Conquer the W Trek
Torres del Paine National Park was voted the 8th wonder of the world after receiving 5 million votes on VirtualTourist.com from travelers around the world.
The world famous 'W Trek" is a 5 day long hike through Torres del Paine National Park, with a different highlight and jaw-dropping views every day. In this blog post, we will break down the 75 km (46.6 mile) hike for you day-by-day.
Day 1- Trek to Base Torres (18km, 7-8 hours trekking)
Day 2- Trekking from Hotel Las Torres to Frances Area (14.6km, 6.5 hours)
Day 3-Trekking French Valley to Paine Grande (20.3 km, 9 hours)
Day 4- Trekking Paine Grande to Grey Glacier Area (11km, 3.5 hours)
Day 5-Trekking back to Paine Grande (11km, 3.5 hours)
Venture Patagonia arranges all of your logistics for you starting when you land in Patagonia. Below is a breakdown of each day of our W Trek program when you travel with us:
Airport and Puerto Natales
As soon as you land at the airport of Punta Arenas, El Calafate, or Puerto Natales, Venture Patagonia will help you get to Puerto Natales where our guest house is located for the base of the W Trek program.
After you are checked into your hotel (that we have arranged for you), a welcome drink and dinner await you in our guest house as a celebration to mark the beginning of a wonder-filled journey. A short briefing follows.
W Trek Day 1- Trek to the Base Torres
Our private transfer and guide will pick you up from your hotel and will bring you to the National Park (2 hours travel) where you will get your Park Entrance Ticket. Then you proceed to the front portion of Hotel Las Torres where your trek to Mirador Las Torres begins. At the end of the day, we will bring you to your Refugio where you will spend the first night, and where you can relax, have a warm shower, enjoy a nice meal, and sleep in a bed, all included in your program.
W Trek Day 2- Los Cuernos (The Horns)
After an invigorating breakfast and with your box lunch inside your backpack, you continue walking the trail to your next destination: Los Cuernos. This is one of the most beautiful and relaxing trails on the W. Nature's intense colors await you – turquoise colored Nordenskjold Lake and different shades of green of the local flora. After over 5 hours of walking you will finally reach your Refugio where you will spend your second night.
W Trek Day 3-Frances & Paine Grande Area
You will be hitting the trail as soon as you finish your early morning breakfast. This will be your longest day of trekking. Begin trekking past the French Hanging Glacier and Los Cuernos until you reach the amazing Mirador Britanico. Enjoy your lunch surrounded by the mountains, and then proceed to Pehoé sector until you reach the biggest refugio in the W circuit, Paine Grande.
W Trek Day 4-Grey Glacier
The trail goes through the western side of the Paine Massif with views of Lake Grey and Mountains. After 4 hours of trekking, you will reach Refugio Grey and have the afternoon free. You have the option to ice hike on Grey Glacier, kayak along the glacier on Lake Grey, or continue walking until you reach the hanging bridges where you will have a wonderful vista of the Glacier and the Southern Icefield.
W Trek Day 5- Back to Puerto Natales
When you wake up you can either choose to Kayak or Ice Trek before Trekking back towards Paine Grande where your ferry and bus are waiting to bring you back to Puerto Natales (hotel room already included in the package), where you will spend your last night of the W Trek Program.
In case you don’t want to walk back to Paine Grande, we can upgrade you to a more expensive package on the way out of the park. This will involve a more expensive ferry ride and a private transfer back to Puerto Natales.
