Practical Guide to Hiking Torres del Paine in Chile

Torres del Paine, with its craggy peaks and pristine teal glacier lakes, has become a hotspot for trekkers all over the world.  This remote Chilean national park is stunningly beautiful and becoming so popular that the powers that be have heavily regulated and limited how many people can camp inside the park. This makes getting a coveted camping spot for the famous O or W trek quite a “thing”.  I had a really tough time planning this trip and made lots of mistakes but luckily I now know enough to help you plan better. Here are the things I wish I knew before I started in my guide to hiking Torres Del Paine.

I’m not saying information isn’t out there…it is. One blog, in particular, that does a great job and knows far more than I do is Patagonia Dreaming. They were a big help to me. However, even with that information I still had unanswered questions and didn’t quite understand how the system worked. Many blogs are written as if you have some understanding already but I will not assume that. I will assume you are as clueless as I was. Fair?

Torres Del Paine Basics

What is it?

Ok, if you just stumbled upon this article without specifically wanting to visit, I will explain everything. Torres del Paine, which roughly translates to “Alpine Towers” in English, is a national park in southern Chile. They get roughly 150,000 visitors to the park each year. This number is purposely limited in order to keep the park pristine. It has beautiful mountain peaks, lakes and glaciers galore.  There are two famous treks, the “O” and the “W”.  The “W” is called such because there are 3 “legs” that form a W shape, each with a unique landscape and trail. It is about 80 km total (50 miles). This can be done in 3 days if doing each leg as a day trip or more popularly, 5 days with camping along the route. The “O” includes the “W” plus the backside of the mountain making a loop. It is 130 km (80 miles) total and most people do it in 7 to 8 days.

Read More:  Ultimate Guide to the O Circuit

Where is it?

Torres Del Paine is in the south of Chile in Patagonia. The nearest town is Puerto Natales.

Language

Spanish, but in this part of Chile I encountered better English than virtually any other place I visited in South America. That just shows how many tourists come here.

Currency

The Chilean Peso (CLP).   $1 USD is $660 CLP.  Cash is king. Very few places take credit cards once inside the park. In Puerto Natales, you can use a credit card. *Bring LOTS of Chilean Pesos with you. There are no ATMS in the parkl.

How to Get There

Ooh this is a tough one. The good news is you have options. The bad news is that none of them are easy or incredibly cheap.

From Puerto Natales

This is the town closest to Torres Del Paine. Flights here from Santiago are relatively new and they don’t go every day so research far in advance to avoid not being able to get there when you plan. It’s not cheap. One way cost me $189.

This is a cute town with tons of restaurants, hostels, and mountain trekking gear shops. You could potentially arrive here with nothing and leave with a tent, rain parkas, sleeping bag, hiking boots, etc. Not that you would do that but just know that you can rent tents and sleeping bags if you are (like me) not the type to haul that stuff around. In the high season, I would call and do this ahead of time just in case.

From Punta Arenas

There are daily flights to Punta Arenas from Santiago. This is a 3.5 hour flight and cheaper than flying to Puerto Natales. A round trip flight is $100 to $150.  The bus from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales is 3.5 hours and costs around $11 USD.

*If you are planning to see King or Magellanic penguins in Tierra Del Fuego, which is fantastic, then start your journey in Punta Arenas. Supposedly car rental there is cheaper than Puerto Natales if renting is your plan.

Read More: How to See King Penguins in Chile

 

From Argentina

Many people combine both Chilean and Argentinian Patagonia into one trip which makes total sense. Depending on where you start, Santiago or Buenos Aires, this will determine your route because flying from country to country isn’t easy other than the capitals.  Essentially you only have reasonable direct flights to the small towns in each country FROM other places in the same country.

El Calafate is a popular Patagonian stop in Argentina where there is the biggest glacier in Argentina, the Perito Moreno glacier. Further north is El Chalten, the base town for trekking to Mount Fitz Roy. The bus between the two takes between 3 and 4 hours and is $15 to $20 dollars. There are direct flights from Buenos Aires to El Calafate but not to El Chalten. There are also direct flights between El Calafate and Ushuaia. Ushuaia is the embarkment point for Antarctica travel so this is something else to consider if that is in your plan.

The Bus from El Calafate to Puerto Natales takes a minimum of 5 hours and costs between $20 to $30 USD. Much of the time depends on how quickly the border crossings are processed.

There are several bus companies that operate in the region. Here is a website with all the bus companies and their information for both Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas. You can book most of these ahead of time online.

*Keep in mind when planning that bus from Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine is only at 7:30 am or 2:30 pm so if you arrive later in the day you have to spend the night there and start your time in the park the following day.   

Click Here for an amazing map of the area showing all the various ways to get around.

The Process of Entering the Park

They don’t make this easy, I’m telling you. After the 2-hour bus ride from Puerto Natales, you and a zillion other tour buses will come to an information center. Everyone on the bus has to pay, get a park ticket, which is good for 3 days. (cost 20,000 pesos or $30 USD). This is cash only!!!!  Then, you will watch a 5-minute video in groups.

After this, there is ANOTHER shuttle bus that takes you to the welcome center and park ranger entrance to the trail. *Hotel Las Torres has a little bus that fits only 6 people and it is not just for hotel guests. Many people don’t know this. Either way you pay $3000 pesos for this shuttle.  The trail I speak of is the most famous one, the Mirador de Torres, or aka the easternmost leg of the W. Many people start the W or O here and many come just for the day for this particular hike. It is crowded. Here you have to fill out another form, show the park entrance ticket you just purchased and then you take this all to the park ranger who allows you to enter and start your hike. Realistically, this is not happening prior to 930 am.

The Mirador de Torres hike is roughly 4 hours up, 4 hours down and depending on how much time you spend at the top (I spent 1 hour) this is a 9-hour affair. After this, if you are staying in Puerto Natales, you have the 2-hour bus ride back. Long day.

Where to Stay?

Staying in the Park

You are going to see the word “reservations” mentioned when you start researching Torres Del Paine. This tripped me up until I understood. They are not referring to hotel reservations, per se. Camping reservations are the big thing that everyone worries about. There is limited space and it is not cheap.

Staying in the park is sort of the ideal situation since you will have shorter days and more access to the park to get started earlier before the crowds. Plus the campsites are actually very nice. However, the reservations system is crazy. There are 3 different companies, Fantastico Sur, Vertice and CONAF who control the various campsites. You have to decide where you are staying and make the reservation through whichever company owns that particular site. There is hope that these will eventually merge but as far as I know, it hasn’t happened. Two campsites are free and included with your entrance ticket.

There are also hotels in the park. These range in price from $300 to over $1000 a night depending on the time of year. These sell out early too. Usually, they will pick you up at the airport, provide transport and a guide so it is a full-service kind of thing but those prices are ridiculous. I saw a group of wealthy older folk with their guide carrying a huge backpack of snacks including a thermos of hot cocoa and I was a little jealous.

Read More:  How to Make Reservations in Torres Del Paine

Ranch near the Rio Serrano

Plan Ahead!!!

I met someone who had managed to book all the perfect sites and she had booked them in August for a mid-February trip, just to give you an idea of how far to plan ahead.

Staying in Puerto Natales

To Hike to Base of Las Torres

Many people aren’t able to camp or find lodging in the park. Luckily it is still possible to hike the W without staying in the park, but instead staying at a hostel in Puerto Natales. I discussed the bus from Puerto Natales above but only in regards to doing the most famous hike, Mirador de Las Torres.

The Bus from Puerto Natales takes everyone to the Laguna Amarga entrance of the park. This is not the only entrance. More on that later. It is a 2-hour drive and costs around $12 USD. Then (as discussed above) you have the shuttle from the entrance to the trailhead (would be 11 km walk) which is another CLP 5000 round trip ($7.5 USD)

To Hike to Valle Frances or Lago Grey

What I just described gets you to the entrance of the most popular hike. If you want to do the other legs of the W (the westernmost one is Lago Grey and the middle one is the Valle Frances) you have to have an additional bus trip to Pudeto where you must take a catamaran ride across Lake Pehoe to the trail heads of the other treks. I told you it was complicated!

Pudeto is another 45 minutes from the Amarga Entrance. The catamaran there luckily is timed to the bus arrivals. During the high season, these times are 9 am, 11 am, 4:15 pm and 6 pm. The catamaran takes 30 minutes and drops you off at the Paine Grande Camp.

*There is a cafeteria at Pudeto that takes credit card so grab a coffee while you freeze waiting in line for the catamaran. Also at Paine Grande Camp, they have a mini market, a nice bathroom and restaurant and I think they also take credit cards.

The cost of the catamaran is $20,000 CLP ($30 USD) one way or $30,000 CLP ($40 USD) round trip. Um, not cheap is it? You buy the tickets on the boat and must have cash.

From Paine Grande Camp, you can walk in the direction of the Italiano Camp which is the base of the Valle Frances (French Valley).  This is one of the free camps. It is also a good base for trekking to see the Cuernos, these horn-shaped mountains.  OR you can walk in the direction of the westward leg of the W, Lago Grey. There is the opportunity to kayak and see the Glacier Grey here but not certain you can hike and do that all in one day. You would have to be staying at Refugio Grey to do this (ooh they also take credit cards!).

Return To Puerto Natales

Buses return to Puerto Natales from Laguna Amarga Entrance and the latest one is at 7:00 pm. So you need to finish all of that we discussed above, by then!

Read More: How to Hike the W Trek Without Reservations

The Ideal Situation

I spoke with many other tourists and based on my own experience, have come up with this. You can compare it to other advice and make up your mind. I think if you are a spontaneous traveler and don’t like to plan ahead and also like to wait it out if there is bad weather, then staying in Puerto Natales and doing day trips for each trek may be best. The hostels aren’t as expensive there as refugios (sort of like hostels) in the park, but you have all the bus and transport cost to consider.

If you have your shit together to make reservations early and have your pick of the campsites, then here is a suggestion.

Itinerary for 3 night W Trek

Day 1   Take the bus from Puerto Natales and eventually start the Torres hike at 11 am. First, leave your bag at Torres Central. Hike.  Camp that night at Torres Central. You can choose to include meals or bring your own food.  I believe they will even provide packed lunch if you pay full board. You can buy a camping permit and bring your own stuff or use their tents.  They give guests a mattress and sleeping pad and you can choose a rate with or without meals.   It is approximately $140 for 2 people with food and tent.

Day 2   Take the shuttle to Laguna Amarga (the entrance).  $3000 CLP for the shuttle then $5000 CLP for the bus to Pudeto and then catamaran $30000 round trip. Leave your stuff at Paine Grande camp. Hike the French Valley then stay in Paine Grande camp. They have breakfast and dinner included and apparently, it is really good. I think prices start at $60 per person per night and not sure if this includes meals or not. I didn’t stay here.

Day 3  Hike to Lago Grey which takes about 4 hours. You will have to take all your things at this point. You can kayak in the evening.

*Big Foot Tour Company got rave reviews from other travelers I met for kayaking Lago Grey or Grey Glacier ice hikes. Apparently, this is only a 5-minute walk from Refugio Grey.

Day 4  Hike back to Paine Grande, take catamaran, then bus back to Puerto Natales.

This is a quick version of the W trek. If the weather is bad, you are stuck because there isn’t much wiggle room with reservations.

Itinerary for 5 Day W Trek

Day 1  Take Bus from Puerto Natales. Hike 2 hours to El Chileno camp. Spend night.

Day 2 Wake up early and hike 2 hours to the Mirador de Las Torres and have it all to yourself without any crowds. Hike back down to Torres Central to spend the night.

Day 3 Hike to Refugio Las Cuernos. Spend the night there.

Day 4 Hike to the Italian Camp and leave stuff while hiking French Valley. PIck up things and do the remaining 2 hours to Paine Grande Camp. Spend night.

Day 5  Hike Lago Grey. Either stay there or return (which would be a long day).

You Can The W in Reverse Too

Just to confuse you more, you can start with Lago Grey and work your way east and do the Torres trek last. I was told this is actually easier. Anyway…something to think about.

What About Bad Weather?

Weather is infamously unpredictable here. If you have the time it would be ideal to plan in “bad weather days”.  A little rain is one thing but when the trail becomes a river and you can potentially be blown off the mountain in 140 km/hr winds, it’s not great fun to hike. However, you can’t really be spontaneous there because the number of campsites is regulated and controlled to prevent over tourism.

If you have enough room in your schedule (and wallet) to plan 2 nights at each campsite or maybe some of them, you would then have some wiggle room if the weather is really bad. Torres Del Paine is known to be one of the absolute most difficult national parks in the world to get to. Would be a shame not to make the most of it once you’ve done the long and expensive journey to get there. Just a thought. This turns a 5-day trip into 8 to 10 days which also isn’t ideal.

I want you to have as many resources as possible so I will refer you to this great guide.

Read More:  Camping in Torres del Paine

What I Did

I don’t really recommend what I did as the best way but in case you get stuck and need another option than the ones I described, here you go. Unfortunately, I arrived too late from my flight to Puerto Natales from Santiago for a bus to the park. I had to rent hiking poles and get groceries so I needed a couple of hours. I opted to rent a car since I needed to get to park THAT day and I also was staying at a refugio too far from the trailheads. The cost of the car was $100 a day. This is pretty much how it is unless you rent in Punta Arenas.

I loved the company I found (very randomly). They are called Newen and a small family-owned company. The person I dealt with, Maria, was so helpful, spoke great English and made me feel taken care of.

I drove to the park that day and arrived to my refugio in the evening. After being lost because there were no signs. I am not bitter about it at all. I was skeptical about the place because they provide no food or heat unless you stay in the main house (which I assume costs more but it was sold out when I booked 3 months in advance). The man who managed the place was a doll and it was actually a cozy cabin with a fireplace that kept the place decently warm. They also had warm sleeping bags on the beds. However due to the not so convenient location, not sure I’d strongly recommend this place. It was called Vista al Paine if you want to know.

Day 1

The next morning I had to drive 90 minutes and then could start hiking. I had to first go to the CONAF building at the Rio Serrano entrance (remember I mentioned there was another entrance?).  This entrance really is only for people staying in the Rio Serrano area. By the time I got my ticket and drove to the welcome center, filled out the form, etc, it was around 10:00 am.  It takes 4 hours to reach the top then 4 hours down. It’s not an easy hike.

The first hour is a steady incline. The second hour is a bit easier and then you arrive at El Chileno camp for a break.  The third hour is in the forest which is nice and shady and relatively flat. The fourth hour is all rocks and only uphill. Give yourself an hour at the top. You earned it. Make sure to bring a beer. I arrived back at the parking lot around 7pm and then had the 90 min drive to my refugio. Not much different than staying in Puerto Natales. Except I avoided the shuttle buses and welcome center video nonsense.

Day 2

I drove to Pudeto to take the first catamaran. This was closer to where I stayed and only a 45-minute drive. I got to the ferry 30 minutes early and was still the last one in line and was lucky to get on the ferry. I hiked the Valle de Frances that day but didn’t do all of it because it started to rain pretty hard.      It is not a hard hike but I spent the final 2 hours soaked and cold hiking in mud. I took the 5:00 pm ferry back and drove home to warm up.

Day 3

I was supposed to hike Lago Grey but I didn’t do anything that day because of the weather. I heard that some trails were closed and the winds were very high. Instead I went back to Puerto Natales early and chill. Best decision because the hostel where I stayed was incredible. Nicer than a hotel. It is called Vinnhaus and had an incredible restaurant that looked like a posh Viennese cafe, the best hostess every named Dominique and really nice rooms and bathrooms.

You can book it here or find another hostel or hotel.


Booking.com

How Much Does it All Cost?

High Season is October 1 to April 30th. The price for a foreign visitor to enter the park then is CLP 21,000 (Chilean pesos). It is CLP 11,000 the rest of the year.

If you are taking bus every day this will cost about $20 a day round trip for the bus and the shuttle. Catamaran round trip each day is $45 and if you do all the legs of W you do this twice. So far this is $150 for transport for 3 days plus an entrance fee of $35 so $185 total just to get to park and enter it for 3 days.

If you are staying in the various camps, the cost of lodging plus meals for a classic 5 day W is going to be close to $1000.

This is not including costs of getting to Puerto Natales.

I spent the following for 3 days. This doesn’t include my hostel in Puerto Natales.

Flight from Santiago to Puerto Natales $189

Transfer Van from Airport to Town $7.5

Rental Car $400

Hiking Poles $18

Groceries $37

Catamaran $45

CONAF entrance fee $30

Tank of Gas $45

Grand Total for 3 days in Torres del Paine (and I only hiked 2) is almost $775. The rental car was the bulk of my expense and I wish I hadn’t needed it.

Random Tips

If you use a car, know that there is no gas stations in the park so make sure you have a full tank and keep an eye on it so you have enough to get back to Puerto Natales.

Bring tons of CASH!

Buying food inside the park incredibly expensive so best to stock up in Puerto Natales before leaving.

Bring earplugs for wind and rain because it is loud if you are in a tent.   

Anticipate and be prepared.  Everything takes longer.   Getting off catamaran for example, one person needs to wait for bags which are in the back while another rushes off to save seats on the bus.

Bring your own towel if you are camping or you have to rent for $10. Also bring a pillow.  

 Read More:  What to Pack for Hiking Torres del Paine

If you have any questions or further advice please leave in the comments! I hope to help you do this better than I did! I still enjoyed it and it is worth a visit.

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