El Calafate, Santa Cruz Province, Patagonia, Argentina

🇦🇷 El Calafate is a city in Patagonia, Argentina. It is situated on the southern border of Lake Argentino, in the south-west part of the Santa Cruz Province, about 320 km north-west of Río Gallegos. The name of the city is derived from a little bush with yellow flowers and dark blue berries that is very common in Patagonia: the calafate; the word comes from the word calafate, which is Spanish for 'caulk'.

El Calafate is an important tourist destination as the hub to visit different parts of the Los Glaciares National Park, including Perito Moreno Glacier, Cerro Chaltén, and Cerro Torre.

History The history of El Calafate began in the first decades of the twentieth century. Originally, it was simply a sheltering place for wool traders. The town was officially founded in 1927 by the government of Argentina to promote settlement, but it was the creation of nearby Perito Moreno National Park in 1937 that sparked growth and the building of better road access.

Transport The 220 km separating Calafate from El Chaltén on the other side of the Lake Argentino in the national park are paved, as well as the 315 km to Río Gallegos. Other distances are: to Bariloche 1400 km ; to Esquel 1108 km (some dirt road); Comodoro Rivadavia 959 km; Puerto Madryn 1388 km; Buenos Aires 2727 km; Ushuaia 863 km.

The town is served by El Calafate International Airport (IATA: FTE, ICAO: SAWC) located some 20 km east of the village.

Attractions El Calafate is the location of the Glaciarium, a museum that focuses on ice and glaciers, especially in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.