I am looking for a US company that arranges either fixed or custom trips in Torres del Paine. Can you recommend one ? It seems that without speaking Spanish making independent arrangements is difficult. Thank you.

We toured on our own in TdP. However Eugenio from Alta Tours in CA arranged some of the details of our trip to Chile. He has reps in Chile and u might contact him to see what he can arrange for you.

Why don't you just book directly into Las Torres or Explora. They are all inclusive including transfers from the airport.

You'll just need to book flights which can be done on line (for LAN anyways, not sure about Sky).

U can book Sky airlines online. Its a bit clunky, but it will work. I did have a problem with one of our tixs and contacted Sky via email and they got back to me, fixed the glitch and reissued my tixs.

I think all of the hotels in TdP can arrange tours for you. Buses are easy to take into TdP.

Thank you for the replies.

I am interested in hiking the "w".

Some companies give detailed descriptions while others do not. Can somebody give me a better feel for the logistics and how the Explora or Las Torres ,for example, handle that aspect of the trip ?

Thank you .

If you want to hike the W, I would not stay at Explora. It's really set up more for the less active luxury traveler and isn't located conveniently for trekking the W.

The W can be done in bits and pieces, or in one extended trek. The first leg to the Towers is out and back, and Las Torres is well located for that. If you stay at Las Torres or one of their refugios they offer a guided hike or horseback/hike combo to the Towers. They also offer a guided multi day excursion to French Valley which I believe comes back via the catamaran.

The Glacier Grey leg can be done as a one-day out and back from Lodge Paine Grande. If you want to do it one-way, then arranging transport and a transfer directly with Turismo Lago Grey is costly and a bit annoying.

You don't really need a guide if you stay in the refugios. You can purchase your lodging and meals directly from Fantastico Sur or Vertice Patagonia. The trails are well marked and meals are offered (some require reservations). There are also sleeping bags, tents, etc available for rent there in the park or in Puerto Natales.

Another group offering lodging is Cascada. http://www.cascada.travel/activities...trekking&ID=51

You just have to decide how much you want to spend in time and money. Do you want private transfers or would you take the public busses? The latter are cheaper but will chew up time.