A trip to Patagonia is akin to a trekking adventure in Torres del Paine to many. A lot of visitors travel to the southern tip of South America to test their mettle and hike the W trek. So-called due to its distinctive W trail path, the W trek is equal parts breathtaking and grueling. However, when we traveled to Patagonia, we had a slightly different plan. We chose to hike only parts of the W trek. Here are the reasons why you should not hike the full W trek in Patagonia.
Important notes about the W trek
The W trek is unarguably the most famous trek in the Chilean part of Patagonia. As you started your research into Patagonia travel, you were likely bombarded with W trek highlights, insane views on the trek, and how you can scale its famous mountains.
However, one crucial information to know about the W trek is that the main points of interest are the three top tips of the letter W. The leftmost tip is the Glacier Grey, the middle tip is the Frenchman Valley and the rightmost tip is the famed Tres Torres.
Even if you skip the full W trek, you can absolutely trek to all these beautiful viewpoints. Read on to know how.
Why you should not hike the full W trek
Here are 10 reasons why we chose to not hike the full W trek.
1. The W trek is long.
When I first started my preparation for the trek, I learned it was 50 miles long. Way, way longer than anything I had hoped to ever be able to walk. 50 miles seemed daunting. And I am not exaggerating.
I thought that it would be too much for me, as someone who had only done 3-5 miles hiking on average to take this one. Hence, I started looking at alternate options.
2. Finding accommodation can be tricky.
This is the Number 1 reason why most people avoid trekking the full W trek. If you look at the map above, you will see that the W trek is a one-way hike through the park. You will need accommodations within the park in a specific sequence in order to complete it in 4-5 days. Additionally, accommodations (refugios and campsites) are scarce, and they fill up fast.
If you do not jump on the bookings within a few days after they open, you will likely not find a perfect rest stop in the sequence you need. Hence, due to the tricky booking situation, people choose to go with a tour agency instead.
However, that was not our reason for doing so. We were able to find accommodations in the sequence we wanted because we had the opportunity to book them as soon as they opened up. You can do the same on this page. The bookings usually open up by the end of June or early July for the season (October onwards).
3. You do not want to carry heavy backpacks throughout the hike
Full disclosure: Neither I nor my husband is a backpacker. In fact, I am not super into trekking and actually had to train to prepare for our Patagonia adventure.
Note: If you are on the same boat and are planning to train for Patagonia, use this helpful guide I put together on getting ready to trek there.
Now, as you can imagine, the idea of backpacking from one end of the Torres del Paine National Park to the other did not appeal to us. Add to the fact that those backpacks would be heavy with clothes, equipment, and tents. Therefore, we decided to skip the W trek, which is a multi-day hike, and do day hikes only.
4. Logistical challenges of ending the hike at one end of the trek and having to travel back to the other end.
If you look at the W trek map (see above), you will notice that you have to travel between the two bottom tips of the letter W to get back to your starting point. Unless you carry all your travel luggage with you (i.e. you’re backpacking), and you head straight to your next destination at the end of the trek, you will need to do the same. It is unavoidable no matter whether you choose to hike east-to-west or west-to-east.
Note that most buses to and from Puerto Natales stop at the main entrance on the east side of the park, near Hotel Las Torres. If you hike east-to-west, you need to pre-book transportation from the west side to this location.
This part of traveling back to your starting point is an added logistical challenge. You will need to rely on buses or shared vans that travel between these spots. If you don’t want to deal with the hassle, doing day trips is your best bet.
5. You have a packed itinerary
If you’ve read my other posts, you know that we like to do more rather than less on our travels. We both work full-time, so vacations are precious time for us to explore new places and experience new cultures. So, we tend to have an um-shall-we-say tight itinerary.
That is why we decided to skip the complete W trek and go with a tour group instead. Doing so helped us to not spend time going from one main highlight to the next, as well as waiting for buses to get from point A to B.
6. You want to experience a multi-day hike with a tour guide
Before booking the Patagonia trip, we weighed the pros and cons of doing a multi-day hike by ourselves vs. getting a guide. I read in many places that Torres del Paine can be easily navigated on your own, and you don’t really need a guide.
But, since I had never experienced a guided hiking tour before, we decided that this would be something fun to try. And I must say that it was a fantastic experience hiking with Chile Nativo. Our guide, Danny, was top-notch!
7. Parts of the W trek are said to be not-so-interesting
This is another reason to not hike the full W trek in Patagonia. From what I have heard and read, parts of the W trek; basically, the parts in between the upper tips of the W, can be boring. While the scenic beauty of Torres del Paine National Park is undeniable, some parts are not as exciting as others.
Skipping those parts allowed us to explore other regions outside the W. For example, it was possible for us to hike around Laguna Azul because we had some extra time after skipping parts of the W trek.
8. You want an “extra” experience
Traveling for us is all about making memories for a lifetime. Traveling to Patagonia definitely felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us. Although, now that we have been there and fallen in love with that place, who knows, we may go back!
However, since we knew that it was going to be an unbelievable trip, we wanted to make it “extra”. While sleeping in a refugio would have been interesting for sure, we decided to go for a glamping experience that you will find near the borders or outskirts of the park.
9. You do not want to sleep in tents at night
Related to the point above, we knew we did not want to spend the nights in a tent in a sleeping bag. The hikes were going to be hard enough, and we wanted real beds to rest up overnight to wake up refreshed for the next day’s hike.
The refugios would have been a good alternative option for us. I was keeping close tabs on when the reservations would open up to book the refugios in the sequence we wanted starting about 5 months before our trip. But alas, when I found them about a week after they opened up reservations for the season, I found only tent options for 1 out of 5 nights we wanted to spend on the W trek.
This (along with other reasons) deterred us from booking accommodation and doing the complete W trek.
10. We wanted a personalized experience and a moderately tailor-made itinerary
The W trek is a very standardized hike from one side to the other. There are a few options for personalizing it if you choose to do the complete W trek.
Our travel goals were to have a personalized experience and venture off the beaten path. Going with the Chile Nativo tour that we ultimately picked allowed us to see the main highlights of the W and add on other fun adventures. They included exploring the region of Laguna Azul and tracking pumas in the regions surrounding Torres del Paine National Park.
Cons of not hiking the full W trek in Patagonia
I want to be fair and provide a clear picture of the pros and cons of this decision of not hiking the full W trek in Patagonia. You should take into account these factors and make the decision based on your travel style and goals.
The following are the cons of not hiking the full W trek.
1. You need to catch a boat to get to the Frenchman Valley lookout
When you choose to stay outside the national park, you will need to take a boat from Pudeto to reach the starting point of the Frenchman Valley lookout hike (near Camp Frances). This, by itself, is not a problem. However, the issue is that the first boat starts from the south side of Lago Nordenskjold at 9 am in the morning. By the time you reach the trailhead, it is 10 am already. Thus, you lose out on an early start for your hike.
Because of this timing issue, we could only reach the Frances lookout. The last 2 miles of this hike were challenging with lots of rocks and pebbles and elevation gain. By the time we reached the Frances lookout, it was around 1 pm, and time to head back in order to catch the last boat to the south and back to our camp. If you are a fast hiker, this should not be a problem for you. However, if you are a beginner or moderate hiker, note that you may need to skip the Britanico lookout on this hike.
While we don’t regret missing out on this lookout, I have heard that the views are even more stunning from the top. From there, you can view the glacier even closer.
2. Longer days because you are driven to the starting point
Staying outside the park also means that you will need to drive to the starting point of the trails. In other words, you will need to wake up earlier. You will also have less chance of being the first few people on the trails because travelers staying within the park will have a better chance of starting before you.
3. You cannot say that you’ve done the W trek
This is a con only if it matters to you whether you have done the W trek or not. Some people want to be able to say that they have hiked the W. And see everything along the way. If you don’t do the full W trek, obviously you cannot add this feather to your cap.
However, this brings me back to the point of deciding what your travel goals are. Does it matter to you to be able to tell others that you’ve done the full W trek? Or is it more important for you to see the highlights and do other things instead? For us, our goals were very clear we wanted to have more time to explore other parts of the beautiful Patagonia region. So, that decision worked very well for us.
4. It won’t be a traditional backpacking and camping experience
While you can still camp on the outskirts of the park, or better yet, pick a glamping site, not doing the full W trek means not getting to do the “full backpacking experience”. What I mean by that is, that your days won’t start with packing up your sleeping bed, putting away your belongings inside your backpack, and hitting the trails.
Instead, you will wake up on a (hopefully) regular bed. Grab some tea or coffee in the morning, grab a breakfast and lunch bag, and head to the car to drive to the trailhead. So, if you are looking for an experience more closely related to an authentic backpacking/camping experience, this is a con.
Are you wondering if you need a rental car on your Patagonia trip? Read this comprehensive post I put together to help you make that decision!
5. You are at the mercy of your fellow travelers in your group
If you opt for a guided tour, there will be other people in your group. Unless you opt for a completely personal tour, which I will warn you, is extremely expensive. Now, the con with having other people in your group is that you are only as fast as the slowest member in that group. Additionally, having to corral many people with 1 or 2 guides tends to slow the group down naturally too.
That is why small groups are the best, and what I would recommend. We opted for Chile Nativo because they do only small group tours (maximum of 8 people). We had 6 travelers in our group and it was lovely making friends with them, and hiking together.
Do we regret hiking only parts of the full W trek?
Absolutely not. That’s the gist of it. There are many reasons why skipping the full W trek could be the right decision for you. Knowing what to expect, doing your research, and having a solid understanding of the experiences that are important for you, and those that aren’t are important considerations. That will allow you to make the right tradeoffs.
Just note that no matter whether you pick the complete W trek or partial, you will still have a fabulous experience in Patagonia.
By the way, as you plan your epic Patagonia trip, keep in mind these 16 mistakes you should avoid.
What is the best time to travel to Torres del Paine, Patagonia?
The best time to visit Patagonia is during the summer. Since Patagonia is located in the Southern hemisphere, the peak summertime is December to January. From the second half of December to the first half of January, there are a lot of tourists.
If you want to avoid the crowds but still enjoy great weather, plan your visit between November and early December, or late January to early March. Starting in April the weather becomes very cold and windy with the onset of fall. Winter brings about lots of snow and lasts until September. During this time, the Torres del Paine National Park remains closed and other trails become inaccessible. So, it is best to avoid that time.
Presentation is organized nicely, many related issues are highlighted helping others to plan to visit specific areas of Patagonia
Thank you! I am glad to hear that this post was a good read!
Something challenging but achievable, once one is having confidence
Absolutely!