The 5-Day W, Stage by Stage

The classic runs west to east, saving the towers for the finale - and because the catamaran to the western trailhead leaves the schedule no choice on day one. Distances are approximate; Patagonia rounds everything up.

Day 1 - Paine Grande to Grey (≈11 km)

Catamaran across Lago Pehoé, then a rolling afternoon stage north along Lago Grey to the glacier’s refugio. The ice announces itself in floating fragments long before the wall appears. Sleep at Grey (Vértice).

Day 2 - Grey to Paine Grande (≈11 km)

The same trail southbound, which nobody minds: the glacier views run the other way and the light is different. Ambitious legs add the morning walk toward the hanging bridges above the ice. Sleep at Paine Grande (Vértice).

Day 3 - Paine Grande to Francés/Cuernos (≈13–17 km)

The middle prong: up the Francés valley to the Británico lookout’s granite amphitheater - packs stay at the junction - then on along Lago Nordenskjöld. The W’s longest-feeling day. Sleep at Francés or Cuernos (Las Torres side begins).

Day 4 - Cuernos to Chileno (≈12 km)

A traverse day into the towers’ valley. The prize bed tonight is Chileno - the one that makes a dawn summit push possible, and the first bed to sell out every single season. If Chileno was gone, sleep at Central and accept a longer final morning.

Day 5 - The towers (≈4h up from Chileno)

Pre-dawn start, forest, then the famous final moraine - a steep hour of boulders - to the base of the towers as the sun hits the granite. This is the hour the whole route is named for. Down the same way; buses from the Central sector back to Puerto Natales.

The compressed alternative

That day-5 hour doesn’t require the four days before it. The guided base-of-the-towers day runs the final valley as a standalone from Puerto Natales - 4.8/5 across 196 hikers, $109, and the same moraine, same granite, same dawn possibility. It is also, quietly, the best training-day audition for the full W.