This is an ideal guide for those who want to travel to Patagonia but are short on time! I managed to see and do everything I wanted in Patagonia in 3 days. So in this article, I will share with you my Patagonia 3 day travel itinerary.
This Patagonia 3 day travel itinerary is an allrounder as it includes hikes, tours, and also some calmer activities. So you can adjust it to your preferences.
Patagonia 3 Day Travel Itinerary Base
So to be able to do all the below, I decided to base myself in El Calafate which is one of the most popular places to stay and from where to travel around Patagonia. It is a great location because it allows you to visit all the main areas in Patagonia within a few hours car ride. To most places, it takes from 1 hour to 4 hours. It is also a lovely town full of restaurants, bars, and shops where you can buy anything you might need for your hikes or tours around Patagonia.
There are only 2 airports nearby of which one is in El Calafate and the other one on the Chile side - Puerto Natales. So also from that point of view, El Calafate is quite a convenient location. Of course, from El Calafate, you can get a bus to all the nearby cities, like El Chalten.
Patagonia 3 Day Travel Itinerary
Alright, let's dive into each day!
DAY 1: Torres del Paine, Chile
For day one I recommend booking a day trip to Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. It is one of the most iconic National Parks in South America and definitely a must-visit when in Patagonia. If you are traveling from El Calafate then I definitely recommend booking a tour that will ensure you get there as fast as possible and see as much as possible as the park is big and if you only have one day you want to maximize your visit.
The main things to see there will be the iconic Paine Towers. Also, the waterfall Salto Grande and my personal favorite was the lake Pehoé. All this you can see in one day with a tour or by renting a car and making these your checkpoints.
Now the only thing you won't have time for is the actual hike to Base of the Towers viewpoint, as it requires you to be at the park early in the morning and dedicate the whole day for it or even 2 days.
If you wish to have the full Torres del Paine experience with a hike to the base of the Towers viewpoint, you will need an extra day, so make it into a 4 day itinerary. Also if you do so, then ideally that night before visiting you base yourself in Puerto Natales and not El Calafate so you can access the park early in the morning without the 4h ride from El Calafate.
DAY 2: El Chalten, Argentina
For day 2 I recommend visiting the El Chalten area where the iconic Mount Fitz Roy is. To truly experience the area I opted for a 24km hike, which was absolutely fantastic. The hike I did is called '3 Lagoons' and is one of the most popular hikes in the area. The hike is lovely for the first 3 hours and then the final part for around an hour is extremely tough. The whole last hour is a steep hike up but I promise the views are worth it! At the end of 12km, you will reach the top where you will have a fantastic view of Mount Fitz Roy.
The hike you can better experience through my video:
Of course, if you want to see Mount Fitz Roy and the El Chalten area but are worried about the long and tough hike, you can also book a tour that includes several viewpoints and small mini hikes to places but without the big hike up.
Now, I did El Chalten on day 1 and then Torres del Paine on day 2, but here I am recommending doing it the other way round because after day 1 my legs were done and I was exhausted from the day 1 hike. So whatever hower you do, leave the biggest hike to the end of the trip so you can enjoy the smaller hikes and visits without hurting legs. That's advice for all my fellow weekend hikers, that can do a hike but do not train for them.
DAY 3: Glacier Boat Ride, Argentina
And for the final day, I recommend booking the Glacier Boat Ride that takes you around to different glaciers and of course also to the most important one - Perito Moreno Glacier!
This will also be an ideal rest day after hiking days. I absolutely loved it! You can also book an option to be dropped off on the way back at the Perito Moreno Walkaway, which is a 5km trail that allows you to see it from the land. I was planning to do it but due to unpredicted icebergs, the boat was unable to access to drop-off point, so we had to skip on that. But with the boat, you get really close to the Perito Moreno Glacier so I don't feel like I missed out but you can do both in one day.
All the above helped me put together and organize a wonderful family-owned travel agency Limay Trip. They helped me during the planning process, booked all tours for me, and were there a WhatsApp message away the whole trip. I highly recommend them! (Whatsapp: +54 9 11 2894-2697; email: limaytrip@gmail.com)
So I managed to do and see everything I had on my list in 3 days, but now that I know how things are, I would probably recommend that you ideally allocate 4 days for Patagonia. If there is one thing I could have done differently I would have stayed first or last night at Puerto Natales and allocated the whole day for Torres del Paine National Park, where I would probably have done a longer hike to the base of the Towers viewpoint.
I hope this article will help you plan your Patagonia trip better and shows that you do not need 10 days or 2 weeks, you can capture the best of Patagonia also in a shorter timeframe. While planning, make sure to check out my 'Everything you need to know when traveling to Patagonia' guide!