Laguna de los Tres from El Calafate

From El Calafate you can reach Laguna de los Tres and be back the same night, but only on a hiking day, and it is a long one: about 220 km of paved road each way (APN) plus the full trail. Azul Latina Travel’s guided day leaves at 6:00 AM and starts back from El Chaltén at 7:00 PM, from US$395 a person (checked November 2026) for at least two people, non-refundable. Patagonia Dreams’ coach day to El Chaltén, the other day trip on this page, does not go to the lagoon at all.

The calendar is Azul Latina Travel’s day. Book at least 48 hours ahead, with passport details for every hiker.

The days that reach the lagoon

Two day trips from El Calafate are built around the Laguna de los Tres hike:

• Azul Latina Travel's Laguna de los Tres Experience on GetYourGuide: pickup at 6:00 AM, arrival in El Chaltén around 8:30 AM, two guides, a packed lunch, one trekking pole each and 6-point crampons if needed. The group splits before the hard section: one guide goes up to the lagoon, the other takes anyone unsure to Laguna Capri. The van leaves El Chaltén at 7:00 PM. Small group, up to 10.
• Traslados Viento Blanco’s private tour to Laguna de los Tres on Viator, from US$350 a person (checked November 2026): pickup at 6:00 AM, a bilingual mountain guide in El Chaltén, about 22 km there and back, 12 hours in all, free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

Either way the hike sits between two long drives: Azul Latina Travel’s pickup at 6:00 AM reaches El Chaltén around 8:30 AM. Plan for a long, tiring day with no time left over for the town.

The day trip that does not reach it

Patagonia Dreams’ Full-Day Tour to El Chaltén costs from US$130 a person (checked November 2026). It is a sightseeing day, and Laguna de los Tres is not on it. Its itinerary: 2.5 hours by coach, a 20-minute stop at Parador La Leona, guided visits to the Mirador de los Cóndores and the Chorrillo del Salto waterfall, and 2.5 hours back. The guided walks are about 1,000 m to the viewpoint and a 500 m path to the waterfall. On the calendar for (November 2026 to April 2027) it ran on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The reviews say what you would expect from that shape. Of its 350 newest reviews (June 2025 to November 2026), 247 give five stars and 56 give three or fewer. The complaints that repeat in the low ones are the hours on the coach and cloud hiding Fitz Roy. It is a fair day out if you want to see El Chaltén and its two easy walks; it is the wrong booking if the lagoon is the reason you came.

Or sleep in El Chaltén

The other way to do it is to spend at least one night in El Chaltén and walk from the edge of town. That spares you the drive on hiking day, lets you pick the clearest morning, and opens up guided starts from town such as Say Hueque Travel’s trek from the Río Eléctrico bridge, from US$198 a person (checked November 2026). Regular buses run between El Calafate and El Chaltén several times a day (the El Chaltén tourism office’s timetable, October 2026).

One more thing to know if you go on an agency day trip: El Chaltén’s municipality has a Tasa de Uso Urbano, an urban-use charge for tourists over 14 who come into town on a day excursion bought from a travel agency and do not stay the night (Boletín Oficial municipal no. 74, 14 January 2026). The bulletin does not print the amount, and none of the day trips here says whether its price includes it.

Which day to book

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.

None of these includes the park pass, ARS 50,000 on the general rate, bought online and paid by card for the El Chaltén portals (APN tariffs, read November 2026).