In February 2019, my husband and I went on a 16 day trip to Torres del Paine, El Chalten and El Calafate for our honeymoon. Leading into this trip, I was concerned about overhyping myself and getting let down – and I’m happy to say that wasn’t the case. The trip and the experience far exceeded expectations! But it also exceeded expectations on the planning and logistics – which can be surprisingly complicated despite being an adventure in one of the most remote parts of the world. I hope you find this post helpful in your own planning of your adventure in Torres del Paine. Table of Contents Logistics & Planning Our 5-Day W Trek Itinerary Tips for Booking Reservations Transportation Packing: Gear and Food List Miscellaneous Topics Logistics & Planning The Importance of Reservations If you are planning to hike and camp the W trek, you will need to have reservations for each night of your stay before your arrive at the park. Due to the growing popularity of the region, Torres del Paine NP now requires you to have your campsites and/or refugios booked. They will not allow you into the park otherwise. Which leads to… When to Plan Your Trip I was initially surprised by the amount of long-term planning that has to go into an adventure in one of the most rugged, weather-extreme parts of the world. We traveled in mid-February, towards the end of peak season, and started planning the March prior, almost 11 months beforehand. Realistically, 7 – 8 months beforehand is a sweet spot to start planning if you are visiting during the peak summer months, and especially if you are booking during Christmas / New Years. Fantastico Sur and Vertice don’t open up bookings until around May (it varies each year, they play hard to get) and CONAF doesn’t allow you to book until 6 months prior to your intended stay date. If you don’t have the opportunity to plan that far in advance, you can certainly still put together a plan for visiting Torres del Paine. You may have to hike longer on one of the days, or go in reverse (East to West) on the W trek. When is the best time to visit Torres del Paine? The park is fully operational from November through April. The peak months are during summertime in the southern hemisphere, typically December through February. We decided to come in at the tail end of peak, hoping that the weather would still be mild and that we would have a solid chance at clear visibility along most of our hike. Be warned: though the temperatures are milder during the summertime, the winds are also stronger – we had gusts of over 105kmh or 60mph! Lodging on the W Trail If you are planning to hike the W Trek or the W Trail, one of the most popular options in the area, you’ve likely read about booking refugios and campsite. Lodging inside the park is operated by three organizations: CONAF – the official park org Fantastico Sur – a private operator Vertice Patagonia – another private operator CONAF locations only provide campsites and basic amenities like toilets and an outdoor cooking shelter. In contrast, Fantastico Sur and Vertice locations will typically have two parts: the Refugio (indoor dorms) and the Campsites. These private campgrounds will usually have indoor cooking areas, which is great when it is 30 degrees and windy or raining outside. Regardless of which route you decide to go, you will need to make reservations prior to entering the park. Torres del Paine does not allow dispersed camping – you must camp in a designated spot. Option 1: Camping To make things extra confusing, different sites in the park are operated by different organizations. The great thing about CONAF is that their campgrounds are free – but unfortunately, it is not possible to make a trip itinerary based only off their free campgrounds, as they are too spaced out. Thankfully, it is not too expensive to book one of the private campgrounds from Fantastico Sur and Vertice which range from $20 to $40 per night. If you decide to camp, you will have to decide whether to bring your own gear (tent, sleeping bag, pad) or rent from the private campgrounds. We ultimately brought our own, since we had it and we were staying at Campamente Italiano, which does not offer rentals. The rental tents on-site need to be booked in advance, and are “permanently” set up on the campgrounds throughout the busy season. Option 2: Refugio Dorms While we opted for the fully camping route (except for 1 night in the cabins at Cuernos), we met others who stayed in the refugios the entire way. The latter is certainly more comfortable, as you get beds, showers, indoor bathrooms and a comfortable common dining area to relax and stay warm in. It is more expensive as well, and will run you around ~$100 per night, per person. Sample Itinerary: Our 5 Day W Trek We did a 5-day 4-night version of the W Trek, and found it was the perfect amount of time to see all the main sights without feeling rushed. We went West to East, so the most difficult day (climb to Las Torres) would be after a few days of hiking practice, and our packs would be lighter for the longest day (Day 4 from Cuernos to Chileno). Day 1: Hike from Paine Grande to Glacier Grey. Stayed at Camp Grey (Vertice) Day 2: Hike from Grey to Paine Grande for lunch break, and onwards to Campamente Italiano (CONAF) Day 3: Day hike from Campamente Italiano to Britanico Mirador and back, hike from Campamente Italiano to Los Cuernos (Fantastico Sur) Day 4: Hike from Los Cuernos to Chileno (Fantastico Sur) Day 5: Sunrise hike to Las Torres, then hike from Chileno down to Torres Central To better visualize the “W” trail, here is a map of our route. The only difference for future planning is that Camp Torres, the CONAF site closest to Las Torres was closed for two seasons for renovations, so we had to stay at Chileno. Ideally, you would stay at Torres for the final night, for a quick 45 minute hike to Las Torres for sunrise. Full recap of our trip to come soon! Tips for Booking Your Reservations I looked on forums like Reddit and Tripadvisor to find the dates that Fantastico Sur and Vertice began opening reservations. It seemed to be a mixed bag over the years – I was worried after hearing about the 2017-2018 season booking mess, but the 2018-2019 season was much easier, thankfully. If Fantastico Sur and Vertice haven’t opened reservations yet, check their websites and Facebook pages daily. The anchor point of our trip were the Cabins at Los Cuernos – so I wanted to book that first and fill in the gaps around it. Though, I needn’t have worried – the campsites go first, followed by refugio dorms, and lastly the cabins. I actually emailed Fantastico Sur when their reservations hadn’t opened by mid-May, and they took mine via email about a week before the system came online. Though it wasn’t necessary for my time frame, I could see that being useful for a high-demand date during Christmas and New Years week. CONAF didn’t accept reservations until 6 months before travel date, but they were the last to open reservations. A lot of folks who were planning trips in Oct – Dec were getting antsy. Note that when booking a CONAF site, you will also have to pay for your park entrance fee at the time of booking. NOTE: The English version of the CONAF site never updated with information about reservations opening. I only realized they’d launched reservations when I checked their Spanish site here. So check their Spanish site first and foremost! I managed to make it through their booking process with Google Chrome’s built in translator. For reference, I booked my reservations in this order for February 2019: Los Cuernos Cabana (Day 3) – May 2018 Refugio Grey Camping (Day 1) – May 2018 Refugio Chileno Camping (Day 4) – June 2018 I would have booked this at the same time as Grey, but I was waiting to hear if Campamente Torres would be open for the 2018-2019 season (they confirmed in June that it would be closed that season) Note: Campamente Torres is going to be the most popular campground, you should book this immediately when the 6 month window opens Campamente Italiano (Day 2) – September 2018 If you’re booking later in the season and need to tetris together an itinerary, check out this handy site that someone created to check availabilities across all 3 agencies in one place: http://torresapp.com/ Transportation How do I get to Torres del Paine? Step 1: Air Getting to Torres del Paine is a trek in of itself – but while the travel there will be long, it is thankfully not too difficult to manage. After flying to Santiago, there are many flights going to Punta Arenas, which is a 3 hour bus ride away from Puerto Natales, the launchpad for TdP. During peak months, there are a handful of flights from Santiago to Puerto Natales as well, which can save you a day of traveling. Step 2: Bus We were pleasantly surprised at the variety of bus options for traveling around both the Chilean and Argentinean Patagonia regions. I used Recorrido.cl (https://www.recorrido.cl/en) to find and book bus tickets in advance. When I booked in December, I was able to book 1st or 2nd row seats on most buses, including the one from Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine. I read that most folks booked one-way, to allow for flexibility on the way back. We did the same – it was very easy to purchase a bus ticket back to Puerto Natales once we finished the W and arrived at Torres Central. Step 3: Water If you are hiking the W from West to East like we did, you will want to buy a bus ticket from Puertos Natales to Pudeto. Initially, I was confused by the difference between Laguna Amarga and Pudeto – the latter is where you’ll want to arrive for the ferry to Paine Grande. Laguna Amarga, on the other hand, is the connection point for the shuttle to/from the Torres Central area, which is where you’d end your hike. If you are hiking East to West, then you would take the bus to Laguna Amarga and transfer to a shuttle that takes you to Torres Central. What time should I arrive at the park? The catamaran at Pudeto leaves for Paine Grande at 9:30am, 11:30am, and 1:30pm. It takes about 40 minutes to cross the Lago Pehoe – if you are planning to hike to Glacier Grey / Refugio Grey on your first day, you should aim to catch the 11:30am ferry to allow for plenty of time to set up camp and continue hiking onwards past the campsite to visit the viewpoints and swinging bridges. Note: I would recommend taking the 7am bus if you want to ensure you can get onto the 11:30am catamaran. The actual drive is only about 2 hours, and the park entrance (checking tickets, bookings, etc.) will take about an hour. We booked a 7:15am bus thinking 15 minutes wouldn’t make a difference – but what we didn’t anticipate was a long line for the 11:30am catamaran from all the 7am bus folks. Unfortunately, we missed the capacity cut off for that catamaran and had to wait 2 hours for the 1:30pm catamaran. This unfortunately cut into our hiking time and meant we couldn’t hike to the 2nd swinging bridge (supposed to have even better views) after reaching Refugio Grey. Packing: Gear & Food What gear should I pack for Patagonia? As a 2nd time backpacker, I wanted to make sure I had not only the right gear, but also…
87 Energy-Busting Indoor Games & Activities For Kids (Because Cabin Fever Is No Joke)
Parents! This list of active indoor activities is the best we've ever seen, with fun Gross Motor games & creative ideas for high-energy kids. Perfect for Winter (snow days!), Spring (rainy days!) or for when Cabin Fever strikes. Awesome Boredom Busters and Brain Breaks for Toddlers, Preschool and beyond.
Printable Canada Day Bingo
Printable Canada Day Bingo is perfect for Canada Day Barbeque, an entertainment party or just to keep kids busy while they are waiting for fireworks.
6 Fun Popcorn Games
Popcorn games are fun for the whole family. They're great for Cub Scouts too--perfect popcorn kickoff ideas for your next fundraiser.
Verbs Relay Race! | Activity | Education.com
Help your first grade reader understand verbs by doing them in this boisterous playground relay race.
Why Mummy Swears
The hilarious second novel, and Sunday Times No 1 Bestseller, from author of the smash hit Why Mummy Drinks. Monday, 25 July The first day of the holidays. I suppose it could've been worse. I brightly announced that perhaps it might be a lovely idea to go to a stately home and learn about some history. As soon as we got there I remembered why I don't use the flipping National Trust membership - because National Trust properties are full of very precious and breakable items, and very precious and breakable items don't really mix with children, especially not small…
Play Food Pizza~ free crochet pattern ~
Did you know? Today is National Pizza Day! Did you also know, that over 3 billion pizzas are sold in the US each year? What’s your favorite pizza topping? The below free crochet pattern inclu…
