DURATION
8 nights
LOCATION
Chile
ANNUAL LEAVE
8 days off work
SEASON
Nov-Apr
GROUP SIZE
Up to 8 people
MEETING POINT
Puerto Natales
ACCOMMODATION
Classic
Hotel · Campsite
DIFFICULTY
Challenging
You'll be in the wild for a week, so good condition and previous hiking experience would be an advantage.
Tick off the must-do 'W' trek - one of the most beautiful hikes on earth
Jump in a boat and navigate close to the walls of Glacier Grey
9 days of Patagonian adventure in one of the world's most spectacular National Parks, including corners few visitors ever see
Day 1
Puerto Natales
Make your way to Puerto Natales and settle into your accommodation before heading off to meet your guide and the rest of your team. Get to know each other over dinner and then get some rest before the adventure really starts.
Day 2
The Torres del Paine Massif
Hiking
4-5hrs
Set off into one of the world's most spectacular National Park. Hike up to the Mirador Ferrier and get a bird's eye view over the Torres del Paine massif and then hike to Pingo Camp and the entrance to the Pingo Valley – your home for the night.
Day 3
Antarctic ice fields
Hiking
8-9hrs · 21km
After a campfire breakfast, hike through the remote Pingo Valley and enjoy the spectacular views of the Torres del Paine massif. If you are lucky you might even see one of the rare and endangered South Andean deer known as a Huemul, or the mysterious feral cows known as Baguales! Climb up to a rarely visited viewpoint, stare out over the vast expanse of the Antarctic icefields and then return to camp for dinner and a good night’s rest.
Day 4
Cruise to Glacier Grey
Hiking
4hrs
Jump on the boat and sail up Lago Grey, passing enormous blue icebergs along the way. Marvel at the spectacular Glacier Grey before jumping off at Refugio & Camping Grey, where you'll spend the night. There will be an optional walk through the forest and across multiple suspension bridges to look out over the glacier - a truly humbling experience.
Day 5
Lake Pehoe
Hiking
4hrs · 11km
Hike towards Paine Grande and set up camp on the shore of Lake Pehoe. There is another optional walk this afternoon around the lakeside to look back at the spectacular massif, or, if you'd rather rest up, you can just relax at the famous bar and sample some delicious Chilean wine.
Day 6
The Bader Valley
Hiking
7.5hrs · 18km
Head towards the Bader Valley, located between Almirante Nieto and the monstrous peaks of the Cuernos, passing Lake Nordenskjold along the way. There will be a few rivers that you'll need to hop over rocks to cross, as well as glimpses of glaciers and mountaintops before you finally reach your campsite in this remote and beautiful place.
Day 7
Lago Nordenskjold
Hiking
5.5hrs · 11km
Explore some more of the remote Bader Valley. When you're ready, descend along the trail and follow it beside the shore of Lago Nordenskjold to Camping Central, where you'll spend the night.
Day 8
The Towers
Hiking
8hrs · 18km
Climb Almirante Nieto for some incredible views over Lake Nordenskjold and the Asencio Valley. Hike to Refugio & Camping Chileno and enjoy a good lunch before continuing through the dense Lenga forest and over glacial moraine to see the iconic towers of the park – Las Torres - imposing granite peaks that rise 9,000 feet into the air. Take photos and breathe it all in, before hiking down the Asencio Valley to Camping Torre Central from where you'll be driven back to Puerto Natales.
Day 9
Say goodbye
Enjoy a last Chilean breakfast and head back to the airport, or off on your next adventure! Your local host can help with onward travel if needed.
Included
Guides
Expert local guide
Accommodation
6 nights camping in the National Park and 2 nights at a B&B in Puerto Natales
Meals
All meals while trekking
Transfers
To and from Puerto Natales and all travel within the park
Porterage
Local porters to support the expedition
Equipment
All your camping equipment
Permits
All park entrance fees
Not Included
Travel to and from the start point
Flights to and from the meeting point
Travel insurance
Tips for your guides
Some meals as described
Visas where required
Day 1
Hotel · Twin share
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 2 – Day 7
Campsite · Twin tent
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 8
Hotel · Twin share
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Day 9
Departure day
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
What is the food like?
While on the trek your chef will serve up surprisingly lavish meals at the wilderness camps, while in the managed camps you may find a few extra delicacies thrown in for good measure. As a rough idea, for breakfast expect corn tortilla, granola, tea, coffee, chocolate milk, bacon, eggs, yoghurt and bread. A packed lunch will be provided each day, typically containing chocolate, dried fruit and nuts, a cereal bar, fruit and a sandwich. For dinner, meanwhile, expect some combination of soup, beef chop suey with rice/legumes, smoked meat (or a vegetarian alternative), brownies with chocolate sauce or fruit with cream. All dietary requirements can be catered for - just make this known to your host on booking.
What is the accommodation like?
Puerto Natales
You'll stay in a twin-share room in a comfortable B&B or boutique hostel such as the Amerindia, Treehouse Patagonia or Aquaterra lodge.
Upgrades
If you're looking for your own space, private room and hotel upgrades are available - please enquire when booking.
Torres del Paine
You'll camp in stunning locations across the National Park. Tents and sleeping mats are provided and your porters will pitch camp ready for your arrival each day. Facilities depend on the section of the park, with the Pingo/Zapata side and Bader Valley true wilderness experiences. All sites on the 'W' stretch have toilets and showers. Sleeping arrangements will be decided during the pre-trip meeting and you can decide who you want to share with or, if you prefer your own tent, that's fine as well.
The Area
Logistics
Starts
Puerto Natales
18:00
Ends
Your accommodation in Puerto Natales
Flexible
Transfers
Head to Puerto Natales, check into your accommodation and meet your guide and the rest of the group at your host's office in the centre of town (you will be sent the address of both your accommodation and the guides office as part of your pre-trip info pack). At the end of the trip, you will be dropped back at your accommodation. Breakfast is included, so check out when you like the following morning and head home or continue your adventure.
Travel options
The best way to reach Puerto Natales (depending on your other plans) is by plane from Santiago to Punta Arenas and then one of the convenient bus that runs regularly from the airport (3hrs), or from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, where two buses a day run to Puerto Natales (5-6hrs with border crossing). Your host can arrange transport as an optional extra, just enquire when booking.
Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear
In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.
What's included?
- Tents and sleeping mats
What's available to hire?
- Sleeping bag
What do I need to bring?
- Windproof and waterproof jacket - Gore Tex or similar
- Fleece or pile coat
- Quick-dry long sleeve t-shirt
- Quick-dry short sleeve t-shirt
- Winter hat
- Light gloves
- Quick-dry hiking socks
- Quick-dry, lightweight long underwear bottoms
- Quick-dry/breathable windproof pants
- Waterproof rain pants
- Quick-dry/breathable shorts
- Light trekking boots (broken in)
- Pyjamas/something to sleep in
- Sleeping bag (-5°C for November – March trips; -15°C for April – October trips)
- Toiletries
- Water bottle (1.000cc)
- Sunglasses, sunscreen and chapstick with sun protection
- Sports watch
- Insect repellent
- Trekking poles
- Backpack (big enough for all your personal things, you will be carrying it)
- Shower shoes/flip flops
- Earplugs
- Headlamp / flashlight
- Camera
- Dry bags or heavy-duty bin liners to keep kit dry inside your bag
Boutique hotel
Payable Before Departure
Boutique hotel
… Per Person, Per Night
Luxury hotel
Payable Before Departure
Luxury hotel
… Per Person, Per Night
Ice hike on Glacier Grey
Payable Before Departure
Ice hike on Glacier Grey
… Per Person
Kayak trip on Lago Grey
Payable Before Departure
Kayak trip on Lago Grey
… Per Person
Sleeping Bag Hire
Payable Before Departure
Sleeping Bag Hire
… Per Person
Optional Private Room Upgrade
Payable Before Departure
Optional Private Room Upgrade
… Per Person
El Calafate to/from Puerto Natales one way
Payable Before Departure
El Calafate to/from Puerto Natales one way
… Per Person
Punta Arenas to/from Puerto Natales one way
Payable Before Departure
Punta Arenas to/from Puerto Natales one way
… Per Person
Lago Brush was great!
The guides were fantastic, as was the organisation. Even in the wild camps, the quality of food was very good.
The Bader Valley was my highlight, it was really worth the climb and I really enjoyed the hike up the Valley the next day.
We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 163kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2022 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
- Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
- A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
- 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
Whilst the trekking is not technically difficult, you'll be out in the wild for 7 days covering a good distance each day with some steep sections, so this trip is perfect for hikers who are in good condition and have some previous trekking experience. You will also be carrying your own sleeping bag and clothing, so you should feel comfortable carrying approx 7-9kg across uneven terrain.
Sure can! Over 50% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Tips are not included in the trip cost. These are entirely at your discretion but there is an expectation to tip for good service. Your guide will help with advice, however, we'd suggest 5 to 10 USD per day per staff member (porter or guide).
Of course, you are free to tip more or less, and the amount should be reflective of your perception of service and quality - a tip is not compulsory and should only be given when you receive excellent service.
The highest ascent is the trek to the famous Base of the Towers, climbing from the starting point at 100m to a maximum height of 900m above sea level over the course of 4 hours.
For many of the hikes there will be the opportunity to leave some kit at camp, but on others you will be carrying your bag all day.
We recommend checking out the country specific information here and also talking to a travel nurse.
For current advice about travelling in Chile, have a read of the UK Foreign Office pages here.
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/chile/entry-requirements
Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.
Travel insurance is compulsory on all of our adventures. Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure.
Your insurance policy should also include specific Covid-19 cover, including cancellation and curtailment cover if you, your travel companion or a close relative are diagnosed with Covid-19.
We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.
All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.
You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.
Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.
Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.
Covid Refund Guarantee
If your trip is cancelled due to Covid choose from free date changes, account credit, or a full refund.
Pay In Installments
You can choose to pay for this trip in as many installments as you like, with no interest or fees.
