"Puerto Natales" a Puerto Natales Travel Page by vtveen

Puerto Natales is a rather small town (about 20.000 inhabitants) with a lot of colourful houses, most of them with roofs of rusty corrugated sheets, beautifully located on the borders of the Seno Ultima Esperanza. It is the capital of the Ultima Esperanza province.

Puerto Natales has a small centre with most of the shops, banks, travel agencies and restaurants along Avenida Bulnes, Calle Eberhard and some sidestreets. But don’t expect spectacular (gift) shops; we couldn’t find one. Plaza de Armas, the main square, has the cathedral and town hall. Scattered around the town are lots of hostals, guesthouses and hotels. Puerto Natales offers a historical museum and even a casino.
Everything within Puerto Natales is on walkable distance and there is no need to take a taxi.

By far the most important about this town is the fact being the gateway to the national parks Torres del Paine and Bernardo O’Higgins. And most of the tourists are heading as soon as possible to one of these parks and will only stay one or two nights in Puerto Natales.

Puerto Natales is accessible by bus from Punta Arenas and El Calafate (Argentina) and by a (3 night) ferry boat from Puerto Montt (www.navimag.com). Sky Airline (www.skyairline.cl) started in 2009 with flights between Puerto Natales and Santiago and Punta Arenas.