Andreas Madsen Museum House

A journey through time! This excursion is a guided tour to the house of the pioneer Andreas Madsen, a Danish who arrived in 1905 to work with the expert Pascasio Moreno and built the first house in El Chaltén. You will learn about Madsen´s family, hear their story, understand the challenges and adventures they had to face and appreciate their daily way of life in the Estancia more than a century ago.

The location of the house, crossing the De las Vueltas river in front of the current town of El Chaltén, allows you to enjoy a privileged view of the Mount Chaltén. Andreas did not choose this spot by chance!

The excursion starts, having already reserved your spot in advance, 100m away from the house at the estancia's gate, where you meet the guide.

To arrive at the gate you need to cross over the bridge (Calle Trevisan) over the De las Vueltas river and then turn left and walk along the track alongside the river. The walk takes about 30 minutes and you'll be able to enjoy views of different mountains. If you decide to go by car it's just a 15 minute ride - go slowly as it's not a maintained road.

In little more than 20 minutes you will arrive at the house, where you will be able to see the original architecture that is still intact a century on: walls made with chopped Lenga cut by hand with an ax, cladding with old wooden crates, hessian cloth and newspapers they used for insulation. You can also admire different artifacts, tools and original family furniture.

On the walls there are black and white photographs of the period, that give an idea of what it was like to live in deep Patagonia at the beginning of the last century.

You will have access to the whole house and especially to Andreas´ dining room while you share a cup of tea or coffee with sweet pastries..

Meanwhile the guide will tell you more anecdotes and tales of the family that happened in that same place.

At the end of the visit, you will walk back to town, along the same path you arrived to, and discover how much El Chaltén area has changed over the years.