Torres del Paine in another very nice optional excursion that can be added to your vacation packages in Calafate. The Torres del Paine National Park is a beautiful site of the Chilean Patagonia. It is accessible from El Calafate in a full day excursion. But it is best to stay several days in the place to get to know every corner. The distance between El Calafate and Torres del Paine is 210 km. The trip is estimated at three hours, both outward and back you have to add a variable time for customs clearance.

If you will make the trip in one day, take  care to leave very early in El Calafate, you will need that time to know even a little of the trails, lakes and mountains of Torres del Paine National Park. We recommend you to make the reservation in advance. The availability of places is limited and, especially in summer season (December to March) the demand is very high.

The travel itinerary

At the start of the trip, we will leave

El Calafate in a north-south route, our bus will run from the Patagonian steppe until the border crossing Carrera Court, about two hours and a half. There, there will be customs formalities to enter Chile. The first town in the Chilean side is called Cerro Castillo. Note that you will be need to have your passport during the excursion and you should check if your country need VISA to enter Chile. From the town Cerro Castillo begins to tour in the beautiful south of Chile, between lakes and forests to reach the entrance of the National Park Torres del Paine. The meaning of this word in tehuelche is «blue.» This is the predominant color on the site, which stains the lakes, forests and even the stones.

From the park entrance you can combine self-guided walks, guided tours and trips in the car, depending on physical condition and desire to walk of travelers.

Among the places you can visit in Torres del Paine National Park we can mention the following ones:

Mirador del Lago Sarmiento de Gamboa
Blue Lagoon – An overview of Torres, with an optional trek to the Sierra Masle an hour and a half.
Paine River Breaks, you can make a descent to the river takes about 30 minutes.
Cerro Almirante Nieto / Horns of Paine from the Upper Mirador.
Laguna Amarga, with an optional trekking along the path to the Porter Wildlife Sarmiento, an hour and a half.
Mirador del Lago Nordenskjold
Mirador del Salto Grande
Viewpoint of the Horns of Paine, with a two-hour trek from the Mirador del Lago Nordenskjold.
Lake Pehoe, with optional trek to Mirador Laguna Condor and the top of all the Paine Massif.
Interpretation Centre of the National Park, which explains the geological phenomenon of the formation of the solid, the characteristics of the flora and fauna and also the ice age.
Mirador del Lago Toro.
You can also continue the journey to the lake and glacier Grey.

If you are back in the day to El Calafate note that you should begin to return about 8 pm to midnight to reach the destination of El Calafate.

Obviously it is the ideal full day tour to add in a Vacation Packages in Calafate