Patagonia - Torres del Paine National Park

Alex and I recently returned from an amazing two-week trip to Patagonia in South America. Patagonia was a region which was not really on my radar until watching an episode of Chef’s Table in 2015 where the show focused on chef, Francis Mallmann, who lives in the region. Seeing this beautiful area on television, really solidified a desire to visit and explore such a remote and pristine place. I’m not sure I stopped thinking about it since and each time I came across an article or travel blog, I saved it for later use!

We were supposed to visit Patagonia in March of 2020 and SPOILER, that did not happen! A little thing called the “global pandemic” occurred and put a quick stop to all travel plans.

After almost two and half years, we finally found a timeframe that worked to take two weeks off and re-booked almost the exact same trip which was supposed to happen in 2020. Thankfully, I had kept our original itinerary and with the exception of starting in Torres del Paine instead of Los Glaciares National Park, there was not too much that needed to be altered.

Patagonia covers 402,700 square miles and while about half of Chile and Argentina are within Patagonia, only 3% of their combined populations live here. Due to limited time, we decided to focus our travels exploring Torres del Paine National Park and Los Glaciares National Park. We also spent a few days in Buenos Aires as well.

1. Buenos Aires. 2. Torres del Paine National Park. 3. El Calafate 4. El Chalten

We flew from New York to Buenos Aires where we stayed overnight before taking an early morning flight to El Calafate in Southern Argentina. After we picked up our rental car we drove to Torres del Paine National Park. This involved a boarder crossing into Chile and I had read the boarder agents in Chile are much stricter about food coming into the country (no fresh fruits/vegetables or meats). We also were required to show proof of vaccination and paperwork from the rental car company that we could cross into a new country. Thankfully, we knew the restrictions and requirements and had everything ready for the boarder patrol agents.

It took almost five hours to drive from El Calafate to our hotel in Torres del Paine and we maybe saw a dozen cars/buses the entire time! We knew it was remote, but did not expect so little traffic on the road. Thankfully, my “safety first” mantra dictated we rent a satellite phone in advance which we brought with us during our trip. We never needed to use it, but it was helpful to know we had it in case of an emergency.

Most people who visit Torres del Paine National Park stay in the town of Puerto Natales which is a two hour drive away and will take public transportation or a tour bus into the park. There are very few hotels located directly in the national park and since we had our own car and didn’t need to rely on public transportation or tour groups, we were able to stay at Hotel Las Torres which is located at the base of one of the most popular hiking trails. It made things very convenient when exploring the park!

We specifically added an extra day to each location where we stayed to maximize our chances of having at least one good weather day for our big hikes. This ended up working out so well as for every clear day we had, there was a rainy and windy day. If you were unable to have any flexibility in your travel plans, there was a good chance you may do a long hiking trail and wind up not seeing the mountain peaks and viewpoints due to poor visibility and cloud coverage.

On our first full day in Torres del Paine, which just so happened to be Thanksgiving, we visited a few highlights including Cascada Rio Paine, Laguna Azul and Mirador Cuernos. We lucked out with mostly sunny skies, but it was windy so we dressed in layers and headed out!

We first drove to Cascada Rio Paine which is a waterfall located on the Paine River. Behind the waterfall, you can see Torres del Paine, three towers formed by needle-shaped rocks that give the national park its name.

Along the same road as Cascada Rio Paine, is Laguna Azul. There is a short 30 minute hike up the hill which provides a birds eye view of Laguna Azul and the Las Torres towers. At one point as we were crossing over the hill, we came upon a guanaco which is a relative of the llama. It was so big and so regal and we watched it for some time before he galloped away.

We also walked to the beach of Laguna Azul and it was so windy, it looked like the waves were from an ocean not a lake!

We also made a quick stop at the Laguna Larga viewpoint. From this lookout, you can see both Laguna Larga and Lago Nordernskjöld with the Cuernos and Torres del Paine mountains in the background.

Our final stop for the day was Mirador Cuernos. Mirador Cuernos is Spanish for “the viewpoint of the horns”, which refers to the horn-looking mountains you see at the end of the trail. This was a 4-mile out and back hike which brings you to the Salto Grande Waterfall, Lake Nordenskjöld and finally the viewpoint. It was a beautiful hike, but the winds were so strong! At one point as we were trying to admire the viewpoint, and the winds about blew us sideways!

We knew with renting our own car we would need to be mindful of our gas usage as there are no gas stations in or close to Torres del Paine National Park. The nearest gas station is in Puerto Natales, two hours away. We also read we were not allowed to bring portable gas cans into the park due to being a fire hazard. I will admit this kept me up at night worrying for weeks before our trip if we would have enough gas for this leg of the trip. We made a point to fill up twice in Argentina (once in La Esperanza and once in Tapi Aike) before arriving in Torres del Paine.

When we woke on Friday it was rainy, cloudy and an overall not nice day to be outside. We decided to make the drive to Puerto Natales to get gas and grab lunch in town. Although we had to drive almost four hours round trip, it was worth it to “top up” and fill our gas tank. We ended up doing more driving later in the week than originally planned to visit a glacier and we would have been cutting it a little close for comfort had we not made this detour!

We saved our “big hike” for Saturday as the weather looked the nicest and we lucked out with sunny skies. One of the most popular hikes in Torres del Paine is the Mirador Las Torres Hike (aka Towers Viewpoint). This hike starts from the hotel where we stayed and we left right after breakfast which made it super convenient. The most difficult part of the hike is near the end where you ascend the trail pretty much straight up over loose rocks. Once you reach the top, you are left staring at Lake Torre and the three granite peaks that surround it. It was the perfect place to catch our breath and enjoy the views. The trail follows the same route back and at almost 11-miles in distance, we were happy to just walk up to the hotel and shower!

On our final full day in Torres del Paine National Park, we booked a boat tour to Grey Glacier. It was a beautiful and sunny day and we were able to get right up to the glacier. We even got to see icebergs for the first time! At the end of the tour, we were treated to the local beverage, a pisco sour with glacier ice!

Had to make a stop along the road to Grey Glacier to capture this beautiful scenery.

We finished the day with a quick 2-mile hike to Mirador Condor. The view from the top of the hill looks across Lago Pehoé and the smaller lake Laguna Negra with the Paine mountains in the background. You could not have asked for a better view to end our time in Torres del Paine National Park.

Hotel: Las Torres Patagonia