What to do between Puerto Natales and Ushuaia - 7 days

The reason this is posted in Chile rather than Argentina is because our Argentinian Rough Guide doesn't have any good recommendations and so we're thinking it's more likely to be options in Chile. We don't have a guidebook on Chile as we weren't anticipating spending much time there on this trip beyond Torres del Paine.... Thanks for any suggestions!

There's rather a lot of very off-the-beaten-track hiking in the area. If you are into that, look at the Dientes de Navarino, south of Ushuaia. Not sure you should consider doing that just winging it. If you're willing to travel there's the Cerro Castillo, which is similar to TdP but without the hordes. But it's a long way north from where you are.

For less wild options, you could make a 2-day trip to Perito Moreno (town), see the Cueva de las Manos and all the great lakes around there. Chalten has lots of treks to keep you busy for a while too.

Near Punta Arenas there's good hiking (also rather wild), and the penguin colony on Isla Magdalena.

Will you have a rental car? You can drive to Torres del Paine and camp at one of the campgrounds NOT on the W - there are recreational campgrounds in the park, too (Camping Lago Pehoe, Camping Rio Serrano and Camping Laguna Azul). I just booked a few nights at Camping Lago Pehoe for the first week of January - it was tough to reach the campground for a reservation but if you're interested, I'll give you the contact info! You can take a bus in and walk to the campground, and then hike around the park to the viewpoints and such. Not as easy as having a car, but doable to see parts of TdP!

You could also do a creative route on parts of the W. In January, we are not doing the W Trek (we did it 2 years ago) but instead hiking up to Paso John Gardner (we really want to see the Southern Patagonian Ice Field). We will start from the catamaran to Refugio Grey campground, then up and down from the pass back to the Grey campground, and then we will go for a day-trek on Glacier Grey before returning back to the catamaran. That's a more creative way of doing a PART of the W without needing the same kind of reservations. The Refugio Grey campground still had reservations for early January last I checked.

Otherwise, if I had a few days in the area to kill, I would LOVE to do a cruise through the Beagle Channel. That takes 3-4 days from Ushusia or Punta Arenas (or vice versa) There are few companies that offer that. You could also see penguin colonies or go kayaking in the channel area.

Good luck! I'm jealous of all the extra time you have there (everytime we go, we run out of time! our next visit we want to plan at least for a month). I am also crazy jealous you're going to Antartica!

Hello everyone- my husband and I are in a similar situation. We've both been to Torres del Paine years ago for the W hike and planning to go there and Puerto Natales 12/29-1/5. We recently saw that the W now requires reservations (which we don't have and having trouble getting them) and wanted to know if we should make other plans. We fly in and out of Punta Arenas and would like to trek. We'd appreciate any advice! Thanks!

Yes, you should make other plans (if you have no reservations, you will be turned around this year at the guard station and unable to do the trek). You can do hikes in the rest of the park (Mt. Ferrier, or do the Pingo trail to the Mirador Zapata, if you can get a permit) or maybe see if the backside of the W (e.g. Perro, Dickinson) have availability.

If you've been to the park before, I might do the recommendations I mentioned above - cruise on Beagle Channel, penguin colony, day hikes in TdP.

We've been meeting lots of people who were caught out by the necessity of reservations and they are refusing entry if you don't have reservations / a return ticket. But many people have done alternative treks instead... You can trek to the Torres and back in a day from Puerto Natales (bus in/out the same day) or stay overnight at one of the nearby campsites. You can also do the glacier grey part up and back in a day from Puerto Natales. Plus other treks in the park. It sounds like a good alternative if you can't get the 3/4/5 nights in the W formation that you're looking for.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone - very helpful! We're finding it a bit daunting to have to book so much in advance but think some of these ideas for getting off the beaten track a bit more are very helpful as accommodation won't be as scarce in those places.

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