Wild Patagonia

Pick up your rental car at the airport in Punta Arenas. Drive north through the vast Patagonian pampas. Your first destination is the small town of Puerto Natales, located at the fjord „Ultima Esperanza „ (Last Hope). On the road, look out for the scattered estancias and mounted baqueanos (Patagonian shepherds). After arriving in Puerto Natales, take a stroll through the city and a walk along the fjord.

If you are still missing any gear or supplies, best buy it in Puerto Natales. Also, make sure to fuel your rental car, because there are no secured gas stations on the way to Torres del Paine and none in the park itself.

Overnight stay in Puerto Natales. Distance covered: about 300 km on asphalt.

We recommend staying at least one day in Puerto Natales, because there is so much to do and discover. A boat trip to the glaciers Balmaceda and Serrano is a very nice excursion for people of any physical condition (book in advance in one of the agencies in Puerto Natales). The glaciers flow down from the mountains in the fjords off Puerto Natales. This tour gives a vivid image of climate change. While the Serrano glacier still calves into the fjord, filling the water with beautiful white icebergs, the Balmaceda glacier has not reached the sea for quite some years now, but has turned into a hanging glacier. The tour can be booked with or without lunch on an Estancia.

For those who rather like to be a little more active, we recommend doing a kayak tour on the Eberhard fjord, a hike to the viewpoint of “Cerro Dorotea” or a horseback excursion to the Patagonian pampa (book in advance). There are also bicycles for rent, to explore the area on your own.

Overnight stay in Puerto Natales.

Leave Puerto Natales and continue your way through the pampa north to the Torres del Paine National Park. The closer you get to the park, the more likely you are to see herds of wild guanacos and ñandu families near the road. We recommend a small detour to the Milodon Cave, located only 25 km from Puerto Natales on the road to the park´s Serrano Sector. Even if you are heading to the Laguna Amarga Sector, the detour is not far. German pioneer Hermann Eberhard found remains of a prehistoric giant sloth (Milodón) in this cave in 1895.

Today, a life-size model welcomes you to the cave, and a visitor center provides interesting information on the prehistoric fauna of Patagonia. Enjoy the great views of the fjord on the route from Puerto Natales to the Torres del Paine National Park. Later, you will be astonished, when the mighty Paine-Massif seems to rise suddenly out of nowhere.

Overnight stay at Torres del Paine National Park or surroundings. Distance covered: about 150 km on a gravel road.

The hike to „Base las Torres“ is considered a must do. However, quite some fitness is required, since it covers about 20 km on partly difficult terrain and takes an average time of about 8 hours, depending on the physical condition. Starting at The Hotel Las Torres in the Laguna Amarga Sector, the first couple of hours lead you upwards into the Asencio Valley, stopping occasionally to admire the marvelous views of Lake Nordenskjöld and Almirante Nieto Mountain behind you. Refugio El Chileno is a great place to rest and have a picnic.

The hike continues along the river to the tree line and from there over steep, rocky terrain until finally the deep blue glacier lagoon appears behind the last moraine. Beyond the lagoon, the “Torres del Paine” rise steeply into the sky - the wonderful sight and the feeling of “having made it” are simply amazing. If you don´t feel like walking all the way up, you can also reach the Torres del Paine on horseback (book in advance in the hotel!).

Overnight stay at Torres del Paine National Park or surroundings.

After yesterday's strenuous hike, take a relaxing tour to another breathtaking highlight of the park today - a boat trip to the icy wall of the Grey Glacier. As many others, this glacier is retreating, but with its towering blue-white ice wall and icebergs floating on the lake it is still a breathtaking sight. The highlight of the approximately three-hour boat trip is a pisco or whiskey on millennia-old glacier ice right in front of the glacier. Starting point is at Hotel Lago Grey. 

To get to the boat, a 20 - 30 minute trek across a sandy and windy beach is required. Tickets can be purchased in advance at most hotel receptions.

Overnight stay at Torres del Paine National Park or surroundings.

Today, explore the Torres del Paine National Park by rental car. Several beautiful viewpoints are easy to reach, such as the Mirador Condor, the Mirador Cuernos and the Mirador Nordenskjöld (west to east). Mirador Cuernos might be the spot where most photos in the park are taken, since from there you have a wonderful view of the Cuernos del Paine and Lake Nordenskjöld.

Stop also at “Salto Grande” the impressive big waterfall of Rio Paine. You will take home so many postcard-like photos from today. Alternatively, you can go on a guided horseback or kayak tour (book in advance in the hotel!).

Overnight stay at Torres del Paine National Park or surroundings.

Drop off your rental car at the airport in Punta Arenas and take your return flight. OR, depending on your time, take a detour to the interesting open air museum „Nao Victoria“, on the banks of the Magellan Strait just outside Punta Arenas. There you can board a faithful replica of the vessel Nao Victoria, the ship with which Hernando de Magallanes circumnavigated the world in the 16th century.

Take the steering wheel and imagine what a journey over the ocean in wind and weather must have been like in the ancient times. There are replicas of historic Chilean ships as well.

Distance covered: about 440 km, including about 140 on a gravel road.

Drop off your rental car at the airport in Punta Arenas and take your return flight or stay in Punta Arenas.

Explore Punta Arenas and surroundings with your rental car today. The Reserva Forestal Magallanes lies only 9 km west of Punta Arenas. Five different hiking trails go through local Lenga and Coigüe forest. Hiking is rewarded with a wonderful view over the city, the Magellan Strait and in case of good weather, even Tierra del Fuego. Anyone interested in the colonial history of Patagonia, should drive from Punta Arenas about 60 km to the south to the open-air museum Fuerte Bulnes. There you can catch a glimpse of the hard conditions the pioneers lived there for several years at the first Chilean outpost in this area.

Other attractive options are sea kayaking on the Magellan Strait or a boat excursion to the penguin islands of Magdalena and Marta (book in advance!). These islands in the Magellan Strait are home to a huge colony of about 150,000 Magellan penguins. On the way, you will also encounter sea lion colonies and other local fauna. Be aware, that the sea can be rough there.

Distance covered: depending on excursion 0-170 km.

Drop off your rental car at the airport in Punta Arenas and take your late return flight or stay another night in Punta Arenas.

Drop off your rental car at the airport in Punta Arenas and take your return flight.