During my trip, I stayed at three different cities in Southern Argentina. They are famous tourist cities of the Patagonia region.
El Calafate
A town that is the interest point and stop over point for many Patagonia attractions. It has an international airport, Comandante Armando Tola International Airport (FTE), located about 30 minutes east of the city. You can easily arrange taxi or mini-bus such as Ves Patagonia going to the city. Ves Patagonia charges about 200 ARS round trip and you can reserve on-line in advance if you'd like. Below is a link to Ves Patagonia.
http://www.vespatagonia.com.ar/
Some of the famous attractions nearby El Calafate are Glaciar Perito Moreno, El Chalten, and Torres del Paine National Park. Many hostels and hotels offers local tours to these places. There is also a bus terminal, located very conveniently in the town center to the attractions if you wish to book through bus companies directly.
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| El Calafate City Map |
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| Street view of El Calafate |
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| View from uphill at El Calafate |
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View from Laguna Nimez Nature Reserve at El Calafate
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El Chalten
A hiker's town. It is a gorgeous town with magnificent mountains in the background. You can reach the town by taking a bus at El Calafate. It is a three-hour bus ride. Two major bus companies are Chalten Travel and Caltur. They both have their own schedule, but the schedules are quite similar to one another, leaving El Calafate in the morning around 8am or 9am and leaving El Chalten in the afternoon around 6pm. Below are the links to the bus companies.
http://www.chaltentravel.com/main.php
http://www.caltur.com.ar/caltur/ingles/quienes.html
On the way to and from El Chalten, the bus will stop by a little rest area about half way. It is called Lago Viedma. It has a little shop where you can go to the rest room and buy some snacks or souvenir if you'd like.
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| Lago Viedma |
As you approaching El Chalten, you can see from far away the great Fitz Roy. It is a signature landscape of Argentine Patagonia. Right before entering the town, the bus will also take you the Los Glaciar National Park visitor center. At the visitor center, the rangers are available to explain you trail information, to give you a hiking map, answer any questions you may have. After the visitor center, the bus will take you to the bus terminal at El Chalten.
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| Approaching El Chalten |
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| Los Glaciar National Park Trail Map |
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| Welcome to El Chalten |
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| El Chalten City Map |
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| El Chalten city street view |
Ushuaia
Fin del Mundo, the end of the World as it called itself. It is the southernmost city of the civilized world. It is the jump board to Antarctica. It is a city with lots of maritime and prison history around the Beagle Channel. It has an international airport called Malvinas Argentinas Ushuaia International Airport. The airport is about half and hour away from the city. You can easily arrange taxi to take you to the city. The cost is about 130ARS one way. It is a very touristy and friendly town because lots of big cruise lines take a stop at Ushuaia. From Ushuaia, you can easily arrange tours going to Antarctica, cruise to see penguins, sea lions, seals, and hiking in Tierra del Fuego National Park. You will find some tour offices in mini-houses lined up along the water front and right by the city visitor center.
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| City map of Ushuaia |
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| On the way to Ushuaia city from the airport |
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| Ushuaia City |
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| Ushuaia water front / Beagle Channel |
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| Ushuaia city with mountains in the back |
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