Day hiking to Grey Glacier in Torres del Paine (Yes, it’s possible!) 

A guide to visiting Grey Glacier as a day hike. If you don’t have the time (or inclination) to do one of the multi-day treks in Torres del Paine, you can still see one of its most impressive sights on a day trip. It’s a long one, but it’s definitely doable if you’re a fit hiker. I’ll cover the route, how to get there, and a few variations to either make your hike a little bit longer or a whole lot shorter.

The sprawling Grey Glacier is one of the most iconic sights in Torres del Paine, and it’s undoubtedly one of the highlights of the park’s multi-day backpacking trips. With a bit of planning though, you can absolutely do it as a day hike. 

It’s not the most straightforward day hike in the park in terms of logistics, but it’s definitely one of the most rewarding. And even though the practicalities might seem a little overwhelming at first, remember you’ve freed up space in your brain (and your backpack) by not having to worry about reservations, camping gear, or 4-8 days of food! 

You have a few different options for this hike, and the best one for you will depend on:

• How fast you hike
• How many kilometers you want to do or think you can do in one day
• How tight your budget is
• Whether you’re renting a car or taking the bus from Puerto Natales 

I’ve tried to break it all down in the simplest way possible (keeping in mind that simple is relative) below.

Key point: The hike is only accessible by boat

The most common way to visit Grey Glacier as a day hike is to start and end at Refugio Paine Grande, which you can reach via catamaran from Pudeto Pier. I have all the details on transportation later in the post, but before we get into that I just want to lay out your different options so you can decide which boats and buses you need. 

In the trekking season, there are two morning boats from Pudeto to Paine Grande. The first is at 8:30, and the second is at 10:30. The trip across Pehoé Lake takes about 30 minutes.

If you’re relying on public transportation from Puerto Natales, you can take one of the first buses of the day to Torres del Paine and make it on the second catamaran. If you’re renting a car, a super early start and spot on the first catamaran will give you more options in terms of extending your hike or doing a one-way hike instead of doubling back. (More details on both of these options later in the post, or you can click the jump links.)

The last catamaran of the day from Paine Grande back to Pudeto is at 18:40. That puts you on a bit of a tight schedule to get to the glacier and back, but it’s doable if you are in good hiking shape and the wind isn’t being totally uncooperative that day. You will definitely need to keep a steady pace though, and be mindful of how long you spend on your breaks. (I would honestly keep breaks to a minimum until the way back, when you have a better idea of your pace and how much time you have left.) 

An alternative is to take the catamaran one direction and the Grey Navigation ferry the other, making this a point-to-point hike. The ferry has multiple sailings per day between Hotel Lago Grey and Refugio Grey. It’s expensive and more complicated logistically – especially if you’re relying on public transportation to and within Torres del Paine – but it will definitely take the pressure off your hiking pace. (Click here to jump to details about the ferry. Settle in with a cup of tea or something, because it’s kind of a long story!) 

What if you miss the last boat?

Let’s just get this out of the way first: It’s fine. It does happen sometimes. Obviously it’s not ideal if you’ve reserved a bus ticket and a (probably not cheap) place to stay in town, but you’re not going to have to sleep in the mud. Would I do this the day before a flight? No I would not. But if you have a day or two of a buffer in your onward travel plans, it’s not going to be the end of the world. Paine Grande is a huge campsite, and they have tents, mats, and sleeping bag rentals. There is also a restaurant and bar (… what? I know), so you definitely won’t starve.

Same goes for Grey if you realize ahead of time that you won’t make it. (It’s a little smaller though, so it’s more likely to be full up at the height of summer. In shoulder season, you should have no problem – I was there recently at the end of March and they said they were only at about 60% capacity.) Then you can just enjoy the glacier and maybe even extend your hike to the suspension bridges if you have a good amount of daylight remaining. (More on this option in a minute.)

Honestly, if you have the time, I would just plan for this anyway. You could even splash out and do the ice trek on the glacier in the morning before heading back to Paine Grande.

But since you obviously landed on this post looking for a day hike, you may very well not have the time. I will just leave the Vertice website for you here in case that’s an option for you. To reserve Grey or Paine Grande, you’ll click through as if you’re planning the W trek, but just book the one night. You can think about it, and I’ll get back to the topic at hand!

Overview of the trail to Grey Glacier

The hike is about 12 kilometers each way – 11 kilometers from Refugio Paine Grande to Refugio Grey, and then an additional kilometer to the main viewpoint over the glacier. 

If you’re accustomed to hiking, it’s not especially challenging and takes most people between 3 and 4 hours each way. (So yes, for anyone doing the math right now – that means if you’re hiking out and back you’ll need to be on the faster end of that range, especially if you want time to enjoy the viewpoint.) There are a few steep sections, but overall the elevation gains and losses are gradual, and there is also a fair bit of walking on the flat.

You’ll start with a 3-kilometer uphill to Laguna de los Patos. I’ve done this hike a few times, and when the weather was nice I took a little break here to watch the ducks swimming around and diving for food. When it was stormy and windy I unfortunately didn’t see them. 

About a kilometer before the midpoint of the hike, you’ll reach Mirador Lago Grey – not to be confused with the one just past Refugio Grey – with an epic view over the lake, its many floating icebergs, snow-capped mountains in the distance, and the glacier. 

This is a gorgeous lookout point and a perfectly reasonable place to turn around if you find that you’re not on track to get to Refugio Grey and back for the catamaran. (If you’re hiking out and back, I think you should be aiming to reach Refugio Grey by 14:30 at the latest. Even that will be cutting it a little fine, since you won’t have much time to hang out and enjoy the view.) I think you’ll still feel the hike was worth it if you only get this far; this is genuinely one of the prettiest spots in Torres del Paine. 

After that it’s down you go, pretty much all the way to the refugio, with just a couple of small inclines to change things up for your knees. 

Since you’re not spending the night, there’s really no need to stop at the lodge unless you want to grab a snack from the minimarket or refill your water. The best view is another 10-15 minutes away. Continue past the sea of tents and you’ll soon see the trail to Mirador Glaciar Grey veering off to your left. (It is well-marked with signposts.) 

This is a very cool viewpoint with lots of different angles and small paths to explore. I’ve been there three times now, and it looked completely different each time thanks to different weather, different light, and different seasons. It’s spectacular no matter what. 

One final important point is that the trail back to Paine Grande from Refugio Grey closes at 15:00, in theory. In practice, this is not strictly enforced – there is no ranger guarding the trail; just a sign asking you to please cooperate. Regardless, if you’re booked on the 18:40 catamaran, you’re probably not going to want to leave much later than 15:00 anyway. Even fast hikers will lose some steam by the end of a 24-kilometer day, so better to leave a little bit of cushion. 

Optional: Continue to the first suspension bridge

After Refugio Grey and the mirador, the main trail continues alongside the glacier all the way to the John Gardner Pass. You can’t actually continue to the pass in this direction (this is part of the 8-day O trek, which you’re only allowed to hike counterclockwise), but you can continue for several hours to a series of suspension bridges with awesome views over Grey Glacier.

Unfortunately, if you’re taking the bus to/from Pudeto and the catamaran to/from Paine Grande, I don’t think you’ll have time for this (unless the boat is perfectly on time, there’s little to no wind that day, and you’re very, very fast). 

If you’re renting a car and you take the 8:30 a.m. catamaran from Pudeto, I think you likely have time to make it to the first bridge, but of course this depends on your hiking pace. It’s about 2 kilometers uphill (40 minutes on average) past Refugio Grey. The second is an additional hour away, so again, unless you’re running, this is a bit too far for a day hike. 

I’ll also note that bridge #1 for you is bridge #3 for the people you meet coming in the other direction, and they are oh-so-close to the finish line of a very long day. I’m sure any encouragement you can offer will be appreciated!

Hiking point-to-point with the Grey Navigation ferry

So as mentioned above, most people do this hike as an out-and-back from Paine Grande. There is another way though, and that is by taking the ferry that travels between Refugio Grey and Hotel Lago Grey.

If you’re renting a car and don’t mind the additional cost, I don’t think it’s a bad plan. If you’re on a budget and taking the bus, it might not work for you. 

First of all, the ferry is a sightseeing cruise first and a means of transportation second, and it is priced that way. It’s more than triple the price of the catamaran, and a one-way fare is almost the same price as a roundtrip – 100,000 CLP and 110,000 CLP, respectively. 

And you might say, oh, well that’s ok, for that price you get an up-close view of the glacier!

But the problem is that the ferry visits the glacier either on the way to the refugio or on the way back. And inconveniently for anyone wanting to do Grey Glacier as a day hike, the first two sailings of the day (leaving at 10:00 and 13:00) only visit the glacier on the way back to the hotel, after dropping passengers off at the refugio. So you’d miss out on the glacier tour if you hiked from Grey to Paine Grande, and you’d have to be impossibly fast to do it in the other direction if you’re relying on the bus – the second sailing leaves the refugio at 14:00. Check-in is an hour before departure, so this really doesn’t work for anyone taking the bus and the 10:30 catamaran.

For people with a rental car:

If you rent a car and take the 8:30 catamaran from Pudeto, though, I think this is a reasonable option. You would still need to move at a pretty solid pace, as you’d have about four hours to get to the refugio and check out the glacier viewpoint, barring any delays with the catamaran. I’m not sure how strict the ferry check-in one hour prior to sailing is, either, so you might even have more time than that. The departure point and the mirador are not far from each other, so it’s possible you could check in and then spend a little bit of time checking out the view. (Don’t quote me – you’d have to check with them.) 

Still, if you’re a reasonably fit hiker but you’d prefer to avoid doubling back to Paine Grande, I think this is a good alternative. You can then take the bus from Hotel Lago Grey back to your car at Pudeto. (More on buses in the next section.) Unfortunately the schedules don’t line up perfectly and you’ll have a bit of time to kill, but it’s very pretty around here and there’s a café, so it’s not so bad. 

Note that this does not work in the other direction because there is no afternoon catamaran that will get you to Pudeto in time to catch the last bus to Hotel Lago Grey to pick up your car. 

For people taking the bus: 

Unfortunately, there really is no good option for you. The third ferry departure, leaving Hotel Lago Grey at 16:00, visits the glacier on the way to the refugio, but of course that gets you there way too late to hike back to Paine Grande and catch the last catamaran to Pudeto. And even though you could easily make this departure from Refugio Grey at 17:45 in the other direction, you’d miss the glacier tour and arrive too late to catch the last bus from Hotel Lago Grey to anywhere else in the park. And Hotel Lago Grey is nooooot cheap.

So really the only option for most people would be to book an earlier sailing and miss out on the up-close view of the glacier face. You’d just be spending the extra 73,000 CLP to avoid doubling back and take away the stress of being on such a tight hiking schedule, which may be worth it to you. 

The very first bus from Puerto Natales all the way to Hotel Lago Grey should get you there for the second sailing (with check in at 12:00 for the 13:00 departure), although it will admittedly be a little tight. (According to the bus schedule, you’ll arrive at the hotel at 11:30. The buses are not always super punctual, but you do have a little bit of wiggle room.) There is a minimarket and café here where you can stock up on snacks if you need to. It’s a bit of a long walk along the very windy beach to the boat, though, so don’t linger too long.

There is also a shuttle service that will pick you up from your accommodation in Puerto Natales and get you to the hotel in time for the ferry check-in. Unfortunately, there’s no discount for booking one way, so it works out to about 20,000 CLP more than the bus. Considering you’re guaranteed to arrive on time and you get an extra two hours of sleep (that would be the end of the story for me; take my money), I think it’s totally worth it. Note that you can only take it one way to the hotel (you can’t take it one way back to Puerto Natales).

If you’re an early bird anyway, you can use the shuttle to make it on the first ferry of the day, arriving at Refugio Grey at 10:45. Depending on your pace, this likely gives you time for two suspension bridges, leisurely breaks at the miradors, and the hike back to Paine Grande. 

The second sailing gets you to Refugio Grey at 13:45, which leaves almost five hours to explore the main lookout point and hike to Paine Grande for the last catamaran at 18:40. This in turn will get you to Pudeto in time for the last bus back to Puerto Natales. 

Booking the Lago Pehoé catamaran and the Grey Navigation ferry

You will find a lot of sources online saying that you can only pay for the Pehoé Lake catamaran in cash. That was true up until a few years ago, but now you can reserve your ticket online with a credit card. And you very likely should, depending on your travel dates and the certainty of your plans. 

Because so many people start and end the W trek and O circuit from Paine Grande, the 10:30 catamaran from Pudeto and the 18:40 catamaran to Pudeto can book out weeks (sometimes months) in advance during high season. You’ll definitely want to buy your ticket ahead of time once you’ve finalized your plans. (At the beginning and end of the season, you can probably get away with more flexibility, but there are no guarantees!)

If you’re taking the 8:30 catamaran to Paine Grande in the morning, you could also consider taking the 17:40 boat back to Pudeto or even the earlier one at 17:00. 

The Grey Navigation ferry also needs to be booked in advance, and I want to note here that it does get cancelled sometimes due to high winds, so there is some risk involved with that option. (Honestly, though, if the winds are that strong, it might not be a great day to do this hike anyway.) 

You can book your tickets with the hotel or with Nomades, which is kind of like Viator/Get Your Guide in South America. The schedule is available on the hotel website. Note that you’ll see a fourth navigation listed there, but you can’t buy one-way fares for that sailing. (It doesn’t actually stop for people to get on/off the boat at the refugio.)

Transportation to Pudeto and Hotel Lago Grey

So at this point you may be forming an idea of how you want to go about this hike, which may have led you to ask how you actually get to these boats. 

Transportation from Puerto Natales

If you’re renting a car, there is parking at Pudeto pier. You’ll probably want to park at the far end of the lot (toward the road heading up to the Salto Grande waterfall) because buses come and go frequently from the spots right next to the café here.

If you’re coming from Puerto Natales by bus, it’s actually pretty straightforward. Many of the buses to/from Torres del Paine don’t just stop at the park entrance – they also continue through the park, stopping at Pudeto, Pehoé campground, and Hotel Lago Grey. When you book your bus ticket online, you can select the option to travel from Puerto Natales to Pudeto (for the catamaran) or to Hotel Lago Grey (for the ferry). Traveling to Pudeto will be the same price as just traveling to the park entrance at Laguna Amarga. Hotel Lago Grey is a lot further into the park, so it should be an additional 10,000 CLP. 

The same goes for buses in the other direction – you can book online (in advance – there’s no cell service in the park) from any of the stops in Torres del Paine all the way back to Puerto Natales. The last buses from Pudeto are timed to coincide with the last catamaran, so you don’t need to worry that you’ll miss the bus – most of the people on that boat are probably getting on the same bus as you! If everything is running on time, you’ll have 20 minutes or so to grab a hot chocolate or snack in the café before the bus leaves.

There are a few bus companies serving Torres del Paine, but Bus Sur is the one that travels past the entrance and through the park most frequently. (I believe it’s the only one that travels all the way to Hotel Lago Grey, but there are a few others that go to Pudeto.) You can book your bus tickets on Busbud or recorrido.cl. Select Torres del Paine as your destination, and when the list populates you’ll see the option to choose Pudeto or Hotel Grey. 

Transportation from elsewhere within Torres del Paine

Note that once you’re already in the park, you will need cash for the buses. So, for example, if you park your car at Pudeto for the catamaran, hike from Paine Grande to Refugio Grey, and then take the ferry to Hotel Lago Grey, you’ll need 10,000 CLP cash (per person) to get back to your car. 

This also goes for anyone staying at Camping Pehoé. The bus will stop here around 10:15 to get you to Hotel Lago Grey for 11:30 if you want to take the ferry. However, you will have to hitchhike or walk (about 1.5 hours on the busy, dusty main road) back to your campsite from Pudeto at the end of the day, since Pehoé is in the opposite direction from the park entrance and Puerto Natales. (The last bus in this direction doesn’t line up with the catamaran schedule.)

Unfortunately the first bus from Camping Pehoé to Pudeto is at 14:15, so this won’t work as an out-and-back hike from there either unless you hitchhike. (Or walk both directions, but I really don’t recommend this. That road is beautiful to drive but horrible to walk. I am speaking from experience.) If you want to camp in the park, it’s probably better to just spend the night at Grey or Paine Grande. 

**You can view the schedule for buses within the park on the Bus Sur website. 

More on Torres del Paine and Chile

I think that just about wraps it up! (I can barely believe it; I really gave myself a headache writing this, hah!) If you want to read more about Patagonia and Chile, you can check out my other posts below.

The best day hikes in Torres del Paine – all accessible by bus!

Self-guided hiking on the W trek in Torres del Paine

Patagonia itinerary: The highlights of Argentina and Chile in 2 weeks

The best of Chile from north to south: My itinerary suggestions

Best things to see and do on Chiloé Island

Climbing Villarrica Volcano in Pucón, Chile

What to see and do in Chile’s Atacama Desert

The best street art tours in Valparaíso, Chile

Itinerary for 3 days in El Chaltén, Argentina’s trekking capital

Loma del Pliegue Tumbado: An underrated hike in El Chaltén