You will get picked up at your hotel at about 7.30 AM (they might be late - no ground for panicking).
From El Calafate it is about a 1h hour drive with the bus briefly stopping at the entrance of Los Glaciares National Park. Everyone will be asked to pay the park entrance fee (not included in the tour price.) The entrance fee is 4000 ARS (Argentine Pesos) and you will be asked to pay cash. (BTW: if you go the day after again, you will only have to pay half the fee for the second day.)
The first stop of the day will lead you to the walkway where you get the first look of Perito Moreno Glacier. You can spend about an hour on the woodden pathway, walking up and down admiring the glacier.
Back on the bus you will then drive to the Rico Arm of the Argentinian lake. You will disembark and board a boat navigating you to the front of the glacier - another opportunity to admire the glacier upfront.
You will disembark on the other side of the lake and start your walk along the glaciers moraine to the glacier ice access point. The hike is about 2h and quite steep - a good fitness level is a plus. You will take a rest in the middle of the hike to eat something that you brought from El Calafate.
Once you arrive on the entry point the guides will help you mount your helmets, harnesses and crampons. And up you go into the ice! We were walking for about 3.5h, guided by very capable and knowledgeable guides, showing us deep deep cracks, blue lagoons and streams, seracs and the occasional ice cave. The guides will look for a lunch break place and have you rest in the middle of the 3.5 hours trekking for about 20 min before walking on.
At the end of the ice trek the return will take you along same path back (another 2h) until reaching the refuge, where you’ll have some minutes to admire the glacier one last time.
Then you embark on the boat, that will allow a last admiring of the beautiful glacier, that now after having trekked on it embodies much more to you than before. To relax you are served with a whiskey on glacier ice. A great end to an unbelievable day.
And: Back to the bus and El Calafate.
This depends on the program you choose. The program we did you should be fit for. Meaning you already hiked and you are ok with walking up hill. You don't have to be athlete fit.
If you are not confident you can go for the 4h program, just briefly walking on the glacier. I heard from many others that this is really easy to do.
If you have some flexibility it is best to go to El Calafate and the booking office where they can advise you on the details of the program.
Layers! Layers! Layers.
No! You gotta make sure to stock up. Check here for where to buy good sandwiches.
Bring at least 1l of water and maybe some finger food for the breaks (like nuts or other nibbles).