Region Information

El Calafate is located on the south border of a typical milky glacier lake of the Patagonic Andes. The Argentino Lake covers an area of 1,600sq km and is the biggest lake in Argentina and the third biggest in South America. Most of the inhabitants in the little town of El Calafate work in tourism. El Calafate is one of the unavoidable stopovers with some of the most impressive sights in Argentina: the national park “Los Glaciares".

Perito Moreno Glacier: It is one of the few advancing glaciers in our planet. This conjunction of ice, rock and water is one of the greatest attractions in the country and in the whole South America. It is only one of many side arms forming the continental ice shell of 22,000sq km, covering the mountains between Argentina and Chile. After the pole regions, it is the biggest ice mass in the planet. However, it is its beauty, which makes it an unavoidable highlight in every trip to Argentina. About 80km from El Calafate, the glacier lies in-between mountains just in front of a peninsula and it is looming up to 4km into the lake. As the 60m high glacier advances, it periodically dams up the Brazo Rico of  Argentino Lake, causing the water to rise. Eventually, the melting ice below can no longer support the weight of the water behind it and the dam collapses in an explosion of ice and water. It is an auditive and visual experience, when huge icebergs on the glacier face frequently calve and collapse into the lake. From a series of catwalks and vantage points on the "Península de Magallanes", visitors can see, hear, and photograph the glacier safely when these enormous chunks crash into the water.

Upsala Glacier: Winds, lagoons, terraces polished by the course of the glaciers, condors, the beauty and grandeur of the great glaciers like Upsala, Onelli, Spegazzini and others make the park a place well-worth exploring. With 595sq km, the Upsala glacier belongs to the biggest continental glaciers in the world. It is 45km west of El Calafate and only reachable by boat from Punta Bandera. The 120km boat voyage among bizarre formed icebergs, leads to the Upsala, with its breathtaking dimensions. Further on, at Bahía Onelli, you can do a short hike through a typical Patagonic forest of the Andes. The hike ends at the Onelli lagoon, a little lake, full of stranded icebergs. REMARK: The entrance to the Onelli bay is blocked by icebergs since a few years ago.