Torres del Paine National Park

Torres del Paine National Park tickets and tours: which one to book

Torres del Paine is the great park of Chilean Patagonia, two hours north of Puerto Natales and five from Punta Arenas, and the tours sold for it fall into two clear groups. Full-day tours from Puerto Natales or Punta Arenas drive the park's road circuit with stops at the viewpoints, the Salto Grande waterfall, Lake Pehoé and the Grey Glacier lookout, and include the park entrance, which must be bought online in advance; they suit a first look or a short stay.

The treks are the other group: the W trek over four or five days between the towers, the French Valley and the Grey Glacier, with nights in the refugios or campsites that are booked months ahead, and the day hike to the base of the towers, a steep nine-hour return walk that is the single most popular thing in the park. Guided W treks handle the refugio bookings and meals, which is their main value, since the walk itself is well marked. Boat trips across Lake Grey to the glacier face and kayaking among the icebergs are sold from the Grey lodge, and puma-tracking tours with a guide have become a specialty around the eastern sector. The bus from Puerto Natales runs into the park twice a day for independent visitors; entry tickets are timed and sell out in high season.

Visiting Torres del Paine National Park: what you will see

The park covers about 1,800 square kilometres and was created in 1959; its centrepiece is the Paine massif, a granite range rising straight out of the steppe with the three Torres, the towers, at its heart and the twisted black-and-grey Cuernos, the horns, beside them. The towers stand 2,500 metres above sea level above a green tarn, and the walk to see them ends with a scramble up a moraine to the lake at their base. On the western side the Grey Glacier, an arm of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, calves icebergs into Lake Grey, which drift blue against the grey water;

the French Valley in the middle of the W climbs into a hanging amphitheatre of glaciers and rock. Lakes Pehoé, Nordenskjöld and Sarmiento colour the lower park turquoise and milky green, and the Salto Grande waterfall links two of them. Guanacos graze the eastern steppe in herds, and the park's pumas, more habituated than anywhere else in South America, are seen regularly around Lake Sarmiento by patient watchers; Andean condors ride the ridges, and rheas, foxes and flamingos are common. The wind is a constant, and the weather changes by the hour. Fires started by careless campers burned large areas in 2005 and 2011, and the dead forests are still visible.

Torres del Paine National Park: best time to go, seasons and hours

The park is open all year, but the trekking season runs from October to April, and the refugios and most services close for the southern winter. December to February is high season, with long days, the busiest trails and the strongest wind; March and April bring autumn colours, calmer weather and fewer people, and are the best months for pumas.

Rain, snow and gales are possible in any month, so pack for all four seasons. Book entry tickets and refugios well ahead for the summer. Allow one full day for the road circuit, a long day for the towers, and five days for the W. Puerto Natales has the boat to the Balmaceda and Serrano glaciers, and El Calafate in Argentina, with the Perito Moreno glacier, is a day's bus ride away.