Which Perito Moreno Glacier boat tour is the right boat for you

The cruise we book strings together more of the lake than any short boat can. In the park’s summary it heads first for the Seco, Heim and Spegazzini, puts you ashore at Puesto de Las Vacas, passes the Upsala Canal for a long look at Upsala and Bertacchi, then follows the iceberg channel, the Canal de los Tempanos, to the Perito Moreno’s northern wall.¹

On the operator’s timetable you board at 8:30 and step off at 17:00, 8 hours on the lake, with a departure every day in the main season.⁹ The catamaran carries a playroom for children, a bar and lounges, and that comfort is half of what you pay for.¹¹ On GetYourGuide the listing runs 8 - 12.5 hours by option, from $225, and is rated 4.7 over 342 reviews.

Its strength is range: Upsala, Spegazzini and the Perito Moreno in one day, with a walk ashore in between. Its limit is the Upsala itself, which this listing shows you from the canal at a distance, since its record bars a close approach to Upsala and Bertacchi. If you came for the Upsala in close-up, read the other routes below before you decide.¹²

A separate trip on the park’s list follows the Upsala arm, in sight of the glacier that gives it its name, then lands at Estancia Cristina, a ranch with history, farm work, treks, horse rides and fishing, on day programmes or with an overnight stay.¹⁵ It is the choice for travelers who care as much about the people who lived here as about the ice.

A GetYourGuide day on this route starts from $370 and takes 11 hours. On its itinerary you sail for 2.5 hours, stop 50 minutes facing the Upsala and sit down for an hour-long lunch at the ranch. That is less time among the glaciers than a full lake day, traded for a long lunch on land in a place few visitors reach.

Check the terms of every ranch listing you see. Another cruise-and-trek day at Estancia Cristina on GetYourGuide is marked non-refundable and has only 5 reviews. In a region where wind can stop the boats, a ticket you cannot cancel is a real risk, and the cheaper fare can turn into the dearer one. Read the line under the price before the photos, and keep any plan with a ranch lunch flexible by a day.

The third port sits on Lago Roca, south of the Perito Moreno. From there the park lists Glaciar Sur Pioneros, which visits ranches and sails Brazo Rico with a landing and a short walk to a glacier viewpoint, and Glaciar Sur Aventura, which sails Brazo Sur and treks through old forest to Lago Frias.⁶ These days see fewer boats and more walking.

At water level there is the kayak. The park describes a paddle of 2 hours in front of the Perito Moreno on Lago Argentino, open to people with no experience.⁷ It is the slowest way to meet the glacier and the closest you sit to the surface of the lake, with the ice wall filling the whole view. Paddlers trade the commentary and the warm lounge of a cruise for silence, and for the sound of the ice cracking across the water.

Neither replaces a cruise; both add to one. A traveler with several days in El Calafate can spend one on the North Arm by boat, one on the walkways, and one paddling or walking in the south, without seeing the same view twice. Our planning page puts those days in order, with the walkways, the boat and an ice trek arranged so that a windy morning costs you nothing more than a swap.