Self-drive Argentina: Patagonia, lake district and Perito Moreno

Day 1

Arrive in Buenos Aires. Transfer to hotel close to colonial centre and commercial district of the capital.

You will be met at the airport and escorted to your hotel on the edge of the arty district of San Telmo by one of our local representatives.

Buenos Aires is an elegant, cultured and cosmopolitan city famed for its interesting museums and the fascinating port district of La Boca, with its cobbled streets and brightly painted houses. It was here that the tango was born, and Diego Maradona honed his footballing skills. The centre of town is home to the colonial heartland, government buildings and churches, as well as chic shopping districts, which have a nostalgic Parisian feel. The bohemian quarter of San Telmo is full of quaint old houses interspersed with antiques shops, tango bars and classy restaurants. Slightly further out of the centre is the Recoleta district, even more evocative of French or Italian influences, where Evita Perón was laid to rest. During the winter months, wealthy female residents parade the streets in their fur coats and improbable, towering hairstyles, and take afternoon tea in the city’s ornate salons.

Day 2

Walking tour along the Avenida de Mayo.

Take a guided walking tour along Avenida del Mayo, one of Buenos Aires’ principal stately arteries, linking the capital’s colonial and political heart at Plaza de Mayo with the Plaza de Congreso, crossing the even more grandiose Avenida 9 de Julio. Built in the 1880s and often compared with similar boulevards in European capitals, it has a definite Old World ambiance, with art deco, art nouveau and neo-classical façades, shaded by leafy trees, lining the route.

The guided walk includes a stop at the world famous Café Tortoni, crammed with memorabilia, the barber’s shop attached, and one of the first metro stations outside the USA and Europe, preserved in its original state as a museum. Visit the very ornate Barolo Palace, designed in accordance with the cosmology of Dante’s Divine Comedy with floors representing heaven, purgatory and hell.

Day 3

Fly to Bariloche in the lake district. Collect your hire car.

Transfer to the airport and fly to Bariloche in the lake district.San Carlos de Bariloche is the main town in Argentina’s lake district, on the southern shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi. The town, a centre for skiing in winter (July and August), and walking in summer, is set against a stunning backdrop of glacial green-blue lakes framed by the mountains of the Andes.

Depending on when you arrive in Bariloche, you will either be taken to pick up your rental car on the way to the hotel, or you will pick it up the following day. Your trip is based on a medium category 2WD vehicle. You will receive a Fly and Drive kit with maps and useful information about the area and highlights to visit.

Your hotel is on the outskirts of town on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi.

Day 4

Explore the Bariloche area.

Day at leisure to explore the chocolate-box pretty region. We recommend a visit to either the Cerro Campanario view point or Cerro Catedral ski resort for panoramas over the lakes and mountains.

Bariloche is also a good base for scenic lakeshore drives.  Just 40 mins’ drive away is the Llao Llao peninsula with walking trails and picturesque drives around Lago Moreno. Alternatively, a boat departs daily from Puerto Panuelo for Puerto Blest, one of the area’s best day-trips.

Day 5

Self-drive to San Martín de los Andes.

Today’s drive is perhaps the finest in the lake district, showcasing 7 beautiful lakes and 2 national parks along its journey between Bariloche and San Martin de los Andes.

Leaving Bariloche, the paved highway hugs the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi as far as Villa La Angostura where it crosses the Correntoso river before striking a more winding route though forests and glades in the heart of the lake district. The road emerges at a scenic pass with fabulous views of Lago Lacar during the descent to San Martin.  Start out early: it’s around 200km (4 hrs) of driving and roughly two-thirds is by paved road, but allow plenty of time if you intend to detour via Villa Traful or make the most of the numerous photo opportunities en route.

Day 6

Explore the San Martín lakes area.

Spend the day relaxing in this laid-back, low-rise lakeshore resort in Lanin National Park.

Boat trips depart from the jetty for Lago Nonthué, visiting Chachin Falls and the village of Hua Hum. You may opt to drive instead to Hua Hum along a picturesque 50km gravel road along the north shore of Lago Lacar. With an early start (and a 4WD is best for this drive), it’s possible to do the rewarding trip to remote Lago Huechulafquen in the northern section of the Park. Half the 100km drive is on a rough gravel road and it takes 2-3 hrs. On a clear day you’ll be treated to views of Lanin volcano, just shy of 3,800m.

Day 7

Self-drive to Villa la Angostura.

Drive to Villa La Angostura. This is a 110km drive back along the gorgeous Seven Lakes route (2hrs).

Villa La Angostura is a picturesque mountain village set on the northern shores of Lago Nahuel Huapi. It has evolved since its early development in the 1920s into a small, upmarket resort with plenty of good restaurants and shops. The border with Chile is just 20 mins’ drive away.

Your accommodation is set in the foothills of the Andes, at the mouth of the Correntoso river where it enters Lake Nahuel Huapi.

Day 8

Explore the area independently.

Villa La Angostura is a fitting place in which to relax after the last few days’ driving. If you wish to explore, Los Arrayanes National Park, just outside Villa La Angostura, is famous for its centuries-old forests of arrayán (Chilean myrtle) trees, in an idyllic setting on the Quetrihué peninsula. You can hike there (12km/3hrs each way) or visit by boat from Villa La Angostura’s port of Bahia Mansa from where it is a 45min sailing.

Day 9

Drop off car in Bariloche; fly to Calafate, collect car, self-drive to estancia.

Drive to Bariloche airport (90km, 1.5hrs). The airport is conveniently located on the near side of Bariloche as you approach from Villa La Angostura, so there is no need to go into the city.

Fly to El Calafate in the Los Glaciares National Park in southern Patagonia.  The town is on the southern shore of Lago Argentino. Tourism in the last 20 years has transformed it into a bustling entrepôt for access to the nearby scenery of glaciers, lakes and impossibly steep peaks. You will be met and assisted with the collection of your hire car. You will receive a Fly and Drive kit with maps and useful information about the area and highlights to visit. Your trip is based on a medium category 2WD vehicle.

The self-drive adventure in the south explores two of Patagonia’s finest national parks: Los Glaciares and Fitz Roy. Besides scenic drives all round, each offers uniquely different experiences once you’ve parked the car. If the sun shines, Fitz Roy’s walking trails which offer glimpses of glistening glaciers and turquoise lagoons are an unforgettable highlight. Meanwhile, the walkways which face the Perito Moreno glacier offer ample opportunity to linger and observe a spectacle which, in itself, rewards the long journey to Patagonia. There’s about 700km of driving. Much of this is on paved stretches of the Ruta 40 highway but there are also some journeys on ripio (gravel) road.

Today, it’s 100km (2 hrs) to the south-eastern shore of Lago Viedma and your first overnight stop.

Day 10

Self-drive to El Chaltén in southern Patagonia.

Drive to El Chalten (115km – 2 hrs), leaving Ruta 40 for the recently paved Ruta 23 which skirts the entire length of Lago Viedma. On a clear day on approaching El Chaltén, the granite peaks of Fitzroy Massif come into view – a majestic sight.

Day 11

Explore the area around the Fitz Roy massif.

A full day at leisure to explore Fitz Roy National Park. We recommend the magnificent 8hr hike along the Rio Blanco valley and through ancient lenga (sub-antarctic beech) forest, passing the Piedras Blancas glacier and the massif along the way.  It includes a steep 1hr climb to the beautiful turquoise Laguna de los Tres, situated beneath Mount Fitzroy, returning to El Chaltén via a more gentle path through the heart of the national park.

You’ll need help with transport to the trail head and the help of a guide is advisable for this trail (we can organise this in advance if you wish).

Shorter, easier options are also possible, such as Laguna Torre (6hr round-trip), and if you are less inclined to hike, the 38km drive to Lago del Desierto is a viable side-trip with the option of a boat ride on the lake or short, scenic walks.

Day 12

Self-drive to estancia close to El Calafate.

Today’s route takes you back to El Calafate (215km – 3hrs), along the shores of Lago Viedma. With any luck, you’ll be treated to stunning glimpses of Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre in your rear view mirror as you drive across the steppe, leaving the Fitz Roy massif behind.

Continue through El Calafate and into Los Glaciares National Park. In contrast to the soaring granite peaks of Fitz Roy or the bleak steppes around El Calafate, Los Glaciares is a sanctuary of glittering lakes fed by vast glaciers against a backdrop of velvet-green forests and bleak, frozen mountain ridges. It’s a further drive of 56km from El Calafate to your accommodation, this journey should take another hour by gravel road.

Day 13

Opportunity to visit Perito Moreno glacier independently.

We highly recommend a visit to the Perito Moreno glacier, 40km from the Estancia. It’s an hour’s drive on a mixture of gravel roads and paved highway to the walkways and viewing platform overlooking the glacier. The thundering shards of falling ice are a breathtaking spectacle as you pass at a safe distance along the walkway in front of the Canal de los Tempanos, which separates Brazo Rico from the main part of the lake.

The Glacier has a surface area roughly the size of Hampshire’s New Forest in the UK and is 5km wide, standing 60m above the surface of the lake. Its ice masses are fed by the southern continental ice field from the west, and from other smaller surrounding glaciers. To stand and stare is the only way to appreciate its magnitude. You may opt to board a sightseeing boat for an hour-long cruise on the lake beneath the glacier.

Day 14

Drop off car at El Calafate airport; fly to Buenos Aires.

It’s around 3 hours by air from El Calafate to Argentina’s capital.

Day 15

At leisure in the capital.

At leisure in the capital. Stroll round Puerto Madero, the refurbished port district where former dock installations and other nautical features have been preserved alongside a string of excellent restaurants and loft conversions. Beyond the city limits, you might consider a trip across the River Plate to Colonia in Uruguay.

Travel along a forest-fringed estuary, dotted with upmarket residences, to this peaceful little port, where you can wander among cobbled streets lined by colonial houses, or have a meal or drink in the yacht club.

Day 16

Transfer to Buenos Aires airport.