Argentina Patagonia Overland

Overview

Ruta 40 down Argentine Patagonia is the loneliest great drive on earth: three weeks of steppe, guanacos and horizons that never quite arrive, punctuated by scenery that resets your standards. The southern anchors are unmissable — the 9,000-year-old stencilled hands of Cueva de las Manos in the Pinturas canyon, El Chaltén's granite skyline of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, Perito Moreno glacier calving thunder into Lago Argentino — before the road runs out of continent towards Tierra del Fuego. Fuel discipline is the survival skill: stations at Bajo Caracoles and Tres Lagos can be 200km apart and occasionally dry, so fill at every opportunity, carry a jerry can, and treat the remaining ripio (gravel) stretches with respect for your windscreen and rims. The wind is a permanent passenger; open the car doors with both hands. November to March gives long days and open passes. Around £3,000 per person covers three weeks of hire car, fuel and cabañas — book the El Chaltén and El Calafate stops ahead in high summer.

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Prefilled for 1 November 2026 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.