The W and O treks in Chile are some of the most famous multi-day hikes in the world. They are also complicated to book because the hiking areas are owned by two different companies AND the price of the campsites/beds at one of the companies is much more expensive.
We met a woman who was doing the W—the shorter of the two hikes at 4 days—who said booking through a tour company can cost $3,000/person and if you book it yourself it’s over $600/person. Here’s how we did it for under $200/person.
Day 1: Take the ferry ($30 USD/person) across Lago Pehoé to Refugio Paine Grande. Drop off backpacking packs and day hike up past Refugio Grey to the second suspension bridge. Then hike back to Paine Grande to sleep in a bunk room. (A bed at Paine Grande costs $46 USD/person, that includes bringing your own sleeping bag.)
Day 1: 26 Kilometers
Day 2: Leave Paine Grande and day hike up to the Británica Lookout. It will be hard to predict if you should keep going past the Frances lookout, just do it. We got lucky and the awful weather cleared for a few minutes. Beautiful. Hike back to Paine Grande and head back to your bunk room.
Day 2: 26 Kilometers
Day 3: Leave Paine Grande in the morning with your pack, this day is maybe flatter than the other two days but you’ll have your full pack on so it feels longer. Hike all the way to Central. Send someone in your party back to Pehoe to get your campervan—hitching is pretty easy! We didn’t have issues.
Sleep in the Welcome Center parking lot in your camper van. (This was free and OKAY in 2024, I don’t know if it’ll always be okay.)
Day 3: 28 Kilometers
Day 4: Torres de Paine! This is the view that everyone does as a day hike. Start before the tours come in a 9am. (H and I did this on separate days, he had good weather I had snow. Choose to do this on a good weather day!) At the end of the day head back to the Central Welcome Center.
Day 4: 22 Kilometers
The normal W is ~80 kilometers. This route is cheaper and longer—and maybe dumber—at 104 kilometers.
If you really want to do the W, I do think this a good option. But remember it is crowded, some of the most crowded hiking you’ll come across in Patagonia. It’s beautiful too, and the weather is rough. So hope for good weather and expect people.
