Torres del Paine Without the W Trek: Our Day Tour From Puerto Natales (When the Weather Turned)
Here's my confession about Torres del Paine: we turned up in Puerto Natales planning to hike to the base of the towers the next morning, and we hadn't even realised the national park is a two hour drive from town. As I said in the vlog, "We clearly did all of our research on the Argentinian side of Patagonia and not really the Chile side."
Then the forecast came in as "really, really average pretty much for the next week", and the hike was off. So the night before, sitting in our hostel, we booked a full-day bus tour instead. The towers stayed hidden in cloud almost the whole day, the last stop was cancelled, and lunch was expensive. And I still rated it 10 out of 10!
This is the honest version of Torres del Paine, from Sunday 25 January 2026, for anyone who can't hike, doesn't want to, or left it too late for the W Trek like we did. It was the last big day of our Patagonia trip without camping. I'll go through the tour we booked, every stop, what the weather actually did, what it all cost and where to stay.
Torres del Paine Day Tour, My Quick Answer
Short answer is yes, a day tour from Puerto Natales is worth it, even in bad weather. You won't reach the base of the towers, but you'll see the park from the road and the viewpoints, it suits anyone who can't or won't hike, and ours was about nine hours rather than the usual twelve.
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| What we found | |
|---|---|
| The tour | Full-day Torres del Paine and Milodon Cave, booked on GetYourGuide the night before |
| Length | About 9 hours (most of the ones we saw were 12) |
| Group | A small van, about 16 of us |
| Pickup | From our hostel in Puerto Natales |
| Tour price | A$120 each, January 2026 |
| Park entry | Separate from the tour. A$27 each in my cost breakdown; check the current CONAF fee |
| Lunch | Inside the park, basic and expensive. Bring your own |
| Weather | Cloud over the towers all day, lifting a little late in the afternoon |
| My rating | 10 out of 10, despite the weather |
Why We Didn't Hike Torres del Paine
Our plan was to hike up to the base of the towers. We'd done the Fitz Roy sunrise hike three days earlier in Argentina, with a perfectly clear sky.
But we'd also booked the whole trip late. The W Trek was never on the table, because by the time we looked, "the only options that were left were the super luxurious camps, which as much as I would love to, they cost a fortune." So we'd planned one day hike in Torres del Paine, with no spare day behind it.
When we arrived in Puerto Natales the forecast was bad for days, and the morning proved it. "We were supposed to hike to Torres del Paine today, but as you can see behind me, the weather's pretty bad." We didn't want to risk a long hike in that weather, and as I said later that day, "It could be worse. We could have hiked up and it could have been like this."
The Torres del Paine Day Tour We Booked
We booked this full-day Torres del Paine and Milodon Cave tour on GetYourGuide the night before. Because we'd left it so late, there was less available, but we found one with really good reviews, and it was shorter than the rest: "Most were 12 hours. This one's 9." It cost us A$120 each.
They picked us up from our hostel, and the group was a small van rather than a big coach. "There's only 16 of us, I think. So, you're not in like a huge bus." It goes to the cave first, then drives you into the park and stops at the viewpoints, so you see a lot without walking far.
I'd honestly recommend this kind of tour to a lot of people. In my words on the day: "It's a good option if you're someone who can't hike for any reason, don't want to hike." You don't get to the base of the towers, but it's "kind of like the best of both worlds if you want to do more of like a comfy version."
If our tour is full on your dates, you can browse other Torres del Paine tours here or everything leaving from Puerto Natales. We only did the one, so I can't compare them.
Our Torres del Paine Day Tour, Stop by Stop
Cueva del Milodón
The first stop is a huge cave outside Puerto Natales, and we knew nothing about it before we arrived! According to our guide, it's about 18,000 years old, carved out by meltwater from a glacier at the end of the last ice age, with the first humans here around 11,000 years ago. It's named after the mylodon, a giant ground sloth whose remains were found inside, and there's a model of one inside the cave. Hearing how people lived here, making stone tools and peeling the skins off animals for clothes, my verdict was simple: "I could never be a caveman."
You walk in along a path, and there's a point beyond which you can't go any further, because the roof isn't safe. It's massive!
When we went, the board at the visitor centre listed 12,000 Chilean pesos for a foreign adult. That isn't a separate line in our spending, so check whether your tour covers it, and check CONAF for the current price.
Breakfast With the Mountain Dogs
About 40 minutes' drive on, we stopped for a quick ten minutes at a café, and grabbed empanadas, which came to 8,000 pesos each (A$13.39). The café had what I described afterwards as "beautiful mountain dogs", and I was very happy about that!
Guanacos and a Very Big Bird
On the drive we saw guanacos, "very closely related to llamas", including one running. "Look at this llama running." I know, I know, it's a guanaco!
Later in the day there was a huge bird that I described as "like a cross between an eagle and a vulture". I didn't catch its name, and I'm not going to guess!
The Waterfall
This was the turquoise waterfall, and where the cloud lifted for a moment! It sits on what our guide said is the main river in the national park, the one that feeds all the others.
Into the Park
At the park entrance check-in, our guide showed us the map, with the W Trek in green and the O Circuit in red. Then we drove on to the viewpoints. One stop was at a very famous mountain, and it was so glary I needed my sunglasses, but the towers themselves were behind cloud. "It is a bummer because looking at it right now, we're supposed to see the towers."
But honestly, it was still incredible! "I can only imagine it on a blue sky day."
Lunch Inside the Park
Lunch was chicken and potatoes, cooked over a big wood fire. "Extremely basic, but cooked really, really well. Expensive." It cost us 35,000 Chilean pesos for the two of us, which our spending tracker logged as 17,500 pesos, A$29.28, each. It was nice, but if I did it again I'd bring my own lunch and save the money.
The Glacier Viewpoint We Didn't Get To
There was meant to be one more stop, a viewpoint over another glacier. Because the weather was so bad, the road there was really bad too, and the guides didn't think we'd even be able to see the glacier, so we skipped it. At our last stop, though, the clouds finally moved enough to show the peaks! "We're so happy cuz the clouds have cleared a little bit."
Flamingos on the Way Home
On the drive back we stopped at a lake with flamingos in it. It was "the first time I've ever seen them in real life", in Patagonia of all places, and it was the perfect end to the day!
The whole day, from the cave to the cloud lifting at the last stop, is in part two of our vlog from 19:28.
Torres del Paine Weather: What It Actually Did to Our Day
I can only tell you about late January, because that's when we were there, but I can tell you exactly what happened.
The night before: we arrived in Puerto Natales off the bus from Argentina and it was noticeably colder than anywhere we'd been. "I'm almost as cold as I was going up the hike." That's the Fitz Roy hike, which we'd started at 1:45 in the morning!
The forecast: really average for about a week. When you've only got one day for the park, that's the whole plan gone.
The day itself: cloudy from the moment we left, with the famous towers hidden all day. It cleared enough at the waterfall to see the colour of the water, it was bright enough at one viewpoint for sunglasses, and late in the afternoon the cloud lifted far enough to show the peaks. The tour still ran, but the weather cost us the glacier viewpoint, because the road was too bad and you wouldn't have seen anything.
The contrast: three days earlier we'd watched Fitz Roy turn orange at sunrise under a clear sky. Same week, same region, completely different luck!
So here's what I'd do differently. Build buffer days into your trip, because Patagonia's weather decides your plans, not you. As I said on TikTok, add buffer days "onto your trip to allow for weather changes in Patagonia." Check the forecast the night before, and if it's bad, a bus tour is a far better plan B than hiking into the cloud. More on timing is in my guide to the best time to visit Patagonia.
What the Torres del Paine Day Tour Cost
All per person, January 2026.
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| Per person | |
|---|---|
| GetYourGuide full-day tour | A$120 |
| Park entry (check the current CONAF fee) | A$27 |
| Empanadas at the café stop, 8,000 CLP | A$13.39 |
| Lunch inside the park, 17,500 CLP | A$29.28 |
| Our day, roughly | A$190 |
Park entry was separate from the tour price, so budget for it on top, and check the current fee with CONAF before you go, because it changes. Bringing your own lunch would cut almost A$30 off this. The whole six nights are broken down in is Patagonia expensive.
The W Trek and the O Circuit (What We Didn't Do)
To be clear, we didn't do either of these, but you'll hear about them constantly, so here's what they are.
The W Trek is the multi-day hike most people come to Torres del Paine for, named after the shape of the route on the map, and it's the one that takes you up to the base of the towers. You sleep in campsites or refuges inside the park, and they need booking well ahead. We left it too late, and that's how we ended up on a day tour.
The O Circuit goes all the way around, taking in the W as part of it. When we asked how long the O takes, our guide said "maybe 10 days".
If you don't want to camp or do a multi-day hike, or you left it too late like us, a day tour still gets you into the park.
Where to Stay for Torres del Paine
The tour picked us up from our hostel, so the easiest base is Puerto Natales itself. We had two nights at El Patagónico Hostel in a private room with a super comfy bed, and the kitchen was so good. Asói Hostal is the one I'd look at first next time. More on both, and where we ate, is in my Puerto Natales guide.
El Patagónico Hostel
Two nights in a private room with a super comfy bed, free hot chocolate and a brilliant shared kitchen. A$52.50 each a night in January.
Asói Hostal
Rated 9.5 from 338 reviews on Booking when I checked, with private bathrooms and a short walk from the bus terminal.
Getting there from Argentina is a long day with two border crossings, and it's all in my guide to the El Calafate to Puerto Natales bus. Every place we stayed is on our Chile stays page, and the rest of the region is in where to stay in Patagonia.
Still planning? Here is our complete Patagonia planning guide and the best time to visit.
FAQs About the Torres del Paine Day Tour
Can you visit Torres del Paine in a day from Puerto Natales?
Yes. We did a full-day tour from Puerto Natales with pickup from our hostel. The park is about a two hour drive from town, and our tour took about nine hours in total.
Can you see the towers on a Torres del Paine day tour?
From a distance, if the weather's clear. A day tour doesn't take you to the base of the towers, which is a hike. On our day they were hidden by cloud, and the peaks only showed late in the afternoon.
What is the weather like in Torres del Paine in January?
On our day in late January it was cloudy and cold, with the towers hidden almost all day and a little clearing late in the afternoon. Puerto Natales was colder than El Calafate and El Chaltén the same week. Plan buffer days.
Do Torres del Paine tours run in bad weather?
Ours did. We still saw the cave, the waterfall, the wildlife and the viewpoints, but one glacier viewpoint was cancelled because the road was too bad and the cloud too thick.
Is park entry included in a Torres del Paine day tour?
It wasn't on ours. Park entry was separate, A$27 each in my cost breakdown for January 2026. Check the current CONAF fee before you go.
Should you bring your own lunch to Torres del Paine?
I would. Our lunch inside the park was 35,000 Chilean pesos for two, basic and expensive, even though it was cooked well.
What's the difference between the W Trek and a day tour?
The W Trek is a multi-day hike with nights in the park that takes you to the base of the towers. A day tour drives you to the viewpoints and back to Puerto Natales the same evening, with no camping and very little walking.
Final Thoughts: Is a Torres del Paine Day Tour Worth It Without the W Trek?
I've had a proper think about this, and yes, it absolutely is. We didn't get the towers, we lost a stop to the weather, and we paid too much for chicken and potatoes, but we saw a cave our guide says is 18,000 years old, guanacos, a waterfall, the mountains under cloud and my first ever flamingos. "Despite the weather, this tour was 10 out of 10."
If I went back, I'd add two buffer days, bring my own lunch, and then decide on the morning whether to hike or take the van!
