El Calafate or Ushuaia?

Neither town is a place to swim. They differ only in the kind of cold water they put in front of you. El Calafate looks out on a lake, Lago Argentino, filled by meltwater from the ice field and swept by the wind off the steppe, so even a bright summer afternoon on its edge calls for a jacket. The only place to get wet is a lodge or hotel pool, and the ocean is a full day's drive away.

Ushuaia faces real salt water, but the Beagle Channel stays in single figures even in midsummer, and its stony, weed-strewn shore was never meant for towels. The channel is something to travel on rather than lie beside, so the water here means a boat trip. A dip is a dare, not a swim.

Both towns roast lamb on iron crosses over an open fire, but Ushuaia has the cold sea as well. King crab is landed close by and served plain, au gratin or in chowder, alongside toothfish and channel mussels, and there are warm cafés for cold afternoons.

El Calafate's crab is brought in from the south, and its menus stay close to the parrilla, with lake trout and the calafate berry for variety. Its best meal tends to be an estancia lunch out in the countryside rather than anything in town.

Ushuaia has more to show. The old penal colony, with its radial cell blocks, now holds the Maritime Museum and its Antarctic exhibits. Smaller museums cover the Yámana, and the pioneer-era wooden houses give the streets some character. It is a full day for a curious visitor.

El Calafate is a young service town with little history of its own. The Glaciarium is a good primer on the ice, and the regional museum and the rock paintings in the Walichu caves add a few hours at most.

Neither town has clubs, but Ushuaia keeps going a little longer. Its brewpubs pour local craft beer, and the late Argentine dinner hours stretch evenings out even this far south. In El Calafate, a pint or a glass of Malbec on the main avenue usually ends the night early, because the glacier bus leaves at dawn and the town empties soon after dinner.

Both are first-rate, but the landscapes are quite different. El Calafate is about ice and space. The 70-metre face of Perito Moreno lies about 80km away, with treks across its surface, cruises to further glaciers, flamingos at Laguna Nimez and horse riding across dry, wind-scoured steppe. Its best trekking, around Fitz Roy, is a long journey north.

Ushuaia is greener and closer to hand. Beech forest, peat bogs and lakes in Tierra del Fuego National Park, the hikes to the Martial Glacier and Laguna Esmeralda, and boat trips to sea lion and penguin colonies all begin near town. It also has a winter life on snow that El Calafate lacks.

Both are thin on places to visit, and in both most outings are into open country. From El Calafate, the one real destination is a working sheep estancia, some reached by boat across the lake. El Chalten is three hours away and better treated as a stay of its own.

Ushuaia has a little more variety. Estancia Harberton has its marine mammal museum, Tolhuin sits on the road to Lago Fagnano, and a boat crosses the channel to Puerto Williams in Chile.

Both are small, safe and easy with children, and both run short of things built for them. In El Calafate the draw is the sight and sound of ice falling from Perito Moreno, seen from solid walkways, along with horses and sheep at the estancias. The catch is long rides to every outing and age limits on glacier treks.

Ushuaia's highlights are the steam train along the old convict line into the national park, sea lions and penguins from the boat, and snow in winter. Here the frequent cold rain is the bigger problem.

Ushuaia is the easier base. Its compact waterfront grid is walkable, though the streets climb steeply behind it, boats leave from the central pier, and the national park is a short drive away by easily arranged shuttle or taxi.

El Calafate's single main avenue is simple on foot, but everything you came for lies beyond it. The glacier is over an hour's drive, the boats leave from a port further along the lake, and anyone who hires a car for freedom will be driving on gravel in strong wind.

Both offer one main street of outdoor gear and souvenirs, useful for gloves and gifts and not much more. El Calafate leans towards Patagonian crafts, with sheepskin, leather, mate gourds and a small handicraft market. Ushuaia sells more penguin trinkets, but Tierra del Fuego's special tax regime makes some goods cheaper than elsewhere in Argentina.

Both are expensive by Argentine standards, for the same remote, short-season reasons, and in both the excursions do more damage than the meals. In El Calafate the strain comes from park entry, glacier treks, lake cruises and the transport to reach them. In Ushuaia, cruise and Antarctic traffic push up rooms and boat trips, and taxis to trailheads add more. Coming in spring or autumn makes rooms cheaper.

There is almost nothing to plan around in either town. Ushuaia has slightly more: a cultural centre with occasional concerts and local productions, and the odd pub with a band. In El Calafate, live music mostly means a guitarist or folk singer over dinner at a restaurant or estancia.

Rest in both towns comes from quiet more than from facilities, with no bathing tradition and spas only in a handful of hotels. El Calafate offers lodge saunas with lake views and wide skies, but its early starts and long bus rides work against unwinding. Ushuaia's spas sit in the forest above the channel, and an afternoon watching the weather roll over the mountains, once the cruise passengers have gone, is the local version of switching off.