Getting to the Ice: The Port and the Boat Across Brazo Rico
How every Perito Moreno glacier walk starts: the road from El Calafate to Puerto Bajo las Sombras, the hotel pickup or your own car, the park gate, the boat across Brazo Rico and the walkways.
Every walk on the Perito Moreno glacier starts with a boat from Puerto Bajo las Sombras, a landing on Brazo Rico about 71 km by road from El Calafate. You get there one of two ways. With a car, book the Mini-Trek’s 4.5-hour option and meet at the port for the 10:00 AM start: that is the from-price, US$346 a person (checked November 2026). Without one, take the 10-hour option with a hotel pickup from 8:30 AM, which also adds the walkways and cost US$412 on the January and March 2027 dates we read. Both are on Hielo y Aventura’s calendar.
On 25 and 30 November 2026 only the walk from the port was on sale; the calendar gave the pickup day’s next dates as 26 November and 1 December. You can cancel free up to 24 hours before.
The two ways to start
| From the port | With hotel pickup | |
|---|---|---|
| Option on the Mini-Trek calendar | Does not include transport from El Calafate or to the walkways | Pickup in El Calafate |
| Start | 10:00 AM at the port, on the dates we read | From 8:30 AM at your hotel’s front desk |
| Length | 4.5 hours, port to port | 10 hours |
| The walkways | Not included | Included |
| Price, per person | US$346 | US$412 on 20 January and 27 March 2027 |
One adult’s price on each date (checked November 2026).
The pickup runs only to hotels in El Calafate and can take up to 45 minutes to go round them; that time is part of the 10 hours. If you are in a private apartment or outside the route, you are given the nearest meeting point or Hielo y Aventura’s sales office at Avenida del Libertador 935.
The road and the park gate
From the centre of El Calafate it is 71.1 km by road to the Bajo de las Sombras landing, about 1 h 20 min by car on our routing; Hielo y Aventura gives 70 km. The road is Ruta Provincial 11, west along Lago Argentino and into Los Glaciares National Park. The walkways are about 6 km further on by road from the landing; Hielo y Aventura gives 7 km.
The park gate is on the way. You show your ticket there, or pay by card or in cash in Argentine pesos; the general rate is ARS 50,000 a day from 1 June 2026, and you can also buy online beforehand (APN tariffs, read November 2026). The Administración de Parques Nacionales sets access hours for this road, the Mitre to Glaciar Moreno corridor: from 1 September to 30 April you enter between 8:00 and 18:00 and may stay until 20:00; from 1 May to 31 August you enter between 9:00 and 16:00 and may stay until 18:00 (APN, read November 2026). The speed limit inside the park is 40 km/h.
The boat across Brazo Rico
On the Mini-Trek the boat ride takes about 20 minutes across the water in front of the glacier’s south wall. On the far shore the mountain guides meet the group at a lodge with a view of the ice, and the walk begins along the lake. The boat back passes close to the glacier’s walls once more before the port.
Big Ice uses the same crossing. Howlanders' Minitrekking 2 crosses the same water and comes back by boat from Puma Bay.
If you book another seller
The other Mini-Trek days on GetYourGuide set their own meeting rules, and it pays to read them before you choose:
- Gray Line Argentina's Minitrekking without transport asks you to be at Puerto Bajo las Sombras at a time it gives you the day before, with boarding between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- Patagonia Dreams' option without transfer asks you to collect a voucher for the boat at its El Calafate office the day before.
- Howlanders' Minitrekking 2 without transfers started at the port at 1:00 PM on the dates we read.
The Mini-Trek from the port is the simplest of them: a fixed 10:00 AM start on the dates we read, at the landing itself.
Around El Calafate
More Tours from El Calafate with Open Dates
Glacier boats, the walkways and day trips from El Calafate with live availability. What each includes and its cancellation terms show before you book.
Pick Your Start on the Calendar
Hielo y Aventura's Mini-Trek: the 4.5-hour walk from the port at 10:00 AM, or the 10-hour day with a hotel pickup and the walkways. The park entrance is not included.
Check dates