Chile
The driest desert on earth at one end, and granite towers in the wind at the other.
4 expeditions across patagonia & fjords, deserts, salt & tablelands. Windows on offer: Oct–Apr · Year-round · Nov–Mar.
- Expeditions
- 4
- Open to plan
- 4
- Inquire only
- 0
- Days
- 7–12
What Chile is actually good at
Chile is 4,300 km long and its two poles are as different as anything in the catalog. San Pedro de Atacama sits at 2,400 m with the Tatio geyser field at 4,320 m and the altiplanic lagoons above 4,100 m. You gain and lose 2,000 m most days, which is the real physical demand. The dryness is why ALMA and Paranal are there and why a moonless night over the Salar de Atacama looks the way it does.
In the far south, Torres del Paine sits at the eastern edge of the Southern Patagonian Icefield in Última Esperanza. North of it the Carretera Austral runs roughly 1,240 km of mostly gravel through Aysén, stitched together by ferries, past the marble caverns of Lago General Carrera and the Queulat hanging glacier. Chiloé is a separate world again: sixteen UNESCO-listed wooden churches, palafitos over the tidal channel, and the only place on earth where Humboldt and Magellanic penguins nest side by side.
Access and permits
Country-level constraints that decide whether a date is possible.
- Torres del Paine requires a park ticket bought in advance and a confirmed bed for every night before you are allowed onto the mountain trails. Wild camping is prohibited and refuge beds go months ahead.
- The O Circuit runs roughly 1 November to 31 March and is walked counter-clockwise only by CONAF regulation.
- Rangers close the Base Torres approach on extreme-wind days.
- Tatio, Chaxa, and the altiplanic lagoons are managed by Atacameño communities with their own fees and enforced hours; high roads close on snow, most often January to March.
- Ferry capacity on the northern Carretera Austral legs books out for the summer, and the itinerary is built around sailings.
The Chile catalog
Chile
Patagonia Edge Circuit
Torres del Paine & Última Esperanza
Wind scours granite towers while glacial lakes flash turquoise under fast cloud. Each day closes with firelight and the sound of ice calving far off.
- Duration
- 12 days
- Effort
- Challenging
- Window
- Oct–Apr
$9,500–$18,000
Detail →
Chile
Atacama Sky & Salt
San Pedro de Atacama & Altiplano
Salt flats crack underfoot while volcanoes hold the horizon. After dark, the driest sky on Earth opens into a field of unbroken stars.
- Duration
- 9 days
- Effort
- Moderate
- Window
- Year-round
$6,800–$9,800
Detail →
Chile
Carretera Austral Crossing
Región de Aysén, Carretera Austral
Ferry and gravel road through fjords, hanging glaciers, and empty valleys. Marble caves glow turquoise; hot springs steam beside cold rivers.
- Duration
- 12 days
- Effort
- Moderate
- Window
- Nov–Mar
$8,800–$12,800
Detail →
Chile
Chiloé Island Coast
Chiloé Archipelago
Wooden churches face Pacific swell; penguins nest on rocky islets. Mist and peat smell of the south; stilt villages rise with the tide.
- Duration
- 7 days
- Effort
- Easy
- Window
- Oct–Apr
$5,200–$7,900
Detail →Something else
Combine Chile with a neighbour
Most private journeys cross a border — the Atacama to Uyuni crossing, Copán into Guatemala, Iguazú from both sides. Tell us the shape you want and we will say whether the logistics hold together.
Private & custom