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Patagonia Hiking Adventure, an eleven-day hiking tour to the end of the world

Duration: 11 days
2+ Travelers: $3,090 per person
Centuries before any tourist thought about trekking Patagonia, King Charles V of Spain named this windswept archipelago Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire) after Magellan reported seeing smoke there. Today increasing numbers of travelers are seeking out the thrills and solitude of this magical place on Patagonia tours. Our eleven-day Patagonia hiking tour to the end of the world captures the splendor of this untouched land, trekking to many of its remote scenic wonders: its glaciers, lakes, ancient forests and fjords. Patagonia hiking doesn't get more awe-inspiring than this.
Private departure hiking adventures can be arranged. If you'd like to learn more about this option, please contact us regarding details and costs.

Patagonia Hiking Adventure Tour Itinerary

• Day 1 (Fri): BUENOS AIRES View Buenos Aires accommodations picture gallery Arrive at Buenos Aires International Airport. A Southern Explorations guide will meet you at the terminal outside the customs area to transfer to your hotel. Spend the rest of the day enjoying the amazing city that is sure to be one of the highlights of your travel to Argentina. While exploring the city called the "Paris of South America," we suggest adding our Four Balconies Tour to your trip for an excellent overview of all the city has to offer. Overnight at 4-star accommodations.
  View Optional Pre-Itinerary Tour Extensions
• Day 2 (Sat): BUENOS AIRES - USHUAIA - TIERRA DEL FUEGO NATIONAL PARK View Ushuaia accommodations picture gallery Patagonia tours are never complete without a journey to the ends of the earth. Today you will be transferred to the domestic airport to fly to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, located on the Isla Grande of La Tierra del Fuego. After getting settled at the hotel, your sightseeing starts right away with some Patagonia trekking in nearby Tierra del Fuego National Park. There will be time to explore the park's highlights before returning to your hotel for a free evening to enjoy the fine seafood cuisine of Ushuaia. (B)
• Day 3 (Sun): CERRO CORTEZ HIKE View Ushuaia accommodations picture gallery After breakfast you will be picked up at your hotel for today's Patagonia hiking adventure, a moderate to difficult all-day guided trek to the top of Cerro Cortez. The fun begins with a 4 x 4 ride up a quarry to the trailhead. You'll ascend on a steep trail through a sub-Antarctic beech forest, crossing peat bogs. After passing the tree line, you are rewarded with sweeping views of the area. Today's best photo opportunities still await you. Arriving at the crest, you'll find a breathtaking panoramic landscape with the Martial range, the Andorra and Rio Chico valleys as a backdrop. You'll see Ushuaia and its landmark, Mt Olivia of the Andean range. Towards the sea are Chile's Isla Navarino and the legendary Murray Pass leading to Cape Horn. Enjoy lunch in one of the most picturesque settings of the park. After lunch descend back to the quarry where the Land Rover will be waiting to return you to Ushuaia. Overnight at a local hotel. (B,L)
  Patagonia Hiking Details:
  6.1 mi; 2000 ft elevation gain: 5-7 hrs
• Day 4 (Mon): HARBERTON RANCH - THE HISTORY OF THE PIONEERS View Ushuaia accommodations picture gallery Another unforgettable experience of Patagonia tours, today you explore Tierra del Fuego, the southern portion of Patagonia with its magnificent vistas and a fascinating history. From Ushuaia, you'll head east to Estancia Harberton. This estancia belongs to the descendants of the first British missionaries to reach the area, Rev. Thomas and Mary Bridges, and was managed for many years by Natalie Goodall, a well-respected naturalist in the area. From the estancia, you'll take a small boat to Gable Island (the largest in Patagonia's Beagle Channel) for lunch. After a hike on the island, you'll visit the Penguin rookery at Martillo Island, the domain of the Magellanic penguin and even a few Gentoo penguins. The unique location of this island (close to where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans merge) attracts a rich variety of sub-aquatic life, making it an ideal spot for bird watching to see such species as petrels, skuas, cormorants, sea gulls and albatross. This southern Patagonia tour ends at Harberton before returning to Ushuaia. (B,L)
• Day 5 (Tue): USHUAIA - EL CALAFATE - EL CHALTEN View El Chalten accommodations picture gallery Depending on the flight schedule you’ll have time for some on your own sightseeing in Ushuaia, with a visit to the fascinating End of the World Museum or the Presidium, before your transfer to the airport for your flight to El Calafate for your next adventure. When you arrive in El Calafate, you'll travel to El Chalten, a small remote town at the foot of Mt. Fitz Roy, and be taken to your hotel with dramatic views of the mammoth granite walls of the mountain and other important peaks. After getting settled, you may enjoy a short or long hike in preparation for the rest of your Patagonia hiking. The hour-long hike to Piedras Blancas Glacier goes through a beech forest where you may hear Magellanic woodpeckers at work. Reaching the gateway to the Continental Icecap, you'll view the Marconi Glacier. If you care to make a longer more rigorous hike, you may choose the five-hour trek of Cerro Polo which offers a panoramic view of Poincenot, Fitz Roy, Cerro Torre and the Continental Icecap. (B)
  Patagonia Hiking Details:
  Piedras Blancas (optional) - 2.5 miles, Altitude gain: 550 ft
  Cerro Polo (optional) - 3.1 miles, Altitude gain: 2,200 ft
• Day 6 (Wed): MT FITZ ROY View El Chalten accommodations picture gallery Today, you take a challenging full-day hike to Mt. Fitz Roy base camp and Laguna de los Tres. The mountain was named after Robert Fitzroy, the captain of Darwin's ship, the Beagle, though the indigenous Tehuelche people continue to call this granite pinnacle Chalten, meaning "God of Smoke." Until recently the mists that enshroud the mountain were mistakenly believed to be volcanic eruptions. After breakfast you hike north to the base of Mt. Fitz Roy where three glaciers drain into Laguna de los Tres. Breathtaking views of Lake Viedma and the vast Patagonian steppe provide the kind of photograph-worthy moments that Patagonia tours are made of. (B,L,D)
  Patagonia Hiking Details:
  Start to Laguna Capri - 2.6 Miles, Altitude gain: 1200 ft
  Laguna Capri to Laguna de los Tres - 2.7 miles, Altitude gain: 1800 ft
• Day 7 (Thu): CERRO TORRE HIKE View El Chalten accommodations picture gallery Today is spent on another Patagonian classic along 10,259-ft Mt. Torre, famous for its beauty and its elusive summit that many expeditions attempt to reach each year, but only a few succeed. On this full-day of trekking Patagonia, you'll travel into a forest along a slightly descending trail leading to a lookout facing the Cerro Torre and the Adelas ranges. At trail's end along the shore of Laguna Torre you'll enjoy beautiful views of Mt. Torre and the Torre glacier surrounded by the Egger and Standhard spires and the Adelas range. A van will be waiting at El Chalten to drive you back to the Hosteria. (B,L,D)
  Patagonia Hiking Details:
  Cerro Torre - 11 miles round trip, Altitude gain: 1,000 ft
• Day 8 (Fri): EL CHALTEN - EL CALAFATE View El Calafate accommodations picture gallery After breakfast, there will be time for more hiking in the area including a short trek from town to overlook famous Mt. Torre. In the afternoon, a private van will transfer you to El Calafate. The late afternoon is free for you to tour this charming city on your own. Overnight at a local hotel. (B)
• Day 9 (Sat): PERITO MORENO GLACIER HIKE View El Calafate accommodations picture gallery At last, it's time to experience the Perito Moreno glacier, the crown jewel of Patagonia tours. Today, you will board a boat on Lake Argentino to reach the massive front wall of blue ice, seeing floating icebergs along the way. There you'll make a beach landing and walk along an ancient beech forest that meets the glacier to photograph one of South America's top natural wonders. After hiking an hour or so, you'll embark on a mini glacier hike (equipment and local guide provided), enjoying the extraordinary surroundings and maybe even witness an ice wall calving into the lake. In the afternoon, enjoy a picnic lunch, listening to the ever-shifting ice. At the conclusion of the days tour, you'll return to your hotel for another comfortable night's rest. (B,L)
  BLUE ICE UPGRADE - $100 Per Person This extension to traditional Patagonia tours is for those who wish a more in-depth exploration of the Perito Moreno glacier. With crampons, you'll enjoy a full-day of hiking deep into the glacier and its caves accompanied by a local glacier guide. The exploration includes a practice of safety techniques and plenty of time during the day to photograph this extraordinary place.
  (Because this is a very demanding seven-hour ice hike, it is advisable only for participants between eighteen and forty-five years old in good physical condition. The terrain is uneven with loose pebbles.)
  Click here to see the Blue Ice Glacier Hike picture gallery
• Day 10 (Sun): EL CALAFATE - BUENOS AIRES View Buenos Aires accommodations picture gallery Transfer to the airport for the flight back to Buenos Aires. Transfer to the hotel and overnight. (B)
• Day 11 (Mon): BUENOS AIRES Transfer to the Buenos Aires International Airport for your flight home from your tour of Patagonia. (B) View Optional Post-Itinerary Tour Extensions
• Key: (B)reakfast (L)unch (D)inner
• More information about Traveling in Patagonia

Itinerary Map

ARGENTINA EXTENSIONS

ARTICLES & INFORMATION ABOUT ARGENTINA
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2010 SCHEDULED TRIP DATES

Friday Departures
2 person minimum / 8 maximum

Feb 01/29-02/08 2 spaces left
12-22 Mar 02/26-03/08
12-22

Private Departures can be arranged. Please contact us regarding private departure costs.

INCLUSIONS / EXCLUSIONS

Included in tour cost

- Professional, English-speaking local guides

- All hotel accommodations (twin shared basis including continental breakfast)

- Meals as indicated

- All transfers in private van

- Entrance fees for all scheduled tours, national parks, archaeological sites and boats

- Southern Explorations pre departure services

Excluded in tour cost

- International round-trip airfare USA/Buenos Aires/USA

- Airfare: Buenos Aires / Ushuaia - Ushuaia / El Calafate - El Calfate / Buenos Aires, $550 (Subject to change)

- Lunches and dinners in the cities (unless otherwise noted)

- Hiking boots and other personal gear

- Personal expenses (tips and gratuities, alcoholic beverages, medical or travel insurance, laundry, airport taxes, etc.).

PHYSICAL RATING

Moderate - Difficult

ARGENTINA ACCOMMODATION

Patagonia Hiking Adventure:

10 nights hotels

SINGLE SUPPLEMENT

Additional $960

- Single Supplement is the additional cost of a single traveler not sharing a room in double occupancy. We will match you with another same gender traveler unless you request single accommodations.

Prices based on 3% cash discount