Public transport from Puerto Natales to Santiago

Hi there, We’re two friends and want to explore Patagonia in 3 weeks, traveling from Puerto Natales to Santiago. We’d like to use public transport. Has anyone tried this before? If so, could you share your itinerary, booking tips, etc.? We’ll be traveling in December–January. Thanks!

Hi,

You won’t be able to travel up the whole of Patagonia through Chile because there’s no road between Torres Del Paine and Villa O'Higgins. You’ll need to either go via El Chaltén in Argentina and then return to Chile via Villa O'Higgins, or stay in Argentina as far as Perito Moreno and cross into Chile via Lake General Carrera (Lake Buenos Aires), then continue on the Chilean side. There’s a second option: take a boat from Puerto Natales to Tortel ((https://www.tabsa.cl/ruta/pyungay-pnatales/itinerarios)). Just a heads-up, on the Chilean side of Patagonia, the roads are mostly dirt tracks. I’m not sure about the Argentine side.

Fred

Hi Colombe,

I can confirm what Fred told you: if you want to reach Santiago by road from Patagonia, the road ends around Puerto Natales.

You’ll then need to take a domestic flight from Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales to Coyhaique/Balmaceda or Puerto Montt. From there, you can take a bus up to Santiago.

The other options are either going through Argentina or taking a ferry to head further north.

Good luck!

Thierry

Thanks for the info, but I actually did understand that I’d need to go through Argentina. What I’d like to know now is, in this specific case, what public transport route would you recommend, considering I want to make a detour to Chiloé? Thanks again

Thanks so much for these details

Thanks for the info, but I actually understood that I’d have to go through Argentina. In this specific case, what public transport route would you recommend, considering I’d like to make a detour to Chiloé? Thanks again!

If you’re coming from southern Chile, you could take a ferry between Chaitén and Quellón, and from there, cross the entire island of Chiloé.

Just be aware, though, this route isn’t available every day of the week. It’s operated by the maritime company Naviera Austral and takes 4h30 of sailing: https://www.navieraustral.cl/quellon-chaiten/

The other, more classic option to reach the island would be to take a bus from Puerto Montt and cross the Chacao Channel to get to Ancud or Castro.

Have a great trip!

For 3 weeks, I recommend one of Fred’s suggestions—taking the boat from Puerto Natales to Caleta Tortel (a unique little town in itself). From there, take a bus north. The road will be gravel until Villa Cerro Castillo, then paved with short gravel sections. Hitchhiking also works pretty well. Check out tabsa.cl Book well in advance.

Good evening, We did this trip two years ago in 4 weeks, but we included a detour to Tierra del Fuego and 4 days of ferry from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. We went to Torres del Paine for a day and then took a bus back up to El Calafate to see the Perito Moreno glacier. Next, we headed to El Chaltén and Fitz Roy, then to Los Antiguos to return to Chile, specifically Chile Chico. We then took a bus to Puerto Río Tranquilo and its marble chapels (they don’t run every day), followed by Coyhaique, Puyuhuapi, and finally Chaitén. There, we took the ferry to Chiloé (Quellón). Again, it doesn’t operate every day, so it might be worth taking a bus back up to Puerto Montt and then heading to Chiloé. For the return to Santiago, we took an overnight bus. We couldn’t take the 46-hour ferry between Puerto Natales and Caleta Tortel, which would have allowed us to explore more of the Carretera Austral, because it only operates once a week and didn’t fit with our itinerary. You should also know that it can be delayed by several days...