Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales: the road, the bus and the ferry

The road

The connection is Route 9, which runs for 247 km along the northern shore of the Strait of Magellan. The scheduled bus takes about three and a half hours and runs several times a day in the high season, with fewer services in the shoulder months.

The road itself is part of the trip. It passes Fuerte Bulnes and Puerto del Hambre and Cape Froward — the same landmarks the boat tours pass at a distance, and the same ones that appear on the map as the fort, the hungry port and the southernmost point of the American continent. If you have not been on the water yet, this is a cheap preview of the geography.

The ferry, and what it is for

There is a ferry across the Strait at the Primera Angostura, and it is worth being clear about what it is. It is a seasonal passenger service for the crossing itself, and it takes about 40 minutes. It was designed for the maritime route, for the ships that needed to move between the two ends of the navigation — not for people trying to get from one city to the other faster.

For a traveller it is a bonus, not a shortcut. The road is the direct connection and the bus is scheduled around it. If you want to ride the ferry, do it as the ferry crossing with the road journey on either side.

What it costs and what it takes

The bus is the cheap option and it does the job. It takes most of a working day, and the interesting consequence of that is that you spend a morning and an afternoon looking out of a window at the Strait, which is not a bad use of a day.

The alternative is a tour transfer, which is a private vehicle or a small-group van that leaves as part of a booked excursion. It costs more but it is faster, more flexible and it usually includes something at the far end — the Base Torres trek, or the park's shorter route with the Milodon Cave. For most travellers arriving on a cruise or a flight and heading straight for the park, that is the version that makes sense.

There is no train, and there is no direct flight between the two towns. The nearest airport is Punta Arenas', which is one of the reasons people do the route in this order rather than the other way around.

Which order to do it in

Almost always Punta Arenas first. It has the airport, it has the hotels, it has the water excursions, and it is where the cruise ships land. Puerto Natales is a destination with a job to do rather than a place to arrive at, and its job is the park.

The exception is if you are coming for Torres del Paine specifically and have a long enough trip to justify skipping the Strait. That is a real choice — Torres del Paine is one of the best parks in the Americas — but it means skipping the thing that makes this site exist.