Journeys to Chile - Atacama North of Chile - Chiloé - Waterfalls of Petrohue - Torres del Paine - Glaciers (14 days/ 13 nights)

Arrival in the city of Santiago, reception at the airport and transfer to the hotel, acommodation. In the afternoon we will realize a beautiful city tour through Santiago where we will visit the main attractions and enjoy some of the best views over the capital of Chile. Some of these points of interest are the mountain Santa Lucia, the Central Square, the Government Palace, the Market and the Mountain San Cristobal. Transfer to the hotel.

In the morning we will transfer you to the airport of Santiago.

Arrival at the airport of Calama, transfer to San Pedro de Atacama.

Afternoon: Moon Valley

Departure from the hotel at 16:00 hrs to enjoy a panoramic view over the Cordillera of the Andes, the Great Salt Lake of the Atacama, the Oasis of San Pedro and the Cordillera of the Salt. We move on to visit the Death Valley (also called Mars Valley), exploring its labyrinths and canyons on an easy hike of about 35 minutes. After a stop at the Salt Caves, where you can appreciate the heart of salt, gypsum  and clay, we continue to the Moon Valley, visiting the Amphitheater, the Three Marias and finishing the day with an impressive view over the Andes.

Departure at 07:00 am. We leave San Pedro de Atacama to go south and cross the graben of the Salt Lake of the Atacama to visit the village of Toconao with its colonial church and the old fruit gardens. From there we move on to the Great Salt Lake of the Atacama, the third biggest in the world and the one with the highest Lithium production on earth.  Also we visit the Lagoon Chaxa, part of the Flamingo National Reserve. The excursion continues to the village of Socaire, located at an altitude of 3.250m over sea level and at a distance of 89km of San Pedro. It is a prehispanic village characterized by cultivated terraces and its beautiful church. Nowadays it is well known for the typical food of the Atacama. We move on to the Highland lagoons Miscanti and Meñiques, located over 3.500m over sea level and surrounded by the mountains of the Andes. It is one of the few places where you can find the Horned Tagua, among many other species of birds and mammals like the Andean Fox and the Vicuña. Return to San Pedro, arrival around 15:00 hrs.

Afternoon: Lagoon Cejar

We leave San Pedro around 16:00 hrs. At 30km south of the town you can find surprisng lagoons located in the Salt Lake of the Atacama. First of all we will visit the Lagoon Cejar, a lagoon of Green color and a White shore due to the high amount of salt in the water. This high concentration of salt allows you to flow easily just like in the Dead Sea. You will have the time to enjoy a bath, then we return to San Pedro de Atacama.

Departure at 04:00 am northwards. We cross the hills and mountains of the Cordillera of the Andes to get to the Tatio Geysers after about 1,5 hours. They are located 89km from San Pedro at an altitude of 4.230m over sea level. The geothermic field consists of more than 80 active geysers of different magnitudes and has to be visited very early for in the morning the water shoots with more intensity. This is due to the high differece between water temperature and atmospheric temperature at sunrise which causes condensation of the steam. In Summer the atmospheric temperature reaches about - 6ºC and in Winter it can reach -20 ºC. You will get time to visit different geysers and steam columns and also to take a bath in the natural thermal pool. We will have breakfast at the geysers, then we return to San Pedro passing the village of Machuca. Arrival approximately at 12:00 hrs in San Pedro. At the accorded time we will realize the transfer from San Pedro de Atacama to the airport of Calama. Arrival in Santiago de Chile, transfer to the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel, at the indicated time we will bring you to the airport to take the flight to Puerto Montt. Reception at the airport and transfer Puerto Montt where we take a bus to the city of Castro. Reception at the bus terminal at transfer to the hotel. In the afternoon we visit the Bridge Gamboa to appreciate the houses on the water called Palafitos and the old shipyard to later continue towards the Churches of Nerón and San Francisco, both declared Cultural Heritage. We will visit the Museum of Modern Art and finally make a stop at the Handicraft Market. If the arrival is later on the day the city tour will be realized the next morning.

Breakfast at the hotel. Departure via Puternún towards the Port of Dalcahue. We visit the church, the small but interesting museum and if its Sunday the handicraft market where you will find wool products like jackets, bonnets and gloves. On a boat we cross over to the Island of Quinchao to get to the village of Curaco de Vélez. If you want to you can try some oysters while observing a community of swans with a black neck . A short walk will take us to the old mansions of the town and later we arrive in the village of Achao to visit the oldest church of Chiloé. Lunch (optional). We visit some handicraft booths, then we continue to one of the panoramic viewing points that allows you to appreciate the great number of islands. Return to Castro.

Departure to the South. During the day we visit the churches of Nercon and Chonchi, circle the lakes Huilinco and Cucao and stop in various villages to get to know the typical cemeteries of Chiloé. The visit to the National Park of Chiloé includes a stop at the visitor’s center and also an attractive hike which will make you appreciate the forest of Chiloé. After the lunch we will get to the coast of the Pacific, take a short walk on the beach and at the end of the day we wll be back in Castro.

Early departure to visit Ancud and later the Penguin Colobies of Puñihuil. The three islands of Puñihuil are located at the Pacific Coast of the great island of Chiloé and form the only ecosystem in the world where the Magellanic Penguins and the Humboldt Penguins are nesting together. After this magic boat trip we return to the city of Ancud to take a bus towards Puerto Montt. Reception at the bus terminal and transfer to the beautiful city of Puerto Varas.

Departure from the city of Puerto Varas surrounding the lake Llanquihue until we get to the town of Ensenada. Here we enter the National Park Vincente Perez Rosales where we visit the spectacular “Saltos de Petrohue” (Waterfalls). In continuation we visit the All Hallows Lake to realize a two-hour-tour on a catamaran, appreciating the beauty of the volcanoes Osorno, Puntiagudo and Tronador.

When we reach the village Peulla you will have some free time to realize different activities like horseriding, fishing excursions, trips in jet boat, jeep safari or just relaxing and enjoying a tasty lunch in one of the local restaurants. In the afternoon we will return to Petrohue to take the route to Ensenada and finally back to Puerto Varas. Arrival at the hotel.

Transfer from the hotel to the airport to take the flight to the city of Punta Arenas. Reception at the airport and transfer to the city. In the afternoon we visit the city of Punta Arenas where you will get to know the Monument of the Sheperd, the viewing point of the Cross Mountain and its catedral. Then we realize the transfer to Puerto Natales. Hotel.

Breakfast in the hotel, then we realize one of the most important excursions of the whole trip, the journey to Torres del Paine. We start the day visiting the Cave Milodon where good preserved relicts of prehistoric mammals were found that lived in the region 12.000 years ago. From there we continue towards the National Park Torres del Paine. We visit the Bitter Lagoon which fascinates with its white shore covered by salt and the great number of birds habiting in it. Afterwards you can observe the mountain massifs of Paine in the company of some guanacos until we get to the viewing point Lake Nordenskjold. Here you will have an ideal view to see the Mount Almirante Nieto and the Peaks of Paine. We move on to the Lake Pehoé, a beautiful lake of turquoise water due to the sediments of the glaciers, and take a walk to the Salto Grande (Big Waterfall) where you can appreciate the great views over the Big Mount Paine, the Peaks of Paine, the glacier The French and the Small Mount Paine, also knows as Mount Almirante Nieto. After  this great moments we will have lunch.

We continue to the sector Grey and if we are lucky we will be able to see more than one huemul on the route. We will cross a forest full of woodpeckers before we get to the shore of the Lake Greak. Here we can realize a hike towards the viewing point of the glacier Grey. Then we make our way back to Puerto Natales. Arrival at the hotel.

Breakfast in the hotel. We will realize an amazing boat trip through the fjord of the Last Hope towards the glaciers Balmaceda and Serrano. On the way you can observe various colonies of seals and cormorants. After arriving at the glaciers we take a walk of about 1.000 meters on the route of Puerto Toro through a beautiful forest until we get to the impressive Glacier Serrano. Here we have time to take some pictures, then we return to the boat to continue to the Glacier Balmaceda, a wonderful glacier located in Mount Balmaceda (2.222m). After a tasty patagonian lunch we finally make our way back to Puerto Natales where we will arrive around 17:00 hrs. Transfer to the hotel.

Breakfast in the hotel. Bustransfer to the airport of Punta Arenas to return to Santiago. Arrival andtransfer to the hotel. Afternoon free.

Breakfast in the hotel. At the convenient time we realize the transfer to the airport.