This holiday visits the places ticked below. You can design your own itinerary by adding destinations. Select the destinations you would like and click the red button to see full details of the holiday you have chosen.
Day 1 (Wednesday) Fly overnight from the UK to Santiago, the capital of Chile.
Day 2 (Thursday) Santiago Morning arrival in Santiago. You are met at the airport and taken to your hotel (2 nights). Free day to explore the city, perhaps visit the city centre.
Day 3 (Friday) Santiago Free day in Santiago or take the full day optional Vineyard & Valparaiso excursion. On this excursion you start by travelling from Santiago, to Chile’s most interesting city; Valparairso. This colourful city has a series of funiculars to take you up and down for spectacular views. After lunch, you visit a vineyard in the Casablanca Valley before returning to Santiago in the late afternoon.
Day 4 (Saturday) Puerto Varas Fly to the heart of the Chilean Lake District, taking a beautiful tour through an Alerce forest, where the trees grow to almost 50 metres tall and live for 4,000 years. Then continue to Puerto Varas (2 nights) on the shores of Lago Llanquihue, with views of the beautiful snow-capped Osorno volcano. The town has a German feel due to European immigration.
Day 5 (Sunday) Puerto Varas A free day in Puerto Varas to explore the surrounding area by yourself, alternatively take the optional full day Lake District excursion. This excursion takes you around the shores of Lake Llanquihue, visiting Vicente Perez Rosales National Park, where you can visit the Verde Lagoon. After lunch in the town of Ocay, continue to Frutillar, which has strong German influences, before returning to the Puerto Varas.
Day 6 (Monday) Puerto Natales Fly over the Southern Patagonian Ice Field to Punta Arenas, located on the Straits of Magellan. The flight takes you over the Southern Ice Field, and it is possible to see the glaciers snaking their way into the see. Then take a 3 hour transfer to Puerto Natales, a small town wonderfully set on the shores of Last Hope Sound, with especially beautiful sunrises (1 night).
Day 7 (Tuesday) Torres del Paine An early start to the port where you board a boat to sail up the Last Hope Sound past the Balmaceda glacier, to Puerto Toro. There is a one kilometre walk through forest to the beautiful Serrano glacier, with icebergs floating in the lake below. Sometimes, you can see cormorants and sea lions here. After lunch, continue by zodiac up the Serrano River to the Torres del Paine National Park (2 nights). On some occasions, the river is too low to permit entry by boat. In this case, you will enter Torres del Paine by road.
Day 8 (Wednesday) Torres del Paine A free day in Torres del Paine. Take the optional Torres del Paine excursion and Boat to Grey Glacier. The full day Torres del Paine excursion explores this great national park, visiting the lagoons, waterfalls, glaciers and mountains by road. The park is dominated by the granite Paine massif, with wonderful views of the towers and horns throughout the park. A packed lunch is provided. As part of the Torres del Paine excursion, you can add a cruise on Lago Grey, where you sail to the glacier and maybe watch chunks of the glacier crash into the lake. The navigation takes approximately 2 hours.
Day 9 (Thursday) Puerto Natales A free day in the park. Explore on your own or take the optional Las Torres Trek which lasts 7 hours and is of moderate to high difficulty, with a packed lunch included. You trek through beech forest before arriving at the glacial moraine, where you will be rewarded with fantastic views of the granite towers. In the evening, return to Puerto Natales by road (1 night).
Day 10 (Friday) Santiago A 3 hour transfer to Punta Arenas then fly to Santiago (1 night).
Day 11 (Saturday) Fly overnight to the UK.
Day 12 (Sunday) Arrival in the UK.
For groups of 5 people or fewer, the transfer between Puerto Arenas airport and the Puerto Natales is on a good public bus.
Santiago : Bed and Breakfast
Puerto Varas: Bed and Breakfast
Puerto Natales : Bed and Breakfast
Torres del Paine : Bed and Breakfast; lunch is included on journey from Puerto Natales to Torres del Paine