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How long are you going to travel? Argentina and Patagonia are immense. You have to be ready for hours and hours of traveling by car or by bus. Then choose an area you don’t want to miss and arrange to visit it at its best;
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The first ideal stop is Buenos Aires, where it is best to stay for 4-5 days.
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Travel on the road, if the time you have allows you, or at least limit your flight as much as possible, these are lands to live on the road from the vast infinite spaces; the pampas have a very similar and desolating landscape but it is surely worth to see it, if not partially.
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To move around, you have to take one of the many bus companies in the area, tickets can be purchased directly in the tourist offices where you can find all the windows belonging to the different companies.
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Typically from Buenos Aires, you go to the Valdes Peninsula to see whales, penguins, and so on. I skipped this stage for several reasons and so I headed to Iguazu to El Calafate, a great stop to visit the surroundings, the famous El Perito Moreno and the Chalten Park.
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To see the Torres del Paine park from Argentina there are several options: there are daily excursions from El Calafate but they have quite high costs, or you can go to Puerto Natales, Chile staying in the park for 2-3 days and return to Argentina especially if you want to visit El Perito Moreno. Or you can visit Perito Moreno before going to the Paine and then descend to Ushuaia and then head to the Fire Land.
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You can reach El Chalten from El Calafate with local buses, the ticket can be purchased directly at the tourist office of the town. The advice is to stay at the El Chalten for at least two days because there are several tours to do.
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The Perito Moreno Glacier can be reached by a bus from El Calafate, you can only do the walking tour to see the most famous side, but you may also decide to visit the other side of the boat, I have entrusted the company “Hielo & Aventura”. While I used Taqsa to reach Perito Moreno park.
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To reach the Cataratas from Iguazu I took the “Rio Uruguay” and the “Crocero del Norte” but there are plenty of bus companies so it will not be a problem to find one.
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To the journey El Calafate-El Chalten and vice versa I used the “ChalténTravel company”
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Bring your clothes with you and remember that even if you are traveling in summer, you are still close to Antarctica. Be prepared for great temperature fluctuations and wear technical clothing. In the north, in the Iguazu and Buenos Aires area you will enjoy a wonderful hot weather, even more appreciated if you think that in your country in the north of the Equator is full winter. But once you start going down to Patagonia and the Tierra del Fuego the temperatures will start to fall and you will have to be ready for snow too! When I went to El Chalten, I found myself in the rain and snow, wearing a technical jacket with appropriate trekking shoes, but not technical pants and it was raining and snowing so much, fortunately, I was together with another backpacker, but I was risking going to hypothermia. At that moment I realized how little is enough to turn pleasant excursion into a tragedy!
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Prepare yourself with impermeable and thermal clothing. But do not forget to take with you also a high sunscreen cream because you are in an area where the ozone layer is uncommon and where it has expanded in recent years and this causes exposure to even more sunlight High and damaging to the skin.
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To reach Ushuaia from El Calafate through Rio Gallegos: “Marga company”.
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Once you get to Ushuaia, it’s best to take a walk on the Beagle Canal to see cormorants, penguins and if you’re lucky, also the Royal Penguin who, due to climate change, is also present in this area. In addition to browsing the Beagle Canal or the penguin walk, I recommend visiting the Haberton Estancia.
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How much does a trip to Patagonia cost? I think you can travel with a little money especially if you do not have time limits, but in my opinion, the trip to Patagonia remains a fairly expensive trip when compared to the average South American prices but also compared to the cost of excursions In Australia, New Zealand or Japan. To get an example, a kayak excursion in a glacier not far from El Calafate for 4-5 hours can cost you 400 €! A daily excursion from El Calafate to the Torres del Paine Park can cost over 200 €!
So unless you have a great deal of economic availability you have to make choices, and you will have to give up something that would undoubtedly be nice to see or do. Choices that typically budget backpackers like me are used to doing all the travel but which in this case becomes even more important to do. And so instead of eating in restaurants or bars you will want to spend your money and cook in a hostel so you can even lower your costs! As far as I’m concerned, I arranged my trip in part shortly before departure, and then during the various transfers. If you are careful, a DIY trip to this magnificent land will cost you half of what you spend by affirming an agency, but above all, it could cost you as a trip to Northern Europe or Iceland!