Complete Patagonia

 

Day 1: Your Santiago airport transfer will take you directly to our joining hotel, ready for the early start tomorrow. Today you will meet your crew for your tour briefing and welcome dinner.
Day 2: We take a flight south from Santiago to Coyhaique. We take possession of our vehicles today and have a short introduction drive to Puerto Chacabuco, a beautiful town which is gateway to impressive Patagonian fjords, glaciers, and national parks.
Day 3: Weather permitting, we will experience an incredible day trip to Laguna San Rafael to be part of one of the last natural wonders of the world. We will journey through the channels of the Chilean Patagonia to the foot of the San Rafael glacier to see the spectacular detachments of icebergs floating in the San Rafael Lagoon.
Day 4: Today's drive is breathtaking as we drive through a landscape of lush forests, waterfalls, glaciers, snow-capped mountains, and jaw dropping beauty. We continue south along the Carretera Austral until we take short boat ride to the serene Puyuhuapi Lodge & Spa where we lodge for the evening.
Day 5: Leaving the lodge behind we travel more of the scenic Carretera Austral. We will drive some alternative routes to revisit and once again spend the night in the town of Coyhaique, located in the shadow of Cerro McKay.
Day 6: After a mix of more paved and dirt roads we eventually reach the beautiful small village of Puerto Guadal, beautifully located in an inlet on the shores of the majestic Lago General Carrera, South America’s second-largest lake.
Day 7: Our first border crossing today as we cross the Andes into Argentina. The drive is yet another scenic overload that will see us endlessly stopping for photos to take it all in. We travel through the Patagonia National Park which is home to a wildlife program in partnership with the Tomkins Conservation focusing on the protection of many different animal species such as the puma and condor. We overnight in a unique guesthouse in the heart of Patagonia.
Day 8: Exploring more of remote Patagonia we overnight in a remote hosteria close to the town Bajo Caracoles. The famous Ruta 40 is a crucial stop for travellers in Patagonia, often providing the only fuel for hundreds of kilometres. We will have the opportunity to visit Cueva de las Manas (Cave of Hands) and the Tierra de Colores - clay-textured hills created by layers of sediment and natural minerals that appear in shades of red, ochre, and white formed millions of years ago.
Day 9: Governador Gregores: Driving more of the legendary Ruta 40 and the Patagonian Steppe, we overnight in Governador Gregores, situated in the heart of the Santa Cruz province of Argentina.
Day 10: With the Andes to our right we travel south through an otherworldly sparse landscape of Patagonia’s eastern side of the Andes. We reach the village of El Chaltén, spectacularly located under the towering Mt Fitzroy that forms part of the equally spectacular Los Glaciares National Park.
Day 11: A free day in El Chaltén to explorer this beautiful town or take a hike on one of the many different walking trails nearby.
Day 12: Departing El Chaltén we return to Ruta 40 catching views of Lago Viedma and then drive south until we reach Lago Argentino. We spend the next two nights in the provincial town of El Calafate allowing us time to explore this beautiful region.
Day 13: Today we will visit one of Patagonia’s must see highlights the mighty Moreno Glacier. Standing on a boardwalk overlooking the face of the glacier and witnessing large chunks of ice calving into Lago Argentino is a jaw dropping experience. Described as the world’s most impressive glacier, we will take a boat out onto Lago Argentino to witness up close, as is possibly safe, this UNESCO listed glacial phenomenon.
Day 14: And it only gets better, today we leave Argentina and cross back into Chile before getting our first glimpses of possibly the most iconic image of Patagonia, the Torres del Paine National Park, the cinematic scenery will leave you in awe, it is virtually indescribable. We will overnight in nearby Puerto Natales for the next 2 nights.
Day 15: Today will be spent in the park amongst soaring mountains, golden pampas, iceberg littered lakes and the occasional guanaco as we drive the tracks that form part of this epic landscape. Weather permitting, the sunsets over the Torres del Paine are the stuff of dreams and possibly the most scenic day of the entire journey.
Day 16: Today, with the Andes in our mirrors we drive east once again. Entering the vast pampas lands we reach the Magellan Straits where we take a ferry, possibly accompanied by Magellan dolphins, to our overnight stay at Cerro Sombrero, a tiny village in the far south of Chile with a population of 680 people.
Day 17: We cross back into Argentina and drive on to the southernmost city on earth of Ushuaia, the end of the longest road on earth, The Pan American Highway that has its start in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Ushuaia is scenically located between the snow-capped Martial Ranges and the Beagle Channel. We spend two nights here allowing us time to further explore the region. This region has a wild remote feel about it and is the stepping off point for Antarctica cruises.
Day 18: We spend time today driving out and exploring the beautiful Tierra del Fuego National Park and the very end of the Pan American Highway. This is a renowned landscape of jagged mountains, glacially formed valleys and Patagonian Forest. We can also enjoy a Beagle Channel Cruise, named after Darwin’s HMS Beagle, who sailed these waters in 1831.
Day 19: A bit of backtracking today as we need to take the cars back into Chile. We again cross into Chile and stay at Porvenir where we shall visit the local King Penguin colony.
Day 20: Our final driving day will see us cross the Magellan Straits again and turn due south to Punta Arenas, a cosmopolitan city in the Chilean far south. After three weeks of remote wilderness adventure Punta Arenas will feel positively huge but located on the Magellan Straits it still retains that “last frontier” feel to it.
Day 21: It’s a flight back to Santiago today where we can celebrate our time being immersed in some of the most beautiful scenery on earth.
Departure Day: Spend a couple more days in Santiago or depart to your next destination, the choice is yours