Bucket List / Adventure Travel Goals
Trek To Torres Del Paine
Ticked off in January 2016
Days of trekking past glaciers and turquoise lakes, ending with three granite towers turning red at dawn.
The adventure
Patagonia announces itself with wind. It roars down the valleys, whips spray off lakes the colour of blue glass and pushes you sideways on exposed ridges. Guanacos graze by the trail, condors circle overhead, and every few hours the landscape changes completely, from golden steppe to beech forest to moraine.
On the W Trek you walk beside Grey Glacier, a wall of blue ice calving into its lake, then climb into the French Valley where avalanches thunder off the hanging glaciers of Paine Grande. The finale is the pre-dawn scramble to the Mirador Las Torres. You sit on cold boulders by a glacial lake in the dark, and then the first sun hits the three granite towers and lights them up orange and red for a few unforgettable minutes.
Why it’s epic
- The three Torres del Paine, sheer granite spires rising above a glacial lake, glow red at sunrise on clear mornings.
- Grey Glacier, part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, one of the largest ice masses outside the poles.
- Wildlife includes guanacos, Andean condors, rheas and the park's famous pumas.
- The full O Circuit adds the remote back side of the massif and the John Gardner Pass with views over the ice field.
What it is
Torres del Paine National Park is famous for its granite towers, glaciers and lakes.
How to do it
The W Trek takes four to five days; the full O Circuit takes about eight. Book campsites and refugios ahead.
Top tip
Pack for wind and four seasons in a day.
Need to know
- Campsites and refugios must be booked in advance, and rangers check reservations along the trail.
- The season runs roughly November to March; winds can be strong enough to knock hikers over, so pack windproof layers.
- Fly to Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales, then take a bus into the park.
Plan this trip
- Rough cost
- £2,000 to £5,000 per person, including flights from the UK
- Time needed
- 4 to 8 days
- Best time to go
- November to March
- Fly into
- PUQ airport
Long-haul flights to southern Chile and refugio bookings add up, though camping keeps costs down.
Sample itinerary
- Day 1Fly to Punta Arenas and take the bus to Puerto Natales
- Day 2Into the park; hike to the base of the towers for sunset or sunrise
- Days 3–4Walk the W trek past Los Cuernos into the French Valley
- Day 5Grey Glacier, then the catamaran across Lake Pehoé and back to Puerto Natales
Do it yourself
- Small-group adventuresMuch Better AdventuresActive small-group trips run by local experts.
- Tours and ticketsGetYourGuide
- FlightsKiwi.com
- Adventure travel insuranceWorld NomadsWe receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
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My experience
Ticked off, but the full story is still to be written up.
Over to you
Is “Trek To Torres Del Paine” on your bucket list, or have you already done it? Tell me in the comments, and if you've got a question about it, ask away and I'll answer.