5 - Giorno Premium Patagonia Discovery : El Calafate & Ushuaia

A truly unique experience! Everything went smoothly and naturally, transfers, tours, visits. The hotels were comfortable and well located. Standing in front of the glacier takes your breath away. It's absolutely stunning. Highly recommended.

This is not a guided tour. It is a sequence of activities linked together by Viator who provide inappropriately located hotels and pick up and drop off by non-English speaking guides. On the National parks trip, they failed to book the tour, responded only by text to deny my entitlement when I rang the emergency number, and admitted they had not made the booking when my hotel manager got them to respond at 9.30 pm the night before. They then neglected to pay my park entry fee and have not reimbursed me. The first hotel was in a new suburb with no shops or food outlets around. They dropped me off there at 11.30 am and the hotel did not serve lunch. I nearly missed the unguided boat tour that afternoon due to the slow pick up operator, and was stranded at the harbour at the end of the trip when the non-english speaking pick up was 30 minutes late. The boat trip had no English speaking guide, and provided information in Spanish over an intercom, followed by information in English, most of which I could not hear because the 85% of the passengers who spoke Spanish talked over the commentary. On day 4, my 'native experience' tour was not booked until after 5 pm the night before and I was notified at 8.30 am on day 4 that my 4 hour tour would start at 6 pm! Fortunately the local tour provider stepped in and took me at 11 am. The trip to the glacier provided an english speaking guide only on the pick up and drop off service. There was no guide on the boat or at the view point. Having to chase Viator to get bookings confirmed was stresful. This 'tour' was not guided, and was mismanaged, and I have not been refunded for expenses that were included in the package and not paid for by Viator.

Everything was great and the local tour operator was very professional. Opportunity for improvement: they hardly provided any information in advance. We would have liked more details in advance (including detailed itinerary) and to be contacted further in advance (I finally heard from them a week in advance, when one of the optional excusions I wanted was already fully booked). Also the information we were given about what meals were included was confusing, resulting in our buying lunch on a couple of occasions even though it was included (be sure to get clarity on this). In spite of that, the tour was WONDERFUL and well organized once we got there and I would definitely recommend it. The excursions and the hotels were all good quality. I would book with this operator again. If you are able to add the optional mini-trekking excursion, do it because it was our favorite part of the trip.

This was a really great tour. The two days in Ushuaia were really fun - great visit to the park followed by a very nice boat tour where we got to see a lot of wildlife. The views we had on the lake and glacier tours in El Calafate were simply spectacular. I'd also add that the logistics and communications for the tour were first class. All pickups and drops offs were timely and we were always kept well informed of the next steps. All in all ... a really great time.

Signature tours (Claudia) did a great job organizing our trip! Our group of 6 adults, loved the trekking on the glacier! It was a fabulous day! Claudia was very accessible and answered emails quickly!

We were a group of 17 people travelling to BA and Patagonia. Signature tours have helped us in organising this customised trip. Gabi who was our main contact and Eduardo as well were really attentive and always available for us. Highly recommend them!

<p>It was amazing!! Highly highly highly recommend it</p>

<p>My wife and I purchased this 5-day trip in Ushuaia and El Calafate but worked with Viator and the local tour operator that Viator subcontracts Signature to increase it to 9 days. One nice thing about booking through Viator is that you can be assured that the local operator is reputable and, in this case, that was crucial to the success of our trip. Signature was able to help us with the additional hotel accommodations, box lunches, and transfers to make this an outstanding vacation. In addition, we had problems with our internal flights in Argentina and Signature was invaluable with regard to helping us adjust our itinerary. </p> <p>We did all the excursions included in the 5-day itinerary: Tierra del Fuego National Park, Austral Feuguino train, Beagle Channel boat ride, Pertio Moreno glacier, and the Punta Bandera boat trip to see Upsala glacier. While that would have been a fine itinerary I'm really glad we added the extra days since we traveled so far to experience Patagonia. </p> <p>In addition to the above we added Mini Trekking on the Perito Moreno glacier, a day trip to Torres del Paines National Park in Chile, and the Nativo Excursion near El Calafate which, all together, combined for the trip of a lifetime. </p> <p>I think we enjoyed the Mini-Trekking extra trip that we arranged the best followed by the Torres del Paines day trip also an extra add on. </p> <p>This 5-day itinerary is a great starting point for a longer adventure. It may be too short as a stand alone vacation, especially if you fly a long ways to get to Patagonia Chicago for us, but that's the nice thing about Viator they can adjust itineraries to meet your needs. Be aware that your air transportation between cities is not included and you have to book those things on your own.</p> <p>The hotels they booked us into were fine and we never had any issues with any of the arrangements. We were always picked up on time and everyone we worked with was friendly and helpful.</p>

<p>This was a very well thought out tour with excellent use of our time in Ushuaia and El Calafate. Beautiful cities that I would highly recommend to all. Glaciers, fauna and flora are a must see. Experienced and knowledgeable local guides and drivers made the experience a success. Thank you Viator for an experience I will remember fondly for the rest of my life!</p>