Patagonia tailor made tour, self guided
Description of Patagonia tailor made tour, self guided
A tailor made Patagonia tour, which is also self guided, following a thirteen day itinerary. Using public buses to get around and a variety of hotels, you will also spend some nights in mountain hostels or refuges, as you will be exploring some pretty wild terrain, well off the beaten track.
Starting in Calafate in Argentinian Patagonia, you will get your trip off to a spectacular start at Los Glaciares National Park, a third of which is covered in ice, and where there are over forty glaciers. The most famous is Perito Moreno, a 60m high wall of turquoise ice.
Head north to El Chalten, a wonderful landscape for hiking to lagoons, horse riding with gauchos or chilling on Lago Viedma. Do chat with us about all your options. Most popular are the rugged peaks of Cerros Fitz Roy and Torre which can be reached on day long treks.
Moving into Chilean Patagonia, your first stop is Puerto Natales where you spend a night at a hotel, and where you can then leave your luggage behind for a few days before going trekking in the spectacular Torres del Paine National Park. We have included three days of trekking here, staying at mountain refuges, which are full board including a packed lunch, and sleeping in shared dorms. However, we can adjust the itinerary if you would like to have more trekking time here, with the classic Paine ‘W’ route a highlight for many of our guests, or upgrade to private rooms in a hotel.
The price of this self guided holiday in Patagonia includes: Airport transfers, buses, Perito Moreno tour, accommodation with breakfast in hotels, shared dorms with full board and bedding in refuges. We do not include your flights, an optional boat trip at Perito Moreno Glacier, or the Torres del Paine National Park entrance fee.
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2 Reviews of Patagonia tailor made tour, self guided
Reviewed on 30 Mar 2025 by Wendy King
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Making it to the Mirador Las Torres on a clear day! Spectacular mountain views, especially in Torres del Paine and around El Chalten.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Self-driving in Argentina from El Calafate to El Chalten was easy. Road was good between the 2 towns. If you are catching the bus to El Chalten bear in mind you will have to walk to your accommodation along broken paths and roads in the town of El Chalten, so backpacks better than suitcases.
In Torres del Paine there are long distances between trail heads with very poor corrugated roads. Keep that in mind when deciding where to stay. We stayed at Hotel Las Torres so they transported us to the trailheads. Tom from the operator was very helpful every step of the way.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
We did feel that we were benefiting local businesses. Travel arrangements were booked through local operators. Paying park entrance fees presumably helps support conservation. We did stick to the trails to reduce the environmental impact and of course left nothing behind!
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Excellent.
Reviewed on 30 Jan 2020 by Paul Fox
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
The Glacier was the most exciting. Eolo Lodge was the most memorable.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Do not try to book your own itinerary. Use a travel company with experience in the area you are going. It is worth it.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
For sure it helped the people who drove and guided us around and the staff at the hotels and restaurants we spent $ at. We left a fairly big carbon footprint to get there.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Every single connection was on time and executed perfectly with knowledgeable and friendly guides and drivers. Absolutely not one minor snag. We loved the small parts of Patagonia and Antarctica that we spent time at. Thanks.
Responsible Travel
Planet
On our Patagonia self-guided trekking holiday we include two stunning national parks: Torres del Paine in Chile ( a park since 1959) and Los Glaciares in Argentina (a park since 1937). Both have World Heritage status also. Visitors to the parks help contribute to their preservation and conservation though ENTRY FEES.We use small locally owned hotels. We use public transport throughout Argentina and on long transfers between countries to cut down on carbon emissions.
In our UK office we do not print unless necessary. We use web and email to reduce the use of paper. We use low energy light bulbs and recycle as many materials as we can. We try not to use plastic bottles on our tours but encourage use of refillable containers.
All our guides operate a leave no trace policy throughout all parts of the trip. Water is sourced from local streams, fed by glacial melt, meaning there is no need to use plastic water bottles that would otherwise be imported and put into landfill.
People
On our Patagonia self-guided holiday we use locally owned and run hotels. On this self -guided tour we encourage our customers to get out and about and eat in local restaurants and talk to local people. Travelling in couples and small groups makes this easier than larger tour groups.When out on tour we encourage learning about the country we are travelling in, the local culture of the teams we work with and the areas we pass through. Local guides are used on parts of this tour to help this sharing of knowledge.
We work together with our local partners to try keep abreast of local issues and to keep ourselves informed and therefore be ready to support any campaigns that arise. We have worked with our partners in Chalten to help to keep trails and campsites cleaner and better maintained.
We support the UK registered charity Amantani. As this charity is very much in keeping with our ethos of small scale, targetted help which is educational & sustainabale. HuchuyYachaq is the other main Peruvian charity we support by paying a for a full time teacher. A % of all our income goes to support those two projects.
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