Ways to Experience Perito Moreno
Unlike most glaciers, Perito Moreno can be seen from the water, from the shore, from elevated walkways, and from directly on top. All in a single day.
The Walkways
A network of elevated wooden walkways wraps around the glacier's northern and southern faces. Multiple levels give views from the waterline up to treetop height. No guide needed. The closest walkways bring you within 50 metres of the ice, close enough to hear it crack. Included in the park entrance fee.
Mini Trekking
A shorter guided glacier walk with crampons provided, suitable for anyone with reasonable fitness. About 90 minutes on the glacier surface, passing crevasses and meltwater channels. A short boat crossing to the base of the glacier is included. Recommended if you have one day and want on-ice time without a full-day commitment.
Big Ice
The full glacier traverse. After a boat crossing and a short hike through lenga forest, you strap on crampons and spend five hours on the glacier with a small group and two guides. You reach sections far from the edge, surrounded by towers of blue ice and deep crevasses inaccessible any other way. Physically demanding and completely extraordinary.
Lago Argentino Cruise
A boat excursion that takes you directly in front of the glacier's 5 km-wide face. The only way to truly grasp its scale. Multiple departures daily from Puerto Bajo de las Sombras. From the water you see the calving face up close, observe drifting icebergs, and photograph the glacier from an angle the walkways don't offer. Best combined with the walkways the same day.
Guided Experiences at Perito Moreno
The free walkways give you the glacier from a distance. Getting on the ice or on the water brings you into the blue towers and seracs up close — and into earshot of calving.
Mini Trekking ice walk
The entry-level ice experience: crampons on, guided walk across the glacier surface among shallow crevasses and blue ice channels. 1 hour on the ice. Transfer from El Calafate and walkway access included.
Book Mini Trekking →Big Ice glacier trek
The full ice experience: 4 hours on the glacier's upper snowfield among meter-deep crevasses and ice towers. Smaller groups, longer time on the ice, and access to sections Mini Trekking can't reach.
Book Big Ice →Lago Argentino navigation
Boat cruise along the face of the glacier through the Brazo Rico channel, passing the calving face at boat level. Best views of the full glacier height from the water. No ice walking involved.
Book boat tour →Links go to GetYourGuide for real-time availability. Check dates and guide certifications before booking.
The Perito Moreno glacier is one of the most accessible and visually dramatic glaciers on earth, and one of the few in the world that is still advancing. It sits 80 km west of El Calafate, inside Los Glaciares National Park, and it moves. Every hour, every day, year-round, the ice pushes forward and breaks into Lago Argentino with a sound like thunder.
How to get there
Fly into El Calafate (FTE) from Buenos Aires — 3 hours, multiple daily departures via Aerolíneas Argentinas and LATAM. Also connections from Ushuaia, Bariloche, and Mendoza. The base town for the glacier is El Calafate.
The glacier is 80km west — about 1.5 hours. Organized bus transfers depart the bus terminal around 08:30 (~$20 USD round-trip). You can also hire a car: the road is entirely paved. Budget the full day — leave by 8am for the walkways, a possible boat trip, and back by dinner.
Park entrance fee is ~$20–25 USD for foreigners, paid at the gate. Buses drop at the walkway system. The Intendencia at the entrance has maps and current glacier activity info. No advance booking needed for day visits.
The walkways: where to start
The walkway system is worth taking seriously. Most visitors do a quick circuit and leave, but if you stay for two or three hours you'll likely witness a calving event: sections of the ice face breaking off and crashing into the lake with an explosive report. These are unpredictable but frequent. The lower walkways give the most dramatic proximity. The upper walkways give context and scale. Do both directions.
The calving is a slow collapse. The wall stands, then it tilts, then nothing.
The southern face (accessed via a short walk from the car park) is quieter and often overlooked. It provides a completely different angle: the lateral edge of the glacier where the ice meets the Magellan peninsula. In autumn, the lenga beech trees along this section turn deep red and orange, and the contrast with the blue ice is extraordinary.
Big Ice: what to know
The Big Ice excursion is the experience that stays with you. Booking in advance is essential. Spaces are limited and tours sell out weeks ahead in high season (December–February). The operator is Solo Patagonia. Book directly. No prior glacier experience is required, but you should be comfortable walking on uneven terrain for several hours. Guides provide crampons and a briefing before you step onto the ice.
What you see from inside the glacier cannot be replicated from the walkways. The colour of 10,000-year-old ice, the blue light inside crevasses, the silence when you're a kilometre from the edge. If you're choosing between Mini Trekking and Big Ice and have the fitness for it, do Big Ice.
When to go
Perito Moreno is open and impressive year-round. Summer (December–February) has the most daylight and warmest temperatures but also the most visitors and the strongest wind. Autumn (March–April) is the sweet spot: the lenga beeches turn red and orange, crowds thin out, and the light is extraordinary. April in particular combines autumn colour with the glacier's blue ice in a way that photographers specifically travel for. Winter is cold and quiet. You can have the walkways almost to yourself in July.
Where to sleep
Hostel · El Calafate
Several hostels within walking distance of the bus terminal and restaurants. Good common areas, luggage storage, and staff who organize glacier transfers and Big Ice bookings.
Hotel · El Calafate
Comfortable hotels in the center or with Lago Argentino views. Most include breakfast. A good base for multi-day glacier itineraries combining Perito Moreno and Upsala.
Estancia · El Calafate area
Eolo luxury estancia has views of Lago Argentino and the Andes from every room, 23km from El Calafate. Private transfers to the glacier and Big Ice included in some packages.
Combining Perito Moreno with other glaciers
From El Calafate you can also visit Glaciar Upsala, a longer and more remote glacier accessible only by full-day boat through the Brazo Norte of Lago Argentino. The contrast between the two glaciers is striking: Upsala is retreating while Perito Moreno advances. Most visitors do Perito Moreno first and Upsala as a second excursion if they have the time. The boat trip for Upsala passes through icebergs from both glaciers on the open lake.
Perito Moreno in Photos
Photographs from the walkways, the lake, and the ice. March and April, Los Glaciares National Park.
Common Questions
For the walkways and boat trip: no reservation needed, buy tickets at the gate or pier the same day. For Mini Trekking and Big Ice: yes, book ahead — Big Ice has a maximum group size and often sells out 2–4 weeks ahead in high season (December–January).
Book Big Ice directly through Solo Patagonia's website or at their office in El Calafate.
Approximate costs for a full-day visit:
- Park entrance: ~$20–25 USD
- Bus transfer from El Calafate: ~$15–20 USD return
- Boat trip: ~$30–45 USD
- Mini Trekking (optional): ~$80–100 USD
- Big Ice (optional): ~$150–180 USD
Walkways + boat trip: around $65–90 USD all in. Adding Big Ice: $220–270 USD. Prices change with Argentina's exchange rate — verify before you go.
Arrive as early as the park opens (08:00). The light on the glacier is best in the morning, crowds are thinner, and calving events seem more frequent early. The walkways face mostly north, so morning light is frontal and clear. For photography, the hour before sunset is beautiful but you need a car to stay that late.
Completely different experiences. The walkways give you the view, the scale, the drama of calving at a distance. Big Ice puts you inside the glacier: you walk on it, look into crevasses, touch 10,000-year-old ice. The walkways are free and non-negotiable. If you can afford Big Ice and have the fitness, do both.
Very likely, yes. Perito Moreno calves almost continuously. Stay at the walkways for at least 90 minutes and you'll almost certainly see something significant. The most spectacular events happen when large wall sections collapse vertically into the lake, sending waves across the entire calving channel.
Outstanding. The glacier face is blue-white and very bright — expose for the ice, not the sky. A polarizing filter helps on the lake surface. For calving you need 1/500s+ shutter and a telephoto. The boat trip gives the best full-face angle. In autumn the lenga on the south shore adds color contrast that's extraordinary. Protect your battery from the cold.