El Chaltén or El Calafate: where it makes sense to stay
They are 215 km apart: you cannot do it all from one base. What is close to each town and how to split your nights.
· Booking Directo, El Chaltén
A lot of people plan the trip around one base and day trips. With El Calafate and El Chaltén that does not work: they are 215 km apart, about three hours by road, and each has its own sights close by. The short answer is stay in both, and split your nights by what you are going to do.
What is close to each one
| El Calafate | El Chaltén | |
|---|---|---|
| The main thing | Perito Moreno glacier (about 80 km) and boat trips on Lago Argentino | Trails that start in town: Laguna de los Tres, Laguna Torre and more |
| How you get around | On tours or by car: everything is outside town | On foot: you barely need a car |
| Airport | Yes | No: you get there from El Calafate |
| Places with direct booking on Booking Directo | 43 | 34 |
If you are only here for glaciers
Stay in El Calafate. Perito Moreno and the boat trips leave from there, and tours pick you up at your hotel. You can visit El Chaltén on a day tour, but you will spend about six hours in the van and see Fitz Roy from the viewpoint at the entrance to town, without hiking.
If you are coming to hike
Stay in El Chaltén, no question. The big hikes take the whole day and start in town: from El Calafate the timing does not work. Choose where to stay by the trail you care about most; on each listing we tell you how many minutes it is on foot to the Laguna de los Tres trail, the Laguna Torre trail and the bus station. What the hikes are like: Laguna de los Tres and Laguna Torre.
If you want both
Which is what almost everyone does: two nights in El Calafate and three or four in El Chaltén. The easiest way, if you fly in and out of El Calafate:
- Land and go straight on to El Chaltén, if your flight arrives early.
- Do your hikes, with a spare day for the weather.
- Go back to El Calafate, see Perito Moreno and fly out.
The 4, 6 and 8 day itineraries are in how many days to spend in El Calafate and El Chaltén.
The park fee, once or twice
Perito Moreno and the El Chaltén trails are the same Los Glaciares National Park, but you pay each time you enter. From 1 June 2026 the day pass is ARS 50,000 general and ARS 25,000 for Argentine residents; if you are going in three or more times, look at the 3 and 7 day passes. You buy them online on the national parks portal.
Questions
How far is El Calafate from El Chaltén?
About 215 km on a paved road, around three hours by bus or car.
Should I stay in El Calafate and visit El Chaltén as a day trip?
Only if you are not going to hike. It is about six hours on the road there and back, and the day is not long enough for Laguna de los Tres or Laguna Torre.
And stay in El Chaltén to visit Perito Moreno?
Not a good idea either: the glacier is about 80 km from El Calafate, so from El Chaltén it is almost 300 km each way. Best to sleep in each town for what you are going to do there.
