Perito Moreno Glacier Tickets and Park Fees in 2026

Hours, prices and access verified by the Perito Moreno Glacier Tours team — last checked August 10, 2026.

What you actually pay

There is no ticket to the glacier. There is a ticket to Los Glaciares National Park, and the glacier sits inside it. That distinction matters because the fee is set by Argentina’s national parks authority, changes on its own schedule, and has nothing to do with whichever tour you booked.

These rates took effect on 1 June 2026 and apply to both the southern sector, where the Perito Moreno walkways are, and the northern sector at El Chaltén.

No tour includes it

Every tour listed on this site excludes the park fee. Not most — all of them. It is the single most common complaint in the reviews, and it is not a trick: the fee goes to the national park, not the operator, and operators cannot bundle it.

What this means in practice is that a headline price of $76 is really $76 plus roughly $30 at current exchange, and a $630 ice trek is $630 plus the same. It does not change which tour is best value, because it applies equally to all of them. It does change your cash planning. The full price picture sits on the key facts page.

Buying the ticket

Online, in advance

The national parks authority sells tickets through its own web portal, up to a month ahead. You choose which portal you will enter by — Portal Río Mitre for the Perito Moreno walkways, Los Cóndores for El Chaltén — and pay by credit or debit card. The ticket is then validated at the entrance against your passport or identity document.

This is the option that removes every complication, and it is worth doing before you leave home. The portal is primarily in Spanish, which several travellers found took longer than expected.

At the gate

You can also pay on arrival, and this is where the advice fragments. Different operators state different things about payment: some say cash in Argentine pesos only, several say Mastercard is not accepted but Visa is, one links straight to the online portal. Reviewers report paying by card without difficulty and also report card machines failing.

• Carry enough Argentine pesos to cover the fee as a fallback.
• Bring your passport — identification is checked against the ticket.
• Buy online before you leave town if you have signal; there is none at the entrance.

Passes worth considering

What the fee buys you

Access to the park and to the full walkway network in front of the glacier — roughly four kilometres of boardwalk across several levels, the central balconies, the lower circuit, the forest path and the accessible route with its lift. Toilets, shelter and a cafeteria at the visitor centre.

It does not buy the boat safari, which is a separate ticket sold at the pier or added to your tour, and it does not buy any crampon trek. Those run under concession and are booked through operators. What each one costs and how long it lasts is set out on the frequently asked questions page.

Timing your entry

The gate on the Mitre corridor opens at 08:00 from 1 September to 30 April and at 09:00 from 1 May to 31 August, closing to new arrivals at 18:00 and 16:00 respectively. You may remain in the corridor until 20:00 and 18:00. Since the viewpoint sits about 30 km inside the gate, a late arrival buys very little daylight at the ice. Guided departures leave El Calafate between 07:00 and 09:30 for exactly this reason — the timings are on the visitor information page.

Is a tour worth it on top of the fee?

The arithmetic is straightforward. A scheduled round-trip bus costs less than a guided day tour. The guided tour adds commentary on the ninety-minute drive, a pre-booked boat slot, and someone else driving 80 km of Patagonian road in whatever the weather is doing. A hire car plus fuel lands somewhere in the middle and gives you the day on your own clock.

If two of you are travelling and already have a car, going independently is defensible and several reviewers say so plainly. If you are alone, short on time, or want the boat guaranteed rather than hoped for, the tour earns its margin. Traveller views on both sides sit on the reviews page.

Budgeting a Perito Moreno day, end to end

The fee is one line in a day that has four or five. Setting them out together is the only way to see what the trip actually costs, and it explains why a cheap tour and an expensive one can end up closer than the headline prices suggest.

• Park entry — ARS 50,000 per adult, paid separately, on every single option.
• The tour — from $76 for a guided walkway day, up to $800 for the longest ice trek.
• The boat safari — roughly $30–50 as an add-on, less bought at the pier.
• Lunch — almost never included. Pack it or buy it at the visitor centre.
• Gratuities — excluded on most listings, and customary rather than expected.

A first-time visitor doing the classic day with the boat should plan for the tour price plus about $30 for the park and $30–50 for the water. That is still the cheapest way to stand in front of this particular wall of ice. Every tour’s inclusions are itemised on the key facts page, and the photographs on the gallery page show what each option actually delivers.

If the fee changes again

It will. Argentine park tariffs have moved repeatedly — ARS 30,000 in late 2024, ARS 45,000 from January 2025, ARS 50,000 from June 2026. Treat any figure printed on a booking page as historical and check the official portal before you travel. The date at the top of this page shows when these numbers were last verified, and the answers on our frequently asked questions page are checked on the same cycle.