Argentina
PATAGONIA
SEASON
Nov — Mar
NIGHTS
12
INDEX
01
THE PLACE
The granite turns red for four hours in March.
You wait three days for a light that lasts four hours. Then you understand why.
NIGHTS
12
Fly in on day one, fly out on day twelve — no travel days wasted mid-trip.
GROUP
Max 11 travellers
Small enough that the guide knows your name by day two.
WINDOW
Nov — Mar
Austral summer — long days, the most stable weather for the trek.
PACE
Active · long days on foot
Long days on foot, 12–18km on trek days, some scrambling near the towers.
FITNESS
Good · multi-day hikes
Multi-day hiking experience recommended; no technical climbing.
FROM
From €6,400 pp
Per person, land only — stays, guides and transfers included.
WHY THIS ONE
Forty-two places. This is one of them.
01
The towers are worth the wind.
Most people see them from a bus window at midday — backlit, crowded, and nothing like the photograph that sold them the trip. We sleep higher up and walk before first light. That is the only way the view is the one you were promised.
04:40 departure · 2h 10m to the base · usually no one else on the trail
02
Eleven days is the shortest honest version.
Patagonian weather writes off roughly one day in four. A seven-day itinerary here is a gamble being sold as a plan — it works only if nothing goes wrong, and something always does. I would rather lose the booking than sell you the gamble.
11 days on the ground · 3 held spare · none cancelled since 2019
03
The steppe is the part nobody photographs.
Two of these days never touch the famous circuit. They are flat, wind-scoured and almost empty, and they are the days people bring up when they write to me a year later.
2 days off-circuit · nearest town 98 km · guanaco most mornings
THE EXPERIENCE
One day, four times over.
04:40
The light
Up before dawn for the four hours when the granite turns red, then nothing else planned.
Mornings
Wildlife
Guanaco on the steppe, condors riding the ridgelines, the occasional fox at the treeline.
All day
On foot
Long valley days between the towers and the glaciers, carrying only what the week needs.
After dark
After dark
Skies with no town for a hundred kilometres, and a fire at the refuge to end the day.
04:40 starts · four hours of red light · March is best
Guanaco most mornings · condors daily · no hides needed
42 km over the week · light pack · no porters
98 km to the nearest town · fire lit nightly
THE JOURNEY
The route, in four movements.
A small group, a long stay — one valley, walked slowly from end to end.
Days 1–2
Arrive — El Calafate
Land, meet the group, and drive into the park as the light goes long. First night at the edge of the range.
Hostería, El Calafate · 3h by road
Days 3–5
The walk in
Two days on foot to base camp beneath the towers, carrying only what the week needs.
31 km on foot · 840 m ascent · Refugio Grey
Days 6–8
The towers at dawn
Up in the dark, in position by 5 a.m. Four hours of red light on the Torres, and the one morning you came for.
18 km · 04:40 start · Refugio Chileno
Days 9–11
Out slow
The unhurried return — glaciers, estancias, and the long roads south, ending where you started.
Estancia, then town · 5h by road
— Where you’ll stay
One house at a time.
A small refuge under the towers for the trek, and a family estancia for the days on either side — the two people worth knowing in this valley, and their kitchens.
Type
Refuge & estancia
Setting
Beneath the Torres
Board
Most meals
What’s on the ground
Everything on the ground.
One price covers the whole week once you land — stays, guides, transfers, the meals that matter. You book the flight; we hold everything after it.
Included
05
+
All stays on the ground, chosen and known by us
+
Guides who live here — not tour reps
+
Every transfer once you land
+
Most meals, and every one that matters
+
Park fees and permits
Not included
03
–
Flights to
El Calafate (FTE)
–
Travel insurance
–
Personal kit and tips
YOUR HOST
Mateo Fuentes
Mountain guide
I grew up under these towers. I've seen the granite turn red maybe forty times — and it still stops me, every year.
Puerto Natales
BASED
15 on the Paine
SEASONS
ES · EN
LANGUAGES
From €6,400 pp