Which tour to book
Mini-Trekking vs Big Ice vs the boardwalks: which Perito Moreno tour to book
Same glacier, same operator, three very different days — here's what actually separates them, beyond the price.
See Perito Moreno trekking tickets on GetYourGuide ↗Three ways to see the glacier
| Mini-Trekking | Big Ice | Boardwalks & boat | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time on the ice | ~1.5 hours | ~3.5–4 hours | None |
| Age range | 10–65 | Stricter — check current rules | No trekking age limit |
| Fitness needed | Moderate | Good cardiovascular fitness | Walking only |
| From (USD) | $399 | $459 | $68.80 |
| Best for | First-time ice trekkers | Experienced hikers wanting more ice | Anyone who doesn't want to trek |
Same glacier, same operator, three different days
Hielo & Aventura is the sole company licensed to run guided ice trekking on Perito Moreno, and it sells three distinct products that get compared constantly by first-time visitors: Mini-Trekking, Big Ice, and a boardwalks tour with an optional boat cruise. All three visit the same glacier from the same general area — what changes is how much of the day you spend actually on the ice, and how demanding that time is.
Mini-Trekking: the accessible middle
This is the tour this site is built around — about ninety minutes walking flatter ice near the glacier's edge, open from age ten, and pitched at moderate fitness rather than serious hiking ability. It includes the whisky-on-ice moment and finishes with time at the park's boardwalks. For most travellers doing one Perito Moreno activity on their trip, this is the one that balances real ice-walking against a manageable physical and time commitment.
Big Ice: the technical version
Big Ice covers several hours actually on the ice — considerably longer than Mini-Trekking — over more technical terrain, in smaller guide groups, with a stricter age and fitness bar than the standard tour. It's built for travellers who want more time among crevasses and ice formations and who are comfortable with a physically demanding day. If ninety minutes on the ice sounds like too little, this is the upgrade; if it sounds like plenty, it isn't the tour to book.
The boardwalks: no ice walk at all
The boardwalks tour (with an optional add-on boat cruise) skips the ice entirely — no crampons, no age restriction tied to trekking fitness, just a bus trip to the park's own network of elevated viewing walkways facing the ice front, with an optional cruise past the wall for a different angle. At well under a third of Mini-Trekking's price, it's the right choice for anyone travelling with young children, limited mobility, or simply no interest in walking on ice.
How to actually decide
If you want to say you've walked on Perito Moreno and have a moderate level of fitness, book Mini-Trekking. If you've done glacier trekking before, want more time on technical ice, and meet the fitness bar, look at Big Ice instead. If ice-walking isn't the point for you — you want the view, not the crampons — the boardwalks tour gets you there at a fraction of the cost, and pairs well as a second, gentler day if you also do one of the trekking tours.
Doing more than one in the same trip
Because all three tours are run by the same operator out of the same port, some visitors with a longer Patagonia stay do combine two of them — most commonly Mini-Trekking on one day and the boardwalks-only tour on another, since the boardwalks add relatively little cost and give you a second, more relaxed look at the ice front from angles the trekking day doesn't linger on. Doing Mini-Trekking and Big Ice on the same trip is less common and mostly redundant, since Big Ice already includes more time on the ice than Mini-Trekking covers. If you're weighing a second glacier day at all, put it toward the boardwalks rather than repeating the trekking experience, and book your first-choice trekking tour well ahead — it's the one of the three most likely to sell out on a given date.
Group size and how it changes the day
One practical difference that doesn't always come through in the marketing copy is group size. Mini-Trekking moves larger groups across gentler terrain, which keeps the per-person cost down but means less individual guide attention and a fixed group pace. Big Ice runs noticeably smaller groups given the more technical terrain and closer supervision it requires. If a quieter, more personal guiding experience matters to you as much as the terrain itself, that's a real point in Big Ice's favour beyond the extra ice time — and conversely, if you'd rather not feel watched step-by-step and are happy moving with a bigger group, Mini-Trekking's pace suits that better.