Escuela de Lenguas UNLP/About Argentina/Tourist Attractions/Santa Cruz (province)

Santa Cruz is a province of Argentina located in the region of Patagonia, in the south of the country. Its main cities are Rio Gallegos, Caleta Olivia and El Calefate, where there is the Perito Moreno Glacier. El Chatlen is the national capital of trekking. It is located in the National Park “Los Glaciares”, in the south of the Andres mountain range and at the foot of the Fitz Roy Mount or Chatlén, in the banks of the Rio de las Vueltas. It is a small tourist village where you can go trekking, mountaineering, rafting and horseback riding. There are many trails for walking though the forest, climbing and more demanding expeditions.

Cities

El Calafate

El Calafate is a small touristic town in the southwest of the province of Santa Cruz, 3000 kilometers from Buenos Aires. It is situated on the south bank of Lake “Argentino”, 315 kilometers from Río Gallegos and 80 kilometers from the entrance to Glacier National Park. The name “El Calafate” derives from “Berberis microphylla”, characteristic yellow flowers of southern Patagonia, which give dark blue berries. It was officially founded in 1927 by the Argentine Government. 23 kilometers from the city center, there is an international airport. There are several hotels, of different categories, where tourists can stay. In the area of National Park there are tours to the glaciers of Glacier National Park, including the “ Perito Moreno” the main attraction of it , the minitrekking on the same glacier, navigation through the channels of Lake Argentino , visiting Onelli Bay and the Upsala, Spegazzini, Onelli and Seco glaciers, among others. The tour “Torre del Paine” allows you to enjoy beautiful landscapes and see the imposing Paine Horns.

National Glaciers Park

The National Glaciers Park is one of the most amazing places in Argentina. It is located in the Province of Santa Cruz, near El Calafate. It has an area of 724,000 ha and it has over 350 glaciers. ln 1981, it was declared Natural World Heritage Site by the Unesco. In this Parkt here are very important lakes, two of them are Viedma and the Argentinean Lakes. In the first one we can see Viedma Glaciers (the biggest one in Argentina) , and in the second one we can see, among others, Perito Moreno , Upsala and Spegazzini Glaciers. The touristic offer is reall ywide, you can sail through the lakes by boat or go trekking on ice.