Patagonia allows no half measures. There's no way to experience it halfway: either you meet it with the time and privacy it deserves, or you leave with nothing more than a postcard. ÉLEVÉ's Patagonia Signature journey combines the Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the planet's few glaciers still advancing, the Fitz Roy massif and the energy of Buenos Aires in an itinerary where each day builds something the one before could never have anticipated.
Ice, rock and city: three acts you won't forget
El Calafate guards the Perito Moreno Glacier, one of the few glaciers on the planet that is still growing and advancing, and one you can hear: it creaks, thunders and breaks into turquoise icebergs before your eyes. El Chaltén, Argentina's youngest village, is the gateway to a mountain silence no city can reproduce: Fitz Roy appears and hides among the clouds as it pleases, and seeing it clear from Laguna de los Tres is something trekkers chase for years. Buenos Aires closes the journey with its inexhaustible cosmopolitan energy: chef-driven cuisine, tango in Almagro and neighborhoods that change character every few blocks. ÉLEVÉ weaves all three into one coherent, entirely private story, with the level of care these places demand.
Day-by-day itinerary — 10 nights
Arrival in Buenos Aires — El Calafate: the end of the world begins here
From Ezeiza, your concierge takes you by private vehicle to Aeroparque for the domestic flight south. Lake Argentino appears from the plane window, an inland sea of impossible color in the middle of the steppe, announcing everything that lies ahead. Your local concierge in El Calafate accompanies you to your boutique lodge overlooking the lake. Dinner with Patagonian wines and a briefing for the next day mark the start of a conversation that will last the whole trip.
El Calafate — On the ancient ice and among turquoise icebergs
Day 2: a private zodiac brings you closer to the face of the Perito Moreno than shared tours are allowed to go, close enough to hear it creak and watch blocks of ice fall with a roar. Then come the crampons: the mini-trek on the glacier with a certified guide takes you into a world of blue caves, crevasses that change color with the hour, and subglacial channels the water has been carving for thousands of years. Lunch in the park, and a free afternoon in El Calafate to spend as you wish. Day 3: a private cruise along the northern arm of Lake Argentino to the Upsala Glacier, the largest in Argentine Patagonia. The icebergs floating around you range from white to blue-green, surrounded by a silence that feels almost sacred. A stop at Estancia Cristina adds the human element: pioneer history, unrivaled scenery and lunch at the edge of the world.
El Calafate — The Patagonian estancia: the soul of the steppe within reach
The Patagonian steppe has an arid beauty you only understand from inside it: the constant wind, the limitless horizon and the feeling that the world has a different scale here. The day at a boutique estancia combines a sheep-shearing demonstration with a local gaucho, a horseback ride across the southern pampa and fly-fishing on the river, activities that can be mixed according to each traveler's wishes. Patagonian lamb slow-roasted on the cross for hours is the most memorable lunch of the journey. In the afternoon, a gourmet picnic on the steppe with a private sommelier and reserve wines.
El Calafate — El Chaltén: Fitz Roy rises on the horizon
The private drive along Route 40 is an act of contemplation in itself: three hours of open steppe under a sky that seems bigger here than anywhere else, and the jagged profile of Fitz Roy, which the Tehuelche called "the smoking mountain", growing slowly in the windshield. The boutique lodge in El Chaltén has a direct view of the mountains from the bed. The afternoon is for acclimatizing and strolling through Argentina's youngest village, where every resident has a story of arriving in the south worth hearing. A mountain-cuisine dinner with expressive wines is the ritual that separates this day from the next.
El Chaltén — Laguna de los Tres and Cerro Torre: two summits of emotion
Day 6: the private trek to Fitz Roy is the most demanding and most rewarding day of the journey. The trail to Laguna de los Tres climbs nearly 4,000 feet through lenga forest and bare rock until it opens onto a view that stops you in your tracks: Fitz Roy, pure vertical rock and ice, reflected in the blue water of the lagoon below. Your certified mountain guide adapts the pace to your legs and shares the geology of a massif hundreds of millions of years in the making. Day 7: Laguna Torre holds another equally overwhelming horizon, Cerro Torre, a 10,262-foot granite spire that climbers consider one of the most extreme technical challenges on the planet. A free afternoon for landscape photography or complete rest at the lodge.
El Chaltén — Buenos Aires: from mountain silence to the city that never stops
A private transfer to El Calafate and the flight back to Buenos Aires. The contrast is radical and welcome: from Patagonian wind to the warm streets of Palermo or Recoleta. Your boutique hotel in Buenos Aires sets the scene for a well-earned afternoon of rest. Dinner at a benchmark parrilla, with embers, cuts you won't find at home and generous pours of Malbec, is the best introduction to the most authentic Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires — Tango, MALBA and the finale Buenos Aires deserves
Day 9: a private cultural tour with a bilingual guide through San Telmo, the city's oldest neighborhood of cobblestones and antique dealers, La Boca with its overflowing color, and Recoleta, where the architecture speaks of another Buenos Aires. Lunch at a chef-driven Porteño restaurant. MALBA in the afternoon: a collection of Latin American art any European museum would envy. The night is spent at a historic milonga in Almagro: an introductory tango class, a premium table and a private show that turns tango into something you won't forget. Day 10: a free morning for the spa, Palermo Soho or the San Telmo market. Private transfer to Ezeiza airport for your flight home.
What's included — no fine print
- Private zodiac cruise facing the Perito Moreno Glacier
- Mini-trek on the ice with a certified glacier guide
- Full day at a boutique Patagonian estancia with a gourmet picnic
- Private trek to Fitz Roy with a certified mountain guide
- Cruise among turquoise icebergs to the Upsala Glacier
- Tango gala night at a historic Buenos Aires milonga
To explore this journey's destinations in depth, visit our page on Patagonia Glaciers and Buenos Aires Gala. If you're looking for a longer journey, the Argentina Signature adds Bariloche and Mendoza. For lush nature, see the Iguazú Signature. See all our available itineraries.
The base journey covers 9 nights: 4 in El Calafate, 3 in El Chaltén and 2 in Buenos Aires. With 11 nights you can add a day at a Patagonian estancia, a helicopter flight over the Southern Ice Field and more free time in Buenos Aires.
The austral summer, November to March, is the optimal season. December and March offer the best balance of weather, light and visitor numbers. January and February are ideal for trekking to Fitz Roy in El Chaltén. The Perito Moreno Glacier can be visited year-round.
Not necessarily. The mini-trek on the glacier is of moderate difficulty, but it can be skipped or replaced with the private zodiac cruise, which requires no physical effort. The Fitz Roy excursion can be adapted to different levels. ÉLEVÉ always designs the itinerary around each traveler's fitness.