There are national parks of all kinds scattered across the planet, from dense, tropical patches of lush greenery and wildlife in Costa Rica to glacial lagoons and ice caves in Iceland. But Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia is up there with the most magnificent of all (in fact, we named it our favourite national park on the planet).
With granite mountains that jut towards the sky like shards of glass, expansive blue lakes and verdant lenga forests, the views here are some of the most sought-after in the world by hikers. This place is on many a bucket list, and excitingly, an opportunity to travel to the region for free has just landed. Interested? Here is everything you need to know.
Las Torres Patagonia launches a campaign for volunteers
For the third year running, tourism company Las Torres Patagonia is running a scheme dubbed ‘10 Volunteers for 10 Days’. It invites travellers to enter a competition and win one of – you guessed it – 10 coveted places to stay in Patagonia for free.
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In partnership with SKY Airlines, Las Torres Patagonia is inviting people from Chile, Brazil, Canada, the UK and the US to partake in rebuilding and restoring trails that lead to the Base Torres viewpoint.
Applicants must be at least 21 years old, and to throw your hat in the ring, you’ll need to submit a video via Instagram Stories using the ‘Your Turn’ button on @lastorres.patagonia. Tag Las Torres Patagonia and @skyairline and ensure your account is public, and if you’re successful, you’ll be contacted by somebody from the company.
Winners will receive round-trip airfare from their country to Puerto Natales, before getting transferred to Hotel Las Torres, which sits at the heart of Torres del Paine. They’ll stay for five nights, either from March 22-26 or March 28-April 1 2026, and spend their days reconstructing the trails.
This year’s edition marks the inauguration of phase one of a much wider restoration project, which includes work on 1.5km of pedestrian trail (for hikers) and 1.8km of logistical paths (for horseback operations). Oh, and the chance to soak up some otherworldly views in the process.
What did volunteers achieve in the 2025 programme?
For a flavour of what you’ll be getting up to, 2025’s cohort of volunteers built 67.1 metres of new trail, by removing a layer of vegetation and using what’s called ‘back slope’ and ‘out slope’ techniques, designed to aid the prevention of erosion from rainfall. They also carried out maintenance on 206.7 metres of existing trail by trimming vegetation and widening certain sections.
‘This campaign represents what tourism should be: participatory, regenerative, and deeply connected to the land,’ said Josian Yaksic, CEO of Las Torres Patagonia. It does sound like a rather refreshing break from the relentless capitalist grind, right?
Applications will be open until February 20, and last year around 1,000 people entered, so get posting. There’s more information on the official Las Torres Patagonia website.
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