Globalista

Patagonia is so legendary you think you know what to expect, but nothing prepares you for the experience. The space is vast and people are few (there are twice as many sheep) – drive along the iconic Ruta 40, and you’ll meet just three cars in 12 hours. Yet Patagonia’s people are as warm as the winds are fierce – a corrugated iron shack on the horizon turns out to be a welcoming homestead full of books and battered chintz, with home-reared lamb roasting over a fire. Patagonia has drawn fortune hunters and (more often) people on the run: from the law, from persecution, and from civilisation. Welsh settlers, Butch and Sundance, Bruce Chatwin, Che Guevara. But all who live here are bound by a love of the land, patience with isolation and a taste for extremes.

There are mighty glaciers like frozen seas which end in great walls of blue ice. Ride a boat underneath, trek on the intricate surface, and watch when a chunk the size of a house calves off with a roar into the milky lake below. The Andes yield vast playgrounds for horse-riding and trekking in some of the most picturesque wilderness on the planet. Stay a few days at a sheep farming estancia to taste life on the land, and forget the modern world entirely. There is no better escape. Rethink. Start again.

The Atlantic coast is awash with marine life along its entire length, but particularly in that wide splay of land Peninsula Valdés, where hundreds of Southern Right whales come to breed in June and where seals and sea lions can be seen cavorting in their thousands at any time of year. Near here, the Welsh pioneers made their first settlement. Testimony to their hardy existence can be seen in the small museum at Gaiman, while the major tourist attraction lies in traditional tea shops selling not quite so traditional ‘Welsh teas’ which include 14 kinds of cake. At the end of the Andes, Tierra del Fuego is indeed a land of fire if you come in April when the lenga beech forest turns scarlet. Sitting at Bahía Lapataia and looking out across the Beagle Channel, imagining the voyages of those early explorers, you most definitely feel at end of the world. A strangely peaceful and satisfying sensation. 

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El Calafate

The nearest town to Perito Moreno glacier, El Calafate is a touristy place bursting with hotels, bars and kitsch shops. All hotels offer the same trips on the glacier, 80km west of town, so decide whether you’d rather stay in town (at Los Sauces), or 25km west on the dramatic mountain steppe (at Eolo and Alta Vista), or – best of all – right inside the national park at Los Notros. Those in search of a real wilderness experience should stay a night at Estancia Cristina, reached only by boat on a remote arm of the lake with privileged access to Upsala glacier, or at remote and traditional estancia Helsingfors, 180km north of El Calafate, with access to the smaller Viedma glacier.

Long famed in Argentina for its unique position right opposite the Perito Moreno glacier, Los Notros attracts celebrities and oligarchs alike. The modern rooms might lack finesse in their decor, perhaps, but the view from their windows more than compensates. Gaze at the glacier from bed, or from the open terrace where tea is served. The food is decent and robust, and there’s an excellent wine list. The main advantage is that you don’t have to leave the splendour of the wilderness after hiking all day, but can still enjoy a hot Jacuzzi. Book a Premium room for the space and minibar.

There is just one top-notch choice in town: Los Sauces. Much fuss has been made about this being the presidential getaway, with Cristina Kirchner flitting in and out from time to time. It certainly feels exclusive, and attracts a glamorous clientele. Smart, comfortable and pricey, it’s the place to stay if you want to be near the bright lights of El Calafate. It’s a modern building in traditional style, with 18 individually decorated bedrooms, some more country-house style, others more modern. Service is snappy, massages are available in the spa.

Alta Vista is a really special place. It was built by Yugoslavian pioneers in the 1930s and retains a homely feel in simple, tasteful public rooms and bedrooms decorated in retrained style with good linens and the odd antique. Since Alta Vista is a proper sheep-farming estancia, there’s a real sense of traditional life on the land here (watch the sheep-shearing spectacle in the season), and with only seven rooms it is quiet and intimate like nowhere else in the area. Good riding and walks arranged.

Just across the steppe, and perched high on a hill, Eolo has airy public areas and 17 large impeccable suites with vast windows looking onto the ravishing landscape of the steppe: sculptural, treeless, and made dramatic with the play of light and shadows. The minimalist furnishings are of a very high standard, and the service from attentive young host guides is excellent – they arrange activities in the area and make you feel welcome. Good food too. 

Reached only by boat, some three hours from El Calafate, Estancia Cristina was built by an English sheep-farming family in 1914. As you approach from the water, the isolation becomes clear: just a huddle of buildings on the shore at the foot of a vast mountain. But the rooms are cosy and warm and the food (particularly the Patagonian lamb) surprisingly refined, given the location. Best of all, superb hikes and horse-riding give unparalleled views over Upsala glacier from above. Not to be missed. 

For a real off-the-beaten-track feel but with total comfort, head straight to Helsingfors, 180km north of El Calafate off the road to El Chaltén. This is a rare chance to stay on an original Patagonian sheep-farming estancia, with the added advantages of a glacier nearby on the edge of Lake Viedma and privileged access to other more remote and spectacular landscapes. The service is personal and friendly and the activities organised here are first-class: visit the glacier with expert guides, and the ride to Laguna Azul, particularly, is unforgettable. The eight rooms are smallish but comfortable.

Punta Arenas, Chile

To combine glaciers and the Torres del Paine national park just over the border in Chile (see our separate report on Torres del Paine), or if you come up by boat from Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, you might find your itinerary requires a night at Punta Arenas where decent hotels are almost non-existent. Best of a bad bunch is José Nogueira in a handsome stone mansion on the plaza, built by the original pioneers who constructed the city. Public rooms retain architectural splendour, though the service is patchy. Insist on a suite, and don’t eat in the restaurant – go to Sotito’s, a famous seafood restaurant with old-fashioned service and the best king crab in town.

Alternatively, and far more interesting, stay just an hour out of town in a new lodge at the southernmost lighthouse in South America, El Faro San Isidro – just six fairly spartan rooms, but the unbeatable setting right on the Magellan Straits makes this a thrilling start or end to your trip. The local seafood is superb, and there are expert whale-watching trips and kayaking in the Straits themselves. 

El Chaltén

Smaller than El Calafate, El Chaltén is just a base for hiking in the mountains: a plethora of hostels, a few campsites, and one decent hotel. Los Cerros is the best place to stay, by some distance. Think of it more as a large comfortable hotel for walkers than a boutique gem. Rooms are plain and purposeful, but the restaurant has great views and the food here is almost too smart for its own good: lamb and hare given real flair, international style. The airy library is a good place to loll if the cloud descends but, best of all, the guides on hand are superb and will arrange excellent hikes and horse rides.

Further afield, and in the absolute middle of nowhere, Estancia El Condor has first-class access to remote lakes and mountains (240km from El Calafate airport, and 220km north of El Chaltén). This traditional estancia – white zinc walls and green roof, just four bedrooms with simple homespun interiors – is a long way from anywhere but worth the detour if, for you, Patagonia means entirely escaping the crowds and immersing yourself in the immensity of nature. Fabulous hikes, incredible bird-watching.

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Globalista’s Pick of the Press

24 May 2009 - The New York Times - Trout Fresh From the Sea at the End of the Earth in Argentina
20 January 2009 - The Telegraph - The Perito Moreno Glacier, Patagonia: One minute wonder
3 December 2008 - The Telegraph - Ushaia, Patagonia: My kind of town