Self-guided W-Trek (5D/4N) from £553

Day 1 Starting from Puerto Natales at 2.30PM you will take a public bus all the way to Torres del Paine National Park. You will drive through open pampas and huge ranches (estancias), and chances are you will be able to observe one of the most typical animals in this area, the ñandu, (rare South American ostrich). The bus arrives at Laguna Amarga at the main entrance to the park where you connect with a shuttle to the Refugio Torre central.

(3 hours by public bus, 30 minutes by shuttle) (D) (Night at Refugio Torres Central)

Day 2 After a good breakfast at the Refugio, you request you pack lunch and start the trek to the base of the Towers, following the Ascencio River to enter the Ascencio Valley. The walk will be uphill for one hour before stopping to observe the first glimpses of the valley surrounded by unbelievable beech forests, glaciers and waterfalls. You’ll continue through the valley for another hour and a half before ascending a huge terminal moraine to a lookout (900 M), excellent for picture taking. At this point you will be surrounded by three giant granite towers (2850 M) and a lagoon with slurry waters due to erosion produced by glaciers. This amazing view will be accompanied by lunch to add to the enjoyment. After being awed by the towers you’ll start the descent, following the same path back to the hut. Dinner will be serving in the Refugio.

(7-8 hours round-trip, 18 KM) (B-BL-D) (Night at Refugio Las Torres)

Day 3 After breakfast at the Refugio you request you pack lunch again and start the hike to Refugio Los Cuernos. As you leave the hut you will arrive at Inge lagoon. Chances are, on this path, you may see the flight of an Andean condor or eagles hunting hares or small rodents. You follow a well mark trail ascending around (200 mts.) from the base of Almirante Nieto Mountain (2750 mts.), crossing the Bader River to arrive at Refugio Los Cuernos where you will stay overnight, after enjoying a good meal.

(500 mts. difference of level, 6 hours, 17 kms.) (B-BL-D) (Night at Refugio Los Cuernos) (You can upgrade to private cabins with two beds and sharing bathrooms with the other cabins only, and a free hot tub access for USD$ 80 per single occupancy or USD $40 per double occupancy)

Day 4 After breakfast in the Refugio, and once you request you pack lunch from them; you will start the day with a 2-hour walk going along an undulating path until reaching the French River for your first glimpses of the hanging glacier. Then you will ascend (300 M) for one hour through a surreal Japanese garden landscape, crossing beech forests, to reach the French valley viewpoint gifting us with a magnificent view of both mountains and lakes. Your way back will be the same until you reach the entrance of the valley where you will continue on a different path around the South-West side of Paine Grande, the highest peak in the Park, through native forests of Chilean fire bush and evergreen beech (Nothofagus Bethuloides), up to the shore of the Pehoé Lake. Dinner will be served in the Refugio

(6 hours hiking, 18 KM). (B-BL-D) (Night at Refugio Paine Grande)

Day 5 You will begin early morning with the hike to the Grey Glacier. Initially ascending 200mts up a winding narrow path leading to Laguna Negra, a place where you will observe the first glimpses of the South Patagonia Ice Field with its many unclimbed mountains. You will advance through forests and rivers, with possible sightings of spectacle and flying steamer ducks, up to the glacier viewpoint. You will have lunch at this place to see, (if we are lucky enough) ice calving from the huge glacier wall. You return, following the same path, with views of Cordon Olguín and Paine Grande. You need to be on time to take the last Catamaran to cross the Pehoe Lake at 6.30PM, once you arrive at the other side, a public bus will be waiting to drive back to Puerto Natales.

(8 hours walking, 22 KM, 35 minutes by Catamaran, 3 hours by public bus) (B-BL)