by Allan Taylor

Created on: May 15, 2008   Last Updated: June 04, 2011

Puerto Natales in Fiordland Chile

Puerto Natales in Chilean Patagonia is the starting off point to see the finest mountain and lake scenery in South America.

Torres del Paine National Park is a tourist mecca for South America, rivaling Machu Picchu as a must-see destination.  However,  there is plenty else to do and see in the region.  Puerto Natales has become the starting point to visit the many glaciers of fiordland either as day cruises or luxury multi-day cruises offered as package tours.  Day trips include a visit to the  Milodon Cave,  a boat cruise up the adjacent fiord to view nearby glaciers, or a two day trip across  the Argentine border to see the mighty Perito Moreno Glacier.

How to get to Puerto Natales? There are three ways, given in ascending order of comfort and descending order of time. What you might see on the way depends on the weather which can be notoriously bad e.g., rain, snow, gales.  If you get a fine day consider yourself lucky.

Hardy backpackers like to torture themselves by taking the weekly Navimag ferry sailing from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales, a journey of 3 days,  winding southwards along the Pacific fiordland coast.  Horrendous stories abound about cramped conditions, fog, rain, rough seas and sea sickness.

Less traumatic is to travel by bus.   This 2 day journey starts from Valdivia, Chile and crosses  the Andes into Argentina to follow the sealed Atlantic coast highway to Rio Gallegos and thence west following the Strait of Magellan  to Punta Arenas.  Puerto Natales is a pleasant 247 km bus ride NW from Punta Arenas. You see a lot of countryside on the way.

By far the best way  is to fly to Punta Arenas from Santiago or Puerto Montt;  this is painless, quick and very comfortable. On a fine day you see the whole Andean mountain chain with its snowy peaks and volcanoes. Weather permitting your pilot will do a circuit of the magnificent Paine Mountains before loosing altitude to land at Punta Arenas.

Puerto Natales, population ca 20,000, is a fiordland port established in 1911 to service the sheep industry of Patagonia. Today there are still lots of sheep around but tourism is now the life blood of the region.   It is a very pleasant place to stay for some rest and recreation.  Finding accommodation in Puerto Natales is not a problem.  Conveniently within a square kilometer of the waterfront is a concentration of hospedajes

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