Trekking Around The Beautiful Town El Chalten

El Chalten is the perfect destination for trekking lovers: with amazing mountain views, lagoons and lots of day trip trail, this patagonian area is not a place to miss.

We stayed 4 nights at Pioneros del Valle hostel. The dorms are clean and comfortable, the kitchen is ok, not the cleanest but you’ll probably use it since the breakfast is not included here.

Our rating for Pioneros del Valle hostel is 7 out of 10.

The great thing we loved about El Chalten is that all the nature is free. No entrance fees, and no transportation needed to start trekking. You can easily start any of the treks from the center of this little town.

No entrance fees and you can easily start any of the treks from the center of El Chalten. Perfect!

No entrance fees and you can easily start any of the treks from the center of El Chalten. Perfect!

When we got to El Chalten the weather was very cloudy and windy, it can always happen in Patagonia, even in the high season. Remember to dress up properly even if the day starts sunny.

We decided to do a day trek even though the weather wasn’t amazing. We did the ‘Laguna Torre’ trail, which takes 6 hours of roundtrip walk. The ‘Laguna Torre’ trail is quite flat and easy, and goes through wonderful landscape. The trail starts from town and leads you to the beautiful Torre lagoon, where you can see the Grande glacier. When we got to the lagoon it was very windy and cloudy, so we couldn’t stay there too long. 

The 'Laguna Torre' trail is quite flat and easy, and goes through wonderful landscape

The ‘Laguna Torre’ trail is quite flat and easy, and goes through wonderful landscape

When we got to the lagoon it was very windy and cloudy

When we got to the lagoon it was very windy and cloudy

After trekking in the windy-rainy-cloudy weather, we felt a bit weak. We decieded to do the famous hike of the Fitz Roy trail only untill Laguna Capri, which is a 4 hours roundtrip from town. The hike to the beautiful Laguna Capri is easy, and the laguna offers a fantastic view of the Fitz Roy.

Starting our hike to Laguna Capri

Starting our hike to Laguna Capri

 

If you are in a good shape, you should keep going on the same trail all the way up to the Laguna De los Tres, and get closer to the granite peaks of the Fitz Roy. This full  hike is more demanding, and takes around 9 hours round-trip. 

The Capri Lagoon was very relaxing and it is a great place to have a picnic and enjoy the wonderful landscape.

Fantastic view of the Fitz Roy

Fantastic view of the Fitz Roy

Laguna Capri- a wonderful place for a relaxing picnic

Laguna Capri- a wonderful place for a relaxing picnic

El Chalten was a great place for us. The relaxing atmosphere of the small town, the easy-accesed and budget-friendly nature, the wonderful hiking trails, are all good reasons why you should visit this town on your next trip to Argentina. And don’t miss the famous waffles in town!

Our rating for El Chalten is 10 out of 10!

Backpacking Panda

About Backpacking Panda

Animator, 3D artist and travel blogger.

2 thoughts on “Trekking Around The Beautiful Town El Chalten

  1. Wow! The view’s absolutely magnificent. Wish I could do some trekking here as well!!

  2. The landscape is incredible and so easy to reach. That’s what we loved about El Chalten(=

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