We travelled to Chile in December 2024- early January of 2025. The original idea was to do a roadtrip around Chile. But as we started planning, we realized that 3-4 weeks is not enough time to do it properly as distances are huge and sites to see are so many. Instead, we explored separate parts of the country by hiring a car but flying in between. We travelled to Patagonia, both Chile and Argentina side, to Atacama desert, northern part of Chile’s lake district, and the city of Santiago. We did not do any diving on the account of very cold and murky water on the Chilean coast, but we took a short cruise through fjords and glaciers of Southern Patagonia.

Patagonia

The first stop of the trip was Punta Arenas at the southern tip of Chile. We flew into Santiago on an overnight flight and took an afternoon flight to Punta Arenas. In Santiago we got out of the airport for a very nice lunch in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood. We stayed for two nights in Punta Arenas. We went for a full day to Tierra del Fuego with its king penguins and did a half day trip to Magdalena island with Magellanic penguins. Here is Punta Arenas write up

In Punta Arenas we hired a car and started our Patagonia roadtrip. We first headed to Torres del Paine National Park. We stayed in a lodge in Rio Serrano close to the southern entrance gate to the park and did day hikes and trips to the National Park. To be honest, no pictures or words can describe unreal beauty of the place. It’s a must visit. Here is the write up on Torres del Paine.

From Torres del Paine we headed to Argentina, crossing the border at Dorotea. In Argentina we went to El Calafate and stayed there for two nights to visit Perito Moreno glacier. We then headed to El Chalten to hike in Los Glaciares national park for incredible views of Fitz Roy and surroundings. El Chalten is a really nice base to explore the area with some very good restaurants. Here is Argentina Patagonia side write up.

From Argentina we came back to Chile through the same Dorotea pass. Border crossing was easy but make sure not to bring any fruit. They take it away to control the spread of pests and deceases. We had one full day in Puerto Natales and then boarded a ship for a 5 day navigation. Write up on our cruise around glaciers and fjords of Southern Patagonian Ice Field is here.

Atacama desert

We could stay forever in Patagonia, but unfortunately had to move on. We flew from Puerto Natales to Santiago and then on to Calama to explore Atacama desert. From glaciers to one of the driest deserts on earth. It was a striking change. We made our base in San Pedro de Atacama – a small oasis town 100km east of Calama. We hired a car there and drove around to see volcanoes, lagoons, geysers, vicunas, and flamingoes. Here is the write up on our Atacama trip.

Santiago

After Patagonia and Atacama adventures we headed to Santiago for a few days to scrub up, learn more about Chile history and taste some wine. Chile is a very nice and very livable big city. We walked around, visited historical center and its museums, ate in very nice restaurants and visited Concha y Toro and Undurraga vineyards. We greatly enjoyed our little break in Santiago and were ready to head for more adventure, this time down at the lake district.

Lake District

For the last portion of our Chile trip we decided to go to Pucon and explore lake district and volcanos around it. Here is more detail on this section of the trip.

It was time to head home after amazing adventures in Chile. We did not make it to Puerto Montt or Easter Island this time. Hopefully we make it back one day – perhaps for a roadtrip down Carretera Austral all the way to Villa O’Higgins!