Our pick
The group trek
Booked on this site
- Length6 hours
- GroupUp to 12
- LunchBox lunch
Cost for your group
Laguna Esmeralda tour price, from the shuttle seat to a private guide
Guided Laguna Esmeralda trek from Ushuaia
★ 4.9 · 332 user reviews
Brief answer
A Laguna Esmeralda tour price runs from a bare round-trip transfer through guided group treks with lunch to a private hike, and boots or rain gear can be rented on top.
Price essentials
Compare 4 alternatives
Work out the cost of your lagoon day
Pick how many are walking and see each opening fare multiplied out.
- Our guided trek6 hours · starting at, per person $99
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View - Lagoon and valleys6 hours · starting at, per person $99
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View - Box lunch trek5 hours · starting at, per person $110
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View - Transfer only6 hours · starting at, per person $45
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View
Converted at the ECB reference rate, from-prices as listed by GetYourGuide. The precise amount is shown when you book.
Every Laguna Esmeralda tour price in one place: what the guided group treks start from, what a private hike adds, and what you still pay for yourself.
Editorial team, lagunaesmeraldatrek.quest · Updated November 9, 2026 · 7 min reading time
Key facts
- Our guided trekFrom $99 for 6 hours, with hotel pickup, trekking poles and a box lunch.
- Other group daysGroup treks to the lagoon range from $99 up to $155.
- Private hikeA guide for your own party starts from $120.
- Ride onlyA round-trip transfer to the trail, with no guide named, starts from $45.
- CancellingDrop the booking up to 24 hours before and the trek we book refunds it all.
What the trek on this site costs, and what the fare covers
The guided trek we book is listed on GetYourGuide from $99 and fills 6 hours, door to door. A van collects you at your hotel in Ushuaia and needs about 30 minutes to reach the start of the walk. The group is capped at 12 people, and the guide speaks Spanish and English, so the commentary on bogs, beavers and the glacier above the water comes in a language you follow.
The fare is more than a seat in a van. Before you set off, each walker is handed trekking poles, crampons when the ground calls for them and a box lunch. At the lagoon there is an hour for lunch, photos and a cup of tea or coffee before the same path takes you down again. For a walk the provincial tourism board describes as wet and slippery for much of its length, those poles are worth real money.1
Guests rate this trek 4.8 across 332 reviews, and the breakdown is unusually even: the guide scores 4.8, transport earns 4.9, and 4.6 goes to value for money. That last figure is the honest one to read on a prices page. A 4.6 still reads as good value, while leaving room for the view that a strong, well-equipped hiker could do the walk for less, which is the trade the rest of this page sets out in figures.
Side by side
Guided treks to the lagoon by price and length
| Trek | From | Length | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our guided trek | $99 | 6 hours | 332 |
| Lagoon and valleys trek | $99 | 6 hours | 67 |
| Box lunch trek | $110 | 5 hours | 19 |
| Boots-required trek | $124 | 5 hours | 16 |
| Lunch and drinks | $135 | 7 hours | 9 |
| Private hike | $120 | 5 hours | 1 |
| Transfer only | $45 | 6 hours | 7 |
Prices are from-prices; the final sum depends on date, option and how many of you go.
Every guided day to the lagoon, side by side
Several operators sell the same walk with a different wrapper. A trek through the lagoon and the Fuegian valleys starts from $99 for 6 hours, with guides in Spanish, English and Portuguese and 4.5 hours set aside for the walk itself. Its listing also notes that the lagoon freezes in winter, a useful line to read before you pick a date.
A step up, a guided trek with a box lunch starts from $110 and lasts 5 hours, with a 40-minute van ride each way. Its operator wants bookings at least 24 hours ahead and asks every guest to share a hotel and any food restriction. Another 5-hour trek starts from $124, and its guides may refuse anyone who turns up without trekking boots and suitable clothes.
Longer days cost more. A 7-hour hike with lunch and drinks starts from $135, keeps the group to 10 and adds 1.5 hours of walking in Tierra Mayor after the lagoon. An 8-hour version with lunch inside a mountain dome starts from $155 and asks for a medical form before you go. The lagoon is the same on every one of them: what changes is the lunch, the length and how many people walk beside you. At desks in town you will see the same day sold under its Spanish name, an excursión a Laguna Esmeralda.
Hours you spend
Guided lagoon days by length, door to door
- Dome lunch day8
- Lunch and drinks7
- Our trek6
- Fuegian valleys6
- Box lunch trek5
- Private hike5
Total length of each listed day from Ushuaia, as each listing states it.
What a private guide adds to the bill
A private hike starts from $120 and lasts 5 hours, with a guide who speaks Spanish, Portuguese or English. The plan is laid out in detail: 30 minutes by jeep or SUV from Ushuaia, a short stop at the Carbajal Valley viewpoint, a safety briefing at the trailhead, 105 minutes of walking up, an hour of picnic at the water and 1.5 hours back. Hot coffee and a packed lunch come with it, as its title promises.
Check how the price is set before setting it against a group fare. A private listing can be priced for the whole party or per person, and the booking box will show which once you enter your group. With only 1 review so far, this is also a young product, so read the details and the cancellation line with care. Its cancellation terms match the group treks: free until 24 hours before.
Private makes sense for a family with slow walkers, for photographers who want to stop often, and for anyone arriving on a cruise ship. One group operator says outright that cruise passengers cannot join its regular trek and must book a private service instead, to fit the ship timetable. If you are in port for a single day, that rule matters more than the fare difference.
Pick by budget
Which lagoon day fits your wallet
Say what matters most and see which lagoon option keeps the bill in line.
If I want the lowest price for a guided day
Our group trek
From $99 with pickup, poles and lunch for 6 hours.
If I want a guide who speaks Portuguese
The lagoon and valleys trek
From $99 with guides in Spanish, English or Portuguese.
If I want a longer day with a proper lunch
Lunch and drinks
From $135, 7 hours, groups of up to 10.
If I am travelling with slow walkers
A private hike
From $120, walking at your own speed with your own guide.
If I have boots and hiking experience
Transfer only
A round trip to the trail from $45, without a guide named.
By budget
Group trek, private guide or a ride
Own pace
The private hike
Your party only
- Length5 hours
- TransportJeep or SUV
- LunchPacked lunch
Ride only
Transfer only
You walk unguided
- Length6 hours
- PickupIncluded
- GuideNone named
Going without a guide: the real bill
The cheapest way onto the trail is to pay only for the ride. A round-trip transfer to the lagoon trail starts from $45 and blocks out 6 hours, with pickup included and no guide named in the record. Its own notes ask you not to go trekking alone and always to tell someone where you are heading. Taxis are the other option: Ushuaia has taxi services and urban bus lines, though no city bus line is listed for the trailhead.4
Saving the guide fee does not save you the gear. The provincial trail page says boots, waterproof clothing, walking sticks and warm layers are needed all year on this path.1 If you did not pack them, the city tourism office lists rental shops in town, from Cumbre Rental on Gobernador Deloqui to Rental Ushuaia Popper on San Martin.5 Rental is priced locally, so ask each shop for a day rate in pesos and in dollars.
Then there is the advice that no price can override. The municipal tourism office calls the walk of medium difficulty and still recommends hiring a specialized agency for greater safety.6 The province marks the trail as open while recommending a guide too.7 Our page on hiking with a guide or alone weighs that question properly; for the budget, the solo saving is real, from $45 for the ride against $99 for the guided day, and part of it goes on rental if you lack boots and poles.
Where the money goes
From booking to the lunch at the water
At booking
Reserve, pay later
Hold a place from $99 with nothing to pay today.
Day before
Free cancellation
Plans change? Cancel by 24 hours out for the whole sum back.
Pickup
Van from your hotel
About 30 minutes from Ushuaia to the start of the walk.
Trailhead
Kit handed out
Poles, crampons if needed and a box lunch for each walker.
At the lagoon
Lunch and a hot drink
An hour at the water with tea or coffee.
Gear, food and the small costs on top
The trek on this site asks for trekking boots and mountain clothing, for safety, and lets you rent them if you arrive without. Waterproof clothing can be rented through it as well, so a traveler passing through Ushuaia with only city shoes is not shut out. Ask when you book whether rental is paid on the day or added to the fare, and give your shoe size early.
Food is covered on the guided days: the box lunch and a hot drink at the water are part of our trek. On a self-guided day you carry everything, and the municipal mountain leaflet lists water, food, sunglasses, sunscreen and extra clothing as basics.3 Buy snacks in town the evening before: the trailhead is a car park beside the highway.8
Money itself is easy. The Argentine peso is the currency in Tierra del Fuego, and the provincial tourism board says US dollars, euros and reais are accepted too.9 The tour price is settled through the booking, so cash is only needed for tips, rentals or a coffee back in town. Tipping is your choice, so give what the day was worth to you.
Video
Laguna Esmeralda near Ushuaia, a fairytale walk
Ada the Traveler on YouTube · Nothing is fetched until you hit play.
This trekking is one of the most recommended: if you come for a few days and want to visit an emblematic place in Ushuaia, the Esmeralda Lagoon is the place.
Before you pay
Paid for, still to pay, and ways to save
In the fare3
- Hotel pickup and the van both ways
- Trekking poles, and crampons when needed
- A box lunch and tea or coffee at the lagoon
On top3
- Boot and clothing rental if you have none
- Tips for the guide, at your choice
- Snacks and water beyond the box lunch3
Ways to save3
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
- Check if a private fare covers your whole party
- Pay later, after checking the forecast
Winter dates and what changes in the cold months
Whatever you pay, the day changes in winter. Ushuaia offers snow from June to October, according to its tourism office.10 The trek on this site already counts crampons among the kit handed out when conditions need them. The province warns of ice or snow on the trails in autumn and winter, together with short days and temperatures below zero.11
Self-guided walkers lose the most in the cold season. The provincial trail page asks hikers not to enter the path after 12:00 noon in autumn and winter, against 3:00 PM in spring and summer.12 A late taxi from town can cost you the whole walk. Whatever you book, check its pickup time against those limits before you pay.
The frozen lagoon, snowshoes and cold-weather kit get a full page of their own, Laguna Esmeralda in winter. For the budget, keep one point in mind: in winter the rental list grows, from boots to warmer gloves and hats, and the province calls boots essential in that season.13 Price in those extras before you decide that the cheaper ride-only option still wins.
Booking the Laguna Esmeralda tour from Ushuaia
Every guided trek that we list can be held now and dropped at no charge while the start is still 24 hours or more away. That makes early booking low risk: hold the date when you plan the trip, then cancel if a flight or a cruise schedule moves. Pay-later booking also lets you check the forecast before money leaves your account.
Weather is not a reason for a refund by itself. Our trek runs rain or shine, and the province describes the local weather as unstable, able to turn windy, rainy or cloudy after a few hours of sun.14 Instead of waiting for a perfect day, book the date that fits and bring the right layers; the rental option is there for the gaps.
Agencies in town sell the same outing at their desks too. Compare like with like: pickup or meeting point, length, lunch, group size, guide language and cancellation. Our table and price calculator put those details next to each other before you choose.
FAQ
Brief questions, brief answers.
How much does the Laguna Esmeralda trek cost?
From $99 guided.
The guided trek we book starts from $99 for 6 hours with hotel pickup and lunch.
Is there a cheaper way onto the lagoon trail?
A transfer, from $45.
A round-trip ride to the trail starts from $45; you walk without a guide named in the record.
How much is a private Laguna Esmeralda hike?
From $120.
A private 5-hour hike with coffee and a packed lunch starts from $120.
Is lunch included on the guided trek?
Yes, a box lunch.
Our trek hands out a box lunch and serves tea or coffee at the lagoon.
Do I have to pay extra for boots?
Only if you rent them.
Trekking boots and mountain clothing are required; guests without them can rent them.
Can I cancel the lagoon trek if rain is forecast?
Yes, up to 24 hours before.
Free cancellation runs until 24 hours ahead; the trek itself goes ahead rain or shine.
Can cruise passengers join a group trek?
Not on every tour.
One operator sends cruise passengers to a private service instead of its regular trek.
Sources
- Tierra del Fuego Tourism Board, InFueTur (findelmundo.tur.ar) · Laguna Esmeralda trail ↩
- Ushuaia Tourism Secretariat (Municipality of Ushuaia, turismoushuaia.com) · Esmeralda Lagoon
- Ushuaia Tourism Secretariat (Municipality of Ushuaia, turismoushuaia.com), mountain advice leaflet (PDF) · Recommendations for heading to the mountain ↩
- Tierra del Fuego Tourism Board, InFueTur (findelmundo.tur.ar) · Information for visitors ↩
- Ushuaia Tourism Secretariat (Municipality of Ushuaia, turismoushuaia.com) · Rent equipment ↩
- Ushuaia Tourism Secretariat (Municipality of Ushuaia, turismoushuaia.com) · Esmeralda Lagoon ↩
- Tierra del Fuego Tourism Board, InFueTur (findelmundo.tur.ar) · Laguna Esmeralda trail ↩
- Ushuaia Tourism Secretariat (Municipality of Ushuaia, turismoushuaia.com) · Esmeralda Lagoon ↩
- Tierra del Fuego Tourism Board, InFueTur (findelmundo.tur.ar) · Information for visitors ↩
- Ushuaia Tourism Secretariat (Municipality of Ushuaia, turismoushuaia.com) · Winter in Ushuaia ↩
- Tierra del Fuego Tourism Board, InFueTur (findelmundo.tur.ar) · Laguna Esmeralda trail ↩
- Tierra del Fuego Tourism Board, InFueTur (findelmundo.tur.ar) · Laguna Esmeralda trail ↩
- Tierra del Fuego Tourism Board, InFueTur (findelmundo.tur.ar) · What to wear in Tierra del Fuego ↩
- Tierra del Fuego Tourism Board, InFueTur (findelmundo.tur.ar) · The climate in Tierra del Fuego ↩
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