Trekking

W Trek Itinerary: 5 Days, 4 Days, East to West or West to East

Updated September 2026 · 6 min read

The W Trek follows one shape, but there is more than one way to walk it. Five hiking days is the classic route. Four is possible with the correct Grey III boat. Your direction changes the order of the highlights and where you sleep each night.

Below is the itinerary we operate from Puerto Natales, with estimated distances, hiking times and the alternatives we recommend.

The classic W Trek has five hiking days and covers approximately 71 km on our standard route. It includes Base Torres, the trail beside Lake Nordenskjöld, the French Valley, Grey Glacier and the return to Paine Grande for the Lake Pehoé catamaran.

We usually operate east to west. Base Torres comes first, while legs are fresh, and the trek finishes in the Grey sector. A four-day version can replace the return walk from Grey to Paine Grande with a specific Grey III boat. The W Trek Highlights visits the three main landmarks in three hiking days, using transfers and boats instead of the connecting sections.

	Walk	Distance	Time	Sleep
Day 1 · Base Torres	Base Torres and back, from the Central sector	About 20 to 22 km	Usually 7 to 9 h	Central camp
Day 2 · Lake Nordenskjöld	Central to Los Cuernos along Lake Nordenskjöld	About 15 km	5 to 6 h	Los Cuernos or Francés camp
Day 3 · French Valley	French Valley to Mirador Francés, then on to Paine Grande	About 14 to 18 km to Mirador Francés, depending on whether you start from Francés or Los Cuernos. Continuing towards Británico adds more distance and time.	7 to 9 h	Paine Grande camp
Day 4 · Grey Glacier	Paine Grande to Grey along Lake Grey, glacier lookout	About 11 km	4 to 5 h	Grey camp
Day 5 · Lake Pehoé	Grey back to Paine Grande, catamaran across Lake Pehoé	About 11 km	4 to 5 h	Hotel in Puerto Natales

Our standard five-day hiking itinerary covers approximately 71 km. The final distance can change depending on the overnight camp, the French Valley turnaround point and the exact route measured.

Add a day to arrive in Puerto Natales for the briefing and a day to leave, and the trip is seven days. That is exactly our Guided W Trek and Self-Guided W Trek: about 2,300 m of ascent in total, four nights in equipped camps and two in a hotel.

The day with the longest sustained climb, and the most famous viewpoint on the route. Up the Ascencio valley, through the forest, and the last hour on the boulder moraine to the lake under the towers. Start early; the viewpoint is best before midday and the wind rises in the afternoon. Back to Central for the night.

This day has less climbing than Base Torres, but it is still a full walking day. A rolling trail along the north shore of Lake Nordenskjöld, the Cuernos growing ahead of you all afternoon, and the camp on the shore. Some itineraries sleep at Francés instead, one hour further, which shortens day 3.

Up the valley between the Cuernos and Paine Grande to Mirador Francés, the hanging glacier cracking above, then back down and west to Paine Grande on Lake Pehoé. Long, but the climb is gentler than day 1.

Along Lake Grey with the icebergs below and the glacier growing as you walk, to the lookout and the Grey sector. It is usually the shortest hiking day of the route, with the Grey sector and glacier views at the end.

The same trail back to Paine Grande, with the light the other way, and the catamaran across Lake Pehoé to Pudeto, where the transfer to Puerto Natales waits.

A four-day itinerary can replace the return walk from Grey to Paine Grande with a one-way Grey III service that connects the Grey sector with the Hotel Lago Grey side of the lake. This must be the correct ticket, because the standard sightseeing boat trip does not always allow boarding or disembarking near Refugio Grey. Schedules depend on the travel date, minimum passenger numbers and weather conditions.

When it works, it is a spectacular way out; when it does not, you walk day 5. We use it on the W Trek Highlights, which also drops day 2 and keeps the three main landmarks in three hiking days.

The mirror route: catamaran to Paine Grande on the first morning, Grey, the French Valley, Los Cuernos, and Base Torres on the last day. Its argument is the finale. If you sleep at Chileno and start before dawn, you can reach the Base Torres viewpoint around sunrise. On a clear morning, the granite may turn orange as the first light reaches it. Weather and visibility are never guaranteed.

Its cost is that the longest climb comes last, on tired legs, and that Chileno has limited availability and usually needs to be booked early. We run east to west by default and west to east on request when the Chileno night is available.

• Want to walk the continuous classic route: five hiking days, usually east to west.
• Want the three main landmarks with fewer hiking days: the W Trek Highlights.
• Want Base Torres at the end and the possibility of a sunrise start: west to east, with Chileno subject to availability.
• Want John Gardner Pass and the northern side of the massif: choose the O Circuit. Read W Trek vs O Circuit.