To the lagoon below the towers
Base of the Towers day hike from Puerto Natales
★ 4.8 · 878 written reviews
- Fromfrom $99
- Length15 hrs
- CancellationIncluded
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- No-fee cancellation up to 24 hrs before
- Book now, pay later
- Fills up 6 days in advance
What's included
What's covered, what to bring, what's extra
Included4
- Pickup in Puerto Natales and the ride back
- A live guide in English or Spanish
- Around 8 hours in the park, mostly on the trail
- The walk up the Ascencio valley to the lagoon
Bring5
- Your CONAF park pass, bought online ahead
- Layers for wind, rain and sun
- Broken-in hiking boots and trekking poles
- Water, lunch and snacks for the day
- Travel and medical insurance
Left out2
- The park pass is not named in the listing
- Lunch is not named in the listing
15hours
from Puerto Natales and back
878reviews
from guests on GetYourGuide
22km
on foot to the lagoon and back
850m
the highest point of the walk
How they differ
Four ways to spend a day in Torres del Paine
A long break at the top
Puerto Natales: Base of the Towers Trekking Experience
★ 4.8 · 204 written reviews
- Fromfrom $95
- Length14 hrs
- CancellationIncluded
Small group, capped
Puerto Natales: Base Torres Small Group Trekking
★ 4.9 · 196 written reviews
- Fromfrom $109
- Length14 hrs
- CancellationIncluded
The park by van, no long climb
Puerto Natales: Torres del Paine Full Day Tour
★ 4.8 · 1,080 written reviews
- Fromfrom $75
- Length12 hrs
- CancellationIncluded
Making sense of it
The hike sold here beside two other Base Torres days and the most reviewed park tour, with live ratings and prices.
Live GetYourGuide data: starting prices per person.
What people say
Words from travelers
4.8
★★★★★878 reviews, all real
Hugo led our hike and he was brilliant, seasoned and easy to chat with all the way up. I have already told my friends they should book it.
HaydenJuly 2026, with friends
A long and tough day on the trail, yet everything ran smoothly. Our guide kept an eye on each of us on the steep parts. Bring sturdy boots and plenty of layers.
ChanJune 2026, as a couple
Before setting off, the guides told us what to carry and what lay ahead, and all day they shared stories of the park, its science and its history. Superbly run.
YussefJune 2026, traveling solo
Our guides turned it into a fun day, and one of them always walked last so that slower hikers felt safe and supported. The view at the lagoon was stunning.
JessicaJune 2026, traveling solo
The trek was hard for me, but the team was patient, let us rest and handed out electrolytes, and they kept me included even though most of the group spoke Spanish.
JoseMay 2026, traveling solo
Hugo and Felipe were kind, careful and very professional with our whole group, and Marco drove us to the park and back safely.
CamilaMay 2026, as a couple
the day in brief
What the Base of the Towers hike gives you in a day
The Base of the Towers hike sold on this site is a guided outing of 15 hours from Puerto Natales to the foot of the granite towers and back, and the van calls at your hotel door while your guide talks you up the trail in English or Spanish. Getting there and back takes 2 hours by road in each direction, and the 8 hours in between belong to the trail inside Torres del Paine National Park.
On foot you cover a 22 km out-and-back route that leaves the road just before Hotel Las Torres, climbs the Ascencio valley to the El Chileno lodge, threads a lenga forest and ends with the steep scramble to the lagoon, where Torre Sur, Torre Central and Torre Norte stand above the water. It is a big mountain day, and the reward at the top is the view that made the park famous.
Seats are priced from $99; reserving costs nothing today, and a change of heart is free up to 24 hours ahead. The listing does not name lunch or the national park pass among its inclusions, so pack food and buy the pass online before the day.
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Full Torres del Paine listings, live on GetYourGuide
Open Torres del Paine toursPhoto tour
Granite towers, a glacial lagoon and the valley below
Photos from days on the Base Torres trail
why the towers
Granite needles carved by ice
The towers are the face of a mountain range that stands apart from the Andes. CONAF, the park authority, describes the Paine massif as an independent system of sedimentary rock on top and granite at its base, shaped by advancing and retreating glaciers over more than twelve million years. The pale granite is what you see in the towers; the darker cap shows on neighboring peaks.
Its highest summit reaches 3050 meters above sea level, so even at the lagoon you look up at walls that tower over you. The park around them dates from a decree of 13 May 1959, and UNESCO named it a Biosphere Reserve in 1978.
That geology explains the drama of the final view. A glacier once filled the hollow where the lagoon now lies, and the boulder field you climb at the end is the debris it left behind. Standing on those rocks, with the granite rising sheer from the water, you are looking at a landscape that ice made and wind still shapes every day.
Book with a free cancel optionthe trail
From the river bridge to the lagoon
The route begins in the Central Sector, passes Hotel Las Torres and crosses the bridge over the Ascencio River. From there it rises along the flank of Almirante Nieto into the valley, with the river far below and the first views up towards the mountains you are heading for.
Halfway, the Chileno refuge offers a rest, water and a cafeteria, and it is the last outpost before the final ascent. Above it the path enters the lenga forest, quieter and shaded, before the trees thin out and the moraine begins: a steep field of boulders without shade, where the pace drops and every step counts.
At the top the ground levels out beside the lagoon, and the towers appear all at once above the water. Walkers spread out along the rocks to eat, rest and take photographs. Then comes the long descent by the same path, which asks for as much care as the climb.
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Your hike day
Pick a clear day for the towers.
Choose your date from Puerto Natales, with free cancellation until 24 hours before.
when to go
The walking season and the hours of light
The trail is open to walkers without a guide from 16 September, according to CONAF's bulletin for this season. Winter is guide-only: Sernatur, Chile's tourism board, requires a certified guide and specialist kit, and storms can stop outings altogether. The independent walking season runs from spring to autumn.
Daylight is generous in summer. Las Torres Patagonia counts about 17 hours of light around the December solstice. The park's 2026-2027 season bulletin still caps the hours on this trail: in midsummer the gate at Laguna Amarga stops sending walkers up after 10:00, and the lookout must be empty by 16:00, with earlier limits in September and late autumn.
Each season has its character. Summer brings long days and the strongest wind, spring and autumn bring quieter paths and cooler air, and the lenga forest turns red and gold in autumn. Pick your month for the conditions you prefer, and keep a spare day in Puerto Natales in case the weather closes the trail.
Book with a free cancel optionRating split
878 travelers weigh in
4.8
Excellent★★★★★
- Rated 5 stars100%
- Rated 4 stars0%
- Rated 3 stars0%
- Rated 2 stars0%
- Rated 1 star0%
The bar lengths use the 10 freshest reviews in our dataset, not the whole pool; GetYourGuide puts its favorites on top. The full 878 reviews score 4.8.
Find dates and open places
from $99 · cancel, no charge
Confirmation at booking · by GetYourGuide
what guests praise
What recent hikers say about the day
Read the newest reviews of this hike and one theme runs through nearly all of them: the guides. Guests write about guides who check everybody's pace on the steep sections, explain what to bring before the start, and share history and science along the trail. Several mention by name the guides who kept them going on the climb.
Reviewers are honest about the effort too. They describe a long and physically demanding day, very hard in the last part, and they praise the patience of a team that allowed short breaks and helped walkers who struggled. One recalls a guide always walking at the back so that people of every level stayed safe.
The drivers get thanks as well, for careful driving on the long road in and out of the park. The listing carries 878 reviews, and the guide earns the top mark in its rating breakdown. Those scores come from people who walked the whole distance, which makes them worth more than a number on a sightseeing ride.
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FAQ
Know more,worry less.
How long is the guided hike from Puerto Natales?
15 hours door to door.
Allow 2 hours by road in each direction plus 8 hours on the trail in the park.
How far do you walk?
About 22 km.
The trek goes out and back from Hotel Las Torres to the lagoon below the towers.
How hard is the Mirador Base Las Torres hike?
Medium to high.
CONAF rates the trail medium to high, with a demanding final section over the moraine.
What time is pickup?
Between 6:15 and 6:45.
The van stops at your accommodation in Puerto Natales and brings you back at about 21:00 to 21:30.
Which languages does the guide speak?
English and Spanish.
Your guide works in English or Spanish, as the listing states.
Is the park entrance included?
It is not listed.
Get the CONAF pass on pasesparques.cl a day or more before; adults from abroad pay CLP 32,400.
Is lunch included?
It is not listed.
Bring food from town; the refuge at Chileno also sells meals halfway up.
Do I need insurance?
Yes.
The listing requires travel and medical insurance for this advanced trek.
Can children join?
Not young children.
The park authority advises against this climb for young children and elderly walkers.
What if the weather is bad?
The day may change or cancel.
Unsafe weather can alter or cancel the hike, and you can cancel free up to 24 hours before.
the climb
How demanding the walk really is
Nobody official calls this an easy walk. The park authority puts the trail in its medium-to-high band and plans 8 hours for the round trip. Our listing describes the trek as advanced, over inclines and uneven ground, and asks every walker for travel and medical insurance.
The hardest stretch comes last. The final 1.4 km over the glacial moraine is rated demanding by CONAF, which also warns that the boulders can hurt leg joints. This season's bulletin steers families with young children and older hikers elsewhere and suggests seeing a doctor before you travel.
Las Torres Patagonia suggests testing yourself first on a 10 km local trail and watching how your knees handle the climbs and descents. If you rarely walk more than a couple of hours, train before the trip with long hilly days, and be ready to turn around if the clock or your legs say so. The lagoon will still be there on another visit.
Book with a free cancel option3050m
Above the lagoon
The highest summit of the Paine massif.
The towers belong to a range separate from the Andes, granite at the base and darker sedimentary rock above, carved by glaciers over more than twelve million years.
the park pass
The national park pass and how to buy it
Everyone entering Torres del Paine needs a CONAF pass, and our listing does not name it among its inclusions. Visitors from abroad pay CLP 32,400 for each day once they turn 18; between 13 and 17 the rate is CLP 16,600, while those of 12 or under pay nothing.
CONAF wants the purchase made online, on pasesparques.cl, no later than 24 hours before you enter. Las Torres Patagonia advises keeping the QR code printed or as a screenshot, since there is no signal to download it at the gate. The trail itself crosses a private reserve that charges no entrance fee.
Do it the evening before at the latest, on a good connection in Puerto Natales, and check that the name on the pass matches your passport. It is a small task, but a missing pass at the gate is the kind of problem nobody can solve at dawn in the middle of the steppe.
Book with a free cancel optionThe day in brief
Up the valley.Over the moraine.Under the towers.
This Base Torres hike is a guided day of 15 hours from Puerto Natales, with pickup and a guide in English or Spanish. The walk itself is 22 km in total, starting near Hotel Las Torres and passing the El Chileno lodge and a lenga forest on its way to the base of the towers. It starts from $99, with free cancellation until 24 hours before.
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what to pack
Packing for wind, sun and rock
Dress for every kind of weather. CONAF reminds walkers that conditions change quickly and asks for clothing in layers fit for rain, wind and even snow. A breathable base, a fleece and a waterproof, windproof shell cover most days, with gloves and a warm hat for the lagoon.
Your boots matter most on the moraine. Las Torres Patagonia advises tall hiking boots you have walked in before. CONAF's park page still lists poles and microspikes as required on this trail, while its bulletin for this season strongly recommends poles; you can rent them in Puerto Natales.
Carry a full water bottle to refill at the hotel lobby and at Chileno, a solid lunch, sunscreen for the shadeless final climb and some cash, since cards depend on a satellite link. Everything you bring in goes home with you: there are no bins on the trail.
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wind and closures
When the wind closes the trail
Patagonian wind is not a figure of speech. Las Torres Patagonia describes gusts of up to 110 km/h in the park, and the summer months bring the strongest of them. On the narrow pass and the open moraine, a gust like that can stop a walker in their tracks.
When the forecast turns, the park acts. On 9 November 2026 Las Torres Patagonia announced that CONAF had closed the Base Torres trail as a precaution against strong gusts. From 10 November it stayed shut together with several other trails, with reopening expected on 12 November.
If conditions turn unsafe the operator may alter or cancel the day, as the listing warns, and you yourself can cancel at no cost up to 24 hours ahead. If your dates are flexible, schedule the hike early in your stay, which leaves room to move a closed day to the next clear one.
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Dates, spots and booking
These prices stream in live from GetYourGuide, identical to its site, and nobody here edits them.
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- No-fee cancellation up to 24 hrs before
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- starting at $99 each
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from puerto natales
Puerto Natales and the road to the park
Puerto Natales is the gateway town for this walk. Chile's tourism service puts the park entrance 129 km away, reached by bus or car to the Laguna Amarga gate and then a transfer to the hotel sector where the trail starts. On our day the van covers that road for you.
The van collects you from 6:15 to 6:45 and returns you to your door at roughly 21:00 to 21:30. Las Torres Patagonia notes that the road is sealed nearly all the way, turning to gravel for the final hour after Cerro Castillo. Guanacos often graze beside it, so keep your camera handy on the drive.
Spend the evening before in town getting ready: buy the park pass, rent poles if you need them, and pack lunch. Natales has outdoor shops, cafes and supermarkets, and an early night matters more than anything else on the list.
Book with a free cancel optionis it for you
Should you book this day
This Base of the Towers hike in Patagonia suits walkers who want the view that defines the park and are ready to work for it: fit people with some mountain experience, solo travelers who prefer company and a guide on the trail, and travelers with little time who would rather leave transport and timing to someone else.
It is not for everyone. CONAF advises against the trail for young children and elderly hikers, and our listing calls the trek advanced. If that worries you, a full-day park tour by van shows the towers from a distance with short walks instead, and our page on the hike or a park tour weighs them up.
Weather is the honest caveat. The towers can hide in cloud even on a good day, and wind can close the trail. Book with free cancellation, watch the forecast, and treat the view as a gift rather than a guarantee. Those who reach the lagoon on a clear day rarely forget it.
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