The easiest way to get to Punta Arenas (the most important city within the area of Torres del Paine) is by plane. Lan Chile (One World) offers daily trips to Punta Arenas, 7 th capital region, from Santiago, Chile's capital city. They last 4:15 hours from Santiago, with a stop at Puerto Montt.
The airport of Punta Arenas is 20 Km from downtown Punta Arenas and 226 Km from Puerto Natales. If you wish to travel by land, remember it is 3,100 Km from Santiago and 2,300 Km from Puerto Montt. From Puerto Montt, to the south, you have to travel on the Argentine side and cross to Chile at the passage of Mount Aymond, near the Argentine city of Río Gallegos and 192 Km from Punta Arenas.
There are no regular buses from Santiago, but there are from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, the trip lasting over a day. From Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aerolíneas Argentinas offers a flight to El Calafate (lasting three hours) from where a trip by land to Punta Arenas will take you around 6 hours. At El Calafate there are buses to Puerto Natales (4 hours) and Punta Arenas (6 hours) every day, and they are scheduled so that they connect with those going to Torres del Paine.
Travelling from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales through the southern channels is a marvellous experience and a great way to get to know Chile and the natural frame of the Chilean Patagonia.
-Departures of the ship Navimag, only Mondays at 02:00 p.m., and it gets to Puerto Natales on Thursday morning, 11:00 a.m. |