One day in Torres del Paine with Grey
If one day is all you have, you can still see Grey Glacier and the Paine massif and be back in Puerto Natales for dinner. Two tours do it well, and they split on a single question, whether you sail to the ice or walk a beach full of stranded icebergs. Both start early and finish in the evening, and neither includes the park ticket.
Two ways to fit Grey into one day
From Puerto Natales the shore of Lago Grey is roughly 2 hours away by road, and part of that road is gravel. Any day trip that reaches the glacier therefore runs about 11–12 hours, and the real decision is what you do once you get there. One tour puts you on the Grey III catamaran for the morning and spends the afternoon at the park's viewpoints. The other leaves out the boat, walks you along the Lago Grey beach among grounded icebergs, and stops at the Milodon Cave on the drive home.
The boat day costs several times more, mostly for the sailing. The Grey Glacier boat trip, step by step describes it, and Grey Glacier on foot covers the beach and the trail.
The boat day with Nothofagus Patagonia
Nothofagus Patagonia's Grey sailing and full park day, from ~$300, is the smaller group of the two, five people at most, and reviewers often found themselves one of only one or two parties, which felt close to private (one couple had a 4WD to themselves). The listing lays the day out like this.
- 6–6:30 am. Pickup at your lodging in Puerto Natales;
- About 8:30 am. Into the park through the Serrano gate;
- 9 am. Check-in at Hotel Lago Grey, where the captain confirms whether the boat sails;
- 10 am. The Grey III leaves for about 2 hours 45 minutes. The first hour takes you up the lake to the ice, and the second runs along its faces before the boat turns for home. You are ashore again around 12:45–1 pm;
- Early afternoon. The Pehoé viewpoint, then Salto Grande, a waterfall reached by about 15 minutes on foot each way;
- Later. The Nordenskjöld viewpoint facing the Cuernos, then the Laguna Amarga gate for a look at the towers and a stop at the Paine waterfall;
- About 6 pm. Back in Puerto Natales.
The price covers transport, a certified guide, trekking poles and the boat ticket. It leaves out food and insurance, and the park entrance is yours to buy as well. Reviewers say to pack lunch and eat it on the way back from the ice, and warn of no bathrooms between pickup and the park gate.
The tour scores 4.7 from 21 reviews, and every sub-score, value included, sits at 4.8. Guides such as Javier and Fran come up by name, and two families traveling with four children between them wrote that the kids were never bored. The catch is a 12-hour day that starts around 6 am, and 21 reviews is a small sample next to the hundreds behind the park day below. If the departure is cancelled, the listing promises a refund for the excursion.
The sailing and the viewpoints in a group of five
Nothofagus Patagonia collects you in Puerto Natales around 6 am, puts you on the 10 am Grey III sailing and spends the afternoon among the lakes and peaks, from ~$300. You can cancel free until 24 hours before and pay later.
The park day with the iceberg beach
Torres del Paine Adventure's full day with the Milodon Cave, from ~$68, is one of the most reviewed tours we compare, with 4.8 from 378 reviews on GetYourGuide and 5.0 from 15 on Viator. It has no boat. At Lago Grey you walk out along the beach, about an hour there and back, past icebergs the wind has pushed ashore, while the glacier stays far off at the head of the lake. The listing names these other stops.
- Salto Grande, about 40 minutes on foot there and back
- The Lago Sarmiento viewpoint
- The Nordenskjöld viewpoint
- The Pehoé viewpoint
- The Cuernos viewpoint
- The Milodon Cave, with about 45 minutes inside the main cave
You are back around 5:30 pm, and the guide may run the day in reverse. Groups go up to 15 on GetYourGuide and 16 on Viator. Viator is cheaper here, at ~$68, against about $87 regular on GetYourGuide, often shown reduced to about $83. On top come the park entrance (about $35 per the Viator listing) and roughly $10 for the cave. Food and tips are yours as well.
Reviewers like it as a way to see the park without trekking, and guides such as Ignacio and Daniela get named in their reviews. A French guest found the iceberg beach the high point, well ahead of the cave. The listings mark the tour wheelchair accessible, though the beach walk itself is not. Its catch is plain. You see Grey from across the lake and never up close. The short walks also depend on the weather and the road.
The two days side by side
| What you get | Nothofagus Patagonia | Torres del Paine Adventure |
|---|---|---|
| From | ~$300 | ~$68 |
| Grey Glacier | From the Grey III, along the ice faces | From the beach, across the lake |
| Whole day | About 12 h | About 11 h |
| Group | 5 at most | Up to 15 (16 on Viator) |
| Walking | Salto Grande, 15 min each way | Beach 1 h, Salto Grande 40 min, both round trip |
| Other highlights | Laguna Amarga for the towers | Milodon Cave |
| Not included | Park entrance, food | Park entrance, cave entry, food |
| Reviews | 4.7 from 21 | 4.8 from 378 |
Pick the boat day if seeing the ice faces from the water is why you came, and you are happy to pay for it and rise early. Pick the park day if budget matters or if you would rather spend more hours among the peaks than on the lake. On a windy forecast the beach day has less to lose, since the captain may call off the sailing at check-in while the stranded icebergs stay where they are. The best time to see Grey Glacier explains when the wind tends to drop.
Two more day tours to know about
Go Patagonia sells a full park day with the Grey sailing from Puerto Natales, from ~$296, lasting about 11 hours with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. The catch is that it has no reviews yet, and it costs as much as the same company's far longer day from Punta Arenas. That Punta Arenas tour scores well with its few reviewers, which is some comfort. Grey Glacier from Punta Arenas covers it.
At the low end, W Circuit Patagonia's park day by van, from ~$75, is one of the cheapest park days on this site and by far the most reviewed, at 4.8 from 1,135. It runs about 12 hours for up to 15 guests, with short easy walks and the Milodon Cave, and gets back between 5 and 6 pm. The catch for anyone coming for Grey is that you see the blue of its ice only from a distance, and the listing names no beach walk. Park and cave entrance are extra, and reviewers mention dusty, potholed roads.
On the road between stops
Much of a park day is spent in the van. You are likely to pass guanacos grazing on the grassland near the road, and Andean condors are often seen overhead.
Bring lunch and plenty of water for either tour, since neither includes food. Buy the park ticket before the day, because neither tour includes it and the listings ask you to sort it in advance; Torres del Paine park tickets and rules explains how. Wear layers under a windproof shell even in summer, as the wind off the ice field goes straight through a sweater, and what to wear at Grey Glacier has the full list.
To drive yourself instead, transfer or drive from Puerto Natales weighs the gravel road against the van, and what a Grey Glacier tour costs adds the ticket and the cave to each price.