Illustration.
220 km by road · Bus, shuttle, private car or a day trip
El Calafate to El Chaltén
Three bus companies run the road from the El Calafate terminal, door-to-door shuttles and private cars leave from the airport and from town, and the drive is paved all the way. If you are not staying the night, Patagonia Dreams' guided day goes there and back from your hotel in El Calafate.
Pick your way
Which Way to El Chaltén?
El Chaltén is 220 km north of El Calafate on a road paved all the way (Administración de Parques Nacionales). To stay there, take a regular bus from the El Calafate bus terminal: Chaltén Travel, Cal-Tur and TAQSA run it, ARS 70,000 one way on every company, with the first departures at 08:00 (the El Chaltén tourism office’s list of 3 October 2026). If you land at the airport with luggage, a door-to-door shuttle or a private car saves the trip into town. If you only want to see El Chaltén and sleep in El Calafate again, take the guided day trip: Patagonia Dreams’ From El Calafate: Full-Day Tour to El Chaltén is from US$130 a person without lunch (checked November 2026).
The day trip takes no luggage, so it is not a way to move to El Chaltén. If you are going there to stay, these three are booked online and come to you:
From El Calafate: Full-Day Tour to El Chaltén
Patagonia Dreams: hotel pickup in El Calafate (a 7:30 AM start on the dates checked), a 20-minute stop at Parador La Leona, guided walks to the Mirador de los Cóndores and the Chorrillo del Salto waterfall, and back in town in the evening. The from-price is without lunch. Park fee extra.
Check dates →Shuttle Bus from El Calafate Airport to El Chalten
Transporte Las Lengas on Viator: a shared shuttle from El Calafate airport to El Chaltén, about 3 hours, priced a person.
See the shuttle →Direct Private Transfer: El Calafate Airport to El Chaltén
FirstDay Patagonia on Viator: a private car from the airport to El Chaltén for up to seven people, 2 to 4 hours, priced for the whole group.
See the car →Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.
The bus tickets are not sold here or on GetYourGuide: you buy them from the companies, at their desks in the bus terminals or on their own websites. The times are below.
- 4.4 / 5 1056+ Reviews
- ARS 70,000 One way on every regular bus company, El Calafate to El Chaltén, on the El Chaltén tourism office's list of 3 October 2026
- 220 km El Calafate to El Chaltén, all paved, by the park authority's count; about 200 km from the airport
- Free Cancellation
The Experience
The Day Trip, If You Are Coming Back the Same Day
Hotel pickup in El Calafate, a guide in Spanish and English, two short walks in El Chaltén and the drive back. No luggage, so it is not a transfer.
Patagonia Dreams' own highlights, inclusions and notes, as listed on GetYourGuide in November 2026.
Highlights
- Hike along nature trails in the National Capital of Trekking
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off in El Calafate
- Bilingual guide in Spanish/English
- Lunch at a restaurant with main course (only if the option with lunch is chosen)
Not suitable for: People with mobility impairments, Wheelchair users · Not Included: Los Glaciares National Park entry fee
The Road from El Calafate to El Chaltén
Out of town to the east, north across the steppe, then west along Lago Viedma to the village under Fitz Roy.
Leave El Calafate
The regular buses leave the El Calafate bus terminal; some call at the airport on the way. Shuttles and the day trip collect you at your hotel.
North Across the Steppe
The road crosses the Santa Cruz River and runs north over open steppe. The day trip stops at Parador La Leona, a roadside inn, for 20 minutes.
Along Lago Viedma
The last stretch turns west along Lago Viedma, with Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre ahead on a clear day. Cal-Tur's bus stops at the national park's information office before the village.
El Chaltén
The buses end at the El Chaltén bus terminal, where the town's tourist information centre opens daily from 7:00 to 21:00. All of the road is paved, by the park authority's account.
Photo Gallery
The Steppe, Lago Viedma and Fitz Roy
The open road north of El Calafate, the lake on the last stretch and the peaks above El Chaltén.
Book Your Experience
Check Availability & Prices
Patagonia Dreams' guided day from El Calafate: hotel pickup, a stop at La Leona, short guided walks in El Chaltén and back the same evening. The from-price is the option without lunch; the park fee is paid separately. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Plan the Trip
El Calafate to El Chaltén, Question by Question
The bus there and back, straight from the airport, driving, a private car, and how to split your days between the two towns.
Prices are each page's featured tour: GetYourGuide checked November 2026. Tour and transfer prices on GetYourGuide and Viator are in US dollars; bus fares and the park fee are in Argentine pesos (ARS).
Booked Online: The Ways to El Chaltén Compared
The guided day trip, two shared shuttles and two private cars: what each price buys, where it starts, whether it takes luggage, and the month each price was checked. None includes the park fee.
| Feature | DAY TRIP Patagonia Dreams | Transporte Las Lengas | SOUTHROAD | FirstDay Patagonia | VIENTO BLANCO. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What You Pay | From US$130 per person (without lunch; park fee extra; checked November 2026) | From US$80 per person (checked November 2026) | From US$60 per person (checked November 2026) | From US$250 per group (checked November 2026) | From US$390 per group up to 3 (checked November 2026) |
| What It Is | A guided day there and back, 11 hours | A shared shuttle, one way, about 3 hours | A shared minibus or bus, one way, about 3 hours | A private car, one way, 2 to 4 hours | A private car, one way, about 2.5 hours |
| Starts From | Your hotel in El Calafate (lodgings with a reception) | El Calafate airport | El Calafate (7:30 AM) or El Chaltén (time on the booking page), with pickup | El Calafate airport | El Calafate, or El Chaltén the other way |
| Luggage | Not allowed: no luggage or large bags | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Group Size | Shared group on the options checked | Shared | Shared, up to 10 a booking | Private, up to 7 | Private, up to 3 |
| Not Included | Park fee; lunch on the cheaper option | Park fee | Park fee | Park fee | Park fee |
| Best For | Seeing El Chaltén without moving hotel | Landing at the airport and going straight north | The lowest booked-online shuttle fare in this table | A group of five to seven from the airport | Two or three people who want their own car |
| Check dates | See the shuttle | See the transfer | See the car | See the car |
Other Ways to Go
Shuttles, Private Cars and Other Day Trips
Shared shuttles and private transfers from the airport or town, and other guided days from El Calafate, on GetYourGuide and Viator.
PRIVATE CAR, THE OTHER WAYFrom El Chaltén: Private transfer to El Calafate Airport or vice versa ⇄
VIENTO BLANCO.'s private car from El Chaltén to El Calafate airport or your lodging, or the other way, about 2.5 hours, for a group of up to three, with help with luggage and stops at Lago Viedma and Lago Argentino. No reviews yet.
SHUTTLE BACK TO THE AIRPORTShuttle Bus from El Chalten to El Calafate Airport or City
Transporte Las Lengas' shared shuttle from El Chaltén to El Calafate airport or town, about 3 hours, with a 20-minute stop at Parador La Leona.
ANOTHER DAY TRIPFrom El Calafate: El Chalten Full-Day Tour and Short Hike
Gray Line Argentina's 11-hour day from El Calafate to El Chaltén with a short hike and hotel pickup; lunch on the dearer option. Park fee not included.
DAY TRIP WITH LUNCHEl Chalten Complete Experience Full Day Tour from El Calafate
SOUTHROAD's 12-hour El Chaltén day from El Calafate: hotel pickup, guided walks and a main course with a soft drink. Park fee not included.
PRIVATE DAY, UP TO 3El Chaltén/Mount Fitz Roy: Private full-day excursion at a great price
VIENTO BLANCO.'s private 10-hour day from El Calafate for a group of up to three: a private vehicle with Wi-Fi, stops on the road and at La Leona, then the Chorrillo del Salto and the Mirador de los Cóndores on your own or Laguna Capri instead. A bilingual guide only on the option with a guide; park fee and meals not included.
A DAY WITH A HIKEEl Chaltén: Capri Hike with Guide and Patagonian Picnic from El Calafate
Info de Ushuaia's 13-hour day from El Calafate: transport, a guided hike to Laguna Capri of about 8 km with about 400 m of climb, and a Patagonian picnic. Age 12 and over; park fee not included.
El Calafate to El Chaltén
The Buses, the Shuttles, the Road and the Day Trip
Who runs the buses and when they leave, what changes when you start at the airport, what a private car costs a group, the drive itself, and the one trip that brings you back the same night.
The road: 220 km, all paved
The park authority gives 220 km between the two towns, all paved, and El Chaltén’s tourism office gives 200 km from the airport. The road leaves El Calafate to the east, runs north across open steppe, reaches the eastern end of Lago Viedma at La Leona and turns west along the lake for the last stretch into El Chaltén.
The regular buses
The El Chaltén tourism office publishes the bus companies’ times and fares as one list, dated 3 October 2026 and marked subject to change. Every company charged ARS 70,000 for one way; the list prints no return fare.
| Company | Leaves El Calafate | Leaves the airport | One way |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chaltén Travel | 08:00, 11:00, 15:00, 18:00 | 08:20, 11:20, 15:20, 18:20 | ARS 70,000 |
| Cal-Tur | 08:00, 18:00, calling at the airport | on the way | ARS 70,000 |
| TAQSA | 08:00, 10:00, 12:30, 16:30, 18:00 | not listed | ARS 70,000 |
| Don Atilio (door to door) | pickups in town, see below | 10:00, 13:30, 17:00, 20:00 | ARS 70,000 a person |
El Chaltén tourism office, list of 3 October 2026, read November 2026. TAQSA’s line on the list adds a discount for cash at its window.
Cal-Tur’s bus leaves the El Calafate terminal every day, morning and afternoon, takes about 3 hours and ends at the bus terminal in El Chaltén, with a stop on the way at the national park’s information office for a map and trail advice. The bus to El Chaltén has each company in detail, and the bus back has the return times, including the departures that reach the airport.
Door-to-door shuttles
Don Atilio’s own page calls its service a regular shuttle: it collects you at your hotel in El Calafate or at the airport and drops you at your lodging in El Chaltén, for ARS 70,000 a person. It puts the trip at about 2.5 hours from the airport and about 3 hours from town, says the fare includes ordinary luggage (suitcases and trekking backpacks), and advises booking ahead from November to March. At the airport it has a stand in the arrivals hall, stand 1 by the airport’s own list.
Transporte Las Lengas runs a door-to-door shuttle from El Calafate and the airport too. Its shuttle from the airport is from US$80 a person (checked November 2026), with a 20-minute stop at Parador La Leona. SOUTHROAD’s door2door transfer, between El Calafate and El Chaltén in either direction, is from US$60 a person (checked November 2026).
A private car
A private transfer costs more and leaves when you want. FirstDay Patagonia’s private transfer from the airport is from US$250 for a group of up to seven (checked November 2026). VIENTO BLANCO.’s private transfer from El Calafate is from US$390 for up to three (checked November 2026); it has no reviews yet. For two people the shuttles are cheaper; for five or more the car can come out cheaper a head. Private transfers works the sums for groups of two, four and seven.
Driving yourself
El Chaltén’s tourism office asks drivers to check the spare tyre, carry a can of extra fuel in case of trouble on the way, and drive with dipped headlights on and seat belts fastened. In winter it warns that the roads can be closed by snowstorms and that chains or studded tyres are needed on snow and ice. Driving to El Chaltén has the rest.
The day trip, and what it is not
Patagonia Dreams’ day is 11 hours: hotel pickup in El Calafate, about 2.5 hours by coach to Parador La Leona for a 20-minute break, then El Chaltén, where a guide walks the group to the Mirador de los Cóndores and to the Chorrillo del Salto waterfall, and about 2.5 hours back. The walk to the Cóndores viewpoint is about 1,000 metres and the walk to the waterfall about 500 metres, and the coach is back in El Calafate around 18:30. Lunch at a restaurant is only in the dearer option. On the calendar in November 2026, it ran on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
It is not a transfer. The listing does not allow luggage or large bags, and the pickup works only at lodgings with a reception; in a rental without one, the operator gives you a meeting point nearby. It does not reach Laguna de los Tres or Laguna Torre, the long walks from El Chaltén: the park authority puts the walk to the Laguna de los Tres at 25 km and 8 to 9 hours.
Fees in El Chaltén
The trails around El Chaltén are in Los Glaciares National Park. The park charges at its El Chaltén portals: ARS 50,000 a day on the general rate from 1 June 2026, bought online or by QR code, by card only, with no cash (Administración de Parques Nacionales). No tour or transfer on this site includes it.
The town also has its own charge, the Tasa de Uso Urbano. Its regulation (municipal bulletin no. 74, 14 January 2026) applies it to visitors over 14 who come for the day on an excursion sold by a licensed agency, without staying the night, and leaves the amount to the town’s yearly tariff ordinance. It is paid through the agency, on the town’s website or by a QR code at the entrance to the village. Whether the day trip’s price covers it is not stated.
How long to give it
El Chaltén is a walking town, and a day trip from El Calafate is mostly road. If the long trails are why you are going, sleep there. How many days in El Calafate and El Chaltén splits a week, five days and three.
Not Staying the Night? Go for the Day
Patagonia Dreams' guided day: hotel pickup in El Calafate, a stop at La Leona, short guided walks to the Mirador de los Cóndores and the Chorrillo del Salto waterfall, and back the same evening. Park fee extra. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Starting from US$130 per person (without lunch; park fee extra; checked November 2026).
Check datesDays Out from El Calafate
Day Trips and Transfers with Open Dates
Days out of El Calafate and transfers with live availability. What is included and the cancellation terms show before you book.
El Calafate to El Chaltén: Questions
The bus, the fare, the airport, the drive, the day trip and the fees in El Chaltén.
By regular bus, door-to-door shuttle, private car or your own car; the road is 220 km and paved all the way (Administración de Parques Nacionales). Chaltén Travel, Cal-Tur and TAQSA run buses from the El Calafate bus terminal, ARS 70,000 one way on the El Chaltén tourism office's list of 3 October 2026. If you are not staying the night, Patagonia Dreams' guided day trip goes there and back from your hotel, from US$130 a person without lunch (checked November 2026).
ARS 70,000 one way, the same on every company on the El Chaltén tourism office's list of 3 October 2026, which is marked subject to change and prints no return fare. TAQSA's line adds a discount for cash at its window. Don Atilio's door-to-door shuttle charges the same ARS 70,000 a person. See the bus to El Chaltén.
About 3 hours, by the companies' own pages. Cal-Tur says about 3 hours terminal to terminal; Don Atilio says about 2.5 hours from the airport and about 3 hours from town, and that wind, fog, stops and snow can add time.
Yes. On the October 2026 list, Chaltén Travel leaves the airport at 08:20, 11:20, 15:20 and 18:20, and Cal-Tur's 08:00 and 18:00 buses from town call at the airport. Don Atilio's door-to-door shuttle leaves the airport at 10:00, 13:30, 17:00 and 20:00 and has a stand in the arrivals hall. See from the airport.
No. The nearest airport is El Calafate's, Comandante Armando Tola (FTE), which El Chaltén's tourism office puts 22 km from El Calafate and 200 km from El Chaltén.
Yes: 220 km on paved road (park authority). El Chaltén's tourism office asks drivers to check the spare tyre and carry a can of extra fuel, and in winter warns that snowstorms can close the roads and that chains or studded tyres are needed on snow and ice. See driving to El Chaltén.
Yes, but most of the day is road. Patagonia Dreams' day is 11 hours with about 2.5 hours by coach each way, guided walks to the Mirador de los Cóndores and the Chorrillo del Salto waterfall, and a return to El Calafate around 18:30. Cloud over Fitz Roy is a common complaint in its reviews. The long trails, such as the 25 km walk to the Laguna de los Tres (park authority), need a night in El Chaltén.
The trails, yes; the town, only on an agency day trip. Los Glaciares National Park charges ARS 50,000 a day on the general rate at its El Chaltén portals from 1 June 2026, online or by QR code and by card only. The town's Tasa de Uso Urbano applies, by its regulation of January 2026, to visitors over 14 on a day excursion sold by an agency who do not stay the night; the regulation leaves the amount to the yearly tariff ordinance.
No. At the El Chaltén portals the park sells tickets only online or by QR code, by card; cash is not accepted (Administración de Parques Nacionales). Cash in pesos works only at the gates in the park's south sector, near El Calafate.
Still have questions? Email us at info@elcalafatetoelchalten.com