How to get to El Chaltén? Meet the routes

If you are considering the “Argentine Capital of Trekking” for your next vacation, one of the first topics you should study is how to get to El Chaltén. Knowing the route and means of transport options to access this Patagonian destination, you can choose the path you’ll use to plan your budget and itinerary.

No need to worry! While there are many alternatives, whatever you choose gives you safe access to this town located at the foot of the mythical Chaltén hill in the province of Santa Cruz. We are talking about a magical journey to the heart of the southern Argentine mountain range and you will enjoy it from the one way to the return.

The landscape to the southern part of the Patagonia Argentina is majestic. It happens that, among the huge plains of the arid steppe that characterize the region, there are nothing more and nothing less than the nation’s two largest lakes and fascinating mountain peaks such as El Chaltén, whose silhouette is fascinating both from land –if you travel by car– and from above –if you travel by plane. Let’s see how to get to El Chaltén. 

TRAVELLING TO EL CHALTÉN BY PLANE

Without a doubt, the airway is the fastest and most comfortable to access the village and live each of its attractions. To travel to El Chaltén by plane there are several alternatives, depending on where in Argentina you are, the nearest airport being Cte. Armando Tola International Airport, after being located 200 km away in El Calafate.

This alternative gives you approximately 3-hour of non-stop flights from Buenos Aires, through Aerolíneas Argentinas, Jet Smart and LADE. Best of all? You can combine the attractions of both cities. While the 2 are Patagonian, each has its own particular and special charm. In that case, we invite you to contact our travel specialists and consult itineraries that combine Calafate and Chaltén.

For the time hand, we present to you the connections –with direct or stopover cabotage flight– that you have with El Calafate by air, from the most important airports of Argentina: Aeroparque and Ezeiza from Buenos Aires, Bariloche, Córdoba, Trelew, Ushuaia and Río Gallegos.

Other options, with one or more scales, are from Salta, Iguazu Falls, Mendoza, Rosario, Mar del Plata and Comodoro Rivadavia. And then, once you’re in El Calafate, comes the time to see how to get to El Chaltén.

Once at El Calafate Airport, you’ll find several transfer options to your long-awaited destination:

•         It can be direct to El Chaltén via a private shuttle bus or remise service, with a 200 Km tour that lasts approximately 2:40 hrs; or via El Calafate with a 236 km course.
•         Via to El Calafate with a slightly longer route, 236 km. You take a bus or shuttle bus or paddle from the airport to the city where you can hire a bus, private transfer or rent a car to El Chaltén. It’s another 20 minutes of travel, compared to the direct alternative.
•   If you are going to combine El Chaltén and El Calafate based on this last destination, just take a shuttle bus or paddle for a 20-minute tour from the airport to the city.

Do not worry! If you hire these services with us, you won’t have to deal with the issue of connections. Moebius Travel specialists take care of everything. The route is made by a paved road that is in excellent condition, always bordering the Argentine and Viedma lakes.

HOW TO GET TO EL CHALTÉN BY BUS

If you want to travel to El Chaltén by land, you can do so by bus from several locations via transfers. The only direct route would be from El Calafate or San Carlos de Bariloche in Rio Negro province, so it might come to hand to know the distance in kilometers you’ll need to traverse, depending on where you’re going to leave:

•         From Río de Gallegos to El Chaltén, using the El Calafate road: it is a journey of 520 km of travel that is divided into two sections. In the first is 4 hours making use of the Provincial Route #5, the national route #40 and the Provincial Route #11, through the company Taqsa. In the second, it is 3 hours between the National route #40 and Provincial route #41 with local companies.
•         From Puerto Natales in Chile to El Chaltén via El Calafate: it is a route of 565 km, also through two sections. First it is 5 hours of travel going through Hope with companies such as Cootra and Zaahj Tourism. After the transfer, it’s 3 hours with local businesses.
•         From Punta Arenas in Chile to El Chaltén via the Gallegos River: the journey is much longer; it is 776 km from a route that is divided into 3 sections. The first is from Punta Arenas to Río Gallegos (3 hours by 260 km), with transports such as Buses Barría and the Penguin SRL. It continues from Río Gallegos to El Calafate through the provincial routes #5, Nacional #40 and Provincial #11 with Taqsa (4 hours). It ends with the stretch from El Calafate to El Chaltén by the National #40 and provincial #41 with the service provided by several companies.
•         From San Carlos de Bariloche to El Chaltén: it is a much longer route of 1,446 km, completely direct through the national routes #40 and Provincial #41. The journey takes 18 hours with the transport company Chaltén Travel.
•         From Puerto Madryn to El Chaltén via Perito Moreno: it is the longest route with 1,503 km away, as the trip is divided into three sections. From Puerto Madryn to Caleta Olivia with Tramat transport, following from Caleta Olivia to Perito Moreno with TAQSA and ending with the Perito Moreno-El Chaltén section through Chaltén Travel.

ACCESS CHALTÉN BY YOUR OWN VEHICLE

The first thing you need to know if you are planning to travel to El Chaltén by own vehicle is that there are two main ways to access this town:

1.   National Route #3: totally paved, gives us a tour that borders the Atlantic coast. It’s the busiest option.
2.   National Route #40: it has stretches of gravel and perhaps that’s why it’s the least crowded. This road is parallel to the Andes Mountains.

Now, what you need to do is search for the routes that will connect you to the aforementioned ones depending on your starting point. From Buenos Aires, for example, it is 2634 km of route with south direction, crossing towns such as: Bahía Blanca, Puerto Madryn, Comodoro Rivadavia and Cte. Luis Piedra Buena. From there, it’s time to turn west through the routes: Provincial #288, National #40 and Provincial #41 which finally leads to El Chaltén.

As you may have noticed, there are many options both by air and land. So, how to get to El Chaltén should not be a concern for you. The important thing is to decide which is most feasible based on your budget, time and tastes. That way, you can put together your travel itinerary and guarantee the vacation of your dream! For this, you can count on the advice of our specialists. Not only can you combine the most fascinating places of El Calafate and El Chaltén but you can vacation with travel packages that include everything, saving time and money.

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