I’d like to describe what a DIY day trip to Torres del Paine National Park on public transport involves. Starting from the hub of Puerto Natales, there are two things you have to book beforehand: the bus tickets (both ways) and the park entrance ticket. The latter is not available at the park gate anymore, you need to acquire it beforehand via the park website. This seems to be part of the digitalization wave that has hit Chile (customs has one as well when you enter the country), not a way to limit visitors.

For my bus rides, I choose BusSur leaving for Torres del Paine at 7.15 am and returning at 2.30 pm. It’s important to make a choice about which part of the park you want to see: the bus makes 4 stops and the travel times (and costs) of the bus tickets to each of those vary. The first, Lake Amarga a.k.a. the Park Administration, is where most people get off to start the W-trek, but the later stops are better for day trippers as they bring you deeper into the park. I went for Pudeto, which lies some 120km from Puerto Natales. The park provides a downloadable map that shows which trails can be done in which area.

When walking to the bus station early morning I encountered many other travellers with heavy backpacks going in the same direction. We all ended up at the busy terminal, where buses to the park leave every 10 minutes or so this early in the morning.

The first surprise already came before officially entering the park: there are flamingoes in Lake Amarga! I would never have thought that they would like this colder climate, but apparently the Chilean Flamingo doesn’t care. At the park entrance, a ranger came aboard the bus and explained the park procedures in Spanish and English. We then had to all get out to have our tickets scanned. The bus then continued to Pudeto with much less passengers. At this moment it would be best to go and sit on the right side of the bus, as it delivers great Torres views (if the weather is clear of course).

We arrived at Pudeto (a parking with a cafeteria) at 9.50 am and I immediately started my hike towards the Cuernos Viewpoint. This 1-hour walk starts just beyond the Salto Grande Waterfall, which also is worth a look. The path is wide and very easy (much easier than the Mirador Torre hike I did in El Chalten). I found the landscape here in Torres del Paine more dramatic though. The lakes have a turquoise colour and some hold ducks. This walk also is very suitable for observing native plants and birds.

The Viewpoint gives you unobstructed views of the Frances Glacier to the left and the Cuernos del Paine to the right. The Cuernos are fascinating ‘upside down mountains’ with the oldest part on top. At the Glacier, we spotted what looked like humans moving around in the snow. A guide who was also present at the viewpoint took his binoculars and indeed – these were 3 climbers. The guide was amazed as according to him this is not the right season to do it. There was a lot of rumble and thunder coming from the glacier too, so avalanches will be common.

Walking back I met many other day trippers. This part of the park clearly is for the elderly – many US Americans (the OAT-type), Germans and French, all covered in high-end outdoor clothing. Some struggled a bit, but most people seemed to make it to the viewpoint. I walked onward to the cafeteria where I had a coffee and a sandwich. For the time remaining to the bus departure, I walked to the Lake Pehoe viewpoint at 51,07008° Z, 72,99556° W. This takes half an hour each way. Unfortunately, you have to walk on the main road, which sees a fair bit of traffic and is unpaved (so it produces dust clouds). The viewpoint itself is good though – the same set of mountains but from a different angle.

Around 2 pm it started to rain slightly and I took shelter under the roof of the cafeteria to wait for the bus. Several buses go back at this hour (I had prebooked the 2.30) as well as around 5.

A final note on why this exquisite site never has been brought forward by Chile as a nomination: it appears to be blocked by "the Directorate of Borders and Limits (DIFROL)”, as there is a border dispute with Argentina on this region and clear official maps might not be what they’re after.