*This is only a reference itinerary, because it might have modifications according to the places of confirmed accommodations and the definitive times of transports.
Start: Day 1 at 7:00 am in Puerto Natales Bus Station.
End: Day 8 at 9:00 in Puerto Natales Bus Station.
Day 1: Departure from Puerto Natales and Serón Trek (9 km, 5.6 miles, 4 hours).
The program starts in the Puerto Natales Bus Station to take the bus to the Portería Laguna Amarga, where you will enter the Torres del Paine National Park. After that, you will be able to take another ground transport to the Welcome Center, where you will have to register. After one of the best views of the Torres del Paine you can have from the starting point, if weather is good enough, you will enter the Patagonian landscape through a slope, the first test of the hike. You will have views of the surrounding valleys and the Cerro Paine, while you continue on the side of the Paine river until reaching Serón Campsite, where you will stay this first night.
Day 2: Dickson Trek (18.5 km, 11.5 miles, 6 hours).
After breakfast, you will take the route parallel to the Paine River, to get closer to the Cerro Paine side. You will go up by a steep track to the higher part that you will have to tour during the day, and in which you will have a privileged view of the surrounding mountains, besides the Paine Lake. Then, you will walk by the sides of the mount, parallel to the river. You will have time to stop in the Guardería Coirón for lunch and recover energy, before keep walking through the fields with views of granite walls. After that, you will see the Dickson Glacier in the distance, which means that that's the end of the hike for today. You will reach the Refugio Dickson, near the lake with the same name and from the Paine River begins.
Day 3: Perros Trek (9 km, 5.6 miles, 4 to 5 hours).
You will start early to take the route marked by Los Perros River. You will go a couple of hours through a nothofagus forest to a small bridge to cross the river. There you will start going up the moraine until identifying the Los Perros Glacier, which is on the side of the lake with the same name. From that point, you will be a couple of minutes from the Perros Campsite, in which you will stay to face the challenge of the next day.
Day 4: Grey Glacier Lookout Point Trek (22 km, 13.7 miles, 10 to 12 hours).
The recommendation is getting up very early to begin the adventure. This morning will be necessary the use of a headlamp, because you will start walking before dawn. You will begin a demanding walk up in the middle of the woods and, while you go forward, you will be able to see the first lights of the sun over the park. You will continue the road to the John Garner Pass, the higher point of the trek at 1,200 meters (3,937 feet) of altitude that will test your strength and that, needless to say, you must do very carefully. Once in the pass, you will have the first view of the Grey Glacier and the beginning of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, one of the characteristic images of the Torres del Paine National Park, which you will see for a while before descending through another forest. You will pass by the Guardería El Paso, where you can have lunch before keep walking to the suspension bridges, the road that borders the Grey Glacier. You will be able to take pictures and visiting some privileged points to admire the lake and the glacier, before reaching the Refugio Grey where, rightfully, you will get some rest.
*Depending on the weather conditions, the CONAF park ranger might forbid going up through the John Garner Pass and you would have to go back to Perros Campsite.
Day 5: Optional activity in the glacier and Paine Grande Trek (11 km, 6.8 miles, 4 to 5 hours).
This day, during the morning, you can go to the base from where you can make one of the two optional activities available:
- Grey Glacier Ice Hike: 15-minute navigation by Zodiac boat to the Nunatak Island, from where starts the 1-hour hike with crampons, piolet, harness and helmet on the Grey Glacier.
- Grey Glacier Kayak: kayak navigation between the small icebergs surrounding the glacier and, if the weather is good enough, close to the Nunatak Island, to have another perspective of the glacier. Wetsuit, jacket and waterproof boots, kayak gloves, kayak skirt, kayak vest and life vest included.
After this experience, you will go back to the campsite to collect your things and start the trekking to arrive to the next camping, walking that is much less demanding that the one the day before. You will border the Grey Lake, path in which you will have the last views of the glacier and the small icebergs, passing by the Los Patos Lagoon, before entering a small valley from where you can see the Pehoé Lake. You will get to the Refugio Paine Grande, from where you will have a great view of the Cerro Paine Grande and the Cuernos del Paine.
Day 6: Francés Valley Hike (22 km, 13.7 miles, 8 to 10 hours).
The general recommendation is starting early, because it is a long distance that you have to walk. You will pass by the border of the Skottsberg Lake, following the track to the Italiano Campsite, which is the entrance door of the Francés Valley. You will go into a Patagonian forest, to leave to the Francés Lookout Point, which gives you access to the views of different mountains surrounding the valley, besides the Francés Glacier. If you have time and energy, you will be able to go on to the Británico Lookout Point from where you will have another perspective inside the same Torres del Paine Park. The way back is by the same path until Italiano Campsite, from where you have to go to the Refugio Cuernos.
Day 7: Central Trek (11 km, 6.8 miles, 5 to 6 hours).
After breakfast, you will start walking going over by the Nordenskjöld Lake, identifying different vegetal and animal species, besides seeing the Almirante Nieto Mount, and maybe identifying its hanging glacier. The destination will be the Refugio Central , place where you can rest to face the last day of walking.
Day 8: Base of Torres del Paine Hike and arrival to Puerto Natales (22 km, 13.7 miles, 8 to 9 hours).
The last day of activity is considered for the Base of Torres del Paine hike, the great image of the park. To reach this place, you will have to get up very early and go to the old bridge that crosses the Ascencio River and enter to a typical Patagonian forest. You will get to the moraine, which you will have to climb for about 45 minutes until getting to the Base of Torres del Paine Lookout Point, finishing touch for all the effort in completing the Paine Circuit. There, you will be able to take pictures, enjoy your lunch and rest a moment before starting the return through the same path you just made. You will arrive to the Welcome Center, same place from where you started the trek, to board the connection transport and the bus that will take you to Puerto Natales.