By boat
A Perito Moreno Glacier boat tour is about an hour on Lago Argentino, either in front of the northern wall or across the Brazo Rico arm, and it is the only way to look at the ice from below rather than from above. Eleven of the sixteen tours here put you on the water, from $60 where it is an option to $588 where it is the way you reach the glacier. This page says which is which, what the hour actually shows you, and when it is worth paying for.
Quick answer
The short answer. The boat is roughly an hour on Lago Argentino in front of the Perito Moreno ice wall. It is included outright on $145 and offered as an option on $69, $60, $83 and $84. On the trekking days it is how you cross the Rico Arm to reach the ice. It costs you an hour of walkway time, and it is the only view of the wall from water level.
On the water
From the balconies you look at the glacier slightly from above and from a fixed distance. From the water you look up at it. That is the whole argument for the boat, and it is a better one than it sounds, because the front wall only reads at its real size when there is something human-sized in the frame — which, from the lake, is the boat you are standing on.
The listings describe the hour in consistent terms. $145 puts it as a one-hour boat ride in front of the northern wall of the Perito Moreno Glacier, and its highlights talk about getting close to icebergs and feeling their immensity, with views across Lago Argentino and the steppe. $84 calls it navigation through the Brazo Rico of Argentine Lake. $60 names it the Nautical Safari and sells it as getting closer than ever before. $83 words it as a cruise close to the glacier’s ice walls. They are describing the same water and the same hour.
Two listings do something different with the boat. $117 uses navigation on the Rico Arm to reach a beach full of ice floes, where the hike ends with your hand on the ice and a toast with calafate liqueur; it holds the highest rating on this site, 4.9 across 112 reviews. $197 sails past the wall closely enough that the listing talks about noticing the unique details on the ice wall’s surface, then treks across sand, rock and forest and stops for a packed lunch with panoramic views of the park.
And on the trekking days the boat is not an extra at all — it is transport. $399 crosses the Rico Arm by boat to reach the ice and then adds a sightseeing cruise in front of the glacier on top. $450 includes a boat ride and navigation in front of the glacier. $588 lists sailing in front of the glacier wall as part of the twelve-hour day. If you book a crampon tour you are getting the water whether you were shopping for it or not.
The cost of the hour is not only the fare. $84 spells out the trade in its inclusions: four hours to walk the walkways on the option without navigation, or three hours on the walkways plus one hour of navigation on the option with it. The boat takes its hour out of the boardwalks. Whether that is a good trade is the real question on this page, and the honest answer is that it depends on how long you are willing to stand still.
Which tour
Eleven of the sixteen listings involve a boat. They fall into three groups, and confusing them is the most common booking mistake in this niche.
The boat is included. $145 is the clearest case: eight hours, round-trip transport from El Calafate, a bilingual guide throughout, admission to the walkways, and a one-hour boat ride in front of the northern wall, all in the fare. Rated 4.8 across 193 reviews. $117 also includes its navigation, along with the trekking guide and the visit to the walkways, at 4.9 across 112 reviews. $251 is the twelve-hour cruise day, with the glacier cruise, a thirty-minute walk in Patagonian forest and the footbridges of Perito Moreno, and a lunch box if you take that option.
The boat is an option you select. This is where people slip. $69, the most reviewed tour on the site at 2,735 reviews, lists the boat ride as if option chosen. $60 offers the one-hour Nautical Safari the same way, and it is the lowest fare here at $60. $83 includes an approximately one-hour boat ride in its inclusions but words the highlight as if option selected. $84 lists one hour of navigation in front of the glacier if the option is selected. $84 sells both versions of the same day and tells you exactly how the hours divide. Read the option you are ticking at checkout, not the title.
The boat is how you get to the ice. On $399 the Rico Arm crossing is part of reaching the glacier, and a sightseeing cruise in front of the wall is in the highlights as well — eleven hours, 852 reviews at 4.8, one guide for every ten guests. $450 includes the boat ride and navigation in front of the glacier alongside the crampons and the footbridges. $520 takes you along the glacier’s front wall on a scenic run before the mini-trek. $588 sails in front of the wall on the way to the longest walk on the ice sold here. $197 sails, then treks across mixed terrain, with two hours on the catwalks.
The table below puts the fares, lengths and ratings side by side. Cost per hour divides the fare by the whole booking rather than by the hour on the water, so a twelve-hour cruise day reads cheaper per hour than an eight-hour one carrying the same boat.
Every trip, current fare
The eleven listings that put you on Lago Argentino, with their live ratings. On some the hour on the water is in the fare; on others it is an option you select.
| Tour | Length | Price | What is included | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perito Moreno Glacier Sightseeing Tour with Boat Safari & GuideBoardwalks and an hour cruising | 8 h | $145 | Boardwalks and an hour cruising | $18.12 | 4.8 · 193 |
| Guided Tour of the National Park + Perito Moreno Glacier + Boat Cruise (optional)Walkways and the Nautical Safari | 8 h | $60 | Walkways and the Nautical Safari | $7.50 | 4.7 · 725 |
| Perito Moreno Glacier with Optional BoatBalconies, walkways and viewpoints | 8 h | $83 | Balconies, walkways and viewpoints | $10.38 | 4.7 · 234 |
| Full-Day Tour Perito Moreno Glacier with Optional NavigationNavigation through Brazo Rico | 8 h | $84 | Navigation through Brazo Rico | $10.50 | 4.7 · 155 |
| Perito Moreno Glacier & Optional Boat CruiseIce landslides from the balconies | 8 h | $69 | Ice landslides from the balconies | $8.62 | 4.7 · 2,735 |
| The Perito Moreno Glacier in your hands.The glacier front from the water | 9 h | $117 | The glacier front from the water | $13.00 | 4.9 · 112 |
| Safari Azul Los Glaciares Trekking TourTrekking inside Los Glaciares | 9 h | $197 | Trekking inside Los Glaciares | $21.89 | 4.8 · 134 |
| Gourmet Glacier Cruise & Footbridges of Perito MorenoGourmet cruise and the footbridges | 12 h | $251 | Gourmet cruise and the footbridges | $20.92 | 4.7 · 103 |
| Perito Moreno Glacier Trekking Tour and CruiseOne hour hiking on the ice | 11 h | $399 | One hour hiking on the ice | $36.27 | 4.8 · 852 |
| MiniTrekking in the Perito Moreno GlacierMini trekking with crampons | 10 h | $450 | Mini trekking with crampons | $45.00 | 4.7 · 47 |
| Perito Moreno Glacier Big Ice TrekBig Ice trek across the glacier | 12 h | $588 | Big Ice trek across the glacier | $49.00 | 4.9 · 53 |
The verdict
Yes, if you have not seen the wall from water level — and the cleanest way to buy it is $145. The one-hour ride in front of the northern wall is included rather than optional, along with admission to the walkways, round-trip transport from El Calafate and a bilingual guide for the whole eight hours. Rated 4.8 across 193 reviews. Nothing to tick at checkout and nothing to pay at the pier.
If you want the boat at the lowest fare, book $60 and take the Nautical Safari option. It is the cheapest tour on the site at eight hours with hotel pickup and a guide in English, Portuguese or Spanish, and the one-hour ride is offered as the option that gets you closest to the ice. 725 reviews at 4.7.
If you want the best rated day on the water, book $117. 4.9 across 112 reviews is the highest rating on this site, and the day is not the standard cruise: navigation on the Rico Arm with views of the ice walls, a hike along a nature trail, a beach of ice floes, your hand on the glacier, a toast with calafate liqueur and the walkways afterwards.
If you want the hour on the water and the hour on the ice, book $399. It is our top pick for the whole site: eleven hours, the Rico Arm crossed by boat, approximately an hour hiking on the glacier in crampons, a sightseeing cruise in front of the wall, a Patagonian forest and the boardwalks, at one guide for every ten guests. 852 reviews at 4.8. No other listing gives you all three ways of seeing Perito Moreno in a single day.
If you want the longest time afloat, book $251. Twelve hours built around a glacier cruise, with a thirty-minute walk in Patagonian forest, the footbridges of Perito Moreno and a lunch box if you choose it. Rated 4.7 across 103 reviews. It is a slower, longer day than the eight-hour tours and it is priced as one.
When the boat is not worth it. If your whole trip to the glacier is one day and what you want is to watch ice fall from the wall, the hour afloat comes out of your four hours on the balconies. $84 makes the arithmetic plain: four hours on the walkways without navigation, three with it. In that case book $69 or $62 and keep the boardwalk time.
Getting there
Every one of these starts with a hotel pickup in El Calafate. What changes is where the boat goes and whether the hour is in the fare.
| Tour | Length | Where the boat goes | Included or optional | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sightseeing tour with boat safariboat in the fare | 8 hours | One hour in front of the northern wall | Included | $145 |
| National park + glacier + boatlowest fare | 8 hours | The one-hour Nautical Safari | Optional | $60 |
| Glacier & optional boat cruisemost reviewed | 8 hours | Boat safari closer to the glacier | Optional | $69 |
| Glacier with optional boatCurva de los Suspiros | 8 hours | About an hour close to the ice walls | Optional | $83 |
| Full-day with optional navigationBrazo Rico | 8 hours | One hour through the Brazo Rico of Lago Argentino | Optional | $84 |
| Blue Safarihighest rated here | 9 hours | Rico Arm, then a beach of ice floes | Included | $117 |
| Safari Azul trekking toursail and trek | 9 hours | Past the ice wall, then mixed terrain on foot | Included | $197 |
| Gourmet glacier cruisethe long day | 12 hours | A glacier cruise, then the footbridges | Included | $251 |
| Trekking tour and cruiseour top pick | 11 hours | Rico Arm crossing plus a cruise in front of the wall | Included | $399 |
| Big Ice treklongest day on the ice | 12 hours | Sailing in front of the glacier wall | Included | $588 |
Book direct
The tour where the boat is included, the lowest fare with it as an option, the highest rated day afloat, and the one that adds an hour on the ice.
★ 4.8 · 193 reviews
★ 4.7 · 725 reviews
★ 4.9 · 112 reviews
★ 4.8 · 852 reviews
When to sail
The boats run with the tours, all year. What changes is the light on the wall, the wind on an open deck and how full the sailings are.
Dec–Feb
The longest days and the fullest boats. Every listing on this page runs, including the twelve-hour cruise day at $251. Book the included-boat tours like $145 well ahead rather than relying on an option at checkout.
Mar–May
Quieter sailings and colour on the shore behind the ice. A good window for $117, where the day includes a nature trail as well as the navigation.
Jun–Aug
Cold air over open water, and shorter light. The tours still run — one listing describes the excursion as working all year round — but this is the season to weigh an hour on deck against an hour on the balconies.
Sep–Nov
Light returns and the boats are not yet full. A comfortable stretch for $399, where the crossing of the Rico Arm is part of reaching the ice rather than an add-on.
Mistakes
Every one of them comes from the difference between included and optional.
$69, $60, $83 and $84 all word it as an option. On $145 it is included.
$84 states it plainly: four hours on the boardwalks without navigation, three hours plus one on the water with it.
$251 is twelve hours built around the water and the footbridges. If you want crampons, that is $399, $450, $520 or $588.
On the trekking days the boat is already there. $450 includes the boat ride, $588 the sailing in front of the wall, $399 both the crossing and a cruise.
The view that people come for is from the open deck facing the wall, not from behind glass. Wind off the ice is the thing to plan for.
The option is selected when you book. Several listings require booking a day or more in advance, and $117 asks for at least three days.
Checklist
Sixty seconds, and the hour on the water arrives the way you expected.
Included on $145, $117 and $251; an option to select on four others.
About an hour on every listing that quotes it, in front of the northern wall or across the Brazo Rico.
Three hours instead of four on the tours that sell both versions of the day.
$399, $450 and $588 include the boat and the ice in one day.
Shown on the booking page, and worth having on an hour of the day that depends on the lake.
The hour on the water is included outright on $145 for eight hours with the walkways and a bilingual guide. The lowest fare that offers it is $60 with the one-hour Nautical Safari, and our top pick $399 gives you the cruise and about an hour on the ice in the same eleven-hour day.
Compare all sixteen tours→Common questions
About one hour. $145 quotes a one-hour ride in front of the northern wall, $84 an hour of navigation through the Brazo Rico, and $60 a one-hour Nautical Safari. $84 confirms the trade: three hours on the walkways plus one on the water, instead of four on the walkways.
On some. It is included in the fare on $145, $117 and $251, and on the trekking days because the boat is how you reach the ice. On $69, $60, $83 and $84 it is an option you select when booking.
It is the name $60 gives its one-hour boat trip on Lago Argentino, sold as getting closer than ever before to the glacier. Other listings call the same kind of hour a boat safari, a navigation through the Brazo Rico, or a cruise close to the ice walls.
It is the only way to see the front wall from water level, with the boat itself as the scale. The cost is an hour of walkway time. If you have a single day and want to watch blocks of ice fall from the wall, keep the four hours on the boardwalks; if you want the wall from below as well, $145 includes the hour without anything to tick at checkout.
$117 holds 4.9 across 112 reviews, the highest rating on this site. $399 carries 852 reviews at 4.8, and $145 193 reviews at 4.8. Across all sixteen tours there are 5,943 reviews.
Yes. $399 crosses the Rico Arm by boat, puts you on the ice for approximately an hour in crampons, adds a sightseeing cruise in front of the wall and finishes on the boardwalks, over eleven hours. $450 and $588 also include both the water and the ice.
Go deeper
Sixteen tours compared by time at the ice, what is included and what they cost.
The walkwaysThe boardwalk circuit, how long it takes and which balcony faces the wall.
TrekkingMini trekking and the longer routes, and what the crampons are for.
Big IceThe longest day on the glacier, what it demands and what it shows.
From El CalafateThe road into Los Glaciares, how long it takes and who drives you.
Perito Moreno Glacier Trekking Tour and Cruise
★ 4.8 · 852 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h