Perito Moreno Glacier Without a Tour Bus: How We Had It Almost to Ourselves
We knew we wanted to see the glaciers. What we didn't know was how to do it without spending an absolute fortune, and because we'd booked Patagonia so late, a lot of the glacier tours online were already sold out by the time we landed in El Calafate. We had exactly one day for Perito Moreno, and a bus to El Chaltén at 4:30 that afternoon.
So we walked into a tour office in town, came out with a private driver for about $10 more than the shuttle, and were on the walkways twenty minutes after the park opened, with almost nobody else there! In this guide I'll show you exactly how we did it on 21 January 2026, what the park tickets cost and why you buy them separately, the boat decision nobody warns you about, how long you actually need, and what our glacier day cost each of us.
Perito Moreno Glacier, My Quick Answer
Short answer is you don't need a tour bus for Perito Moreno. Book a private driver in El Calafate, buy your park ticket online the night before, be there when the park opens at 9am, and you'll have the walkways almost to yourself until the tour buses start arriving around 11.
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| Question | My answer |
|---|---|
| How we got there | A private driver from El Calafate, about an hour and a half each way |
| What it cost | A$90 each for the car there and back, plus A$47 each for park entry |
| Park entry | 45,000 pesos for tourists in January 2026, bought online the night before |
| When to arrive | At the 9am opening. We were in about twenty minutes after |
| When it gets busy | From about 11am, when the tour buses arrive |
| How long we stayed | About two and a half to three hours, and that was plenty |
| The boat | We skipped it on purpose, and we don't regret it |
| Walking on the ice | We didn't, because we didn't have the time. I wish we had |
This was one day of our six nights in Patagonia, and the whole route is in my guide to planning a trip to Patagonia without camping. If you'd rather compare every option before you book, I've written up the Perito Moreno glacier tours one by one, and if you just want the short version, here are my six Perito Moreno tips.
How We Booked a Private Driver Instead of a Tour
We arrived in El Calafate on 20 January on an early flight, and we couldn't check into our Airbnb until 2pm, so we were wandering through town towards a taxi rank when we came across a little tour office. A lot of the ones online and whatnot were booked out, and some of the tours that were left were actually too long for us, because we had to be on a bus to El Chaltén the evening of our glacier day, ready for a 1am hike the following morning (I know, we did this the hard way).
A tour guide there said he could do a private car for only $10 more than the shared shuttle, and honestly, it made so much more sense!
- We could leave when we wanted, instead of waiting for a group to finish.
- Our luggage stayed in the car all day while we walked around the glacier, so we didn't need to drag suitcases back to the Airbnb or find somewhere to leave them!
- We could ring him when we were done rather than sitting out the full four hours a tour gives you.
In the vlog I said it "will save us so much time", and it really did! It came to A$90 each for the car there and back, and you'll find it line by line in my full Patagonia cost breakdown.
I've had a proper think about whether I'd book a tour next time, and honestly, no, I'd do the private driver again in a heartbeat. The only thing I'd change is the number of days around it!
If you'd rather have the whole thing organised before you land, you can browse Perito Moreno glacier tours here. We booked ours in person in town, so I can't vouch for any particular one, but that's where you'll see every bookable option in one place.
Buying Perito Moreno Park Tickets Online
This is the bit that catches people out. Your driver, shuttle or tour almost never includes park entry. As I said the evening we bought ours: "you pretty much always are going to have to buy your entrance into the park." Unless you're paying for the really expensive tours, assume it's separate.
We bought ours online that evening, choosing the general access ticket. It was 45,000 pesos each, which came to about A$47 per person in January 2026, and the price difference between locals and tourists is huge: "If you live here, it's 5 dollars. If you're a tourist, it's 45." That's quite the gap! Prices in Argentina moved really fast while we were there, so check the current rate before you go.
Buying online doesn't save you money, because it's the same price at the gate. What it does is let you skip the queue, since you just show your passport at the entrance and they hand you the ticket. We were there so early there wasn't a queue anyway, but I'd still do it the same way, because when the tour buses come through, the queues are apparently massive.
Top tip: screenshot your ticket. There's no phone reception at the glacier at all. There's wifi at the visitor area, but screenshot it anyway!
Why We Arrived at Opening, Before the Tour Buses
The park opens at 9am and the drive from El Calafate takes about an hour and a half, so we had breakfast at the Airbnb (fruit and eggs, from the A$27 grocery shop the day before) and were picked up early. Our driver was actually running late, but it didn't matter in the end, and on the way he stopped for our first photo spot, where we caught our first glimpse of the glacier with icebergs floating in the water below!
We got there about twenty minutes after opening, and at the first main viewing area there was literally no one around. Just us, the walkways and a wall of ice!
At 10:57 I filmed myself saying it still wasn't busy, but that most of the tour buses would probably arrive any minute. By the time we left, it was getting so busy out there. In my TikTok from that day I put it simply: "Tours arrive around 11 to 12:00 and it starts to get really busy." That gives you roughly two hours of quiet if you're there at 9, and it's the whole reason this approach works.
Walking the Perito Moreno Walkways
The driver drops you at the main area, where there are toilets, a little gift shop and a cafe, and from there a network of wooden walkways winds down through the forest to different viewpoints, some right down near the water and some higher up looking across the whole thing. You could spend some serious time just walking the trails, and every level gives you a different angle on the ice.
What the photos don't tell you is the scale. In one of my clips you can see little tiny hikers in the background, and they're barely dots! I said on camera: "Honestly, I cannot put into words how insane it is looking at these glaciers here." Some of the icebergs in the water look like crystal, and they're so glittery!
The signboard on the walkway said Perito Moreno is the fourth largest glacier in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and 70 metres high, and they literally call it an ice field, which is exactly what it looks like.
The calving. This is my unflattering confession: we spent about twenty minutes taking photos of one iceberg, and while we were doing it, a whole chunk of the front of the glacier came off and we missed it completely! It was so loud and we were just taking a leisurely stroll down behind a tree! Luckily we caught a few more falls on camera later, and the sound is unreal. It's actually so loud when it hits the water, and it sounds like it comes up and then crashes.
It's colder than town. It was a beautiful sunny day, but quite cold that morning, and everyone says it's quite a lot colder when you actually get to the glacier. We'd bought beanies and gloves in El Calafate the day before, wore a few layers just in case, and in the sun we could just take them off.
Our whole glacier day is in the vlog from 6:23, including the park tickets, the empty walkways and the calving we finally caught on camera.
The Perito Moreno Boat and the Ice Trek: What We Skipped
The boat decision happens before you see the glacier. Nobody told us this! When you drive into the park, you pass the dock where the boats leave from before you reach the walkways, so if you're deciding last minute like we were, you have to decide on the boat before you've even seen the ice. We'd assumed we could look at the glacier first and then work out whether we wanted the boat, and that's just not how it works.
We skipped it, and we don't regret it. The walkways get you surprisingly close, and as I said on the day, "the boats don't go as close as you would think that they do." What you get from the walkways is that vast look across the whole ice field, which honestly felt better to me than being down on the water. In my TikTok I added that they were super packed, too.
The ice trek is the one I'd go back for. We didn't walk on the glacier, and I want to be really clear about that. "If we had had the time, we would have done the mini trek. We would have gone on the ice, but we didn't have the time." That's the real cost of squeezing Perito Moreno into one day before a bus, and it's why my biggest tip is to add a day or two in El Calafate.
I also saw people kayaking, and honestly, that looked better to me than the boat. I've compared all four, the walkways, the boat, the mini trek and kayaking, in my guide to Perito Moreno glacier tours.
How Long You Need at Perito Moreno, and Lunch After
Tours give you four hours at the glacier. We didn't need it, and in my TikTok from that day I said: "We walked around the park in about two and a half hours." Then it was a 12 to 15 minute walk back up to the cafeteria, an Americano for A$7, half an hour sitting down, and a phone call to our driver asking him to come and get us. Door to door in the park, call it three hours.
That's the other big advantage of a private driver: when you're done, you're done. On a tour, you'd be waiting for everyone else.
Lunch at Maki Go. Back in El Calafate, we went to Maki Go, a little Japanese place in town. Between us we had a chicken curry with lentils ("I've never had a chicken curry that's got lentils in"), a chicken don and a pork don. Just keep in mind, the prices are higher. I said on camera that it was "probably double the price it would normally be somewhere else, maybe, but it's really yummy." And I stand by what I said about it later: "If you're here, you must go." I loved that curry!
Then the bus. We took a taxi to the bus terminal, A$6 each, because it's about fifteen minutes' walk out of town and we had suitcases. The 3pm to El Chaltén was sold out, so we were on the 4:30pm, US$35 each, arriving around 7pm. If you're doing the same thing, you can check El Calafate to El Chaltén buses here and pick your own time. I've written up the whole journey in my El Calafate to El Chaltén bus guide, and the hike we did the next morning is in my Fitz Roy sunrise hike guide.
What Our Perito Moreno Day Cost
Every figure here is per person, from our spending tracker and my own cost breakdown, January 2026.
Scroll to see the full table →
| What | Per person |
|---|---|
| Private car to and from the glacier | A$90 |
| Park entry, 45,000 pesos | A$47 |
| Americano at the glacier cafeteria | A$7 |
| The glacier itself | A$144 |
Lunch at Maki Go was on top of that. Argentine prices were changing fast while we were there, so treat every peso figure as a snapshot and check the park price before you go. For what the whole six nights cost us, which came to A$1,255 each without camping, see is Patagonia expensive.
Where to Stay in El Calafate for Perito Moreno
El Calafate is the base for the glacier, and it's a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be. We stayed in two different Airbnbs, the first in town with a full little kitchen, and the second right near the bus terminal, purely for convenience, because we only came back to catch our bus to Chile. Being near the terminal is worth thinking about if, like us, you're getting on a bus the same day.
These are the places I'd book now. I only recommend places rated above 9.0 with more than 50 reviews on Booking, and I checked every one of these on 10 October 2026. This is where we'd stay:
Patagonia Queen Hotel Boutique
Rated 9.5 from 470 reviews, about 800 metres from the centre. If I wanted a proper hotel after the glacier, this is the one I'd book.
Santa Monica Aparts
Rated 9.4 from 203 reviews, about 240 metres from the centre. Your own kitchen, which is how we did El Calafate, cooking most of our meals.
Montano Boutique Suites
Rated 9.3 from 979 reviews, about 480 metres from the terminal. Ideal if you're catching a bus after the glacier like we did.
Folk Hostel
Rated 9.1 from 1,298 reviews, about 400 metres from the terminal. The biggest review count of anything I'd recommend in town.
I've compared every area of town in more detail in where to stay in El Calafate, and there's more on the town itself (the coffee roasters, the ice cream, the Queenstown feel) in my El Calafate guide.
Still planning? Here is our complete Patagonia planning guide and the glacier tours compared.
FAQs About Visiting Perito Moreno Glacier
Can you visit Perito Moreno Glacier without a tour?
Yes. We booked a private driver in El Calafate for about $10 more than the shuttle, bought our park tickets online, and walked the walkways on our own. We didn't need a guide for the walkways at all.
How do you get from El Calafate to Perito Moreno Glacier?
By road, about an hour and a half each way. Your options are a shuttle, a full tour or a private driver. We paid A$90 each for a private car there and back in January 2026.
How much is the Perito Moreno park entry fee?
It was 45,000 pesos for tourists in January 2026, about A$47 each, and much less for locals. It's almost never included in tours or transfers. Check the current price, because Argentine prices change quickly.
What time should you arrive at Perito Moreno Glacier?
At the 9am opening. We arrived about twenty minutes after and had the walkways almost to ourselves until about 11, when the tour buses started arriving.
How long do you need at Perito Moreno Glacier?
About two and a half to three hours on the walkways was plenty for us. Tours give you four hours, and we didn't need them.
Is the Perito Moreno boat worth it?
We skipped it and didn't regret it. The boats don't go as close as you'd think, and the walkways give you every angle. Just remember you pass the boat dock before you see the glacier, so decide in advance.
Is there phone reception at Perito Moreno?
No. There's wifi at the visitor area, but screenshot your park ticket before you leave El Calafate.
Is it cold at Perito Moreno Glacier?
Colder than town, even on a sunny January day. Bring layers, a beanie and gloves, and take them off when you're standing in the sun.
Final Thoughts: Is Perito Moreno Glacier Worth It Without a Tour?
Without a doubt! Perito Moreno is easily one of the most incredible things we have ever seen, and doing it with a private driver at opening, before the buses, is the best way I can think of to see it. If you're heading to Patagonia, you have to weave this into your trip.
My one regret is time, so give El Calafate an extra day and you might get to walk on the ice as well. If you'd rather have it organised before you land, you can browse Perito Moreno glacier tours here, and if you want a place to stay, Patagonia Queen Hotel Boutique is where I'd book.
