Puerto Natales Patagonia, Chile

Welcome to Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales is the closest village to Torres del Paine (TDP), which is only a 1hr drive if entering TDP from the west or a 2hr drive entering from the east. It is a small, almost quaint village sitting beside the “Canal Señoret” and facing the Sound (or Fiord) of Last Hope (“Seno de Ultima Esperanza”).

It is 250km north of Punta Arenas (3hrs) and 120km south of the Laguna Amarga entrance to Torres del Paine National Park (by road) (2hrs), but only 70km by road (1hr 15min) from TDP if entering from the west.

We suggest that you consider staying in Puerto Natales to benefit from a village atmosphere, nice restaurants, and good hotels at less cost than in the Park.

Description

Puerto Natales is a small settlement located in an area surrounded by natural beauty. From the water's edge you can see at the far end of the "Fiord of Last Hope" the glaciers coming down the mountain and if you know where to look on a clear day you can also see the western part of the Torres del Paine Central Massif – the snow-covered Paine Mountain. It is a nice place to rest pre and / or post Torres del Paine. It is also an ideal base to stay at and visit Torres del Paine each day.

A good, paved road connects Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas and takes about 3hrs to drive. The road to Torres del Paine is paved as far as the border village Cerro Castillo, which takes about 50min to drive to and then a further 1hr 10min to drive the partly-paved road to Laguna Amarga in Torres del Paine. The other route from Puerto Natales to the Villa Serrano end of Torres del Paine is unpaved and takes just over one hour to drive and leads to the western entrance into Torres del Paine and the central CONAF Administration centre. This route also passes by the interesting and impressive "Milodon Cave" - a large, high ceiling cave dating back to prehistoric times.

Apart from Puerto Natales being an ideal stop-over place or an excellent base from which to enter Torres del Paine on day trips, it is also a base from which to travel to El Calafate or Punta Arenas. Accommodation in Puerto Natales at the high end is at an extremely good level.

One of the benefits to staying based in Puerto Natales is that there are the attractions of evening life such as restaurants and bars.

If you can walk down to the shore from the Church and look to your right, you will get a magnificent view of the fiord (or sound) and glaciated mountains at the end.

Puerto Natales Places of Interest

Puerto Natales is the ideal place to stay pre, and post, your visit to Torres del Paine, or to be based all the time in Puerto Natales at a lower-cost hotel than staying in Torres del Paine itself, yet visit the Park every day.

Read about some of the places to visit in and around Puerto Natales, including in Torres del Paine as well some activities to participate in.

We Offer

We offer many itineraries that include a night or more in Puerto Natales. This is an ideal place to break the road trip between Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine (TDP) as well as relax and enjoy the tranquillity of the natural fiord (see below) beside which is the village.

There are also a couple of high-end, "World Class" hotels that merit a few nights stay to enjoy what they have. Another option we offer is to create an itinerary where you are based in Puerto Natales and venture out daily to Torres del Paine either to do the W trek or to see the sights. Staying in Natales will enable you to have a single, comfortable base from which to explore the area and return back to at the end of each day.

We suggest a night in Natales upon arrival and the next day either a fast-speed zodiac into Torres del Paine, a road transfer into TDP, or just a day to rest. A typical itinerary would be 1 night Natales, 4 nights TDP, 1 night Natales or over to El Calafate, however, if you have more time more nights would be even better.

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