Feelin’ Chile at the end of the world

One week hiking Patagonia’s W Trek and exploring Santiago

Chile boasts an incredibly diverse array of natural wonders. Patagonia, shared between Chile and Argentina, is an adventurer’s paradise, and the W Trek showcases the highlights of Torres del Paine National Park’s best mountain ranges, bright blue glaciers, and vast landscape. After six days in some of the most remote areas on Earth, Santiago offers delicious food and vibrant as a welcome break from the wilderness.

Chile Itinerary Overview

Days 1 – 6: Patagonia (W Trek)

Days 7 – 9: Santiago

When planning your W Trek in Torres del Paine, there are several major considerations. First, you need to decide whether to plan the trek independently or use a guided tour company. Experienced hikers with Spanish proficiency can likely plan the trek themselves, while novice hikers or those with limited Spanish skills may benefit from having a company handle logistics and accommodation bookings. We opted to use Venture Patagonia who created a package for us that included bus tickets, accommodations throughout the trek (as well as in town the nights before and after the hike), the ice hike excursion (do it!), and catamaran tickets. Another consideration is whether to camp or stay in the park’s refugios (basic lodges). Camping and being self-supported by bringing your own food can significantly reduce costs for experienced backpackers. Alternatively, the refugios offer the convenience of full-board options with meals and showers included. Finally, the direction of hiking is an important factor. I recommend hiking from east to west, starting at the Towers and ending at Glacier Grey. The views get increasingly beautiful as you move westward, which helps with motivation on the longer hiking days.

A note on refugios: after a long day of hiking, I will say it was lovely to come back to a hot meal, a shower, and a cold beer (the towers even had draft!). Plus, our backs were grateful for the reduced weight of not carrying our own food!

Day 1: Arrive in Puerto Natales

Getting there: Puerto Natales is the gateway city to Torres del Paine National Park. To get there, we flew to Santiago from the US and then from Santiago to Punta Arenas airport (PUQ) on LatAm Airlines. When we arrived in Punta Arenas, we took a three-hour bus ride (arranged by Venture Patagonia) to Puerto Natales. A rep from Venture Patagonia met us at the bus station and took us to our hotel for the night.

Stay at Hotel Vendaval: Venture Patagonia booked this hotel for us as part of our package and it was basic but super comfortable. If you’re booking on your own, would definitely consider this for affordable night-before and night-after accommodations.

Day 2: Hike to the Base of the Towers (12 miles)

Hike: Our first real hiking day! Torres del Paine National Park has several iconic sites, and the first of those are the three granite towers from which the park takes its name: the horn-shaped peaks called Cuernos del Paine. We hiked through Ascencio Valley and Lenga Forest to reach the famous emerald lake at the base of the granite spires. A warning: this is the most crowded area of the entire trek because it’s also a popular route for day hikers and tour groups. Venture Patagonia provided a guide for this day just to help us navigate the crowds.

Stay at Refugio Torre Norte

Day 3: Hike Chileano to Los Cuernos (9 miles)

Hike: Day three took us along the turquoise Lake Nordenskjold to the Frances Sector of the park. The trail became noticeably quieter as we moved away from the day trippers coming purely to see the towers. Before we finished our route, we passed Cuernos del Paine, which offered a gorgeous view of the lake and the French Glacier on the Paine Grande Mountain.

Stay at Refugio Frances

Day 4: Hike Los Cuernos to Paine Grande (12.4 miles)

Hike: The third day of hiking (but day four of the trip) was the longest day of hiking, which took us into the remote Francés Valley. One of the optional parts of this day is the hike to Mirador Britannico (which makes up the middle part of the W shape). At the base of the valley is a ranger station where you can (and most do – including us) drop heavy packs. Carrying only your water, passport, camera, and a snack makes such a difference! The hike to Britannico has several gorgeous viewpoints along the way, as there are snow-capped mountains on either side of the trail.

Stay at Refugio Paine Grande

Day 5: Hike from Paine Grande to Glacier Grey (6.4 miles)

Hike: The final day of the W Trek took us from the Paine Grande Sector over to the Grey Sector. The highlights included hiking beneath the highest mountain in Torres del Paine, Paine Grande and, of course, reaching Lake Grey and seeing the Grey Glacier.

There are two optional activities once you arrive at the refugio: kayak or ice hike. Since we never stepped foot on a glacier, this was the obvious choice for us. The ice hike is approximately five hours long, and the tour includes a small zodiac boat ride out to the toe of the Grey Glacier through a lagoon of floating ice chunks, a professional guide who will help you find all of the best photos and seek out pools of blue water, ice bridges and crevasses, and all of the gear you will need.

Being on (and in!!) the glacier was surreal and we spent a few hours with our guide exploring the caves…drinking glacier water!

Stay at Refugio Grey

Day 6: Hike to suspension bridges and return to Puerto Natales

Hike: On our last day in the park, we did a short hike to two suspension bridges near the Glacier Grey Refugio that overlap with the O-Trek. After our trip, I found this post that captures how much the glacier receded between 2017 and 2018 – and even more so during our 2019 trip.

Finally, we made our way back to Paine Grande, where we boarded our catamaran across Lake Pehoe. On the other side of the lake, we connected to our bus to return to Puerto Natales downtown and spent the night at Hotel Vendaval.

Day 7: Arrive in Santiago

Stay at the Four Points by Sheraton Santiago: We flew back to Santiago the next morning from Punta Arenas and checked into the Four Points by Sheraton Santiago. The location was prime – right next to the metro, and in the epicenter of the action! There were plenty of bars, restaurants and shopping options in the area and just it is down the street from the Costanera Tower.

Sky Costanera Tower: The Sky Costanera Tower is the highest viewpoint in the city and is the tallest observatory in Latin America! The 360° views of the city are beautiful and worth the trip. You can purchase tickets in advance online – I’d recommend timing your trip for roughly an hour before sunset to watch the sun go down and the city light up.

Walk through Bellavista: Bellavista is known as Santiago’s bohemian quarter, with numerous restaurants, boutiques, galleries, bars, and clubs. It’s also home to incredible street art (we didn’t have a guide with us, but it would have been cool to go with someone who could offer some additional context/history on the murals). Of note, Pablo Neruda’s house in Santiago, La Chascona (see below), is also in the district.

Visit La Chascona – While you’re in Bellavista, don’t miss a tour of La Chascona, the Santiago home of the poet Pablo Neruda. While I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of Pablo Neruda (I only read a handful of his poems during high school), we went to this museum anyway and learned a lot about his life and work.

Dinner at Boragó: Boragó is, hands down, my favorite fine dining experience of all time. Started in 2006 by chef Rodolfo Guzmán, Boragó showcases native Chilean produce; all of the restaurant’s ingredients come from Chile’s coastlines, mountain tops, or even the restaurant’s nearby orchard. The dining room was stunning, at the foot of the city’s tallest mountain Cerro Manquehue. One of my favorite touches was that each of the dishes was served by a different member of the kitchen staff as an opportunity to practice their English.

Day 8: Santiago

Walking tour of Santiago: Another city, another walking tour! We did this one which gave us a great overview of the city: Santiago’s main square, Cathedral, City Hall, Post Office, Supreme Court, Opera House, and more.

Lunch at La Mar Cebicheria: The ceviche in South America is some of my all-time favorite and, while La Mar is a chain with branches in Chile, Argentina, Peru, and the US, the ceviche here is delicious.

Stroll through Mercado Central: Mercado Central is one of the most well-known markets in Santiago and while it offers produce and souvenirs, it’s known among locals and tourists alike for the fish. Every day of the week, Mercado Central brims with an unbelievably diverse selection of seafood from South America. Admittedly, Mercado Central can be a bit touristy, but this doesn’t detract from its authenticity!

Visit the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos: The Museum of Memory and Human Rights commemorates the victims of human rights violations during the military dictatorship led by Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990. The descriptions are only in Spanish, so make sure to grab an audio guide for English translations. It also would have been helpful to read up on Pinochet’s regime prior to going.

Dinner at Ambrosia: Chef Carolina Bazán expertly combines French flair with Chilean produce. The seafood offerings were delicious!

Day 9: Santiago

Maipo Valley Wine Tour: On our last day in Santiago, we decided to explore Chile’s Maipo Valley, known for its Cabernet Sauvignon. Since we only had one day, we decided to take a wine tour (as opposed to booking individual wineries ourselves). Our tour guide, Mick, was so fun and knowledgeable and gave us the opportunity to try four wineries ranging from certified organic to midsized producers.

Dinner at Bocanariz: Bocanariz is lovely little wine bar with an exceptionally knowledgeable staff of sommeliers and delicious tapas menu. On any given night, they’re pouring 300 different wines!