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Perito Moreno Glacier El Calafate: Walkways & Boat Tour

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/12

Duration8h

GroupUp to 46

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Walk the Ice Walls, Then Float Past Them

You walk the Perito Moreno Glacier's 4-kilometer boardwalk system at your own pace with a bilingual guide, then take a one-hour boat ride across Lago Argentino to view the 80-meter ice wall from the water. The tour includes hotel pickup, three hours on the walkways with a lunch break option, and returns you to El Calafate in the afternoon.

Step-by-step itinerary

Depart hotel in El Calafate at 10:00 a.m.
Cross Magellanic Peninsula and explore ice formation
Walk 4 km on glacier walkways
Pause for lunch or picnic
Take one-hour boat ride near glacier wall
Return to El Calafate in afternoon

The Experience

The driver picks you up around 10 a.m. from your hotel in El Calafate and heads south toward Los Glaciares National Park. The road crosses the Magellanic Peninsula, flat and sparse, and after about an hour you're standing in front of the Perito Moreno Glacier. It's one of those moments where the scale doesn't register until you're actually there — the ice wall rises 80 meters straight up from the lake, and it's still moving. Your guide, who speaks Spanish and English, walks you through what you're looking at: the deep blue crevasses, the way the glacier calves, why the color changes depending on the light.

The walkway system stretches 4 kilometers across different levels of the park, so you're not locked into one viewpoint. You get three hours to move at your own pace, stop where you want, take photos from multiple angles. Some people spend an hour on the boardwalks; others linger longer. There's a restaurant nearby if you want a hot meal, or you can bring a picnic and eat overlooking the ice. The guide is there if you have questions, but you're not being herded from spot to spot — it's genuinely your time to absorb it.

After the walkways, you board a boat for about an hour on Lago Argentino. This is where you get close enough to hear the glacier, and if you're lucky, you'll see chunks of ice calving off the wall and crashing into the water. The boat doesn't get dangerously close, but it's close enough that the scale becomes real in a different way. You're floating in front of something that's been moving for thousands of years, and it's still moving. The ride back to El Calafate follows the same route, and you're back in town by late afternoon.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup in El Calafate (or a nearby meeting point), transport in an air-conditioned vehicle to Los Glaciares National Park, a bilingual guide in Spanish or English, access to the 4-kilometer walkway system with three hours to explore at your own pace, a lunch break at the park (restaurant or picnic), and a one-hour boat ride on Lago Argentino approaching the glacier wall. Return transport to El Calafate is included.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleStroller friendlyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Patagonia Dreams

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see the Perito Moreno Glacier without arranging transport, park entry, or timing the walkways and boat ride yourself — the fixed schedule and included guide handle all three, leaving you free to move at your own pace once you're there.