Patagonia - Hiking the W
The W hike in Torres Del Paine National Park is amazing. My friend Meg met me in Buenos Aires and we made our way down to Patagonia and eventually Puerto Natales, the gateway to the national park. Our W trek was 5 days and 4 nights (starting and ending in Puerto Natales) and I can’t wait to go back and do it all over again. We stayed in a combination of tent and dorm style accommodation at the Refugios and enjoyed delicious meals and wine while we soaked in the mountain views. If you have any experience hiking you can definitely do this hike by yourself and do not need a guide. If you’re used to backcountry camping, you will chuckle at all the wine and food options you can enjoy along the trail. Below I share my experience planning the trip, our route, and tips to help you plan your trek.
Lucky to have sunny skies at Mirador Torres!
Just starting out on the hike!
Our tent platform at Chileano
Planning your W hike
When I started researching this trip it seemed super hard and confusing to figure out what to do and what route to take. Part of that is likely because there are three different companies: CONAC, Fantastico Sur, and Vertice that own properties within the park and the guided tours they offer generally stick to their own properties. In reality, you will have to use a mix of at least two of the three accommodation offerings for the most efficient way to do the hike.
Length of the hike was another confusing factor in my research. We did the hike in 5 days 4 nights. You could get away with 3 nights and 4 days. Anything less than that seems like it would not be super enjoyable, but technically could be physically possible.
The last unclear aspect of the trip was the direction “frontwards” or “backwards.” We started at Torres and ended at Paine Grande/Grey but really either works. I list pros and cons for both options below.
I booked online in May for our November trip. At that time, the beds in Los Cuernos were already filled but we could get a camping spot with a previously set up tent which we liked. We did meet people who planned it more last minute and made it work, but the farther in advance you plan the more flexibility you will have in choosing your accommodation and therefore route.
We wanted to keep our packs light so we only brought sleeping bags and used the tents or beds provided. We also ordered meals ahead of time at the Refugios, only bringing our lunches and eating the provided breakfasts and dinners. I’m a vegetarian and the Veggie options were great, my friend Meg also enjoyed the non veggie meals.
View hiking from Refugio Chileano to Refugio Los Cuernos
Lots of wine and relaxation time at Refugio Los Cuernos
Tents at Los Cuernos
Route Details
Note that all times are an estimate, your timing will depend on the weather, your preferred hiking speed, how much relaxing you like to do, and how many photos you stop to take.
Day 1 - Puerto Natales to Refugio Chileano
6 or 7am: Bus from Puerto Natales to Torres Del Paine (TDP) Station.
10am: Check in at TDP headquarters. Small bus to Torres Central.
11:00am-1pm: Hike from Torres Central to Camp Chileano. Leave big packs there.
1pm-4pm: Hike up to Torres, hang out there if it’s nice out. (steep 6 mi round trip)
7pm: Dinner at Refugio Chileano
Day 2- Refugio Chileano to Refugio Los Cuernos
8am: Breakfast at Chileano
9-2: Hike from Refugio Chileano to Refugio Los Cuernos (7.8 mi)
2pm-7pm: Hang out by the water, take photos of sunset, drink wine, play cards
7pm-8pm: Dinner
10pm: Epic sunset
Day 3 - Refugio Los Cuernos to Refugio Paine Grande
8am: Breakfast
8:30am-10:30am: Hike from Refugio Los Cuernos to Camp Italiano, drop off big packs (3.1 mi)
10:30am-4pm: Hike from Italiano to Mirador Frances the to Mirador Britanico back to Italiano.* (7mi round trip)
4pm-6:30pm: Hike Italiano to Paine Grane (4.7 mi)
7pm: Dinner at Paine Grande
*My friend Meg opted to stay and enjoy the views at Mirador Frances while I hiked to Britanico, and we saw several other pairs doing this as well. Choose your own adventure!
Day 4 Refugio Paine Grande to Refugio Grey
8am: Breakfast
9:00am-12pm: HiIke from Paine Grande To Paine Grey (6.9mi)
12pm-??: Hang out by the glacier at the lookout point 1 mi beyond Refugio
Chill, drink, play cards, hang out
7pm: Dinner
Day 5 Refugio Grey to Paine Grande/Boat to Puerto Natales
7am: Breakfast
7:30-10:30am: Hike from Grey to Paine Grande to make the boat (6.9mi)
11:30am-12:45: Boat from Paine Grande to Pudeto
1pm-3:15pm: Bus from Pudeto to Puerto Natales
Map of the trek and all the different accommodation options.
Hiking towards Mirador Britanico
Loved the path through the trees
Lots of people enjoying the sun at Mirador Frances
Alternate Options
There are many combinations of ways you could do it in addition to my way that I just mentioned above. Here’s an example:
Option 1 - 5 day 4 nights, South to North:
Day 1: Puerto Natales to Pudeto Boat to Paine Grande. Hike from Paine grande to Refugio Gray.
Day 2: Hike from Refugio Grey to Paine Grande.
Day 3: Paine Grande to Refugio Cuernos/Refugio Frances/Refugio Italiano
Day 4: Cuernos/Italiano/Frances to Chileano or Camp Torres (closed during my 2018 visit but could open in the future).
Day 5: Chileano to Torres Central, bus to Puerto Natales
Pros:
Starting at Paine Grande and ending at Torres Central is slightly less popular than hiking it the other direction, therefore there may be less crowds headed in that direction. Save the best (Mirador Torres) for last.
Cons:
I personally didn’t like the idea of having to wait for the boat to take me to Paine Grande to start the hike, since planning the timing of that is a bit trickier. But lots of people do it this way and it definitely works. Con is that although you’re saving the best for last with Mirador Torres, that’s also one of the most challenging parts of the hike which could be hard to do on your last day when you’re more tired.
Option 2 - 4 days 3 nights, South to North:
Day 1: Bus from Puerto Natales to boat Pudeto to Paine Grande. Hike from Paine Grande to Refugio Gray and back to Paine Grande.
Day 2: Hike Paine Grande to Cuernos or Frances
Day 3: Hike Cuernos/Frances to Mirador Torres to Chileano or Torres Central
Day 4: Hike Chileano to Torres Central to bus to Puerto Natales
Pros:
Shorter time if you’re on a PTO time crunch. Save the best for last with Mirador Torres at the end.
Cons:
Your first day will be real long. You could also opt to skip the leg to all the way to Refugio gray, but then you’re knida doing a cursive “u” instead of a true “W.” Hiking from Frances/Cuernos up to Mirador Torres will be a long day, with the steep part at the end of it.
Option 3: 4 nights 3 days, North to South:
Day 1: Bus from Puerto Natales, hike to Mirador Torres, stay at Chileano or Torre Central
Day 2: Chileano or Torre Central to Cuernos/Frances/Italiano
Day 3: Cuernos/Frances/Italiano to Paine Grande
Day 4: Paine Grande to refugio gray and back to Paine Grande. Boat to Pudeto bus to Puerto Natales
Pros:
See Mirador first, know whether or not you’ll have had good weather for it the rest of the trip. No need to worry. Tighter schedule.
Cons:
You’d have to check the bus schedule to make sure you can actually catch a boat and bus late enough to allow for this all to happen. Paine Grande to Refugio Grey to Paine Grande is going to take you a good 7 hours.
There are some other alternatives out there but these to me are the most direct and logical. You could always add on more time too if you want to chill.
Making our way to Paine Grande
Pisco Sours with a view at Refugio Paine Grande
Soaking in the views on the way to Refufgio Grey
Refugio Grey
Watching the icebergs at Glacier Grey
Sunset at Refugio Los Cuernos
Know before you go
Book in advance! I booked in May for a end of November Trip for the best options.
Bring garbage bags or a high quality backpack rain cover to keep your things dry in case it rains. You can buy these in Puerto Natales.
Bring cards and a book. You’ll have down time after the hikes to hang out at each Refugio, and they kick you out of the Refugios around 8pm so you have a lot of time to hang outside or in your tent.
The trails are easy to follow, you do not need a guide. If you are new to hiking or are questioning your abilities or just want local knowledge, by all means get a guide. But if you have ever hiked before or are in good physical shape, there’s no need, you can’t really mess it up (although it did take us a min to find the start of the trail from Torres central haha).
Paine Grande is known for being the windiest. This is why we chose to stay in a bed in the hostel there instead of camping.
You can choose your level of fancy./roughing it. We prepaid for the set meals at each refugio and bought bottles of wine each night of the trip. This is not the budget way to go about things, but for our two week vacation from our full time jobs it was worth it. If you’re on an extended trip or on a budget, you’ll want to BYO food/drink as the food at the refugios is pretty pricey.
There are several other accommodation options around the park, especially closer to Torres Central. If I go again, I would book an extra night or two to soak in the views of Los Cuernos a little longer.
Prepare for any weather. We got super lucky with the weather the first few days and had sunny 65 degree days. When we left it looked like it was snowing in the Frances Valley. You never know!
Bring all the sunscreen and hats! Most of the trail is exposed to the sun without tree cover.
Our last views of Torres Del Paine from the boat to Pudeto