Torres del Paine Circuit

Puerto Natales · Chile

Challenging9 daysSouth America~£2,800 est.

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Overview

The O Circuit is the full lap of the Paine massif — about 130 km over eight to ten days, folding the classic W into a bigger loop around the mountain's rarely photographed northern side. The back half is the reason to come: quiet trails through southern beech forest past Lago Dickson, the Los Perros glacier, and then the crux — John Gardner Pass (1,200 m), where you crest a rise and the entire Grey Glacier unrolls beneath you, a white highway pouring out of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Condors ride the thermals overhead most days. Patagonian weather is the serious variable: winds regularly exceed 100 km/h at the pass, and rangers close it outright in bad conditions, so build a spare day into your itinerary. The circuit runs anticlockwise only, with a daily quota on the back side. Book campsites months ahead — they are split across CONAF and two private operators, and high-season pitches (December–February) sell out embarrassingly fast. Refugios and serviced camps with meals exist at most stops, so you can trade money for pack weight. Around £2,800 covers ten days with camps, some refugio meals and the Puerto Natales logistics, excluding flights.