Atacama Patagonia Walking Holiday » Itinerary

Fly overnight to Latin America. Please note: international flights are quoted separately for this holiday.

Early morning arrival in Santiago. Stretch your legs with a relaxed walking tour and get a bite to eat. After lunch, settle in to your hotel and relax.

Travel to the north of Chile and the Atacama Desert. Stay in a boutique hotel in the small, characterful oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama.

Set off from the hotel for a gently paced bike ride across the salt flats to a lagoon, home to a family of flamingos. In the late afternoon walk through a narrow gorge in the salt mountains.

Ride up to 20km, 3hrs, flat. Walk 7km, 2hrs, down 100m.

Start today’s walk in small village at 4,000m. Walk along a wide green valley then down an Inca road surrounded by giant cacti and agricultural terraces to an oasis.

Walk 18km, 5hrs, down 1,000m

Today’s walk takes you as high as many of us will ever stand. Walk slowly but steadily to the summit at 5,620m – only a couple of hundred metres lower than Kilimanjaro.

Walk 6km, 3hrs, up 420m, down 420m.

Visit the world’s highest geothermal field – the Tatio geysers as they come to life at sunrise. Afterwards, soak in hot springs. Fly to Santiago this evening.

Set off early to fly south to the Chilean Lake District via
Santiago. Stay in the town of Puerto Varas which lies on the edge of Llanquihue Lake in full view of the lovely Osorno Volcano.

Today is yours to relax and explore at your own pace. If you wish, you might like to join our optional tour.

Today is yours to relax and explore at your own pace. If you wish, you might like to join our optional tour.

This is a long though beautiful travel day. Fly south along the spectacular spine of the Andes, over the massive Patagonian ice fields.

Travel into Torres del Paine National Park. Enjoy an afternoon boat trip out to the face of Glacier Grey. Sleep in the mountain hut (refugio) near the face of the glacier.

Start walking east across Torres del Paine as you leave the glaciers behind you to walk between lakes and mountains towards the dry grasslands.

Walk under the mountain of Paine Grande then a steady uphill and a steep downhill towards the shores of Lake Nordenskjold.

Continue your walk along a good path in the shadow of the mountains throughout today. You should see lots of condors as you pass beneath the high peaks.

Early start to hike up to the small lake at the base of the towers – the culmination of your Torres del Paine walk. Return to sleep in a comfortable hotel.

Travel up from the far south to the capital, Santiago. Today is a long travel day although the views are always a treat. Dress comfortably, relax and enjoy.

Leave Santiago today. Flight times vary as international flights are quoted separately for this holiday.

Arrive back home.