{"id":120081,"date":"2011-04-15T12:05:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-15T11:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/15\/120081-getting-to-torres-del-paine-in-patagonia\/"},"modified":"2011-04-15T12:05:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-15T11:05:00","slug":"120081-getting-to-torres-del-paine-in-patagonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swoop-patagonia.com\/blog\/120081-getting-to-torres-del-paine-in-patagonia\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting to Torres del Paine in Patagonia"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Quick Answers<\/span><\/p>\n

How long does it take to get to Torres del Paine?<\/strong>\u00a0– 2 hours from Puerto Natales, 5 hours from Punta Arenas, 7 hours from Calafate, and 10 hours from El Chalten. From Puerto Montt I’d recommend taking an internal flight which takes about 3 hours.<\/p>\n

Is there a bus?<\/strong>\u00a0– yes, buses are the main form of transport. For more advice about buses, car rentals, boats and flights in Patagonia see our low-down here<\/a><\/p>\n

What if I don’t speak Spanish?<\/strong>\u00a0– If you don’t speak Spanish it’s advisable to get your tour operator to book the buses for you. This saves any chance of confusion and is quicker and easier as the operator prints off the vouchers and emails them to you before your trip.<\/p>\n

What if I don’t have much time?<\/strong> – If you don’t have much time, it is definitely worth thinking about taking a transfer via car from place to place. Tour operators usually arrange this as part of their itinerary and the cost of a private transfer is normally included in the price. Taking a private transfer rather than a bus can save you hours of waiting around in bus stations and is also a lot more comfortable, you can have a snooze after a long hike and be delivered to your hotel at the other end.<\/p>\n

Is there a plane?<\/strong>\u00a0– There are regular flights from Santiago to Punta Arenas and from Buenos Aires to Calafate, from which you can take a bus to the park. There are irregular flights to Puerto Natales’ tiny airport, see Sky Airline’s website for details. You can’t fly from Calafate to Punta Arenas.<\/p>\n

How much does it cost?<\/strong>\u00a0– The bus costs between \u00a36 and \u00a310 for most journeys each way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

>> Also see our guide to getting to Torres del Paine<\/a> on the Swoop Patagonia website.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’ve been reading lots of forum posts in the\u00a0Torres del Paine forum on Tripadvisor<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and many of them have a similar theme – how do I get to Torres del Paine?\u00a0Information about getting to Torres del Paine is for some reason scarce and patchy on the internet so I hope that this blog post gives you a clear idea of how to get there, regardless of where you may be coming from.<\/p>\n

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I’ll start from the beginning, before you even step on the plane to Patagonia. You need to decide which order you’re going to do your trip in and which places you’re going to visit first, as this will depend on whether you fly to Chile or Argentina.<\/p>\n

Firstly, there are numerous airlines that fly to this part of the world from the UK including TAM (Brazilian carrier), America Airlines, Delta and LAN Airlines, but I would recommend LAN Airlines from the UK. For people travelling from the UK, Patagonia isn’t as far away as you may think. Flights depart from London Heathrow and usually travel via Madrid, Spain, (or even New York, US or Lima, Peru) to either\u00a0<\/span>Santaigo or Buenos Aires<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

London –> Santaigo<\/strong>, for Patagonian Chile (Journey time: 17 – 28 hours)<\/span><\/p>\n

London –> Buenos Aires<\/strong>, for Patagonian Argentina (Journey time: 21 – 28 hours)<\/span><\/p>\n

It usually takes about 17 hours or up to 35 hours (max) to arrive right in the heart of Patagonia. Once you’re here, the time difference is only 3 or 4 hours (which may vary slightly depending on day light saving), so planning time to recover from jet lag isn\u2019t necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s best to get your flights booked as soon as possible, and you may get return flights for approx \u00a3800 if you book in advance. If you’re going to Torres del Paine in November for example, get your flights booked in August as the later you leave it the more expensive they get and you could end up paying as much as \u00a31500 for flights in December.\u00a0For more information about internal flight prices, please read our article about flights to Patagonia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"From El Chalten<\/span><\/p>\n

From Buenos Aires if you go to visit\u00a0El Chalten<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and trek in Los Glaciares National Park, you are roughly a 10 hour bus journey from Torres del Paine National Park itself.<\/p>\n

The bus from El Chalten to Calafate departs at peak season from 15th April to 15th October at 18:00pm. From 15th October – 15th December at 07:30am & 18:00pm. From 15th December – 28th February at 07:30am, 13:00pm and 18:00pm<\/p>\n

The trip takes between 3 and 4 hours and costs $5 Argentinian pesos each way. We have some great trips that start in Chalten, some visit the the Perito Moreno glacier and trek to the base of Mount Fitz Roy before proceeding on to Torres del Paine National Park:<\/p>\n

Patagonia Link<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Pura Patagonia Winter Trip<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

W Circuit and Fitz Roy Adventure<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Patagonian Wildernes<\/a>s<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"From Calafate\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Take the bus from Calafate to\u00a0Puerto Natales<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(the nearest town to Torres del Paine). This bus journey takes approximately 5 hours and luckily, you can sit back and relax with:\u00a0Turismo Zaahj<\/a><\/span>, in August to October they depart every Tue, Thur & Sat at 8:00am and in November every Mon, Wed and Fri at 16:30pm as well.<\/p>\n

After arriving in Puerto Natales it’s recommendable to have a good nights sleep in one of the town’s luxurious hotels,\u00a0Hotel & Spa Indigo<\/a><\/span>\u00a0or a more simple hostel such as\u00a0Hostal Amerindia<\/a><\/span>, really whichever your budget allows.<\/p>\n

The next day, take a private transfer into the park with Turismo Zaahj, a slightly bumpy journey that lasts about 2 hours. A private transfer for two people isn’t cheap, costing\u00a0US$ 520 or approx \u00a3314 for a trip in November 2011.<\/p>\n

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Or, catch the public bus with Turismo Zaahj, this takes about 2.5 hours into the park and stops off at Cerro Castillo on the way to pick up other travellers.<\/p>\n

\"\"From Punta Arenas<\/span><\/p>\n

If, like many people you fly from Santiago to Punta Arenas (a distance of nearly 2000 miles), you can choose either to stay the night in Punta Arenas before heading off to Puerto Natales the next day (we recommend Hotel Carpa Manzana, a pretty standard hotel but you get a good nights sleep, it’s reasonably priced and in the centre of town). Or you can land at Punta Arenas airport, and get the bus straight to Puerto Natales (depending on what time you land).<\/p>\n