Torres del Paine National Park in Chile (TDP) was something which we were looking forward to, and dreading at the same time! A good friend of ours had visited the year before, and the pictures that she took were astonishing. Those pictures were one of the defining factors in us choosing to make our own year-long journey to discover Latin America, so obviously we were excited, and keen to out-do the aforementioned friend, at least in the picture department!

But why were we dreading it? For a long while we had (wrongly) understood that the only way to see TDP National Park was by taking one of the multi-day trekking routes, commonly known as the W and the O due to the shape they make through the park. Most guide books focus on these routes as they assume that the majority of people will be backpackers or seasoned/willing trekkers. We do enjoy a day trek, but the thought of staying in campsites and multi-dorms (that are not cheap) in the middle of nowhere for five days doesn’t appeal – we shower, you know 😉 . It’s just a personal preference, there is certainly nothing wrong with doing it this way (token statement to counterbalance previous camping-dissing one!). Hopefully we don’t come across as a pair of dreaded flash-packers, this is certainly not the case as we do not like spending lots of money, however we were determined to find a way to see the wonders of the park on our own terms.

After a fair amount of research we decided to rent a car for four days (no that’s not flash-packing at all!) and do a self guided tour of the parts of the park accessible by road and day treks. Our first obstacle presented itself here as the decently priced rental we had ordered in advance was unavailable due to having been crashed by someone else! The only other car they had was also crashed…not a good start we thought to ourselves. Apparently Chileans like to drive fast and sometimes the strong wind can cause accidents. Luckily for us another company had a car available but we did have to pay a little more because it was a larger car. Nice and comfy for us though! (hey, that was the only one available, we are not flash-packers!) We christened him “Dusty” as he was a Renault Duster model, and by the time we had finished with him on the gravel roads he certainly lived up to his name.

So if we weren’t staying in the camping or refugios along the classic trekking routes, what were our choices for accommodation? The answer is –very limited. Staying in Puerto Natales wasn’t really an option as the park is about 200km away. There are some incredibly posh hotels in the park itself, but the budget could not stretch that far (what have we been telling you? We are not flash-packers!). Eventually we plumped for Hosteria Lago Del Toro in the Rio Serrano village which is just outside the southern end of the park. It was also very expensive for our budget but at least we would have a private room and hot showers!

So, what can you do in four days in TDP with a car? It’s completely manageable to see all of the park accessible by road in this time. Here are our suggestions, accompanied by our pictures.

Day 1

Arrival to the park

We wanted to enter at Laguna Amarga which is where the buses taking trekkers into the park also enter. This is the ruta Y-280 from Puerto Natales. The reason for this was that we wanted to cover the sights of the north-eastern sector, thus avoiding having to drive back up there from our accommodation in the south. Unfortunately the road to Laguna Amarga was closed so we had to detour and enter further south at Lago Sarimento. If you can, try to check the status of the roads before leaving!

Cascada Paine is a very attractive waterfall on Rio Paine.

Laguna Azul is a lake with a blue hue with a magnificent backdrop of the torres. It was quite windy when we went, but if you are lucky then the waters will be still and reflective, great for envy-inducing pictures. Even so, the view was beautiful, especially with the yellow flowers in the foreground.

This area is also the best for spotting guanacos and condors as it seems to be a little less visited. We saw some quite large herds of these camelids and got some really close up time with a swooping condor, way better than we did in the Colca Canyon in Peru by the way, whose shadow on the ground was really quite menacing!

We then drove all the way through the park to find our accommodation. There was plenty to see on the way but we knew that we would be covering it in subsequent days.

From our accommodation we were able to walk down to the banks of the Rio Serrano for some beautiful sunset pictures.

Day 2

Mini trek day

On our first full day in the park we decided to visit two waterfalls and take a short trek called Mirador Cuernos.

Salto Chico is located next to the Hotel Explora and is reached by a raised walkway. It’s not particularly exciting but worth a visit to enjoy a view across Lago Pehoé to the torres.

Salto Grande is much more impressive and it is also the start of the trail to the Mirador Cuernos. This trail takes you through burnt land (there was a devastating fire in 2012, one of several which have been attributed to irresponsible backpackers) and beautifully still reflective lakes of varying colours, right to the base of the torres where the two cuernos (horns) are located. This is a great spot to stop and enjoy a picnic sitting above the Lago Nordenskjöld (masses of tourists permitting!) which is located at the base of the torres. All along this trail we could hear the booming sound of avalanches high up in the torres, and we even saw one whilst we were having our sandwich, it was really quite exciting (the avalanche, not the sandwich)!

Day 3

Day trek

Having learnt, to our horror, that the only cruise to the Grey Glacier would be about £60 each, we decided to be brave and take part of the W trail there on foot instead. This involved catching a small catamaran across Lago Pehoé to the Paine-Grande station. From here there was a trek which would take 2-3 hours to reach a view-point of the glacier. Not quite the same as sailing up close to it, but it would cost us half as much, and we’d get a bit of exercise along the way. Due to the season, there was only a sailing at 12.00, so we would only have a few hours to do our trek and return in time for the sailing back to the other side at 18.00.

The trek involved an uphill scramble through a stony valley to a lake called Laguna Los Patos. This spot was really very pretty and quiet (other than backpackers crashing along with their silly walking sticks!). The lake is perched on the edge of the mountain, so it almost looks like an infinity pool, with the waters seeming to be the same height as the mountains in the distance. As we progressed through forest, we started to walk along the edge of Lago Grey towards the glacier. Every time we rounded a headland and popped out of the trees, we thought we might see the glacier but we kept being disappointed! Just as we were beginning to run out of faith, and also time, the view opened up and we could see the mighty ice in the distance, and what a climax it was! The view-point is very good, you can climb up high and just sit there for a while with nothing between you and the glacier below…until some unwanted humans decided to have a break to talk about what shoes they were wearing right between where we were standing and the glacier, thanks!

We also felt quite smug as we didn’t even see any boats sailing up to the glacier, this led us to believe that we had made the right decision in embarking on the walk instead of spending a fortune for a cruise. The return journey was mostly downhill so we did it in much less time – in fact in such good time that we were able to stop for a sneaky congratulatory beer at the refugio before catching the catamaran back.

Day 4

Full day leaving the park

We drove to the other end of Lago Grey to see whether we could locate any of the large pieces of broken off ice that we had glimpsed during our trek the previous day. After a quick walk across a very wobbly string bridge (only 6 people at a time, but try telling that to a bunch of tourists that jumped on as we were trying to cross) and traversing some forest, we walked down onto a large ‘beach’ at the shore of the lake. We could indeed walk right up to the edge where there were gigantic chunks of blue ice and even some little ones at the shore that you could pick up.

We returned to Puerto Natales on the Ruta-Y-290 which only appears to have been recently opened/refurbished. It was a nice drive by the edge of Lago Toro and various other lakes until the landscape changed into the flat expanse of Ultima Esperanza. To break up the journey we stopped off at a place called the Mylodon Cave which is a national monument protecting the caves and surrounding area. This area is important as it is a rich source of evidence on the history of Patagonia. Evidence of early humans has been found here and the skin and bones of a long extinct mega fauna called a Mylodon. It was a sort of giant sloth with remnants of a hard shell underneath its shaggy coat. Quite cuddly they are! The cave was a nice diversion, and the views were very good.

Practicalities worth mentioning

• The weather in TDP is notoriously fickle. We were generally very lucky as most of the time is was sunny and calm, however when the wind blows, it really blows! Just be prepared to experience four seasons in one day and you will be fine! NB. This is the case for most of Patagonia, especially where wind is concerned.

• Car hire and fuel in Dusty cost us about £50 a day. All the roads in the park and also parts of the roads outside are gravel. This makes a lot of noise and dust and can cause the wheels to slip if you are going downhill. This happened to us twice and, although controlled in text-book style by Alex, it could have been disastrous if another car had been close by.

• The entrance fee to TDP is about £17 per person

• The catamaran on Lage Pehoe is a rip off at £25 per person

• We paid £100 a night for our accommodation (I know, outrageous for such non flash-packers like us!), but managed to just stay three nights by making the first and last days full days.

• It’s a good idea to stock up on some food in Puerto Natales or wherever you start, there are not really any shops in or around the park. We brought enough for daily picnics and also ate a make-shift dinner of our own one night. The restaurants are almost exclusively located in hotels in and around the park. They will all charge a minimum of £20 per person for a mediocre dinner, so beware! You may also want to consider bringing your own booze, as that is unaffordable too.

• The entrance fee to the Mylodon Cave is only £4 per person, and you get a free hug.

There is no right or wrong way to visit TDP National Park, whichever way you choose you will be able to enjoy such astounding natural beauty, the likes of which we had certainly never seen before. We hope that we have some slightly less traditional views and pictures to display here by having taken in the park from an alternative route to the classic trekking paths. The hike that we did to the glacier on the beginning part of the W trek was actually more full of tourists that the other parts of the park that we had visited, so there are some advantages to doing things your own way!

In conclusion we strongly urge anyone visiting Patagonia, whether a backpacker or a flash-packer (not us), to make the effort to visit the park, as it is one of the truly outstanding places of natural beauty in the continent, certainly in the top three of what we have seen so far. If you spend your money wisely, and save when you can, you’ll be able to enjoy the park and the amazing sights and experiences that it has to offer.