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Calafate | 2 | 3 | Nights |
| Puerto Madryn | 3 | 5 | Nights |
| Bariloche | 3 | 5 | Nights |
| Magallanes, with Torres del Paine | 4 | 7 | Days |
| Aysén and the Carretera Austral | 4 | 7 | Days |
Every move between two bases takes most of a day, and our guide to where Patagonia is shows the distances, so one region is about as much as a single trip holds. A trip that tries to tick every row spends its time in airports. Choose two experiences you would regret missing, give each its comfortable count and let the rest wait for a second visit.
When to go for each experience
The best month depends on which row you picked. Whales run from June to December and penguins from September to April, so the overlap is September to November. The Carretera Austral is best from December to March, according to Sernatur. Torres del Paine keeps summer hours, 07:00 to 21:00, from October to April, and Bariloche’s summer runs from 21 December to 20 March, while its snow season runs from 21 June to 20 September. For wind, sun and snow month by month, use our best time to visit Patagonia guide, built from Argentina’s national weather service records.
Planning your things to do in Patagonia on one page
- Pick two experiences, not eight. Each one is a day or more of road.
- Check the animal calendar first. Whales from June to December, penguins from September to April.
- Book the beds before the trek. The W trek and the O circuit need reservations to enter the mountain area.
- Budget the fixed part. Park entries are about US$33 a day in Los Glaciares, Península Valdés and Torres del Paine, and about US$49 for two or more days in Torres del Paine.
- Give the long roads a margin. The Carretera Austral and the Seven Lakes road are measured in hundreds of kilometres.
If you already have dates, tell us when you travel and who is coming, and we will check which experiences fit your days.
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