Patagonia in winter? Yup. I did it, nothing went terribly wrong and the snow made Torres del Paine even prettier.

I took this trip in July and August 2022, but wrote the article in 2026. It was part of a much longer trip through South America, starting in Lima and ending in Punta Arenas. Technically, though, this section began with a flight from Santiago.

The main annoyance was transportation. Winter buses were rare, daylight was short and I had to return through Chile instead of continuing through Argentina.

I already wrote a separate article about travelling in Patagonia in winter, with more about the cold, clothes and accommodation. I’ll repeat the transport bits here when they’re useful.

Affiliate disclosure: This article contains GetYourGuide affiliate links. If you book through one of them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Itinerary done quick

🇨🇱🇦🇷 Chilean and Argentinian Patagonia

That’s it! Click the destination names to jump to each day.

Before starting

In winter 2022, some routes ran only once a day and some didn’t run every day. I used Bus-Sur and Buses Fernández in Chile. In Argentina, the useful names were Marga Taqsa, Cal Tur and Taqsa Patagonia.

The international buses filled up easily, so I booked those in advance. The Chile–Argentina crossing also added one or two hours whenever the border decided to be slow.

I had around 5°C during some afternoons and -10°C during the coldest nights. It wasn’t polar-expedition stuff: I wore layers, warm socks, gloves, a beanie and thermal underwear. Hiking made me warm. Standing still made me freeze. Basic thermodynamics, really.

Day 1 Punta Arenas

I flew from Santiago to Punta Arenas, around 3 hours 30 minutes in the air. This was the beginning of Patagonia for me, although the larger trip had started much earlier in Lima.

Punta Arenas feels like the end of the world. It’s windy, colourful, isolated and stretched along the Strait of Magellan.

I walked all over the city: Plaza Muñoz Gamero, the port, the waterfront sculptures and Cerro de la Cruz for the view over the rooftops and the strait. The city isn’t packed with must-sees, but the atmosphere does most of the work. Ships in the distance, empty streets, harsh light… Otherworldly is the word.

The city isn’t packed with must-sees, but the atmosphere does most of the work. It’s really otherworldly in such an eerie way… My favourite part was the signpost place, where you had signs to all major destinations and distance, that’s when you understand that you’re in bumfuckistan.

The airport is outside the city. I used the transfer into the centre, dropped my stuff and spent the rest of the day walking.

Day 2 Puerto Natales

^Found this guy near the center, felt like a new Street Fighter Character.

In winter 2022, there was one bus a day from Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales. It left from the bus terminal in Punta Arenas and arrived at the Rodoviario Puerto Natales around 3 to 4 hours later.

The road was really beautiful: empty land, distant mountains and that very Patagonian feeling that everything is much farther away than it looks.

My first stop was the Museo Histórico Municipal. It’s small, but it gave me something to do before walking along the waterfront and planning the next days.

From the museum, this was my south-to-north order along the waterfront:

1. Monumento al Viento, with the two figures suspended above the coast.
2. The newer waterfront and Muelle Fiscal area.
3. Muelle Histórico, the remains of the old wooden pier pointing towards the mountains.
4. The ugly bronze Milodón sculpture near the northern entrance to town.

Afterwards, I booked the next two days with a local agency: one photography tour by car and one full-day hike to Base Torres. I got a good price because I booked both at once.

Day 3 Torres del Paine NP tour

Not a bad place for photography.

This was called a photography tour, but it was essentially a full-day road trip through Torres del Paine National Park in a small group.

I booked locally with an agency near the city center, don’t remember the name, but it was minutes away from the museum. GetYourGuide also lists Torres del Paine photography tours, including a comparable full-day photo safari (affiliate link).

Alright, so it was so freaking cold that it was nice to quickly go back to the car given the freezing conditions, winter is no joke. Most of the tour is spent inside a car, stopping for viewpoints along the way with eventual small walks, never lasting more than fifteen minutes.

Once out of the park, we went to the Cueva Del Milodon, a large cave where they found the Milodon.

Cueva del Milodón is around 25 kilometres north of Puerto Natales. The cave is slightly interesting and often included with tours.

The visit lasts around an hour, where you do a walk up to the cave, then through the cave, to observe the stalagmites and stalactites and read the signs.

Day 4 Hiking to Base Torres

Base Torres in winter.

The second tour was a full-day hike to Base Torres, booked with the same agency.

We left Puerto Natales early and started near Hotel Las Torres. The return hike is roughly 20 kilometres and took most of the day. The group was very small, given the weather and season, I’d wager that there were, at most, 30 people at the national Park, even at the top. 2 or 3 small(ish) tour groups. It felt really ideal.

The trail was covered in snow and it was really cold, especially whenever we stopped. The final climb was the slowest part, but the frozen lake and the towers above it were fucking beautiful.

Apparently, for winter 2026, the park requires an accredited guide, microspikes, trekking poles, a headlamp and proper winter clothing for Base Torres. he rules change with trail conditions, so the official Torres del Paine website is the place to check.

This guided Base Torres day hike from Puerto Natales is the GetYourGuide alternative (affiliate link). I didn’t use that operator. Winter dates and included equipment vary.

Day 5 Puerto Natales to El Calafate

I took the morning international bus from Rodoviario Puerto Natales to the Terminal de Ómnibus de El Calafate, crossing into Argentina at Cerro Castillo/Cancha Carrera.

The bus is scheduled for around five hours. With immigration and winter conditions, five to seven hours is more realistic. Mine ran once a day, lasted 7 hours. There you go.

After arriving, I walked around central El Calafate, mainly along Avenida del Libertador and towards Laguna Nimez.

It’s a tourist base more than an exciting city, (So… barely anything to do but chill) The best thing I did was walk in the historic center then along the Laguna Nimez.

Actually, Lago Argentino was quite nice. Despite the freaking cold weather.

Then I got invited by some youth for tea with honey. They smoked pot, prepared tea, had honey and some bread to share. Maybe you will observe this phenomenon too?

Day 6 El Chalten day trip

^ See my picture of El Chalten, I had a shitty weather indeed.

I booked a full-day trip from El Calafate to El Chaltén.

El Chaltén is around 220 kilometres from El Calafate, close to three hours each way. A good chunk of the day was spent driving, although the road was beautiful and we still had time to walk around town and hike nearby. (Departure is very early to offset that, and the return was quite late)

It was cold, rainy and the mountains spent a lot of time hiding behind clouds. The weather kinda ruined the trip, but I have no regrets. El Chaltén was still beautiful.

This El Chaltén and Mount Fitz Roy day trip from El Calafate is a similar GetYourGuide option (affiliate link). It isn’t the operator I used. Winter availability and walking time depend on the departure. It’s always harder in the cold season (June to August, btw)

With more time, I would stay in El Chaltén for more days (At least one more). Six hours in a car for a few hours of hiking wasn’t the best ratio…

Day 7 Perito Moreno Glacier

Perito Moreno, plus a bird that understood framing

Perito Moreno was much easier. Transport leaves from El Calafate, follows Ruta Provincial 11 and reaches the glacier in around 1 hour 30 minutes. It’s roughly 80 kilometres from town.

Once there, I spent the day walking between the viewpoints facing the ice. The paths are easy and there are enough angles to keep stopping every so often for pictures.

The official Los Glaciares National Park page lists different winter and summer access hours.

This Perito Moreno trip from El Calafate includes the walkways and an optional boat ride (affiliate link)

I used local transportation, not that operator. The national-park entrance may be separate.

Perito Moreno was one of the highlights of Patagonia. In winter it was quiet, bright blue and surrounded by snow. (Also pay attention to how noisy is the Glacier!!)

Bonus: Lot of wildlife to be seen! I saw many birds and foxes.

Day 8 Return to Punta Arenas

This was a complete transport day with two buses back to back:

1. El Calafate → Puerto Natales in the morning, around 5 to 7 hours including the border.
2. Puerto Natales → Punta Arenas in the afternoon, around 3 to 4 hours.

Both used the main bus terminals. I had enough time between them in Puerto Natales, but the border can make the first bus late. I flew out of Punta Arenas early the following morning, so the timing mattered.

From El Calafate, continuing through Argentina makes more sense. I had to return to Chile, so I couldn’t do that.

If you have more days

Stay in El Chaltén

I would spend at least two or three nights there. My day trip involved six hours of driving and the bad weather left me no second chance to see Fitz Roy properly.

Go south of Punta Arenas

Another possible day trip goes south of Punta Arenas along the Strait of Magellan, towards Fuerte Bulnes and Faro San Isidro.

Fuerte Bulnes is around 53 km south of the city. Faro San Isidro is farther, around 75 km away. I didn’t do it because winter excursions were painfully expensive. Also, some tours stop at the fort without going all the way to the lighthouse.

If you have fewer days

The easy cut is Argentina: stay around Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine.

Sadly, that also removes El Chaltén and Perito Moreno, two of the prettiest places here. There are glaciers on the Chilean side, but I didn’t visit them and don’t know how to reach them independently.

Another possibility is flying into Punta Arenas early enough to catch the Puerto Natales bus on the same day. That depends entirely on the winter timetable, and it removes most of the Punta Arenas visit.