Highlights and the best route for a round trip in Chile

How much time should I plan for a round trip in Chile?

Are you planning a trip to Chile and have between 2 and 4 weeks? That’s great! That’s plenty of time to get to know the most important sights in Chile. The more time you have, the more you can discover and immerse yourself in Chilean culture.

Personally, we think three weeks is perfect for a vacation in Chile. Longer is always possible, of course. But if you only want to see the absolute top highlights of Chile, 2 weeks is also enough.

How to get around on a round trip through Chile?

We recommend traveling with a mix of domestic flights and rental cars. As Chile is a very long country, it makes sense to take the plane for long distances and then rent a car at each destination.

The best-known airlines in Chile are LATAM, Jetsmart and Sky. For domestic flights in Chile you should expect to pay 50-100 euros per flight. You can find the best flight connections on Skyscanner.

To the Skyscanner flight search engine

To book a rental car, we recommend Check24. The site is super clear and you can compare different rental cars.

Book a rental car on Check24

However, it is also possible to travel through Chile without a car. We will show you how to do this at the end of this article.

Our route suggestions for 2, 3 and 4 weeks

We now present our suggested itinerary for 14 days in detail. We will then show you what else you can visit if you are in Chile for 3 or 4 weeks.

Our route through Chile in 14 days

Here is an overview of our 14-day route through Chile:

• Day 1-2: Santiago
• Day 3: Valparaíso
• Day 4: Punta Arenas
• Day 5: Puerto Natales
• Day 6: Torres del Paine
• Day 7: Torres del Paine and El Calafate
• Day 8: Perito Moreno Glacier
• Day 9: Flight to Calama
• Day 10-12: Atacama Desert
• Day 13-14: Santiago

Two weeks round trip through Chile on one map

To give you a better idea of where the places in Chile are located, we have marked them on a map:

Day 1-2: Santiago

On day 1, you will land at the international airport in Santiago and will probably want to get to your hotel quickly after passing through customs. We therefore recommend that you take a cab or private transfer to your hotel.

Private transfer from the airport to the center of Santiago

If you prefer to save some money, you can also take the public bus. The providers Turbus and Centropuerto go to a metro station in the city center. The stops vary depending on the provider.

We recommend taking the Turbus. Tickets cost 1,900 CLP (2.50 euros) and the journey takes around 30 minutes. You can get off at the Pajaritos or Las Rejas stops and then continue by metro.

You can get anywhere in Santiago by metro – probably also to your hotel. First buy a BIP card at the metro station. This is a rechargeable card for public transport in Santiago. It costs CLP 1,550.

You then top this up directly with money. Between 600 and 800 CLP (just under 1 euro) will be deducted from your BIP card for each journey. Prices vary depending on the time of day. Prices are higher during rush hour.

Please note: You can only top up and purchase the BIP card with cash. You should therefore withdraw money directly at the airport if you decide to travel by public transport.

Once you’ve arrived at the hotel, it’s time to relax – you shouldn’t underestimate the long flight time from Germany to Chile and shouldn’t plan anything else for the first day.

On day 2, you can then do some great sightseeing in the capital. The metro in Santiago will take you to the city’s most important highlights.

Our top sights in Santiago

• Cerro Santa Lucia Park
• Cerro San Cristóbal city hill
• Sky Costanera skyscraper

We show you more sights and tips in our article on the top highlights in Santiago de Chile.

Our hotel tips for Santiago

As it is important that you stay in a safe neighborhood in Santiago, we have written down all the important tips for staying overnight in Santiago in a separate article.

Day 3: Valparaíso

On day 3, you can take a great day trip to Valparaíso. This is a hip coastal town located around 150 kilometers from Santiago. The city has cool street art, old funiculars and a beautiful old town.

Valparaíso is even a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, for us, the most beautiful city in Chile due to its architecture.

For Valparaíso, we recommend booking a guided day tour from Santiago. In addition to Valparaíso, you will also discover the neighboring town of Viña del Mar.

To the day trip to Valparaíso

We have written a detailed article on Valparaíso and Viña del Mar:

Day 4: Punta Arenas

On day 4, we travel by plane to the very south of Chile: to Punta Arenas. This is the capital and the heart of the Patagonia mountain region – probably the most popular travel destination in Chile.

There are several daily direct flights from Santiago to Punta Arenas. We recommend booking a morning or mid-morning flight. The flight takes around 3.5 hours and you pay around 60 euros.

The best thing to do at Punta Arenas airport is to hire a car for the 6 days in Patagonia.

After checking into your hotel, you have the afternoon to explore Punta Arenas. This is enough time to see the most important highlights of the city.

These are the top sights in Punta Arenas

• Cementerio Municipal: Exciting and worth seeing cemetery
• Mirador Cerro De La Cruz: the most beautiful viewpoint in the city
• Costanera del Estrecho: Promenade by the water

Our hotel tip for Punta Arenas

Hostal Boutique Puerta Roja: Cozy, small hostal with free parking.

Day 5: Puerto Natales

On day 5, you will start your little road trip through Patagonia. On this day, you will drive north from Punta Arenas to the city of Puerto Natales. The drive takes just under 3 hours.

Similar to Punta Arenas, there isn’t a huge amount to do in Puerto Natales. So an afternoon in the small but very pretty town is more than enough.

Places of interest in Puerto Natales

• Muelle Historico: The pier is the city’s landmark.
• Cerro Dorotea: Hike to the local mountain with great views.
• Monumento al viento: Two statues hanging on poles on the promenade of Puerto Natales.
• Monumento de la mano: Hand sculpture on the promenade.
• Cueva del milodon: 200 meter long cave, about 25 kilometers from Puerto Natales.

Our hotel tip for Puerto Natales

Hotel Martín Gusinde: Nice accommodation in the city center. Great value for money and there is free parking.

Day 6: Torres del Paine

Day 6 is the absolute highlight of our round trip to Chile: The hike to the Mirador Base las Torres in the Torres del Paine National Park.

You should buy your ticket for Torres del Paine National Park at least one day in advance on the website aspticket.cl.

You can drive to the start of the hike by car and park there free of charge. The journey takes just under 1 hour 30 minutes.

The hike is around 20 kilometers there and back. The panorama from the top of the three towers and the blue mountain lake at the end of the hiking trail is simply fantastic.

In a separate article, we explain all the important information about getting there, buying tickets and hiking in Torres del Paine National Park in more detail.

Our hotel tip for Torres del Paine

We recommend staying overnight in the national park in the evening. This will give you a little more time the next day to see other corners of Torres del Paine. Alternatively, you can also drive back to Puerto Natales. The accommodation there is much cheaper.

Konkashken Lodge: One of the few cheaper accommodations in Torres del Paine. Beautiful location and great atmosphere.

Day 7: Torres del Paine and drive to El Calafate

On day 7, you use the morning to discover a few more corners of the beautiful Torres del Paine National Park. There are many viewpoints that are close to the main road in Torres del Paine, so you can easily explore them by car.

There are always free parking spaces at the viewpoints, so you only have to walk a short distance on this day.

We recommend these viewpoints

• Mirador Condor
• Mirador Salto Grande
• Mirador Cuernos
• Mirador Nordenskjöld Lake

Drive from Torres del Paine to El Calafate

After your short road trip through the national park, you then drive to El Calafate in Argentina. To do this, you first go to the Chilean border control in Cerro Castillo. There you will need to show your passport, your temporary visa (which you will receive when you enter the country) and your vehicle documents.

Then you get your exit stamp and drive across the border to the Argentinian passport control.

In Argentina, you will not receive a stamp in your passport or a temporary visa, but you must present the same documents as in Chile. You should allow about an hour for both checks together.

Incidentally, the first few kilometers on the Argentinian road consist of gravel. But don’t worry. After a few minutes, you will drive the rest of the route entirely on asphalt.

Make sure you take the route via the village of Esperanza. Your sat nav may show you a “shortcut”. However, this consists of pure gravel and lots of potholes and is therefore anything but a shortcut.

Including border control, the journey to El Calafate takes around 5-6 hours. In the evening, just check into your hotel and change some money straight away. You will get the best exchange rate if you change Euros into Pesos Argentinos (ARS).

Having cash is very important in Argentina. Due to inflation, you pay about twice as much with a credit card in Argentina as you would if you paid in cash. You only understand the train station now? Don’t worry. We explain everything in more detail in our article on travel tips for Argentina.

Our hotel tip for El Calafate

Hotel ACA El Calafate: Centrally located, modern and spacious rooms. Good value for money and free parking.

Day 8: Perito Moreno Glacier

On day 8, you will drive from your accommodation in El Calafate to the Perito Moreno Glacier – one of the top sights in Argentina. The drive takes about an hour. Entry to the national park costs ARS 5,500. Parking at the glacier is free of charge.

There are various viewpoints on the Perito Moreno Glacier, all of which are connected by short and easily accessible paths. If you want to see them all, allow about 2 hours.

In addition to visiting the viewpoints, you also have the option of taking a boat trip or glacier hike at Perito Moreno.

If you want to leave your car for a day, you can also visit the glacier on a guided tour. In any case, you should plan your visit so that you make your way back to Chile around midday.

Glacier hike and boat trip Perito Moreno
Tour to the viewpoints and optional boat trip

You then drive from the glacier directly back to Puerto Natales. You need to allow 6-6.5 hours for the return journey. Border controls close at around 9 pm, so you should arrive at the Argentinian border by 8 pm at the latest.

Day 9: Flight to Calama

On the ninth day, you will be on the road all day. You drive back from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas airport in the morning and drop off your rental car. From there, you will fly once across the whole of Chile to Calama Airport in the Atacama Desert.

Unfortunately, there are no direct flights. You therefore have to make a stopover in Santiago. The flight costs around 120 euros and takes around 7-8 hours including a change of planes.

At the airport in Calama, we recommend that you hire a car again, as public buses are in short supply in the Atacama Desert.

From the airport, it’s about an hour’s drive to San Pedro de Atacama. This is a popular tourist destination in the Atacama Desert and the perfect starting point for excursions into the desert.

Our hotel tip for San Pedro de Atacama

Hotel Jardin Atacama: Beautiful, stylish accommodation with a pool and a great location in the center. There is free parking, which you must reserve in advance.

Day 10-13: Atacama Desert

You can then use days 10, 11 and 12 for sightseeing in the Atacama Desert. There are an incredible number of sights to which you can make half-day or full-day excursions by car.

The desert has beautiful valleys, salt lagoons, volcanoes and much more to offer, so you won’t get bored on any of the days. It’s best to decide for yourself which of the many sights interest you the most.

We have written a separate article for you with all the highlights in the Atacama Desert.

Day 13-14 Santiago de Chile

On day 13, you will return to Santiago de Chile. To do this, you return your rental car to the airport in Calama. Flights to Santiago cost around 50 euros and take 2 hours.

You can then have a great last evening in Santiago. The city has some great restaurants and bars to offer, so you can really have a good time.

Day 14 is your departure day, on which you return to Germany.

That was our suggested route for a two-week round trip through Chile. If you have more time, we now present the best route through Chile for 3-4 weeks.

Our route through Chile in 3 weeks

If you have three weeks, we recommend that you plan the route in a similar way to two weeks. However, you can add one or two highlights and generally take a little more time.

Here are our suggestions on how you can use the extra 7 days on a 3-week round trip.

• 4 days on Easter Island: Even though the island itself is quite small, the flight to the island takes around 5 hours, which is why you should plan two full days on site and one arrival and one departure day.
• 3 days W-Trek: On our 2-week round trip, we have planned 1.5 days for the Torres del Paine National Park. If you have more time, you can walk the famous W-Trek instead. The hike takes a total of 4 days. You will also pass the Mirador Base del Torres.
• 4 days in El Chaltén: El Chaltén is Argentina’s hiking paradise par excellence and is just 3 hours by car from El Calafate. If you like hiking, you should definitely make this stop on your round trip.
• 3-4 days La Serena and Elqui Valley: La Serena is about a 7-hour drive north of Santiago and offers great beaches. Nearby is the Elqui Valley, where you can observe a totally clear starry sky.

Our route through Chile in 4 weeks

If you have four weeks, we have two tips for you on how to organize your round trip.

4 weeks round trip: Option 1

On the one hand, you can take the 14-day program as a basis and also take a look at all our suggestions from the 3-week program. This means you can do the W-Trek in Torres del Paine as well as visit El Chalten, Easter Island and the Elqui Valley.

Your 4-week round trip could look like this:

• Day 1-2: Santiago
• Day 3: Valparaíso
• Day 4-6: La Serena and Elqui Valley
• Day 7: Punta Arenas
• Day 8: Puerto Natales
• Day 9-12:Torres del Paine W-Trek
• Day 13: Torres del Paine and El Calafate
• Day 14: Perito Moreno Glacier
• Day 15-17: El Chaltén
• Day 18-22: San Pedro de Atacama
• Day 23-27: Easter Island
• Day 28: Santiago

The program is heavily geared towards sightseeing and you will be on the road a lot overall. If this is too strenuous for you, we have another suggestion for you where you fly less and spend more time in nature.

4 weeks round trip: Option 2

• Day 1-2: Santiago
• Day 3: Valparaíso
• Day 4-5: Pucón
• Day 6-9: Puerto Varas and Chiloé
• Day 10-15: Part of the Carretera Austral to Los Antiguos
• Day 16-19: El Chaltén and El Calafate
• Day 20-21: Torres del Paine
• Day 22-26: San Pedro de Atacama
• Day 27-28: Santiago

You can cover the entire route from day 4 to day 22 in a rental car. You will drive from Santiago to Punta Arenas and make a few stops along the way. You can find more information about the places you visit along the way in our article with the 10 most beautiful sights in Chile.

You will cover these routes by car on this 4-week round trip through Chile:

• Santiago – Pucón: 8 hours
• Pucón – Puerto Varas: 4 hours
• Puerto Varas – Chiloé: 4 hours
• Chiloé – Start Carretera Austral (Puerto Montt): 4 hours
• Carretera Austral – Los Antiguos: 19 hours (spread over six days)
• Los Antiguos – El Chaltén: 9 hours
• El Chaltén – El Calafate: 3 hours

From El Calafate you then return to the basic route from our two-week program.

Chile round trip by bus

You can complete our entire program – with the exception of our second suggestion for the 4-week round trip – without a rental car. However, you should plan a few more days for the same program. You will need a little longer to cover the routes by bus than by car.

Here is an overview of the most important bus connections and prices in Chile

It is best to buy your bus tickets directly at the terminal. However, if you are making your round trip through Chile in the high season (January and February), some buses may be fully booked quickly.

You can book many bus connections on recorrido.cl. For Patagonia, use the website recorrido sur. Unfortunately, not all bus connections are available on the internet.

If you want to save money on your accommodation, we have a few tips for cool hostels for you here:

Eco-Hostal Tambo Verde (Santiago)
La Casa Piola (Valparaíso)
Refugio Punta Arenas (Punta Arenas)
Puma House (Puerto Natales)
America del Sur Calafate Hostel (El Calafate)
Lo de Guille (E Chaltén)
Hostal Campo Base (San Pedro de Atacama)
El Arbol Hostel (La Serena)

Is it also possible to avoid domestic flights in Chile?

Yes, you can also travel through Chile without taking the plane. However, we only recommend this if you have more than a month and make lots of stops on your round trip.

Here we give you a rough idea of how long it takes to travel from the north (from San Pedro de Atacama) to the south (to Punta Arenas) by bus:

• San Pedro de Atacama – Santiago: 24 hours
• Santiago – Osorno: 10 hours
• Osorno – Punta Arenas: 24 hours

If you have more than a month for Chile, traveling the whole country by car is also a good option. You can then divide the routes into many small sections in a relaxed and flexible way.

Incidentally, we recommend that you buy a car and sell it again at the end of your trip. Because a rental car is really expensive for such a long time.

General tips for a round trip to Chile

We now have some important information for you so that you really are perfectly prepared for your round trip.

#1 Costs for a round trip in Chile

How much you end up paying for your round trip depends entirely on you. We have roughly estimated the costs for our 2-week round trip here:

• Flights: 1,000 Euro
• Rental car: 400 Euro
• Gasoline: 50 Euro
• Accommodation: 350 Euro
• Catering: 300 Euro
• Places of interest: 100 Euro

Total costs: Around 2,200 euros
Average costs per day: Around 150 euros

You can find detailed information on travel costs, withdrawing money and currency in Chile in our article on travel costs in Chile.

#2 Best time to travel to Chile

We recommend the months of November, December, January, March and April for your round trip through Chile. Then it’s summer in Chile.

The only time we would rather avoid is February. On the one hand, this is the main vacation time for Chileans, on the other hand, it usually gets unbearably hot in Santiago and finally, you have the highest probability of rain in the Atacama Desert.

In the winter months, you can practically cancel a trip to Patagonia as there is simply too much snow. That’s why we don’t necessarily recommend the months of May to October if Patagonia is on your list.

We have written separate articles on the travel season in Chile and the travel season in Patagonia and explain the climate there in more detail.

#3 Security in Chile

You don’t need to worry about your safety in Chile as long as you follow a few rules of conduct. Chile is generally a safe country to travel to. Santiago and the cities further north are slightly more dangerous than the south of the country.

As a general rule, you should always take very good care of your valuables and avoid walking in deserted areas at night.

You can find more tips on rules of conduct in a separate article on safety in Chile.

These were our tips for a round trip in Chile

Do you have any questions or suggestions for your round trip to Chile? Then let us know! We look forward to your comment.