Is Patagonia Expensive? What Six Nights Cost Us Without Camping (A$1,255 Each)
Patagonia was always somewhere we'd dreamed of visiting, and we went with "a budget that we're trying very hard to stick to." In the first minute of our vlog I said it straight out: "Patagonia is expensive." We knew we wanted to see the glaciers, and "what we didn't know was how to do it without spending an absolute fortune." Then we booked so late that the only W Trek options left were the super luxurious camps, which, "as much as I would love to, they cost a fortune."
So we planned it ourselves: six nights in January 2026, three towns, two countries, Airbnbs, a cabin and a hostel, buses between them and day trips instead of treks. I tallied up exactly what it cost each of us, and that breakdown became the most-saved thing I've ever posted! Here it is properly, line by line, per person, with what was expensive, what was cheap, what isn't in the total, and where I'd save next time. The whole route is in my Patagonia planning guide.
Is Patagonia Expensive? My Quick Answer
Short answer is yes, some of it is, and not always the parts you'd guess. Our six nights cost A$1,255 each, not including flights. The money went on beds, buses, the two national parks and eating out, and the cheapest thing we did all trip was cook for ourselves.
Scroll to see the full table →
| What it cost each | |
|---|---|
| Six nights, everything except flights | A$1,255.50 |
| Accommodation, six nights | A$363 |
| Three buses, including terminal tax | A$170 |
| Eating out | A$184 |
| Groceries for six nights | A$73.50 |
Every price in this article is per person and from January 2026. Argentine prices were moving fast while we were there, so treat every peso figure as a snapshot.
My Patagonia Cost Breakdown for Six Nights (Per Person)
This is my own breakdown, the one from the video, checked against our spending records and booking records line by line.
Scroll to see the full table →
| Per person | What it cost |
|---|---|
| El Calafate, 2 nights | A$97 |
| El Chaltén, 2 nights | A$162 |
| Puerto Natales hostel, 2 nights | A$104 |
| Three Ubers | A$24 |
| Private car to and from Perito Moreno | A$90 |
| Three buses, including A$8 of terminal tax | A$170 |
| Restaurants | A$184 |
| Groceries, cooking and hike snacks | A$73.50 |
| Perito Moreno park entry | A$47 |
| El Chaltén park entry fee | Not included, budget about A$40 to A$50 |
| Torres del Paine day tour | A$120 |
| Torres del Paine park entry | A$27 |
| Beanies, gloves, stickers and a postcard | A$57 |
| Cash withdrawn just in case | A$100 |
| Total | A$1,255.50 |
The original is my Patagonia cost video on TikTok, if you'd rather hear me rattle through it in 87 seconds! One heads up: in the video I said A$1,186, but when you add up every line it actually comes to A$1,255.50, so that's the number I've used here.
What Each Part of Patagonia Cost Us
1. Cost of Accommodation in Patagonia
Accommodation was our biggest single cost, but split between the two of us it averaged A$60.84 each a night. Here's every night, per person, from our booking records:
Scroll to see the full table →
| Stay | Nights | Each, total | Each, per night |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Airbnb, El Calafate | 1 | A$40.78 | A$40.78 |
| KUNTUR 2 Cabañas, El Chaltén | 2 | A$162.00 | A$81.00 |
| Second Airbnb, El Calafate | 1 | A$57.26 | A$57.26 |
| El Patagónico Hostel, Puerto Natales (private room) | 2 | A$105.00 | A$52.50 |
| Six nights | 6 | A$365.04 | A$60.84 |
(My video rounded these to A$363, which is the figure in the table above.)
El Chaltén was the most expensive town, at A$81 each a night, and our cabin was worth it for the full kitchen and being able to walk to the trail at 1:45am. The cheapest night was our first Airbnb in El Calafate, which had a kitchen too. Every place we stayed had somewhere to cook, and I'd keep that rule, because it's where most of our savings came from.
If you want to see what you can expect to pay now, these are the places we stayed and the ones I'd book next, across all three towns:
Santa Monica Aparts
Rated 9.4 from 203 reviews on Booking, about 240 metres from the centre. Your own kitchen, so you can cook like we did.
Folk Hostel
Rated 9.1 from 1,298 reviews, about 400 metres from the terminal. The easy budget pick for the night before a bus.
KUNTUR 2 Cabañas
Our two-night cabin with a full kitchen, close to the trail. A$81 each a night in January.
Lo de Trivi
Rated 9.4 from 231 reviews, about 500 metres from the trail, with a shared kitchen.
El Patagónico Hostel
Two nights in a private room, with free hot chocolate and a brilliant shared kitchen. A$52.50 each a night.
Asói Hostal
Rated 9.5 from 338 reviews on Booking when I checked. The place I'd look at first next time.
The full comparison for each town is in where to stay in El Calafate and where to stay in El Chaltén, and every place is on our Argentina stays page and Chile stays page.
2. Cost of Getting Around Patagonia
This is the line that adds up fastest. Our three buses came to A$170 each, more than both our nights in El Calafate put together:
- El Calafate to El Chaltén: US$35 each, booked online, two and a half to three hours.
- El Chaltén back to El Calafate: 50,000 pesos, about A$50 each, bought at the terminal five minutes before it left.
- El Calafate to Puerto Natales in Chile: 50,000 pesos, about A$51 each, which was meant to take about five hours and took seven hours twenty because of the two border crossings.
- The boarding tax: about 4,000 pesos, around A$4 each time, paid separately at information box 9 in the El Calafate terminal, because it isn't in your ticket. That's the A$8 in my total.
You can check El Calafate to El Chaltén buses and check El Calafate to Puerto Natales buses and pick your own dates, and the full how-to is in El Calafate to El Chaltén by bus and El Calafate to Puerto Natales by bus.
The other transport lines were the private car to Perito Moreno and back, A$90 each, and three Ubers for A$24 each, starting with the 4:30am one to the airport in Buenos Aires. Two smaller ones worth knowing: the airport shuttle into El Calafate was A$14 each, and a taxi from town to the bus terminal was A$6 each.
3. Cost of Food in Patagonia
Restaurants came to A$184 each, and groceries to just A$73.50 each for the whole six nights. That gap is the single best tip in this article!
Our first grocery shop in El Calafate was A$27 for the two of us: two steaks, bananas, apples, pumpkin, sweet potato, eggs and rice crackers, and it fed us for the rest of the day! The hike snacks in El Chaltén (eggs to boil, nuts, protein yogurts, a honey peanut spread and two protein bars) were A$24.18 each.
When we did eat out, these are the real prices, each:
Scroll to see the full table →
| Meal | Each |
|---|---|
| Breakfast at Calafate Coffee Roasters, El Calafate | A$23.36 |
| An Americano at the glacier cafeteria | A$7 |
| Steak dinner after the hike, Bourbon Smokehouse, El Chaltén | A$42.42 |
| Ice cream after the hike, El Chaltén | A$7.20 |
| A Patagonia pint, El Calafate | A$14.23 |
| Dulce de leche ice cream, El Calafate | A$9.21 |
| Choripán and a drink at the border stop | About A$10 |
Maki Go, the Japanese place we went to after the glacier, was "probably double the price it would normally be somewhere else, maybe, but it's really yummy." And the lunch stop on our Torres del Paine tour was chicken and potatoes, "extremely basic, but cooked really, really well. Expensive."
4. Cost of the Perito Moreno Glacier
A$137 each for the day, before lunch: A$90 for the private car there and back, and A$47 for park entry.
Park entry was 45,000 pesos, and as I said on the day: "If you live here, it's 5 dollars. If you're a tourist, it's 45." It isn't included in most tours, and we bought ours online the night before so we could skip the queue. The private car was only about $10 more than the shuttle, and it meant we could arrive just after the 9am opening, leave when we wanted and keep our luggage in the car. The whole day is in my Perito Moreno glacier guide.
I've had a proper think about where I'd cut if we did this trip again, and honestly, it wouldn't be the private car. Having the walkways almost to ourselves before the tour buses arrived was worth every cent!
5. Cost of the Fitz Roy Hike and the El Chaltén Park Fee
The hike to Laguna de los Tres for sunrise was the best day of the whole trip! You organise it yourself, too. The navigation app we used, Maps.me, was free, and you can fill your bottle straight from the rivers on the way, which was honestly "the best water you will ever taste in your life"!
What isn't in my total is the park entrance fee. The El Chaltén trails now carry a Los Glaciares National Park fee, roughly A$40 to A$50 per person in January 2026, so budget for it and check the current price before you go. In peak season the rangers set up at the main trailhead very early, from around 2am, so a pre-sunrise start can mean a queue. The full plan is in my Fitz Roy sunrise hike guide.
6. Cost of Torres del Paine
A$147 each: A$120 for the GetYourGuide day tour and A$27 for park entry. We'd planned to hike, the forecast was awful, and the night before we booked this full-day Torres del Paine and Milodon Cave tour. It was about nine hours rather than the usual twelve, in a small van of about 16 people, and despite the cloud I'd give it 10 out of 10! Check the current park fee before you go, because it's set by the Chilean park service and can change. Our day is in Torres del Paine without the W Trek.
7. Cost of Gear and Little Extras
A$57 each for beanies, gloves, stickers and a postcard. The gloves were about A$30 each, bought in El Calafate the day we arrived, and my hands were still cold in them at the top of the hike, so don't skip them!
We also took out A$100 each in cash just in case, and it's in my total as its own line.
What Was Expensive in Patagonia, and What Wasn't
Expensive: the buses, eating out, the two national parks and El Chaltén itself. A A$90 private car and a A$120 day tour look small next to a W Trek camp, but on a six-night trip they add up fast.
Cheap: groceries, the trails, the free hot chocolate, coffee and tea at our hostel in Puerto Natales, a free offline map and river water. Once you've paid to get somewhere in Patagonia, standing in front of a glacier or a mountain at sunrise doesn't cost anything more!
Where I got it wrong: we booked our first bus online at full price, and only found out afterwards that buying at the terminal in cash gets you 15% off in US dollars or 10% off in pesos. We used it for the bus to Chile, which is how I can tell you it works.
Part one is El Calafate and the glacier, with prices said on camera, and part two is El Chaltén, the hike, the border and Torres del Paine.
What's Not in Our Patagonia Budget
- Flights. Everyone's are different. We flew Buenos Aires to El Calafate on Austral and flew out of Puerto Natales to Santiago.
- The El Chaltén park fee, as above. Budget about A$40 to A$50 and check the current price.
- Our hiking clothes. We bought them in Buenos Aires before flying south. Our fleece-lined hiking pants were 75,000 pesos, about A$77 a pair, after one shop wanted about A$500!
If you're starting in Buenos Aires like we did, is Buenos Aires expensive has what the city cost us.
Cash, Cards and the Bus Terminal Discount
You'll want some cash. We couldn't get an Uber in El Calafate and the taxis were cash only, and a lot of restaurants there give a discount for cash. That said, "everywhere takes Visa except for gym," so you don't need to carry your whole budget in notes. The bus terminal discount is the best reason to have US dollars on you. If you're juggling pesos, US dollars and Chilean pesos like we were, a Wise card makes the ATM and card side much simpler.
How I'd Do Patagonia for Less
- Book early. Leaving it late is what pushed the W Trek into luxury-camp prices for us.
- Get a kitchen everywhere. A$73.50 of groceries against A$184 of restaurants says it all.
- Buy bus tickets at the terminal in cash if your dates are flexible, for 15% off in US dollars.
- Skip the Perito Moreno boat. We did, and the walkways gave us every angle we wanted.
- Take your own lunch on the Torres del Paine tour. The lunch stop was basic and expensive.
- Shop around for hiking gear, and buy it in a city. Four shops in Buenos Aires gave us prices from about A$77 to A$500 a pair.
Still planning? Here is our complete Patagonia planning guide and where to stay in each town.
FAQs About Patagonia Costs
How much does a trip to Patagonia cost?
Our six nights cost A$1,255 per person in January 2026, without flights or the El Chaltén park fee. That covered three towns, two national parks, three buses, a private car to the glacier and a day tour in Torres del Paine.
Is Patagonia expensive without camping?
Less than you might think. Our six nights of accommodation were A$363 each, staying in two Airbnbs, a cabin and a private room in a hostel, all with kitchens.
What is the most expensive part of Patagonia?
For us, the buses (A$170 each for three), eating out (A$184 each) and the national parks. Accommodation was the biggest single line, but it covered six nights.
How much is the Perito Moreno glacier entrance fee?
It was 45,000 pesos, about A$47, for tourists in January 2026. It's usually not included in tours, so check the current price and buy online the night before.
Do you need cash in Patagonia?
Some. Taxis in El Calafate were cash only, many restaurants discount for cash, and the bus terminal gives 15% off in US dollars and 10% off in pesos. Most other places took Visa.
How can you do Patagonia on a budget?
Book early, stay somewhere with a kitchen, buy bus tickets at the terminal in cash and take your own lunch on day tours. Our groceries were A$73.50 each for six nights.
Final Thoughts: Is Patagonia Worth the Cost?
A hundred percent! The thing I'd most want you to take from our A$1,255 is that you don't need a luxury camp to see it. As I said at the end of the cost video: "So if you don't want to camp or do multi-day hikes, or you left it too late like us to book the W Trek, then this is your sign to plan Patagonia yourself. It's 100% doable staying at Airbnbs and doing day trips with a little bit more of a relaxed pace." If the weather turns on your Torres del Paine day like it did on ours, here's the day tour we booked again!
