I did some searching and outside of a couple of hunting threads, I didn't see much about going to the Patagonia region.

Boy wants to see some mountains over spring break (international only) and Europe was overpriced for my liking. So we found a great price flying to Santiago, Chile.

With the limited time (arrive on a Friday morning, depart the following Sunday evening), we have narrowed it down to maybe a couple days in Santiago then splitting time between Torres del Paine and the Lakes District. Any recommendations on excursions, hotels, guides, must-sees?

We are not looking for extended hiking, camping, or roughing it in any manner. We want to see the sights, eat the food, experience a bit of culture whilst spending the evenings in a warm lodge and most of the transport via modern methods.

I am checking with Swoop-Patagonia and also with A&K (pricey, but the detailed planning seems like something that would make this trip best as possible). Thanks for any info, intel and recommendations.

This is a bucket list trip for me as well, more of a dream at this point. Id always imagined flying into Santiago, then driving the coast down to Patagonia over weeks or months.

I don't have much to offer on advice, sorry, but I'm very interested in the responses. Sounds amazing and I'm very jealous.


eta I didn't see that you said spring break initially. I vote to have him skip a week or two before or after spring break and make a few weeks out of it.

We are going to make a second trip coming in on the Argentine side. We have tried to take the approach of not seeing anything and coming back again in the future.

I just put a similar trip together for a family (they were on the Argentina side but same concept) that were spending 15 days in country.

IMO: That's a lot of distance to cover in just over a week. It's doable, but you will spend a lot of time moving. 2 days in Santiago, 3 days in TdP, 2 days in Lake District, fly out. I would consider picking two of the three and really getting the most of your time there, but that's just my preference.

I would recommend a few other Destination Management Companies (DMC) over the ones you have listed (andBeyond, Designer Trips, Glove Travel, and Oyikil). A lot of them will have minimum expectations on budgets per day to build an itinerary, but not all of them. I worked with Glove Travel for my Argentina trip and had a great experience, have some friends who have worked with Oyikil and they highly recommend them).

I would definitely recommend working with a travel advisor or a local DMC to put this together especially given the short time frame as guides and lodges will have limited availability (still high season for Patagonia) and the last thing you want is to get paired with a low quality provider.

I'd be happy to chat and see if I can help answer questions or help you put it together.

Feel free to DM or shoot me an email and we can go from there!

Some more ideas/info, without knowing your style or budget:

(Included flight and drive times just to show how much time you're spending moving)

- 2 nts Santiago Singular
-Direct flight Santiago to Puerto Montt(1.5 hrs) then transfer to Hotel Awa (1hr)
- 3 nts Hotel Awa Lake District
- Transfer to airport (1hr) direct flight Puerto Montt to - Puerto Natales (2 hrs) transfer to Awasi (1.5 hrs)
- 3 nts Awasi Patagonia
- Transfer to airport (1.5 hrs) direct flight Puerto Natales to Santiago (3.5 hrs)

One idea, if you want to reduce costs and not have as much travel time, is doing Singular Patagonia + Awasi Patagonia - I think those properties contrast enough to be separate destinations.

It wouldn't be the contrast in landscapes like Lake District + Patagonia, but would reduce the travel and flight costs and still be amazing.

Thanks! I will DM you with some details and preferences. Really appreciate the insight!!

I just returned from BA, El Calafate, El Chalten and Ushuaia. United direct from IAH to EZE, then 3 fiights on Aerolineas Argintina and a pair of bus rides. We were across the water from Chile at Almanza,but stayed in Argentina. You are welcome to hit me up with any Qs.

We did Santiago, Torres, and Atacama in one trip a few years ago. We used the Tierra hotels and all their activities in Torres and Atacama. Amazing experience. Absolutely worth the money. Santiago didn't have anything remarkable to us.

We did IAH to Santiago direct. Then flew domestic and let Tierra handle everything outside of Santiago. Logistically a really easy trip actually.

Booking Torres del Paine and El Chalten right
now for next Jan.

My take on El Chalten is that it is a hiking/climbing town. People from all over the world were there. Taxi, no Uber.

We started the Huemul Circuit but forest fires at camp 3 turned us back. But we did get to zip line over the river twice bc retraced our route. We also did the hike to Torre Fitzroy. 16 mile round from our hotel, and 1,200' of vert over the last mile. Kicked my butt, over 4,000 calorie hike. We also did a short hike to a waterfall north of town and Laguna Torre.

We ate at la Tapera twice bc steaks and lamb bowl were great. La Maffia is good. I suggest making a reservation there. We did try mate, a strong tea.

If you fly into El Calafate, Perito Mareno glacier is a high light. We did the boat ride to the glacier (worth it!), then did the board walks. The Glacier Bar is really cool- everything is ice including the glass that holds your drink. El Gaita in Calafate was the best pizzia we had down there. The food was unexpectedly outstanding, as were the red wines.

December/January is the high season. So book your hotels and bus trips in advance.

The bus ride on Ruta 40 from El Calafate to El Chalten is about 3 hours but very senic.

Ushuaia is fabulous if you have time. I also enjoyed BA, and if you are going all the way down there anyway .... The people are very nice. I would brush up on your Spanish.

Awesome thread on the topic - https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/2995812

In 2019 we rented an RV to explore Torres del Paine and spent a few days hiking around El Chalten as well. Such an amazing experience, can't wait to go back..

We did this a few years back and flew into Puerto Arenas and drove the two hours to Patagonia. It was remarkable but very expensive as we stayed at EvoCamp in our own private domed tent (approximately 400 sq ft with our own private shower and bathroom and wood burning stove). We also had gourmet meals three times per day but our trip was primarily hiking. We did 17 miles in a day when we went to Torres. It was fantastic and the only reason I mention it (because OP is not looking for what we did) is for those of you contemplating a trip down there. Couldn't recommend EcoCamp more.

Trip was pricey ending at about $20k for both of us.

Nothing remarkable about Santiago in my opinion. Spend a day there if you feel you must. Dedicate more time to the rest of your possible itinerary.