soboyle

Hello, I'm going to have about 4 days in Punta Arenas this November. I wanted to find out about making a short trip to Torres Del Paine either by renting a car or going on an organized trip. Anyone with experience making the trip from Punta Arenas?

mlgb

Yes, several of us. Car rental is more efficient than taking the public transport and once there you have more flexibility. There are also AI packages (expensive) such as thru Explora, Hotel Las Torres, and Cascada. There are also day trips from Puerto Natales (seat in van tours in particular).

It does take a while to get from PA to TdP. At some times of year it's also now possible to fly to Puerto Natales. Not sure about November.
If the search function is working properly but there are several trip reports. You could also try a Google Search.

ashleyross

Last time I visited TDP from Punta Arenas with my family. We booked TDP trip from a travel company ChileTour Patagonia. They helped us to visit TDP from Punta Arenas and arranged a car to visit all the places.

soboyle

Just a follow up, I rented a car in Punta Arenas and drove the 250 km to Puerto Natales and stayed at a hostel for about $50 a night for a nice private room with bath. Spent 5 night here exploring the area, made 2 trip to Torres Del Paine, hiked to the lake at the base of the Torres, which was spectacular and highly recommended. It's a hard hike, 8 hours, 12 miles, about 3000 vertical feet, but worth every pint of sweat. Also went to the Milodon Cave, which is excellent, the hiking around the cave is great. Most tourists arrive as part of a day trip to the Torres, so only stay for 30 minutes to see the big cave then they are gone. Better to drive there and plan on spending 1/2 the day walking the trails and seeing the other 2 caves and the spectacular landscapes around the area. The drive between PA and Torres is quite spectacular, Patagonia landscapes, endless grasslands, sheep cattle and long strait roads, the gravel roads around TDP are in good condition and are fine to drive with a rental car. I had a Renault Symbol and it was fine.

mlgb

Thank you for the report back. You are correct that we only visited the big cave at Milodon.