Torres del Paine & Milodon Cave: Full-Day Park Tour from Puerto Natales
Twelve Hours in Patagonia: Three Viewpoints, a Glacier Walk & an Ice-Age Cave
You start with hotel pickup and spend 12 hours exploring Torres del Paine National Park in a small shuttle bus with a bilingual guide. You stop at three major viewpoints, eat lunch overlooking Lake Pehoé, walk for an hour along Grey Lake to see the glacier, and visit Milodon Cave before returning to Puerto Natales by early evening. Transport, guide and lunch are included. The hiking is light enough for most fitness levels.
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2 optionsStep-by-step itinerary
Full day Torres del Paine tour
- Pick up at Puerto Natales accommodations
- Drive to Torres del Paine National Park
- Enter park via Portería Laguna Amarga Gate
- View Patagonian steppe and Macizo Paine
- Stop at Lake Sarmiento, Laguna Amarga, and Lake Noderhold viewpoints
- Lunch at Pehoé Camping Sector with lake views
- Hike 1 hour through Lenga Forest to Grey Lake
- Admire Grey Glacier from lake shore
- Drive through Portería Serrano Sector returning
- Visit Milodon Cave Natural Monument
- Return to Puerto Natales, tour ends
What’s included
Hotel pickup in Puerto Natales, transport in a private shuttle bus (maximum 15 people), bilingual guide, entry to Torres del Paine National Park, three viewpoint stops (Lake Sarmiento, Laguna Amarga, Lake Noderhold), lunch at Pehoé Sector with views of Lake Pehoé and the Cuernos del Paine, a one-hour walk at Grey Lake to see Grey Glacier, entry to Milodon Cave Natural Monument, and return transport to Puerto Natales by early evening.
Times
- Every day 07:30
Before you book
Operated by Howlanders
Prices and times updated 2 days ago
Traveler reviews
The experience
The shuttle picks you up at your hotel in Puerto Natales around 7 or 8 in the morning. The exact time depends on where you're staying, but the driver knows the route. Two hours on the road takes you into Torres del Paine National Park through the Portería Laguna Amarga Gate, and that's when the landscape stops being ordinary. The Macizo Paine rises in front of you, and you're seeing it from inside the park now, not from a distance. The bus holds 15 people maximum, which means you're not crammed in with a tour group of fifty.
The day moves through the park's main stops without too much walking. Lake Sarmiento Viewpoint, Laguna Amarga Viewpoint, Lake Noderhold Viewpoint: each one shows you a different angle of the same mountains and steppe, and your guide (bilingual, so you get the names and the stories in your language) points out what changes between them. Around midday you stop at Pehoé Sector for lunch with the group. You're sitting with a view of Lake Pehoé and the Cuernos del Paine across the water, eating while the light moves across the rock. This is the kind of lunch that doesn't feel rushed because there's nowhere else to be.
The one real hike comes at Grey Lake: about an hour on foot through the old Lenga Forest until you reach the shore. The path is gentle enough that it doesn't demand much, but you're walking through actual Patagonian forest, and when you get to the water, you see Grey Glacier across the lake, pale blue and massive, calving off the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. You walk along the beach for a bit, watching the glacier from a distance. It's not a technical climb or anything strenuous. It's just being there.
On the drive back toward Puerto Natales, the tour doesn't end at the park gate. You stop at Milodon Cave Natural Monument, a cave where paleontologists found the remains of an extinct ground sloth-like mammal that lived in Patagonia thousands of years ago. It's one of those sites that makes you think about deep time: the ice, the animals, the people who came after. You're back in Puerto Natales by 5 or 6 in the evening. The whole day is 12 hours, and it covers the park's highlights without leaving you exhausted.
Is this one for you?Right for travelers who want to see Torres del Paine's main attractions in one day without arranging their own transport or timing multiple stops: the fixed itinerary and small shuttle bus handle the logistics, leaving you to focus on the landscape.
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Top questions
What languages is the tour guided in?
Live guide in English and Spanish.
Can children come?
Yes. Ticket types: Infant (under 3): free.
How long is the Grey Glacier hike?
About one hour, walking through Lenga Forest to the shore of Lake Grey. The path is not steep or technical.
What time does the tour start and end?
Pickup is in the morning from your hotel in Puerto Natales. Return is between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Total time is 12 hours.
Is lunch included?
Yes, lunch is included at Pehoé Sector with views of Lake Pehoé and the Cuernos del Paine.
How many people are on the tour?
The shuttle bus holds a maximum of 15 people.
Is this tour suitable for people who are not very fit?
The tour is suitable for all fitness levels. The hiking is light, one hour at Grey Lake, and most of the day is spent on the bus or at viewpoints.
What is Milodon Cave?
A natural monument where paleontologists discovered remains of an extinct herbivorous mammal related to the ground sloth, endemic to Patagonia.
Do I need to arrange my own transport to the park?
No. Hotel pickup in Puerto Natales is included, and the shuttle takes you through the entire park.
Torres del Paine & Milodon Cave: Full-Day Park Tour from Puerto Natales
11h–12h · EN · ES · at your hotel
from US$ 75 per person
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