Patagonia and Torres del Paine holiday
Highlights
El Calafate | El Chalten | Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre Massif | Loma del Pliegue | Perito Moreno glacier | Torres del Paine National Park | Puerto Natales | Rio Grande | Ushuaia | Beagle Channel boat trip | Tierra del Fuego National Park | Optional activities: Viedma ice trek and Tempranos Channel boat tripDescription of Patagonia and Torres del Paine holiday
You’ll be hiking through some of Patagonia’s most stunning landscapes on this 15-day small group tour that takes you from El Calafate all the way down to Ushuaia, via vast, creaking glaciers via majestic Mount Fitz Roy and the iconic Torres del Paine National Park.Considered one of the three most beautiful mountains on earth, Fitz Roy welcomes you into Patagonia with a bang, setting the tone for a spectacular trip. Travelling in the company of like-minded fellow travellers and accompanied by an expert guide, you’ll hike into the heart of the Fitz Roy massif, staying overnight in comfortable tented camps, set up seasonally with igloo-type tents, mattresses and sleeping bags provided.
From here, El Calafate and the stunning Perito Moreno glacier await before you head further south for a four-day trek in the beautiful Torres del Paine National Park. Again, accommodation is in comfortable tented camps in dramatic mountain valleys. Finally, your trip culminates as you cross the Beagle Channel to reach the southern-most city in the World, Ushuaia, in remote and spectacular Tierra del Fuego.
While active and adventurous this trip also allows you time to relax and enjoy the jaw-dropping surroundings, with free days and optional activities worked into the itinerary. Accommodation is a mixture of small inns and guesthouses and tented camps.
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.com
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Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.
1) Wildlife - We have a couple of endangered species in the area. Main one is a local small deer by the name of Huemul, and also a river duck by the name of Torrent Duck. We encourage our guests to enjoy them if visible at all time, but we give strict standards of how to behave in their presence if they happen to appear.2) Waste - We leave nothing in the place of our camps, but organic stuff. All contaminating or non bio degradable stuff is brought back to town and disposed properly. We are very creative on how to minimize the bulk and weight to transport, as we need to use llamas (not horses) to do it.
3) We agree with our National park Administration not to allow any more fires in the National Park.
4) We encourage and support, though it was a challenge for us, to no longer use horses for load transportation as horses are the most important trail and soil erosion factor in the area.
The Impacts of this Trip
1) A fair deal - We hire local trekking & mountain guides, either in Fitz Roy and in Paine, so they are argentinians in Fitz Roy and chilean in Paine. We support their training and development, for example, nominating them for Top Guide prize of some of our customers, sending them abroad to exchange experiences,or giving them access to new courses, either new technic courses, first aid revalidation courses, and so on.
2) Local crafts and culture - We always encourage guests to get to the local market places, we explain the basics of local handcrafts.
3) We fight for an open business format instead of exclusive concesions inside the National Park. In other words, we fight for the idea that everyone can work inside the National Parks, not just a few people that was lucky to get there the first (though we are pioneers in the area)
4) We support with money and man power the trails restoration work that the National Park Service puts in motion every year
5) We offer our camps facilities for schools and other non profit organizations.
1) Wildlife - We have a couple of endangered species in the area. Main one is a local small deer by the name of Huemul, and also a river duck by the name of Torrent Duck. We encourage our guests to enjoy them if visible at all time, but we give strict standards of how to behave in their presence if they happen to appear.2) Waste - We leave nothing in the place of our camps, but organic stuff. All contaminating or non bio degradable stuff is brought back to town and disposed properly. We are very creative on how to minimize the bulk and weight to transport, as we need to use llamas (not horses) to do it.
3) We agree with our National park Administration not to allow any more fires in the National Park.
4) We encourage and support, though it was a challenge for us, to no longer use horses for load transportation as horses are the most important trail and soil erosion factor in the area.
The Impacts of this Trip
1) A fair deal - We hire local trekking & mountain guides, either in Fitz Roy and in Paine, so they are argentinians in Fitz Roy and chilean in Paine. We support their training and development, for example, nominating them for Top Guide prize of some of our customers, sending them abroad to exchange experiences,or giving them access to new courses, either new technic courses, first aid revalidation courses, and so on.
2) Local crafts and culture - We always encourage guests to get to the local market places, we explain the basics of local handcrafts.
3) We fight for an open business format instead of exclusive concesions inside the National Park. In other words, we fight for the idea that everyone can work inside the National Parks, not just a few people that was lucky to get there the first (though we are pioneers in the area)
4) We support with money and man power the trails restoration work that the National Park Service puts in motion every year
5) We offer our camps facilities for schools and other non profit organizations.
1 Reviews of Patagonia and Torres del Paine holiday
Reviewed on 20 Feb 2019 by Claire Harding
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Hiking and camping in the magnificent landscape of Patagonia.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Don't bring too much! Costs rise due to high National Park entry fees, and high cost of extra excursions. Argentina is not a cheap country, due to inflation, there, and the poor £ exchange rate!
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Local guides and money spent in restaurants, yes. Not sure otherwise.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
9 out of 10, and only not 10 due to the higher costs than expected... Very varied programme made it a surprise every day!
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