Due to high requirements for toilet facilities and never having done long-distance hiking before, we didn’t choose the famous W or O routes for this trip to Torres del Paine but instead opted for a self-drive rental car 🚘. Accommodation inside the park is very expensive, and we heard the internet is not good, so we chose to stay in Puerto Natales and drive to and from the park daily.
The roads here have many potholes, so if you’re driving into the park every day, you need a skilled driver and a good SUV.
🏨: We booked a four-person cabin on Booking called Domo Patagonia, which looks very much like Patrick Star’s house [Crying Laughing Emoji] (see Image 8). It has two floors with two bedrooms that can accommodate four people.
It’s located a bit outside of Puerto Natales, very quiet, with a view of the distant snow-capped mountains 🏔️. The owner has two dogs 🐶 and one cat 🐱, and they deliver breakfast for the next day every evening [Party Popper Emoji]. The price is around 200-300 RMB per night.
🚘: We rented an SUV from Europcar in advance.
When we picked up the car, they gave us a nearly new Subaru Crosstrek (see Image 4), which was very comfortable for driving on the bad roads in Torres del Paine [Sly Face Emoji]. We actually only rented it for three full days, costing a total of 180 RMB.
✈️: On the first day, we flew to Puerto Natales Airport (see Image 3).
I strongly recommend sitting on the left side of the plane, as you can see the glacial lakes in Argentina along the way (see Image 2). On the last day, we returned via Punta Arenas.
🎫: It’s best to buy tickets for Torres del Paine in advance on the Chilean National Park website CONAF. A 3-day ticket costs 30 RMB per person, and a 4-day or longer ticket costs 45 RMB per person.
In reality, the park only checks tickets at the southern entrance [Crying Laughing Emoji].
Day 1️⃣: At 9 AM, we flew to Puerto Natales, and after landing, we took an Uber directly to the Europcar office in the city (less than 10 minutes). After picking up the car, we went to eat at a Chinese restaurant in the town 🥢.
At 3 PM, we entered the park via the southern route Y150 (see Image 5). However, due to overcast skies ☁️ and the approaching evening, we took some photos by the roadside and returned via the eastern route Y156. This was our first glimpse of the unique landscape of Torres del Paine: lakes that look unrealistically blue and hills with overly saturated green (see Image 6).
We also saw llamas at the Mirador Nordenskjöld Lake viewpoint (see Image 7) 🦙.
Day 2️⃣: We set off for the park at noon [Crying Laughing Emoji], entering via the eastern route Y156, then taking a detour on Y166 to see the Cascada Rio Paine waterfall 💦 (see Image 9). We then went to the Salto Grande Lookout to see another waterfall (see Image 10) and hiked the famous Mirador Cuernos, a relatively easy 8 km round trip with magnificent scenery (see Images 11/12).
We returned via the southern route Y150.
Day 3️⃣: We embarked on our journey to the park early in the morning, once again taking the southern route Y150. The sun was shining brightly ☀️, and not long after entering through the southern gate, we were greeted by a serene sight: a group of horses 🐴 drinking from a tranquil river (see Image 13).
Energized by the beautiful scenery, we then hiked to Mirador Cóndor, where we were rewarded with stunning panoramic views after an hour-long round trip (see Images 1/14). After soaking in the breathtaking vistas, we made our way to the charming Hosteria Pehoe, a hotel nestled on a picturesque lake island (see Image 15).
Day 4️⃣: Rising with the dawn, we set out for the challenging yet rewarding hike to the Three Towers (see Image 16). For a detailed account of this adventure, refer to our previous post. In the afternoon, we bid farewell to the park and switched to a bus, heading towards Punta Arenas (see Images 17/18). The next day, we caught an early morning flight back to Santiago, marking the end of our unforgettable journey [Party Popper Emoji].
