Chile's Patagonia Luxury Walk (Torres Del Paine Peaks, Lakes & Glaciers) 8D7N, Fully Guided

THREE HIKING OPTIONS:
Level 1, Approx. 5 km (3 miles), 1-2 hours walking, Elevation gain: 305 m (1,000 ft)
Level 2, Approx. 6 km (4 miles), 2-3 hours walking, Elevation gain: 335 m (1,100 ft)
Level 3, Approx. 13 km (8 miles), 3-5 hours walking, Elevation gain: 427 m (1,400 ft)

On the first day of the trip, meet your tour leaders at 8 a.m. at Remote Patagonia Lodge located at Ruta 9 Norte kilómetro 1 in Puerto Natales, Chile. Please ensure you arrive dressed in your hiking clothes and bring your luggage and a daypack containing your rain gear and anything else you may want for the day's hike (your luggage will be transported to our hotel).

¡Bienvenidos a Patagonia! Welcome to Patagonia! After meeting your tour leaders in Puerto Natales, a scenic shuttle takes us to the shores of Laguna Sofia, where we begin our first hike up the Cerro (Mount) Benitez flanks. Expansive open slopes peppered with wind-bent cypresses offer ideal views across the lake and the snow-capped Andes, with infrequent sections of the trail taking you through sheltering groves of Nothofagus trees or southern beeches. As breathtaking as this short morning hike is, it is only a preview of what's to come.

Keep on shuttling to our remote home for the night, Estancia Cerro Guido, an elegant reinvented ranch seated on eastern Chile's impressive rangeland where the distant peaks of Torres del Paine National Park spear the horizon. Savour lunch in Estancia's stunning rustic-chic dining room before travelling to the shores of glacial Lago Sarmiento for our afternoon hike. This route is a great option if you're hungry for your first close-up view of the "Torres" (Towers), the spectacular peaks that are the reason for the national park's name. However, you can also relax at the estancia, adjusting after your inbound travel or taking advantage of their in-house activity offerings like horseback riding, fly-fishing, and wilder options like sheep shearing and puma tracking (These activities are at own expense).

Tonight, we convene for a welcome reception and toast to our upcoming week in Chilean Patagonia as alpenglow lights up this gorgeous landscape. Then, we settle down to a delicious first dinner featuring unique flavours and textures of the local gaucho culture together.

THREE HIKING OPTIONS:
Level 1, Approx. 3 km (2 miles), 1-2 hours walking, Elevation gain: 244 m (800 ft)
Level 2, Approx. 6 km (4 miles), 2-3 hours walking, Elevation gain: 396 m (1,300 ft)
Level 4, Approx. 13 km (8 miles), 4-6 hours walking, Elevation gain: 701 m (2,300 ft)

Experience your morning the way the estancia's original 19th-century ranchers did—wake up to the unreal brilliance of the midnight sun before preparing for a day exploring the wilderness, not many people get to see on Cerro Guido's 386-square-mile property. We join a morning shuttle to the Sierra Baguales, a volcanic mountain range marking the natural border between Argentina and Chile.

Your tour leaders and local guides from the estancia accompany you on a jagged off-trail route, with stops to discover marine fossils tucked in the rocks and learn about the indigenous human history of the region. Broad valleys give way as we climb dramatic peaks surrounded by small alpine lakes. Keep an eye out for animals—if you're lucky, you may witness herds of guanacos, the llama's wild ancestor, or of baguales, the wild horses that give these mountains their name.

At the end of the trail, return to the hotel for some downtime to admire the extensive Patagonian views or another opportunity to participate in one of the hotel's optional activities. Tonight, dinner is at your leisure in the estancia's dining room.

TWO HIKING OPTIONS:
Level 1, Approx. 6 km (4 miles), 1-2 hours walking, Elevation gain: 183 m (600 ft)
Level 3, Approx. 13 km (8 miles), 3-5 hours walking, Elevation gain: 610 m (2,000 ft)

This morning, pack a go-to lunch, lace up your boots, and head to the seldom-visited section of Estancia Cerro Guido's private reserve. This time, our destination is Valle las Chinas, where the Las China River runs. Your tour leaders and expert local guides lead the way as you hike high up the valley walls, with panoramas of the vast pampas peppered with cliffs and lakes growing more and more impressive as you ascend. Our destination is a ridgeline with a dramatic lunar landscape of rock formations. Eat your lunch whenever you get hungry on the trail, admiring the otherworldly terrain that made Patagonia world-famous as early explorers and settlers wrote astonishing reports back home to Europe.

You can choose to return earlier for more time at the estancia or delve deep into the valley on a longer option. Again, this layover day is the perfect choice to fit in some of Estancia Cerro Guido's other guided outdoor excursions. It could be in the afternoon after hiking our shorter option or for a full day if you skip our hike altogether.

Tonight, we finally dine at Cerro Guido before delving into Torres del Paine National Park tomorrow.

THREE HIKING OPTIONS:
Level 3, Approx. 13 km (8 miles), 3-5 hours walking, Elevation gain: 183 m (600 ft)
Level 5, Approx. 21 km (13 miles), 5-7+ hours walking, Elevation gain: 274 m (900 ft)
Level 5, Approx. 21 km (13 miles), 5-7+ hours walking, Elevation gain: 762 m (2,500 ft)

Join a shuttle to Estancia Lazo by the shores of Laguna Verde. From here, start your hike through a native forest until you come across scenic vistas of the Paine River and Lake Toro. Keep your sights on the trailside views that give you a rich taste of the diverse vegetation and birdlife of Torres Del Paine.

The trail ends at Weber Bridge, an isthmus where the main road crosses the narrowest point of el Toro, offering vistas across the turquoise water to the rocky spires in the distance. From here, board a quick shuttle to our lodge on the shores of Lago Grey. The hotel is encircled by a river, a crystalline glacier, granite cliffs, and forests; it serves as an idyllic location for a getaway in this region. Regain your energy with your lunch before choosing between one of two out-and-back hikes. One hike loops from the hotel to the Lago Grey lookout, catching up-close water views. Or, if you're a scenic view junkie, conquer the steep scramble up the sides of Monte Ferrier. The trail eventually levels out through a mossy beech forest and emerges on the bare mountain top, making it feel like you're hiking in the sky.

It's an ethereal experience to watch the day trippers slowly filter away, leaving us with the alpenglow and the few others lucky enough to spend the night here in the heart of the national park. This evening, surrender to the pace of the wilderness—dinner is at your leisure whenever you choose to go down to the hotel's dining room.

TWO HIKING OPTIONS:
Level 1, Approx. 8 km (5 miles), 1-2 hours walking, Elevation gain: 305 m (1,000 ft)
Level 2, Approx. 14 km (9 miles), 2-3 hours walking, Elevation gain: 549 m (1,800 ft)

Today, we get a close-up look at Lago Grey from the water itself. The lake is famed for the maze of floating icebergs that drift across its surface after calving off the surface of Grey Glacier. A thrilling sight Patagonia offers is the coastal view of a glacial wall giving way to blue water in the mountains instead of at the seashore.

As soon as you're on the far side of the lake, make landfall at Refugio Grey, the trailhead site for today's out-and-back hike. The trail leading to Refugio Paine Grande is part of the popular O Circuit; the backpacking trek encircles the Torres del Paine. As you feast your sights on the ever-changing views of the glacier, the cliffs, and the lake, the trail crosses many of the park's iconic swinging bridges—some small wooden footbridges across running streams, others metal suspension bridges hanging over foggy gorges. You can choose where to turn back along the trail, though your leaders will guide you to make it as far as either one of our favourite lookout points.

Regardless of your hike, the day ends with a ferry back across Lago Grey to our lodge, where R&R with scenic panorama awaits, followed by another group dinner of wholesome Chilean favourites.

TWO HIKING OPTIONS:
Level 2, Approx. 3 km (2 miles), 2-3 hours walking, Elevation gain: 183 m (600 ft)
Level 4, Approx. 10 km (6 miles), 4-6 hours walking, Elevation gain: 274 m (900 ft)

Today, we're going road trip style. We break up the journey to the south entrance of the park, our next stomping grounds with many stops for rejuvenating bite-sized hikes. First, we set out to Mirador Condores, a viewpoint providing vistas of heath-covered mountainsides and the dramatic, meandering shape of Lago Pehoe. Back on the road, we take a break to stretch our legs at the Salto Grande waterfall. Then, we conquer the longer trail to Mirador Cuernos, winding along the shore of Lago Nordenskjöld.

If the weather is favourable, seize the opportunity to admire the front-row views of the Cuernos (Horns) del Paine. The spindly Torres (Towers) are undoubtedly the most majestic mountains of Patagonia. Still, Cuernos's equally distinctive silhouette, with their pale ice cream-scoop sides topped by dark granite points, is a wonder to behold. Witness them from every angle on this afternoon route while you simultaneously soak in the classic Patagonian landscape of lush brushy grassland sweeping down to lakeshores and vast stream valleys peppered by the occasional lone tree.

Our destination at the end of the day is our final hotel of the trip, Rio Serrano Hotel + Spa—a family-owned hotel seated on the bank of the Serrano River and offering stunning national park views. Settle in and enjoy a soak in the indoor hot pool, or even book a spa treatment (at own expense). You have the rest of the evening to indulge in activities you like, and dinner tonight is at your leisure. Look forward to dinner as it features an expert fusion of local ingredients to birth a unique culinary experience that reflects the region's gastronomic diversity.

TWO HIKING OPTIONS:
Level 2, Approx. 10 km (6 miles), 2-3 hours walking, Elevation gain: 183 m (600 ft)
Level 3, Approx. 18 km (11 miles), 3-5 hours walking, Elevation gain: 396 m (1,300 ft)

This morning, we return to the park for the grand finale of our trip, the treasured Valle Frances (French Valley) hike. This out-and-back into the heart of the Paine massif itself is the central arm of the W Trek, the reason for its "W" shape on the map. After the shuttle's final leg, a ferry across Lago Pehoe drops us at the trailhead. We then begin the hike across winding hills that gradually stair-step us higher above the water. Journey past the tiny hanging lake of Lago Skottsberg before hiking into the Valle Frances, where a curve of rock walls overshadows steep slopes dense with beech forests and, eventually, the glistening mass of a hanging glacier.

If you hike the full option, turn back after soaking in the panorama from the soaring Mirador del Frances. Save up some energy to enjoy the trail from a different angle as you descend, watching the grasslands and their lakes surface from the opening of the narrow valley. Then, by ferry and shuttle, we return to Rio Serrano to rest and clean up before gathering in the evening to toast our journey. Dinner tonight is a gourmet and festive affair in the hotel dining room as we exchange stories with the group and bid farewell to this magical week.

Level 1, Approx. 5 km (3 miles), 1-2 hours walking, Elevation gain: minimal elevation

Join your tour leaders for one last hike this morning, navigating the broad Rio Serrano and relishing the last dose of Andean views and brisk, bracing Patagonian air. Of course, you can opt for a leisurely morning at the hotel soaking in last views of the Andes, a perfect time to reflect on your adventure.

Mid-morning, join the shuttle back to Puerto Natales, where your trip ends.

Note: This itinerary is provided as an example only – prevailing conditions and local arrangements may cause variation.