Perito Moreno Glacier Minitrekking Tour
Description
Minitrekking is a Full day tour that allows you to walk on the top of a Moreno Glacier with crampons. Operation all year around Duration: 10 hours Trekking on the Ice: About an hour and ten minutes aprox. Total trekking time: approximately 3 hours. Warning: this excursion, due to the degree of effort and difficulty that presents, is not advisable for the following people: greater of 65 years and minors of 10 years old, pregnant women, people with overweight or some type of disability.
Tour Options
Itinerary
The excursion begins with the pick up from the hotels in El Calafate city, and goes through the Provincial Road N°11 to the Perito Moreno Glacier area, after traveling 75 km.
Once at the National Park, the bus takes you to the balconies and the guide is going to be waiting for you, to inform about the different trails. There, you’ll be free to walk along.
A bus from the company will take you to "Bajo las Sombras" pier, about 6 km far from the balconies, where you embark for a 20 minutes navigation across the Brazo Rico, enjoying breathtaking views of the glacier’s front walls and the Canal de los Témpanos (Icebergs Channel).
After checking the last details, groups of 20 follow their guides along the lake’s shore towards the edge of the glacier. Once on the ice, the guides put each participant a pair of crampons on, and explain how to use them. You will receive explanations about flora, fauna and general glaciology of the region, and also about the particular phenomenon that happens in the Perito Moreno Glacier and eventually produces its rupture.
Once the minitrekking is finished we return to pier "Bajo Las Sombras", navigating the Brazo Rico again.
The bus will be waiting for passengers at the port to take them back to their hotels in El Calafate
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
The pick-up is included only by some hotels in El Calafate. Remember to send us the name of the hotel where you will be staying in El Calafate. when you book the tour we will give the time for pick up, it may be different In the re-confirmation of the reservation we will indicate if the accommodation of each passenger is included in the pick up schedule. The pick-up does not include Bed&Breakfast or private accommodation. In this case, passengers must present themselves at the agency "Hielo y Aventura" (Avenida del Libertador 483, El Calafate, Santa Cruz, Argentina) at the time indicated on the day before the excursion. Exact pick-up time will be informed one day before the excursion. **The pick up time is assigned by the company Hielo y Aventura. **The pick up from the hotels, could suffer from 30 to 45 minutes of delay, because of the big amounts of hotels in town. The schedules detailed in the description, have been considered provided that the passenger has been assigned the first shift of the day (Pick up 07:30 hs // Drop off 17:30 hs). But such schedule may vary. The final schedule will depend on the availability and the pick up time assigned by the company, at the time of confirming your reservation. Passengers must contemplate that the excursion has a total duration of approximately 10 hours, starting with the pick-up time at the hotel, until the return to the city of El Calafate. Once the reservation is confirmed, with the complete data of all the passengers and the hotel where they will be staying, a message will be sent with the exact pick-up and return schedule. It should be remembered that the Minitrekking has a fixed pick-up route through hotels, which does not include B&B, or private accommodations. If passengers are in these types of accommodations, they must show up at the indicated time, at the "Hielo y Aventura" 's office, to take the transfer that will take them to the Perito Moreno. In the confirmation of the service with pick-up time, it will be clarified if the accommodation is included in the tour or not. For the aforementioned reasons, it is NOT RECOMMENDED to take this tour on the day of arrival or departure flight from El Calafate.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Limitations: This excursion, due to the degree of difficulty and effort required, it is only suitable for people from 10 to 65 years old. - People who are overweight should not participate. We consider as such those that exceed the following criteria: weight in kg greater than twice the height in cm minus 100 (for example, for a height of 1.70m: 170 minus 100 = 70 x 2 = 140)
- Minimum age required to take the excursion: 08 years old. Maximum age allowed for the excursion: 65 years old. NO exceptions of ANY KIND in this point
- People with any degree or type of physical or mental disability that affects their attention, progress and / or coordination.
- People whose cardiac or vascular capacities are diminished, or use stents, pacemakers or other prostheses for example: medicated with anticoagulants, grade III varices (those that are thick and multiple), cardiac arrhythmias.
- People suffering from diseases that provoke respiratory disabilities (COPD, asthma, emphysema, etc.).
- Minimum age required to take the excursion: 10 years old. Maximum age allowed for the excursion: 65 years old. NO exceptions of ANY KIND in this point.
- Smoking is not allowed during the excursion.
Reviews(243)
The mini trek was a once in a lifetime experience on the most stunning glacier I've ever seen. I highly recommend it!!!
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Rather than repeat everyone else saying what an amazing trip this is (& it is, if you can afford it, do it) I thought I'd write a review about the logistics of driving in your own car to Puerto Bajo. (where the boat leaves from) I was told by H&A that the drive would take me about 1.30 to 1.40 & that I should get there at least 30 mins early. My tour started at 0845. However the park only opens at 8am and it's a 20-30 min drive from the entrance to the port so you cannot arrive much before 0830. If you pre paid or are paying by cash you don't need to go into the office. Just grab one of the staff and show them your pass (or give them your cash) and they go and get your pass for you. Unlike El Chalten showing them your online purchase isn't enough, you have to receive a green paper ticket. If you're paying by card then you have to queue up to go into the office. If you arrive after 0830 though there probably won't be a queue. Puerto Bajo is about 15km from the park entrance. Their sign isn't prominent but you can see the boats as you come round an earlier bend in the road. In the end arriving at 0830 (or even later) wasn't a problem as the boat wasn't scheduled to leave until 0900. There is plenty of parking, and there are toilets both at the port and onboard. When you arrive at the other side there is a place to leave your rucksack and/or lunch before embarking on the hike and there are toilets there also. This is also where they give you gloves if you don’t have any. They’re not for the cold but to protect your hand should you fall. Overall we left Puerto Bajo at 9am and by 1.45pm we were back at the port.
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Trekking on a glacier was surreal. I felt like I was on another planet. The ice was beautiful and the guides were all fantastic! Highly recommend
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One of the best things we did in Argentina. I’m 64 years old and in moderate good shape and not too difficult. However to walk on the glacier you need good knees because with each step you have to stomp your foot hard in the ice so the crampon’s stick. Otherwise you might slip. Lots of quad work. One tip; tie your shoes very tightly because your foot will slip and once they put the crampons in it’s too late to tighten them. Tour guides were fabulous and they assisted with steep parts plus there are guardrails in many parts. On glacier for about 90 minutes.
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A very impressive experience, extraordinary beautiful views; attentive, careful, friendly guides; brilliantly organized trekking.
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What a breathtaking and truly beautiful experience. This tour lets you see the glacier from multiple angles, including the unforgettable perspective from directly on top of it. The guides were friendly, professional, and made it clear that safety was a top priority throughout the entire trek. The distance itself is short, less than two miles, but the crampons add an extra layer of challenge that makes it feel adventurous without being overwhelming. Anyone in average physical shape should be able to enjoy this experience comfortably. This is one of those rare, once in a lifetime experiences that fully lives up to the hype and then some.
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We had great weather and the views were incredible. The trek is very short but gives you plenty of chances to take memorable pictures.
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Book directly with hielo & aventure - they do all the tours. Viator just charges you way more! I paid 3 times the price of the tour direct. The sights are unbelievable
we include transfers
We had a perfect day trekking on the glacier and experiencing the ice up close. The views of the glacier from the boat were spectacular. Our guide was both informative and funny making for an enjoyable exploration.
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The mini-trekking experience is one of the highlights I had in Patagonia. It's well organized and the company Hielo y Aventura is a professional operator. On this one-day excursion, we were able to see the imposing Perito Moreno glacier from the national park walkaways, take a boat to experience it from close view along with the floating ice bergs, and trek on ice for an hour to see the spike of white, blue, white and gray ice pillars that make up the glacier. I felt I couldn't have dreamed of a more beautiful site than this. Simply no reference point. My guide Tamara accompanied the full bus from beginning to end. She is energetic, funny and eager to her knowledge and love for the region with us. Everyone enjoyed her interactions. I also had Marcos as my trekking guide, who is very good at guiding a group of unorganized tourists not to go where we aren't supposed to. Safety is their number one priority! Overall, this is a fun and informative experience. The whisky, chocolate, and hot tea at the end add a sweet touch to the unforgettable memory. Would recommend!
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