Flights out from El Calfate to a major city were expensive at the time of our visit (~$1000) and there was some doubt as to whether there was a cheaper way out that didn’t involve a 20-hour bus ride to Bariloche.
Looking for alternatives, I perused a map of Patagonia and notice the Chilean town of Puerto Natales was relatively close. A quick check on Google Flights and I discovered there were cheap flights from there to Santiago, all I needed to do was get us there.
A quick internet search found there were buses that made the journey, but I read conflicting reports on whether they ran in the winter season (June). In the end we decided to just turn up and find out for ourselves, the backup plan being Barilloche.
Our bus arrived at El Calafate bus terminal from El Chalten, and I went up to the counter of the bus company we used for the entire trip, Marga/Taqsa Patagonia, and noticed the sign on the counter stating El Calafate – Puerto Natales buses ran Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at this time of year but other companies had departures on other days too. The cost was 12,000 Peso. Don’t forget the high inflation in Argentina, or the Blue dollar rate which works out to around USD $25
Luckily the departure dates lined up with ours and we purchased the tickets on the spot. As this was an international service, they’ll need your passport details to add to the ticket and we were told to arrive half hour before departure for check-in. The ticket seller spoke good English.
Departure day arrived and check-in was fast and easy, they’ll give you a Chilean immigration form to fill out prior to arrival at the frontier. All pretty standard stuff.
Heading out from El Calafate the views from the bus were stunning. The fields with gorgeous mountains behind them would be amazing at any time of year, especially with the first snow of winter.
An hour out of town and the mountains were no longer visible, the steppe outside appeared to be mostly used for sheep farming.
About 1pm we made a 40-minute stop in a town in the middle of nowhere, giving us an opportunity for lunch and a bano stop. Hotel La Esperanza had hot meals, the menu del dia (set course meal of the day) offered great value for 3000 peso but we bought a couple of chicken parmigiana rolls, water and a big beer all for 4200 pesos, far better than the breakfast we had in El Calafate for twice the price.
Around 3pm snowcapped mountains appeared again in the distance, eventually leading us into a valley which followed the Rio Turbio and through a small coal mine with what appeared to be a power generation plant.
Not long after leaving that town the bus left the paved road to the right along a dirt/gravel road which soon led to the tiny Argentina frontier with the same name as the river, Rio Turbio.
Formalities were fast and easy on the Argentina side, and we were soon back on the bus for the 4Km drive to the Chilean frontier at Casas Viejas.
Naturally, crossing into a country from a land border is slightly more complicated than checking out. The small Chilean outpost did well to have us on our way in around 45 mins.
Beyond the border it was a short 22Km hop to our final destination, Puerto Natales. The trip was easy in June and the bus driver indicated that they’ll go right through the winter so don’t let the cold season interrupt your travel plans.