Natales: City History and Waterfront Views

Puerto Natales is considered the gateway to Torres del Paine National Park. At the same time, views of Seno Última Esperanza and the Patagonian Andes shape the cityscape. To plan your trip, you can first consider whether you mainly want to explore the city’s history, spend time by the water, or plan excursions in the surrounding area.

Waterfront Views and Historic Sites

The Costanera Pedro Montt within the city offers views of Seno Última Esperanza and the Patagonian Andes. The Mirador de la Cruz on Avenida Santiago Bueras also provides a view of Puerto Natales and Fiordo Última Esperanza. If you are interested in historic sites, you will find the Muelle Histórico Braun y Blanchard on the waterfront promenade along Pedro Montt Street. The influential livestock company of the same name had the pier built at the beginning of the 20th century. During the sheep-farming boom, it was the most important commercial shipping point of its time.

At the end of the more than ten-kilometer-long Costanera Pedro Montt lies the former Puerto Bories cold-storage complex. It was converted into the five-star hotel The Singular and houses a museum about the history of Natales in its early years. The complex thus combines insight into the site’s former use with its present-day role as a hotel.

City History at the Museum

The Museo Histórico de Puerto Natales preserves, documents, and displays the history of the Natales commune. Its timeline spans from the origins of the area 14,000 years ago to the 1930s. The collection includes 331 objects from the Aónikenk and Kawésqar cultures, as well as artifacts documenting local everyday life. These include predominantly European objects from the 19th and 20th centuries. Other materials and testimonies focus on the lives of pioneers and settlers from the city’s beginnings as a workers’ and livestock-raising settlement in 1911.

The exhibits are arranged across seven thematic rooms with bilingual labels. Temporary exhibitions are based predominantly on accounts from community members who witnessed the events. A virtual 360-degree tour takes you through the exhibition spaces and gives you an impression of their layout. This lets you combine historical topics with a sense of the spaces themselves.

Explore Puerto Natales by Bike

A cycling tour of Puerto Natales connects, among other places, the Ether Aike artisan village and Plaza de los Cuatro Pueblos. The route follows streets and avenues linking historic pioneer houses. At Pueblito Artesanal Ether Aike in the town center, you can find locally made items crafted from sheep’s wool, leather, and wood. In Phillipi Street, a mural tells the story of the Aonikenk and Kaweskar. These stops offer different points of interest: handicrafts, city history, and depictions of the region’s cultures.

Activities in the Surrounding Area

From Puerto Natales, excursions by speedboat or kayak are offered on Seno Última Esperanza and through its fjords. The surrounding area also has a network of trails, including short, easy walks as well as longer, more physically demanding routes. Conditions on individual trails may vary. On the Cueva Grande trail in the Cueva del Milodón Natural Monument, wheelchair users can reach the viewpoint inside the cave with assistance.

Near Laguna Sofia, horseback-riding excursions lasting one hour or longer can be arranged through a local provider. Coordinate times and transfers with the provider and your accommodation. The options in the surrounding area therefore vary in both activity and time commitment: a horseback ride is specified as lasting at least one hour, while the trail network includes both short walks and longer routes.

Getting There and Choosing a Hotel

Puerto Natales has a small airfield with the code PNT. From Punta Arenas, the 250-kilometer route to Puerto Natales follows Ruta 9.

Then base your choice on the specific details of each hotel offer and your travel plans.

Discover more destinations: Puerto Natales, Torres Del Paine, Estancia Pudeto

Back to the main travel overview: Provincia Última Esperanza.