Patagonia: the W Trek in Torres del Paine, with refugio nights

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Patagonia

   Punta Arenas airport (PUQ) to Puerto Natales

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Repas du soir
   • Nuit : Puerto Natales
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Punta Arenas (PUQ) on the Strait of Magellan, usually via Santiago, and plan to land by about 2 pm; the latest arrival time is confirmed with your final itinerary. Your See Sight Tours guide meets the group at the airport and we drive north on Ruta 9 across open sheep country, about 245 km and three hours, with a coffee stop on the way. Watch for rheas and guanacos on the steppe and flamingos on the shallow lagoons by the road. Puerto Natales sits on the Última Esperanza Sound, a fjord with snowy peaks across the water, and in December the sun sets after 9 pm, so there is light for a walk along the seafront after check-in. In the evening we meet for a short briefing on the trek ahead, then sit down together to a welcome dinner of Magellanic lamb or local seafood. If you fly into Puerto Natales airport (PNT) instead, a driver brings you to the hotel.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Punta Arenas airport (PUQ), or at Puerto Natales airport (PNT)
   • Drive to Puerto Natales with your guide
   • Trek briefing
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free time on the Puerto Natales seafront before dinner

   Activité : Book a flight landing at Punta Arenas by about 2 pm.

2. Jour 2 : Milodón Cave and kit day

   Puerto Natales to the Cueva del Milodón and back

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Puerto Natales
   Détail du jour 2

   A slow start after the long flights. At about 9:30 am we drive 25 km north to the Cueva del Milodón, a huge cave where remains of a giant ground sloth were found in the 1890s, and walk the short paths through it and up to the rock outcrop of the Silla del Diablo for a view over the steppe and the fjord; this is a gentle first stretch for the legs. We are back in town for a sit-down lunch together. In the afternoon your guide checks boots, waterproofs and layers with each guest, hands out the porter bags and explains what goes in them and what stays in the hotel storeroom until day 6. Anything missing can be rented or bought in Puerto Natales, which has outdoor shops and gear rental. The rest of the afternoon and evening are free: the seafront, a coffee, an early night before the trail.

   Compris

   • Cueva del Milodón natural monument
   • Sit-down lunch in Puerto Natales
   • Kit check and porter bag packing with your guide

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free in Puerto Natales

   Activité : Bags you do not need on the trek stay in the hotel storeroom until day 6.

   

3. Jour 3 : The Towers

   Puerto Natales to the Welcome Centre, then on foot to the Base Las Torres viewpoint and back to the Las Torres sector

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Torres del Paine, Las Torres sector
   Détail du jour 3

   The trip's one early start: we leave Puerto Natales at 7:30 am for the two-hour drive to Torres del Paine National Park, created in 1959 and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, enter at Laguna Amarga and continue about 7 km to the Las Torres Welcome Centre at the trailhead, so we are walking by about 9:30 am with time to reach the lagoon before any ranger cut-off. The trail climbs the Ascencio valley to a windy pass, drops to the Chileno refuge for a rest, then follows the river through southern beech forest. The last hour is a steep scramble up a boulder moraine to the lagoon at the foot of the three granite towers. We eat a packed lunch there, then walk back down the same way. In all it is about 20 km with 800 to 900 m of climbing and eight to ten hours on foot, led by a licensed local trekking guide with your See Sight Tours guide. The porters have taken the bags ahead, and dinner is at the refugio in the Las Torres sector.

   Compris

   • Torres del Paine National Park entry
   • Guided hike to the Base Las Torres viewpoint with a licensed local trekking guide
   • Porters move your overnight bag to the refugio
   • Packed lunch
   • Dinner at the refugio

   Option plus facile : Walk to the Chileno refuge and back with your See Sight Tours guide, about 11 km with 400 to 500 m of climbing, and have the late afternoon at the refugio.

   Option plus active : The full climb to the lagoon at the base of the towers: about 20 km return, 800 to 900 m of climbing, 8 to 10 hours.

   Activité : Rangers can close the last section in strong wind or set a latest time to start the final climb; if the towers are in cloud, the guide may turn at the Chileno refuge. The last 7 km from Laguna Amarga to the Welcome Centre is by our van or the park shuttle, confirmed with your dates.

   

4. Jour 4 : Along Lago Nordenskjöld

   Las Torres sector to Los Cuernos on foot

   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Torres del Paine, Los Cuernos sector
   Détail du jour 4

   A shorter day to rest the legs after the Towers. We set off after breakfast along the lower slopes of the massif, with the turquoise water of Lago Nordenskjöld below and the dark-capped Cuernos del Paine rising ahead. The path is about 12 km and four to five hours on foot, rolling rather than steep, crossing open grassland, small streams and patches of beech forest; it is the stretch where hikers most often meet guanacos and grey foxes, and condors ride the wind above the ridges. We stop for a packed lunch on the shore, out of the wind if we can find shelter. We reach the refugio in the Los Cuernos sector by mid-afternoon, where the porters have already left the bags. The rest of the afternoon is free: sit by the lake, stretch, or simply read with the Cuernos outside the window. Dinner is at the refugio, and the guides brief the group on the French Valley day.

   Compris

   • Guided trek from the Las Torres sector to Los Cuernos
   • Porters move your overnight bag
   • Packed lunch
   • Dinner at the refugio

   Temps libre : Afternoon free at the refugio by Lago Nordenskjöld

   Activité : There is no shorter way between the two refugios, but the trail has little climbing and the pace is relaxed.

   

5. Jour 5 : The French Valley

   Los Cuernos to Campamento Italiano, up the French Valley, then on to Paine Grande

   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Torres del Paine, Paine Grande sector
   Détail du jour 5

   The longest day on the W, so we leave Los Cuernos early to reach the French Valley ahead of the hikers coming up from Paine Grande. The trail follows the lake shore to Campamento Italiano, about 5.5 km, crossing a swing bridge over the Río del Francés. From there we climb into the valley with the French glacier hanging off Paine Grande on the left; you often hear ice break off and see small avalanches. The shorter choice turns at the Mirador Francés, about an hour above Italiano, for about 17 km in the day. The full route continues through forest and boulders to the Mirador Británico, a ring of granite walls and spires, for about 24 km and nine to ten hours on foot. Lunch is packed and eaten in the valley. Both groups return to Italiano and walk west past Lago Skottsberg to the refugio in the Paine Grande sector on Lago Pehoé for dinner.

   Compris

   • Guided trek into the French Valley with a licensed local trekking guide
   • Mirador Francés, or on to the Mirador Británico
   • Porters move your overnight bag
   • Packed lunch
   • Dinner at the refugio

   Option plus facile : Turn at the Mirador Francés with your See Sight Tours guide: about 17 km in the day, 6 to 7 hours.

   Option plus active : Continue to the Mirador Británico: about 24 km in the day, 9 to 10 hours.

   Activité : Rangers can close the upper valley in bad weather; then both groups turn at the Mirador Francés.

   

6. Jour 6 : Grey Glacier and back to Natales

   Paine Grande to Refugio Grey on foot, by boat across Lago Grey past the glacier, then by road to Puerto Natales

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Puerto Natales
   Détail du jour 6

   The last day on the W, with breakfast at 6:45 am so we are walking by about 7:30 am to reach Refugio Grey before the Lago Grey sailing, whose time varies by season and is confirmed with your dates. From Paine Grande the trail climbs gently past Laguna Los Patos and along the slopes above Lago Grey, where icebergs drift on grey water, to the Mirador Grey and on to the Refugio Grey, about 11 km and three and a half to four hours on foot. From a lookout near the refugio you face the ice of Grey Glacier, a tongue of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. We eat a packed lunch, then board the Lago Grey boat at the refugio landing; it sails close to the blue ice face before crossing the lake to the dock near the southern shore, where our van waits. The easier group walks to the Mirador Grey and back, then crosses Lago Pehoé by catamaran to Pudeto, where the van collects them first. We are back in Puerto Natales by early evening, with bags from the storeroom, a hot shower and a free evening in town.

   Compris

   • Guided trek from Paine Grande to the Grey Glacier lookouts
   • Lago Grey boat past the glacier face
   • Or the Mirador Grey and the Lago Pehoé catamaran to Pudeto
   • Packed lunch
   • Drive back to Puerto Natales

   Option plus facile : Walk to the Mirador Grey and back (about 8 km, confirmed by your guide), then take the catamaran across Lago Pehoé to Pudeto.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Puerto Natales

   Activité : The Lago Grey boat does not sail in very strong wind. Your guides check with the boat operator at Paine Grande before we set off; if a cancellation is likely, the whole group turns at the Mirador Grey and takes the Pehoé catamaran instead. We confirm this fallback, and what happens to the boat fare, with the operator when you book.

   

7. Jour 7 : South to Punta Arenas

   Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Punta Arenas
   Détail du jour 7

   A late breakfast and no alarm. We leave Puerto Natales at about 10 am for the drive south to Punta Arenas, about 245 km and three hours on a paved road across the steppe, with a coffee stop on the way. Punta Arenas grew rich on wool and shipping before the Panama Canal opened, and the mansions of the sheep-farming families still line Plaza Muñoz Gamero. After check-in your guide walks the group round the plaza and its statue of Magellan, then up to the Cerro de la Cruz viewpoint for the view over the red and green roofs to the Strait of Magellan, and on to the Cementerio Municipal with its clipped cypress avenues and family mausoleums. The late afternoon is free to rest or wander the waterfront. In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner in the centre, to share photos and stories from the trail.

   Compris

   • Drive to Punta Arenas with your guide
   • Walk with your guide: Plaza Muñoz Gamero, the Cerro de la Cruz viewpoint and the Cementerio Municipal
   • Farewell dinner

   Activités en option

   • Boat to the penguin colony on Isla Magdalena (seasonal; price shown at booking, sailing days and times confirmed with your dates)

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free in Punta Arenas

   

8. Jour 8 : Home from Punta Arenas

   Punta Arenas to Punta Arenas airport (PUQ)

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 8

   No early drive today: Punta Arenas airport is about 20 km and 20 minutes north of the city, which is why the trip ends here rather than in Puerto Natales, three hours away. After breakfast the morning is yours until the transfer. Walk the waterfront promenade along the Strait of Magellan, visit one of the small museums on the history of the region and its sheep-farming families, or buy warm wool and local chocolate to take home. Your guide arranges transfers to match the group's flights and sees everyone into the terminal before saying goodbye. Flights from Punta Arenas go to Santiago and other Chilean cities, with connections home. If you would rather stay on, ask us when you book to add nights in Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales, or a few days in Santiago on the way home, and we arrange the hotel and transfers.

   Compris

   • Drop-off at Punta Arenas airport (PUQ)

   Temps libre : Morning free in Punta Arenas

   Activité : Any flight from Punta Arenas on day 8 works; tell us your flight time so we can plan the transfer.

Faune et météo : From November to March days are long, with up to about 17 hours of daylight around December, but the weather changes by the hour and the wind is strongest early in the season. March brings calmer days and red and gold beech forest. On the trail look for guanacos, grey foxes, condors and Magellanic woodpeckers; pumas live in the park but are rarely seen from the W.

• Puerto Natales2 nuits
• Torres del Paine, Las Torres sector1 nuit
• Torres del Paine, Los Cuernos sector1 nuit
• Torres del Paine, Paine Grande sector1 nuit
• Puerto Natales1 nuit
• Punta Arenas1 nuit