Preparing to hike the W trek in Torres del Paine National Park took some planning. Getting to and from Patagonia requires many flights, buses, and ferries. There are three different companies offering lodging within the park. Finding availability at the sites where we hoped to stay took a bit of shuffling until we got the nights we’d be in each spot just right. Needless to say, we were thrilled when it all came together and we finally arrived at the park!

Transportation To and From Torres del Paine National Park

Getting There

1. Flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas:

We booked on Sky Airlines through Skyscanner. There are several flights a day so this part was easy.

2. Bus from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales:

We booked on Bus Fernandez through Pasaje Bus. There are a few bus operators (this blog has a helpful list) but Bus Fernandez seemed to be the only operator offering the option to book online in advance. As we waited for our bus, we saw a few other buses come and go; in hindsight, it would have been very possible to buy a ticket for another bus company from one of their drivers, but I like to plan ahead so… we went with the book in advance option!

3. Bus from Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine National Park:

We booked this leg of the journey with the company Bus Sur upon arrival at the bus station in Puerto Natales. Bus Sur seems to be the operator with the most time and route availability into the park. We opted to take their earliest bus (7am) the morning after we arrived in Puerto Natales; this ended up being awesome because we beat three other companies’ 7:30 am buses to the park entrance and were first in line to register at the ranger station. Book your ticket when you first arrive at the station in Puerto Natales for the best selection of times and seats.

4. [to start at the east end of the W] Shuttle from the main entrance (Administration) of Torres Del Paine to Central Campsite:

Shuttles are available near the ranger station, known as “park administration,” to Central Campsite and the Hotel Las Torres area. There doesn’t seem to be a set schedule, but shuttles were waiting for incoming bus passengers. We couldn’t find ANY information about this part online which totally stressed me out BUT it ended up being a smooth process. You’ll pay for the bus in cash to the driver. I can’t remember exactly what we paid but I think it was around $10USD per person (paid in Chilean Pesos).

Getting Back

1. Catamaran from Refugio Paine Grande to Pudeto: 

When hiking the W trek from east to west, you’ll likely end at Refugio Paine Grande. The catamaran stop is right at the campsite and catamaran times are listed in the reception area. You can buy your tickets on board the boat.

2. Bus from Pudeto to Puerto Natales: 

Once we arrived at Pudeto, we waited less than 20 minutes for the first bus headed back to Puerto Natales. We purchased a ticket from the driver and from there, it was smooth sailing. There is no need to book this return leg in advance; in fact, it seems better to leave this open ended so you have flexibility depending on when you get back to the landing in Pudeto.

3. Off you go! 

Perhaps this is obvious, but from here you can retrace your steps to the airport in Punta Arenas and journey on to wherever is next. For us, it was the beginning of a very long trip home!

Planning Accommodations and Meals

One of the more challenging parts of booking accommodations in Torres Del Paine is that there are three different campground/refugio operators, so it’s impossible to book everything from one place. You’ll need to play around with your dates and ensure the sequence of accommodation you select from different operators is available before booking anything!

Each site also offers different levels of accommodation and meal service; you can stay in dorms, in rented tents, or pack your own gear. We opted to camp each night and rent our tent, minimizing the gear we needed to pack and carry. We brought our own sleeping bags and mats, but did have the option to rent these if we wanted. We brought some food for snacks, lunches, and one dinner but opted to purchase some meals from the refugios along the way to lighten our load.

For water, we packed our LifeStraw water bottles which have a handy filtration straw. We filled these up as streams along the trail and had no problems with this. Much easier than packing/buying bottles and gave us more peace of mind than drinking without a filtration system.

Putting this all together takes some tight logistics, but knowing where to look will make it much easier! Here’s what we did:

Night 1: Central Campsite

This campsite is run by Fantastico Sur; you can book online here. This is the closet campsite to the main entrance/park administration building so it’s an easy jumping off point. We booked dinner only for our first night here. 

Night 2: Camping Cuernos

This campsite is run by Fantastico Sur; again, you can book online here. All accommodations at Cuernos come with full board, meaning dinner the night you arrive, breakfast the following morning, and a packed lunch for that day are all included! The cost is steep, but we were happy not to have to pack and carry so much food so welcomed this arrangement.

If Cuernos is booked, nearby Camp Frances is a good option for night two. You can book on Fantastico Sur here. It’s about an hour or hour and a half hike past Cuernos.

Night 3: Paine Grande

This campsite is run by Vertice Patagonia and you can book online here. We did not purchase any meals this day, however there is a small general store where you can buy food. When we first started planning, Vertice Patagonia was only accepting reservations by email and it took over a month to hear back from them. I’m pleased to learn they’ve improved their system and you can now book online!

If it had been available, I would have booked a 4th night at Grey campsite, also run by Vertice Patagonia, but it was full so… womp womp. Start planning early and try to get reservations at this campground – it’s right by the glacier and likely would have been an incredible experience!

Hiking Logistics

Now for the fun part… the hiking! We had four full days of hiking. Routes are well-marked and it was easy to follow the trails. Here’s how we spent our time (and some photos to convince you this place is AWESOME).

Day 1: Central to Las Torres and back 

Total distance: appx 12 miles

When we arrived in the park, we went straight to our first campsite (Central) to drop our bags and set off on a day hike to Las Torres. These three towers are the most well-known attraction in the park and we saw the most people on this trail to the top than we saw any other day.

On this first day, we hiked the east side of the W trek. The day starts off gradually and takes you through beautiful fields at the base of the mountains. However, there is a lot of elevation to gain so even from the beginning the hike trends uphill.

The last hour or so to the top is quite steep and includes some intense rock scrambling.

However, when you finally reach the lake and see this view, it’s all worth it. I got butterflies when we finally reached the towers; I was so excited we made it to such an iconic viewpoint.

The hike back down is steep and was a bit of a killer on the knees, but it was nice not to be huffing and puffing while climbing a mountain.

We made it back to the campsite just in time for dinner and sleep to prepare for day two.

Day 2: Central to Cuernos

Total distance: appx 10 miles

The following day, we hiked along the bottom of the W trek from Central to Cuernos. This trek took us through beautiful fields and past lots of lakes and gorgeous mountain vistas. There were some rolling hills throughout the day, but nothing quite as strenuous as the hike up and back to Las Torres.

In the afternoon, I was starting to get tired from all the walking and was relieved when we arrived at Camp Frances. Thinking we had reached our final destination, I pulled out the booking confirmation to show the ranger at check in and was devastated to learn we had hiked about an hour and a half too far; we needed to walk back to Camp Cuernos which we had passed awhile earlier.

After shedding a few tears (#dramaqueen), I got my act together and we hiked back to Camp Cuernos. It ended up being the nicest campsite of the three with some of the most incredible views, so in the end it all worked it. They also provide “full board” meaning we got dinner the night we arrived and breakfast and a boxed lunch for the following day, so that was a win. Needless to say, though, lesson learned about checking the booking before setting out!! Shoutout to John for enthusiastically pointing out our little booking snafu merely meant extra time to hike in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Day 3: Cuernos to Paine Grande

Total distance: appx 6 miles

This was the easiest day of hiking, with much of the trek trending downhill. We took our sweet time walking with our gear to the next campsite, Paine Grande, which sits at the edge of Lake Pehoé.

Throughout the day, we had some interesting scenery. We went through a massive forest that burned in 2011 due to irresponsible hikers; a tourist using a gas stove in an unauthorized area set over 30,000 acres on fire, destroying 7% of the park. It was a reminder of how important it is to be careful and follow regulations, and devastating to see how much of the land was destroyed.

We got to Paine Grande early in the afternoon and had plenty of time to relax, enjoy the scenery, play chess in the tent, and soak in being in this incredible part of the world.

Day 4: Paine Grande to Grey Lookout and back 

Total distance: appx 6 miles

On our final day, we left our gear at Paine Grande and did an out and back hike to the Grey Glacier Lookout point along the west side of the W Trek. Grey Glacier is absolutely the biggest glacier we’ve ever seen. We saw some glaciers in New Zealand, but none that we could see so much of and get a sense of just how massive they are. Like I said before, I wish we had been able to book at the Grey campsite so we could have spent more time up close and personal with the glacier. We’ll just have to come back!

Hiking in Torres Del Paine was incredible and we were so happy to have been able to tack this on to our time with friends in Santiago. We hope to make it back and complete the full O one day!