Puerto Natales - Four Days with the Chilean Great Outdoors

I traveled to Chile, South America for the first time in November 2024. The first stop was Puerto Natales, a jump point to Chilean Patagonia. Here are my thoughts:

Day 1: Traveling and Settling in

My first stop in Chile was a town called Puerto Natales. Puerto Natales is located on the Chilean side of the southern tip of South America and was the furthest South that I have ever been on Earth. I almost did not make it there because I missed my international to domestic connection in Santiago, Chile from NYC-JFK, but I managed to get on a later flight from Santiago to another town even further South called Punta Arenas, Chilean Antarctica and double back north via coach bus or Uber.

When I finally landed, the bus schedules were extremely sparse. So instead of waiting 3-4 hours for the next bus, I decided to call an Uber to drive me two hours north to where I intended to go. On our way to the airport we saw some bike packers making their way north as well.

The cost of the Uber ride? $166

The Uber dropped me off at the airport at Puerto Natales, and from there the adventure truly began. I said goodbye and thank you to the driver, and the driver took a picture of their cab in front of the airport doors before he left. The airport was very small and deserted. The last flight (that I missed) had landed hours ago so all the workers and staff packed up for the day. My rental car was on the airport parking lot, so I had to wait a few minutes for the rental car company to send out their representative from their office in town to the airport. The rental car company upgraded my ride to a nice and new 2025 Subaru Forester with 600 KM / 372 miles on its odometer. I was probably the second person to rent the car.

I drove the car to my accommodation booked with my annual Capital One Venture X $300 travel credit, settled in for a little, and drove to the town center to eat my first Chilean meal at a local restaurant. Post meal I visited a Santander ATM to withdraw some Chilean Pesos, and went on a run to explore the town limits. My first night in South America concluded with a grocery run for water and snacks in preparation for the next handful of days.

Day 2: Easy Hiking in the Chilean Patagonia

My alarm was set for 7 AM, for the included breakfast at the hostel was open then. I was on my own schedule, because I had the Subaru Forester, and was not at the mercy of any bus timetables to get to the national park in Chilean Patagonia, Torres del Paine. I had some scrambled eggs, juice, a bread roll with cured meat and cheese, and a muffin to start my day. Then I drove about 1.5 hours to the entrance of Torres del Paine. The entrance that I drove to was not the main entrance, but was the closest entrance to the hikes that I planned on doing. The road to the park was on a mix of paved and unpaved roads filled with potholes. The view was breathtaking, but you had to keep your eyes on the road because the potholes fight dirty.

The first hike was Mirador Cuernos / "Horns Lookout". It was a short out and back hike that many people do on their first day in Chilean Patagonia. The sights were breathtaking, and every single angle looked like a MacBook wallpaper. I took our time and enjoyed the views, so the paths became more and more crowded as the day went on. For lunch, I stopped by the cafeteria by "Estacion Pudeto", which was a hub for a catamaran and campsite. The cafeteria served hot sandwiches cooked with a variety of proteins, but the one that I settled on was the sandwich that contained ham and cheese, as well as one with guanaco (which was the Chilean llama).

The next hike was Mirador Condor / "Condor Lookout". This was a short out and back hike too, but with a much steeper incline. You really had to take care descending after you have reached the lookout to the top. The trail was well-marked and was a trail that was less followed. I saw a ton of conglomerate rocks and beautiful 360 degrees views of what I would be visiting in the coming days.

Dinner plans were made back in Puerto Natales at a Chilean barbecue restaurant, followed by a short walk around town center.

Day 3: Mirador Las Torres Hike - an 8 hour 4000 feet of elevation gain to see Fitz Roy

As the title section suggests, day three revolved around the "Mirador Las Torres" / "Towers Lookout" hike. I started out late, because I was on vacation after all. When I pulled into the national park, the tour buses already arrived, and thus I had a ton of people to dodge and weave going up. This hike by far was the longest hike that I have ever done under drizzling and then snowing conditions. The trail was icy and snowy but filled with amazing views and well worth the monumental effort to speed hike to the top before everyone else. The only thing that I ate and drank during the hike was a roll of galletas and water.

Day 4: Grey Glacier Hike

Day 4 came with a new constraint, a catamaran timetable. To get to the trail head of the Grey Glacier hike, I needed to drive into the national park, park the car, and get on the catamaran before it left. If I missed the catamaran, then the next one would have been in 3 hours and that would have caused all sorts of issues, because of the catamaran ride back. This out and back hike was nice because the landscapes constantly evolved and comes with a view of a glacier along the way. The glacier and the glacier lake was less "cool" than the ones in Iceland, but it was a nice hike. I had to speed hike the second half because of time constraints.

The last meal in Puerto Natales was at a local seafood restaurant. It must have been very popular on social media because it was by far the place with the highest concentration of Asian people dining that I had ever seen in Chile.

Closing Thoughts

Puerto Natales and Chilean Patagonia blew my mind. The natural beauty of Chile was spectacular, and I am very happy to have planned and made a visit.