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Patagonia Torres Del Paine and Glaciares

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Ryan Degnim
PostedApr 21, 2014 at 4:07 pm

I am currently planning out a trip to backpack and hike southern Patagonia. My focus at the moment is dialing in the logistics of travel (via bus) starting from Punta Arenas. So far flying to Santiago,catching another 4-6 hour flight to Punta Arenas, and then busing overland to Punta Natales seems to be the best route. Any experience otherwise?

Does anyone have any experience visiting and hiking these two parks together? Advice regarding travel to/from the parks, the trailheads, etc would be well recieved.

An idea of costs, time required,, pick up locations, etc is desirable. Also, has anyone hiked the W circuit short route? Is it possible to do in 4 days, and if so at what mileage?

Jennifer Mitol
PostedApr 21, 2014 at 5:58 pm

Yes – fly to punta arenas, easy/cheap bus to Puerto Natales, then another easy/cheap bus to get to the park.

I would STRONGLY recommend doing the whole circuit instead of just the W. The W is terribly crowded, and when we finished our trip we all agreed that had we just done the W we would have been disappointed. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful…but wow is it crowded. The back side was a wonderful experience.

Start at Hotel Torres and hike counterclockwise…it's well worth it. 4 days is way too little time to spend in that park. just saying. If you are limited for time, spend the whole trip in Torres del Paine and don't try to visit both places. That would be my advice. You'd be spending all your time traveling between everywhere – lots and lots of driving – and none of it is all that great to look at. Pick a place and stick to it.

But if you insist…buses to Argentina are also easy to get and arrange in Puerto Natales.

I have a trip report at backpackerPT.com

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