Why Torres del Paine

Hi {{first_name|there}},

Short version if you missed Friday's email: I am hosting a trip to Patagonia, 20th to 27th January 2028, eight days across Argentina and Chile. It goes on sale this Friday morning.

Here is the part I have not told you yet.

There were several South America itineraries I could have taken, and I sat on it for a while. What decided it was Torres del Paine. When I picture hiking in Patagonia, I picture those three granite towers above a glacial lake (Lago Pehoé), and I suspect most of you picture the same thing. Plenty of the alternatives stay in Argentina and never cross the border. This one does, and that is the reason I chose it.

So the shape of it is El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier, then El Chaltén under Fitz Roy with two free days, then the long transfer into Chile, and a full day up to the base of the towers. Eight days, seven nights.

Two long days matter here, and I want to be straight about both.

Base Las Torres, in Torres del Paine, is 18 km (11 miles) with about 915 m (3,000 ft) of climbing, and roughly eight hours of walking. That day is included and it is not optional. It is the day you came for.

Laguna de los Tres is the other one: 26 km (16 miles), about 700 m (2,300 ft), eight to nine hours, graded moderate to difficult. I made that day optional on purpose. When I first looked at this itinerary, that was the day that gave me pause. Not for me, I am used to days like that. But it is a lot to ask of someone who is not. My wife is coming too, and I would rather the trip worked for everyone than only for the fittest people on it. So on day four you can take on the big one, or you can have a slow morning, walk something short, or sit in a café in El Chaltén and wait for Mt. Fitz Roy to clear. Day five is the same, with an optional via ferrata for anyone who wants a bit of adventure without the distance.

The rest is gentler than people expect. The welcome hike at El Chaltén is 6.4 km (4 miles) with 250 m (820 ft) of climbing, about three hours, graded easy. At Perito Moreno you are on a boat and then on 4 km (2.5 miles) of boardwalk. There is an optional ice trek on the glacier itself at extra cost, though it does have an age limit of 65.

If you are not sure whether it suits you, reply and ask me. I will tell you straight.

This is the part I care most about, and it is why I wanted to host a trip rather than just recommend one.

You are not going to book this and then hear nothing for fourteen months. Everyone who comes gets a proper lead-up: group Zoom calls through the planning stages, so you know the people you will be walking with before you are standing next to them in a South American hotel, a dedicated page on my site for the group, and all the preparation I would do for myself. Training, gear for Patagonian weather, food, what to carry on the big days.

I plan trips both locally and abroad for a living and for fun. I do it for my family several times a year and I enjoy it more than almost anything else I do. TrovaTrip handles the operator, the hotels and the bookings, and they are good at it. What I am adding is everything around that.

One practical thing: you can arrive a day early. It is an optional add-on and it costs a bit extra. I am doing it. After a flight that long, a day on the ground before the walking starts is not an indulgence.

And if this one goes well, there will be more. This is the first.

US$3,899 per person, or US$3,699 for the first eight people who book. That covers the whole trip on the ground: hotels twin-share, seven breakfasts, the welcome and farewell dinners, a packed lunch on the Torres day, a local guide the whole way, all city transfers, and all the included activities. Flights are yours, and so are airport transfers, most lunches and dinners, drinks and insurance.

25% holds your spot. The balance comes out automatically 90 days before we go. The group is 8 to 20 people.

Friday 16 October, 6:30am Hobart time. The booking link goes out to one list before anyone else sees it.

Any question at all, just reply. I answer every one.

One housekeeping note. If you add your email above, you will hear from TrovaTrip as well as me. They run the bookings and the payments, so a few of their emails will land alongside mine over the next week. Sorry about the double-up.

Mowser