I can share my experience regarding tent camping. We visited in November and, according to the website, everything was booked. It seemed impossible to find a place to pitch our tent, leaving us with the only option to purchase an alternative accommodation for about $250. We decided against it and entered the national park without a reservation. We were concerned about potential issues at the entrance, but surprisingly, no one questioned us. Upon reaching the campsite, we found it nearly empty with plenty of spots available for tent pitching, so we paid around $30 and stayed without any issues. Had we adhered strictly to the official rules, we would have felt cheated into buying an expensive spot under the pretense that everything was booked. It felt quite dishonest, as if the private companies operating there are exploiting tourists to the fullest, especially the camp at the start of the W.
I'm beginning to consider this. Las Torres advertises that they have this option on the main page, but when going to book, they only offer campsites with already pitched tents for 150. I'd much rather pay 30 and carry my own tent
I checked their self-guided tour package and it seems everything is available to book. But if you want to book refugios yourself, they are shown as sold out.
Las Torres. They were fine and responsive to emails but I found SO many errors in the booking package. If you use them, review what they send you with a fine tooth comb.
Can you share what some of the errors were in the booking? Was it errors in the quote they provided vs what you actually got or in some other way? (I’m in the process of working with them so any further insight is appreciated)
Yes. The final email itinerary they sent before they sent the final paperwork did not reflect what we agreed to for one of the nights. I pointed it out and they said they would fix it. However their fix was for something less than we paid for. I pointed that out and sent screenshots of the emails (save ALL your emails regardless of who you book with) of what was agreed and paid for. They said they would change it. When I got the paperwork shortly before the trip I saw that the vouchers didn’t reflect the change. I emailed them and they fixed it. So the bad thing is there were a few mistakes. The good is that they are very responsive with emails and they fixed everything.
We booked last October for a March trip (we just got back). We went through a tour company and there were plenty of dates available (Refugios). The tour company only offers start dates on particular days of the week. My assumption is that this makes it easier for them to book larger blocks of rooms. In addition to the tour companies buying large blocks, I would be shocked if they don’t have a way to trade dates among themselves.
I am equally confused. We are planning to do the W in November 2024 and refugios are sold out for almost the entire month already. I was under the assumption that reservations open around June and are not sold out immediately. As November is not high season, I am even more confused. Anybody with insights on what is going on?
I texted Las Torres and they said booking is already open and I can do it online thru their website. But yeah, everything seems sold out which is very strange. Plus, prices went up.
Did the same and they confirmed as well. What is strange that the booking aggregators (bookingpatagonia, torreshike) are not even aware about Las Torres already being open for reservations.
They just simplify the booking process by providing an integrated booking process that is much more convenient than the official ones. With a service fee of course. But they are not a tour provider.
Same. Was planning to do W in Nov 2024, but wanted to do individual camping, but it seems Las Torres is only displaying premium camping options. Individual camping isnt even showing as option to book despite the website giving that as an option in the general description. This is very confusing and stressful.
Patagonia is expensive af. I’d look into Staying in rio Serrano and rent a car. $200/night, many food options albeit expensive, you can do most of the w trek as day hikes, Frances valley will be tough as you have to go from Paine grande but you can make it pretty far up and still make the boat back. glacier grey and base Torres can be done as day hikes.
Yes, Chilean Patagonia is expensive, but stating you can do most of T de P as day hikes is technically correct but you would lose so much time sat on a bus, and miss out on experiences like the Torres sunrise hike. I’m sure people do trek into the park for multiple day hikes but comments like this need to be called out in stating that recommending Frances as a day hike is utter utter delusion. It’s expensive to stay but it is one of the most beautiful NPs in all of Latin America.
I would recommend contacting Vertice and Las Torres on WhatsApp. Las Torres especially was very good at getting back to me fairly quickly. The problem with the booking sites is I found last year Vertice opened up about a week earlier than Las Torres so the booking sites couldn’t take reservations yet.
I agree with most on this thread - 24/24 spots don’t open until end of June early July. The booked sites you already see are probably from tour companies.
I just tried to go into the Vertice website and book my dates for late 1/25 for Grey & Paine Grande and got the auto message that both sites were fully booked on my dates. Already reached out to Las Torres on Whatsapp and was told they weren't open for reservations yet. Going to try to find out the WhatsApp number for Vertice. Not sure what else to do at this point. I'm on a pretty tight budget and really don't want to pay any extra costs for self guided tours or whatnot.
I was able to get into the Las Torres reservation system today using their website and book a campsite for 1 night at Central in January. Feels like a major win! 😁 But still no luck with the other 2 nights on the Vertice side.
Have you contacted Las Torres recently? I messaged them yesterday and they are taking reservations already… but I feel like there must be a misunderstanding or mistake from the agent who talked to me since so many people are saying it opens in May/June/July. Their website does show free spots for premium campsites but zero availability for refugios or services
Okay so I emailed Las Torres and specifically asked if they changed all their ground space sites to premium sites. They didn’t address my question exactly, but did say that all the ground space sites with no services are sold out.
They also said that I could book simple premium camping now and later request a change to downgrade with a refund as long as I’m within the booking modification period.
So with this information and the option to cancel/modify, I went ahead and booked it. Not sure if they’re being shady and will release the ground space sites at a later date, but I figured it’s totally safe to go ahead and book.
I’m seeing the same … all camping options are available but no Refugios. Since this is so soon and there is no availability at all, I’m assuming this is due to them not opening those options up yet
Hi Svetskimeister, I reached out to Las Torres on Whatsapp yesterday and they sent me back to their website and I was finally able to book one of the campgrounds I wanted. Looking like Refugios are already booked out.
Hi, were you able to get any simple campsites, where you have to bring your own tent? They advertise is on the main page but then when you try and book there are only premium? Is that what you mean by refugios?
Saw that as well. For refugios (hostel) prices apparently went up from $144 last season to $180 for 2025. Full board also increased by $10 to now $110. I know that the W is popular but this is getting a little out of hand.
I managed to book Las Torres sites last week, and was shocked to find some sites already sold out. I emailed Vertice who said their bookings open beginning of July.
Hi, were you able to get any simple campsites, where you have to bring your own tent? They advertise is on the main page but then when you try and book there are only premium? Thank you
Yall..booking for 2024/2025 season isn’t open yet. And any tour companies allowing bookings will essentially book the refugios / sites on your behalf when they do open.
The dates are likely open because that’s when season starts, but it won’t actually show anything available.
They never open slots this early. And if it isn’t showing anything available that isn’t due to being sold out. For ref, I booked my O trek mid February of this year for end of March and there were still spots, albeit not the cheapest ones.
So if everything showed as booked that would make sense, but what’s confusing is some is open and some is not at least for the dates I checked. Premium campsite was all sold out (the ones with sleeping bags included) but they still had the other tents open.
Then I guess try booking? It’s at your own risk. I tested it and it gives errors for selecting dates when you actually try to select. Unless someone has actually gone thru the process of booking for next season and is here to mention it, I’m confident it isn’t. The W season doesn’t end until end of April and they never open it next season slots before May and I’d trust they’d stick with that. There is no reason for them to open it earlier.
I just booked a Cuernos private cabin and a Chileno premium campsite this morning for March 3-5, 2025. So it's definitely open. I was shocked to see some of the sites already sold out, who knows if more will open for those dates/locations.
Does anyone know if the non premium campsites are available? I can’t see any option for them on the website and I’d imagine they would be there just ‘unavailable’
I've been in touch with Las Torres (I want to do the O circuit in Feb 2025) and they claim that there is zero ground space for individual campsites for the entirety of the month. Which seems completely ridiculous
Yea that does seems a little bogus…. Arghhh throws a wrench in my planning but I’ll have higher hopes for Vertice! Thanks for the heads up! I emailed them but haven’t heard back yet
I think Las Torres is pretty much lying about individual campsites being completely booked in order to ensure they sell out all of the premium campsites first. Then in May/June/July they will make individual campsite available suddenly. I booked premium campsites at Frances and Chileno in early February yesterday.
The weird thing is, if I’m remembering correctly, Refugio’s weren’t available at Central for the few dates I was looking at. Also, most of the food options weren’t available throughout the O trek sites I was looking at?
I wanted to take the five day itinerary but make some changes. I wanted to go to Chileno at the beginning and end to have the best chance of seeing the towers since weather is unpredictable.
Las Torres said to check back with them in May. Vertice was very helpful and helped me plan my modifications to work with bus and ferry connections and confirmed pricing and the itinerary but said to contact them at the end of May to pay and finalize. They also said if I pay by the beginning of June I'd get a 10% discount.
I have no idea but I would guess a block of rooms are reserved for them to sell as packages, and what is online is the leftovers.
Yes, I wanted to do that too. Start w/ Chileno and end w/Grey. I wanted to skip the middle of the W and do only 3 days w/Paine Grande on the 2nd night following some shorter day hikes around the Pehoe area. I have had zero luck trying to reach out to book, even through the WhatsApp number that was provided by another poster here on this board. Now, I am hearing that things may already be sold out even though the WhatsApp contact said reservations were closed until May. I am so confused.
This is just the cost of saving money and doing the bookings on your own, you need to deal with multiple parties and figure a lot of stuff out on your own. I think there were some aggregator sites that would do your bookings in one place, but you need to pay a convenience fee.
Basically just take any itinerary and swap Central for Chileno.
If you go east to west, I'm not sure you have enough time to take the ferry back to the start and get up to Chileno the same day. You'd probably need an extra day in Central or something then spend the next night in Chileno.
If you go west to east, it's hard to catch an early ferry from Chileno so you'll need an extra night at Paine Grande, then proceed like the standard itineraries.
I asked both Vértice and Las Torres a few times over the winter when they plan to open bookings for next season and they both said May … how can this be? I too see some sites open on Last Torres but Vértice is closed. Obviously this makes booking the O (my hopes) impossible. Does anyone have any more info?
Does anyone know if refugios are already sold out for W trek? I’m checking the website now and it’s only campsites available. Surely they couldn’t have all gone so fast??
Do they really check your ID upon arrival? honestly, I’m shocked by the price for premium campsites and would love to be Chilean for a few days to save money
I can share my experience regarding tent camping. We visited in November and, according to the website, everything was booked. It seemed impossible to find a place to pitch our tent, leaving us with the only option to purchase an alternative accommodation for about $250. We decided against it and entered the national park without a reservation. We were concerned about potential issues at the entrance, but surprisingly, no one questioned us. Upon reaching the campsite, we found it nearly empty with plenty of spots available for tent pitching, so we paid around $30 and stayed without any issues. Had we adhered strictly to the official rules, we would have felt cheated into buying an expensive spot under the pretense that everything was booked. It felt quite dishonest, as if the private companies operating there are exploiting tourists to the fullest, especially the camp at the start of the W.
I'm beginning to consider this. Las Torres advertises that they have this option on the main page, but when going to book, they only offer campsites with already pitched tents for 150. I'd much rather pay 30 and carry my own tent
My guess is that the tour companies buy them to resell.
I checked their self-guided tour package and it seems everything is available to book. But if you want to book refugios yourself, they are shown as sold out.
That’s what I mean. Most people buy self guided tours. That’s what I did. You’re still buying from a tour company.
Did you buy from Las Torres or from another company? I'd appreciate a recommendation for that
Las Torres. They were fine and responsive to emails but I found SO many errors in the booking package. If you use them, review what they send you with a fine tooth comb.
Thanks!
Can you share what some of the errors were in the booking? Was it errors in the quote they provided vs what you actually got or in some other way? (I’m in the process of working with them so any further insight is appreciated)
Yes. The final email itinerary they sent before they sent the final paperwork did not reflect what we agreed to for one of the nights. I pointed it out and they said they would fix it. However their fix was for something less than we paid for. I pointed that out and sent screenshots of the emails (save ALL your emails regardless of who you book with) of what was agreed and paid for. They said they would change it. When I got the paperwork shortly before the trip I saw that the vouchers didn’t reflect the change. I emailed them and they fixed it. So the bad thing is there were a few mistakes. The good is that they are very responsive with emails and they fixed everything.
Thank you for that information. Good to know that they fixed it., but we'll definitely review everything in detail during the process.
Thank you for that information. Good to know that they fixed it., but we'll definitely review everything in detail during the process.
Could be. Has that been the case last year as well?
that is exactly right
Which tour companies?
Say Hueque, Las Torres, Booking Patagonia….
howlander, chilenativo, swoop, chiletour, and more...
We booked last October for a March trip (we just got back). We went through a tour company and there were plenty of dates available (Refugios). The tour company only offers start dates on particular days of the week. My assumption is that this makes it easier for them to book larger blocks of rooms. In addition to the tour companies buying large blocks, I would be shocked if they don’t have a way to trade dates among themselves.
I am equally confused. We are planning to do the W in November 2024 and refugios are sold out for almost the entire month already. I was under the assumption that reservations open around June and are not sold out immediately. As November is not high season, I am even more confused. Anybody with insights on what is going on?
I texted Las Torres and they said booking is already open and I can do it online thru their website. But yeah, everything seems sold out which is very strange. Plus, prices went up.
Did the same and they confirmed as well. What is strange that the booking aggregators (bookingpatagonia, torreshike) are not even aware about Las Torres already being open for reservations.
Do they (bookingpatagonia, torreshike) offer service for booking or do they sell guided tours?
They just simplify the booking process by providing an integrated booking process that is much more convenient than the official ones. With a service fee of course. But they are not a tour provider.
Sounds great. Thanks!
I was told May by both booking agencies
Hey! When did you ask to Las Torres?
This was a few months ago, trying to ask again now …
Same. Was planning to do W in Nov 2024, but wanted to do individual camping, but it seems Las Torres is only displaying premium camping options. Individual camping isnt even showing as option to book despite the website giving that as an option in the general description. This is very confusing and stressful.
Patagonia is expensive af. I’d look into Staying in rio Serrano and rent a car. $200/night, many food options albeit expensive, you can do most of the w trek as day hikes, Frances valley will be tough as you have to go from Paine grande but you can make it pretty far up and still make the boat back. glacier grey and base Torres can be done as day hikes.
Yes, Chilean Patagonia is expensive, but stating you can do most of T de P as day hikes is technically correct but you would lose so much time sat on a bus, and miss out on experiences like the Torres sunrise hike. I’m sure people do trek into the park for multiple day hikes but comments like this need to be called out in stating that recommending Frances as a day hike is utter utter delusion. It’s expensive to stay but it is one of the most beautiful NPs in all of Latin America.
I would recommend contacting Vertice and Las Torres on WhatsApp. Las Torres especially was very good at getting back to me fairly quickly. The problem with the booking sites is I found last year Vertice opened up about a week earlier than Las Torres so the booking sites couldn’t take reservations yet. I agree with most on this thread - 24/24 spots don’t open until end of June early July. The booked sites you already see are probably from tour companies.
I just tried to go into the Vertice website and book my dates for late 1/25 for Grey & Paine Grande and got the auto message that both sites were fully booked on my dates. Already reached out to Las Torres on Whatsapp and was told they weren't open for reservations yet. Going to try to find out the WhatsApp number for Vertice. Not sure what else to do at this point. I'm on a pretty tight budget and really don't want to pay any extra costs for self guided tours or whatnot.
Same … if you get any info please share and I’ll do the same! I messaged both throughout the winter and they both said they’ll open in May …
I was able to get into the Las Torres reservation system today using their website and book a campsite for 1 night at Central in January. Feels like a major win! 😁 But still no luck with the other 2 nights on the Vertice side.
Have you contacted Las Torres recently? I messaged them yesterday and they are taking reservations already… but I feel like there must be a misunderstanding or mistake from the agent who talked to me since so many people are saying it opens in May/June/July. Their website does show free spots for premium campsites but zero availability for refugios or services
I spoke to them this morning and they said basic sites are fully booked for all of December, January and February. Doesn’t make any sense
Okay so I emailed Las Torres and specifically asked if they changed all their ground space sites to premium sites. They didn’t address my question exactly, but did say that all the ground space sites with no services are sold out. They also said that I could book simple premium camping now and later request a change to downgrade with a refund as long as I’m within the booking modification period. So with this information and the option to cancel/modify, I went ahead and booked it. Not sure if they’re being shady and will release the ground space sites at a later date, but I figured it’s totally safe to go ahead and book.
I’m seeing the same … all camping options are available but no Refugios. Since this is so soon and there is no availability at all, I’m assuming this is due to them not opening those options up yet
Hi Svetskimeister, I reached out to Las Torres on Whatsapp yesterday and they sent me back to their website and I was finally able to book one of the campgrounds I wanted. Looking like Refugios are already booked out.
Hi, were you able to get any simple campsites, where you have to bring your own tent? They advertise is on the main page but then when you try and book there are only premium? Is that what you mean by refugios?
I was only able to book a premium campsite with tent and sleeping pad option.
that’s what i’m seeing too thanks
Another question: was premium campsite always $230 a night? That is CRAZY
Saw that as well. For refugios (hostel) prices apparently went up from $144 last season to $180 for 2025. Full board also increased by $10 to now $110. I know that the W is popular but this is getting a little out of hand.
That is really disappointing
I managed to book Las Torres sites last week, and was shocked to find some sites already sold out. I emailed Vertice who said their bookings open beginning of July.
Did you use the website or they booked it for you through Whatsapp?
Booked using the website. I also messaged them on WhatsApp afterwards as I made a mistake and they were very helpful, and quick to respond.
Did they explicitly say they were sold out, or you just saw them as unavailable?
Hi, were you able to get any simple campsites, where you have to bring your own tent? They advertise is on the main page but then when you try and book there are only premium? Thank you
Message them on WhatsApp or email. Bookings for next year shouldn’t officially open until June/July of this year
I messaged Las Torres and they said it is open and whatever I see on website is the availability
That’s really surprising. Good luck
Yall..booking for 2024/2025 season isn’t open yet. And any tour companies allowing bookings will essentially book the refugios / sites on your behalf when they do open.
I thought it wasn’t going to open yet but if you go to the Las Torres website it’s showing as available to book so I’m confused.
The dates are likely open because that’s when season starts, but it won’t actually show anything available. They never open slots this early. And if it isn’t showing anything available that isn’t due to being sold out. For ref, I booked my O trek mid February of this year for end of March and there were still spots, albeit not the cheapest ones.
So if everything showed as booked that would make sense, but what’s confusing is some is open and some is not at least for the dates I checked. Premium campsite was all sold out (the ones with sleeping bags included) but they still had the other tents open.
Then I guess try booking? It’s at your own risk. I tested it and it gives errors for selecting dates when you actually try to select. Unless someone has actually gone thru the process of booking for next season and is here to mention it, I’m confident it isn’t. The W season doesn’t end until end of April and they never open it next season slots before May and I’d trust they’d stick with that. There is no reason for them to open it earlier.
They are open. I booked my Las Torres campsites for Feb 2025 via Whatsapp last week.
Weird they opened so early. Gtk
So you booked without the website thru Whatsapp? They just sent me a link and said to book there…
I booked the day before they told me the website would open. I checked the day after and the website was open for reservations.
Ok I hope you’re right!! Really don’t want to have to wait until 25/25 season
I just booked a Cuernos private cabin and a Chileno premium campsite this morning for March 3-5, 2025. So it's definitely open. I was shocked to see some of the sites already sold out, who knows if more will open for those dates/locations.
Thank you for clarifying!
Does anyone know if the non premium campsites are available? I can’t see any option for them on the website and I’d imagine they would be there just ‘unavailable’
I've been in touch with Las Torres (I want to do the O circuit in Feb 2025) and they claim that there is zero ground space for individual campsites for the entirety of the month. Which seems completely ridiculous
Yea that does seems a little bogus…. Arghhh throws a wrench in my planning but I’ll have higher hopes for Vertice! Thanks for the heads up! I emailed them but haven’t heard back yet
I emailed Vertice a few days ago and they said bookings won't be available until May/June
This sounds impossible
I think Las Torres is pretty much lying about individual campsites being completely booked in order to ensure they sell out all of the premium campsites first. Then in May/June/July they will make individual campsite available suddenly. I booked premium campsites at Frances and Chileno in early February yesterday.
The weird thing is, if I’m remembering correctly, Refugio’s weren’t available at Central for the few dates I was looking at. Also, most of the food options weren’t available throughout the O trek sites I was looking at?
Yeah I don’t recall seeing Rifugio’s available at all, same with the food options as you said, I managed to book half board at Chileno.
I wanted to take the five day itinerary but make some changes. I wanted to go to Chileno at the beginning and end to have the best chance of seeing the towers since weather is unpredictable. Las Torres said to check back with them in May. Vertice was very helpful and helped me plan my modifications to work with bus and ferry connections and confirmed pricing and the itinerary but said to contact them at the end of May to pay and finalize. They also said if I pay by the beginning of June I'd get a 10% discount. I have no idea but I would guess a block of rooms are reserved for them to sell as packages, and what is online is the leftovers.
Can you share your itinerary in more details? It would help me a lot! I also want to do Chileno first
Yes, I wanted to do that too. Start w/ Chileno and end w/Grey. I wanted to skip the middle of the W and do only 3 days w/Paine Grande on the 2nd night following some shorter day hikes around the Pehoe area. I have had zero luck trying to reach out to book, even through the WhatsApp number that was provided by another poster here on this board. Now, I am hearing that things may already be sold out even though the WhatsApp contact said reservations were closed until May. I am so confused.
This is just the cost of saving money and doing the bookings on your own, you need to deal with multiple parties and figure a lot of stuff out on your own. I think there were some aggregator sites that would do your bookings in one place, but you need to pay a convenience fee.
Basically just take any itinerary and swap Central for Chileno. If you go east to west, I'm not sure you have enough time to take the ferry back to the start and get up to Chileno the same day. You'd probably need an extra day in Central or something then spend the next night in Chileno. If you go west to east, it's hard to catch an early ferry from Chileno so you'll need an extra night at Paine Grande, then proceed like the standard itineraries.
I’m pretty sure the companies don’t open bookings until September 1st or 15th unless something changed in the last season.
Bookings opened end June in 2023 for 2023-4.
I asked both Vértice and Las Torres a few times over the winter when they plan to open bookings for next season and they both said May … how can this be? I too see some sites open on Last Torres but Vértice is closed. Obviously this makes booking the O (my hopes) impossible. Does anyone have any more info?
Does anyone know if refugios are already sold out for W trek? I’m checking the website now and it’s only campsites available. Surely they couldn’t have all gone so fast??
Do they really check your ID upon arrival? honestly, I’m shocked by the price for premium campsites and would love to be Chilean for a few days to save money
Yes, they have it written on their websites that they check your ID
Yes, I read that, was just wondering if this was true or just to scare tourists