Signature Patagonia

From Santiago to El Calafate
  • Argentina
  • Chile
  • Patagonia
  • Walking and Active
  • Wildlife and Nature
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Tour Description

Discover some of the incredible highlights of Patagonia on this 9 day adventure, from Santiago de Chile, to El Calafate, Argentina.

Experience some of South America's finest national parks including Torres Del Paine National Park, famous for its granite pillars, lakes and mountains offers outstanding vistas, wildlife and hikes. Choose from a horseback ride guided by a traditional gaucho through the Patagonian landscape, hike to the stunning Las Torres Base, a field day to a typical Patagonian Estancia to enjoy an authentic lamb roast, mountain biking to the shore of Balmaceda Lake or a walk to witness cave paintings of the Aonikenk (Tehuelche) culture.

Travel to Los Glaciares National Park, where we listen and watch ice calving from Perito Moreno Glacier and take a boat to get up close.  This is a trip of overwhelming natural beauty!

This itinerary is also offered in reverse - Signature Patagonia - El Calafate to Santiago, and combines brilliantly with an expedition cruise to Antarctica!

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You will experience the breathtaking beauty of Torres del Paine National Park, with a range of daily options that allow you an in-depth exploration of the mountains, glaciers and pampas by horseback, motorboat, on foot or by vehicle.

Discover the fascinating town of El Calafate, situated on the shores of Lago Argentino and on the edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, home to Perito Moreno Glacier. Get up close to watch the glacier calving!

Select from a range of comfortable superior accommodation, enjoy great Patagonia cuisine, and take your pick from a range of activities - this tour will see you enjoying Patagonia in comfort adventure style!

Tour Itinerary

Customisable ? This tour can be customised to suit your tastes and timing. Enquire here for more information.
Day 1
Santiago

Arrival transfer in Santiago. This service includes a driver and local English speaking guide who will provide you with any useful information needed for your stay.

Santiago, Chile’s capital and largest city, lies in a valley surrounded by the snow-capped mountains of the Andes and the Chilean Coastal Range. Founded in 1541, Santiago has been Chile’s capital since colonial times. It is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city and although it features many colonial buildings, it has grown into a modern metropolis and the cultural centre of the country.

Overnight in Santiago

Day 2
Santiago City tour

This morning, you will be collected from your hotel for your tour of Santiago. Visit both the old and new areas of the city. Highlights include the Plaza de Armas, the city's central square and the heart of the city’s old colonial core. The Plaza de Armas is home to the beautiful 18th century Metropolitan Cathedral, the early 19th century Royal Court Palace that houses the Natural History Museum and the Central Post Office completed in 1882. We will continue along to Government Palace and there we will have the opportunity to walk through some of the most traditional streets and neighbourhoods. Visit Cerro Santa Lucia, the hill on which Santiago was founded in 1541, now a park with fountains and stairs leading to a fort and a panoramic viewpoint across the city. On completion of your tour, you will be taken to your hotel.

Please note this is small group tour and only operates in the morning.

Overnight in Santiago

Day 3
Santiago Puerto Natales

Today we transfer you to Santiago airport to fly south to Puerto Natales.

At the appropriate time you will be met at the Puerto Natales airport and transferred to Remota Lodge.

Remota is a world-class refuge in the vast Patagonia, where visitors are received and welcomed as guests to our great house, attended with dedication, delicacy and concern for their interests. The hotel's architecture is an invitation to stop and meditate on the trip's experience, in the splendour of the remote, at a site that is characteristic of Magallanes. The architect Germán del Sol –National Architecture Prize - proposes a work that does not compete with its surroundings, where nature is always the main stage. A warm ecological refuge connected with the outside, inspired by the old Patagonian shearing sheds tilted by the wind. Inside the building of more than 7000 square meters there are large areas dedicated to leisure, reading and contemplation, heated pool, saunas and Jacuzzis, shop, bar, lounges and of course a dazzling restaurant that offers the best food, prepared by our renowned chef. This work has been designed with the purpose that our visitors live and feel Patagonia.

Overnight at the Remota

**alternative option is to fly to Punta Arenas if flights to Puerto Natales are not available, however this is a longer transfer time.

***On our upgrade options you may select to stay 4 nights in Hotel Las Torres or Tierra Patagonia in Torres del Paine instead

Day 4
Puerto Natales Torres Del Paine National Park

Today, you will be met at your Puerto Natales hotel and transferred to Hotel Las Torres, located inside Torres Del Paine National Park. This transfer is up to 2 hours in length on good paved and dirt roads and offers a great introduction in the wide open expanses of the Patagonian pampas.

Torres del Paine is one of the most beautiful national parks in the world, famous for its spectacular scenery, fauna and adventure activities. Declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978, Torres del Paine is considered to be one of the most magnificent, untouched places on Earth.

Overnight Hotel Las Torres

Day 5
Torres Del Paine National Park

Hotel Las Torres have a set of activities where you can choose from onsite, allowing you to create your own personalised experience deep in Torres del Paine National Park. Below are suggested options you may like to choose from through-out your stay.

After breakfast you may choose to walk the park’s main trail to a famous viewpoint, situated on the shores of a Glacier lagoon, from where you can observe the slender, granite peaks that give the national park its name. The excursion begins at Hotel las Torres, where you will begin a hike through Ascencio Valley, crossing a beautiful forest of Lengas and later arriving to a rocky area (La Morrena), the most difficult section of the trail, and finishing at the spectacular Torres Base Viewpoint. After a snack and allotted time for photography, we will follow the same trail back to the hotel.

After your morning excursion, relax and enjoy the hotel’s facilities before visiting the world’s southernmost, as well as one of the region’s oldest, organic kitchen garden at Reserva Cerro Paine. In less than half a hectare, the garden produces seasonal fruits and vegetables using bio-intensive, sustainable methods that produce food for our restaurants. Our garden has developed immensely since its origin in the early 1950s. With this history in mind, we aim to strike a balance between conserving old fashioned, heirloom varieties and meeting production goals. The farm has nine types of fruits and more than twenty-five types of vegetables, along with an ever-growing group of culinary and medicinal herbs. Visitors have one or two hours in the garden, during which you can stimulate your senses, sample fresh goods, and learn the history of the world’s southernmost organic garden. In addition, visitors can help with some daily harvesting tasks, such as planting and weeding. Extra hands are always welcome!

Enjoy dinner back at the hotel.

Overnight Hotel Las Torres

Day 6
Torres Del Paine National Park

Hotel Las Torres have a set of activities where you can choose from onsite, allowing you to create your own personalised experience deep in Torres del Paine National Park. Below are suggested options you may like to choose from through-out your stay.

This morning start your journey to the park’s most spectacular waterfall and an astonishing viewpoint. The adventure starts with a 45-minute drive to Pudeto in the heart of the park’s lake district. The trail leads us through a portion of the park impacted by the great forest fire of 2011- 12. Between the remains of the fire-ravaged trees, new life is already sprouting from the rich Patagonian soul. The path continues to Sendero Mirador Cuernos. Possibly the Park’s most spectacular viewpoint, the panorama features the “Los Cuernos” (Horns), Mount Paine Grande and the French Valley and Glacier rising straight up from the other side of Nordenskjöld Lake: a brethtaking spectacle of rock and water. From this point we continue the trail to Salto Grande, a raging aquamarine cascade that channels water between lakes Nordenskjöld and Pehoé. The roundtrip hike from car park to viewpoint takes about two hours.
Given the open terrain, high winds are possible during this trek. Those who don’t want to undertake the complete hike can opt for a shorter version that features just the brief hike to Salto Grande waterfall (about 30min round trip). Enjoy lunch back at the lodge and get refreshed for your afternoon exploration.

This afternoon, you may choose to go for a leisurely trail ride to the famous Lake, ‘Lago Nordenskjold’, at the base of the Paine Massic named after a famous Swedish-Finnish explorer who dedicated himself to the study of Antarctica, Greenland, Chile and Peru. Leaving from Pesebrera, your excursion follows the famous W Trail, passing the northern shores of the lake and Mount Almirante Nieto. Cross various rivers and forests, having the opportunity to appreciate various viewpoints and Patagonian flora. In addition, you will have the opportunity meet the baqueanos and live a unique and authentic experience in Patagonia.

Dinner at hotel.

Overnight Hotel Las Torres

Day 7
Torres Del Paine National Park El Calafate

Travel by road from Torres Del Paine to El Calafate in Argentina (approx. 6 hours). The town is near the edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and one of the gateways to World Heritage listed Parque Nacional Los Glaciers.

El Calafate flanks the southern shore of Lago Argentino in the southwest part of Argentina’s Santa Cruz Province. The town is near the edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and one of the gateways to World Heritage Listed Parque Nacional Los Glaciers. The name El Calafate is derived from the calafate plant common in Patagonia. The town’s main street, Avenida del Libertador General San Martín, is lined with restaurants, cafes, chocolate shops and souvenir shops.

Overnight in El Calafate

Day 8
Perito Moreno Glacier

Mayo Spirit Boat& Trek Tour
This morning you will be collected from your hotel to venture into Los Glaciares National Park bound for the breathtaking glaciers of Perito Moreno, Mayo and Negro. The only way to reach the glaciers is by boat along the Témpanos Canal, stopping along the way at Toro Bay for a walk through the Patagonia lenga and ñires forest, passing waterfalls, ancient trees and lime rock formations. After the walk, the boat continues to the Negro hanging glacier where there is the chance for a short walk offering stunning 360 degree views. Back on the boat, you sail toward the north face of the massive Perito Moreno Glacier. The glacier is more than two miles wide and averages 74m in height above the surface of the water of Lake Argentino. It is one of the very few glaciers in the world that continues to advance and if you are lucky you may see the glacier calving as large masses of ice break away from the glacier and collapse into the water. Here, you can disembark at a floating dock and take time to stroll the walkways before boarding the boat and returning to El Calafate. On completion of the tour you will be taken to your hotel. Please note entrance fee and lunch are included. This is a small group tour.

Overnight in El Calafate

Day 9
El Calafate

Today you will transfer to El Calafate airport for your onward arrangements.

Perhaps fly to Ushuaia, and take a expedition cruise to Antarctica, or head but to Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls?

What’s Included

Accommodation
  • Included Copy 20 Accommodation in standard hotels
  • Included Copy 31 Upgrade to superior or deluxe accommodation
Food
  • Included Copy 20 Breakfast daily
  • Included Copy 20 All meals while at Torres del Paine accomodation
  • Included Copy 20 Open bar, except premium beer, wine, and spirits in Torres del Paine
Fees & Services
  • Included Copy 20 Internal flight as part of this itinerary*
  • Included Copy 20 Sightseeing on a shared basis as outlined in the tour itinerary with English speaking guides
  • Included Copy 20 All transfers
  • Included Copy 20 Entry fees to Torres del Paine National Park
  • Included Copy 7 International Flights, Visa and reciprocity fees (if applicable), tips, travel insurance
  • Included Copy 31 Tour can be done in reverse. Or add more; El Chalten, Antarctica...
Transportation
Land, Air, Ship, Train ...

Activities

  • Included Discover Torres del Paine, one of the most beautiful national parks in the world
  • Included Witness snow-capped peaks, glaciers, icebergs, fjords, lakes and windswept pampas.
  • Included Explore Santiago de Chile
  • Included Sail towards the north face of the massive Perito Moreno Glacier.
  • Included There are walks, hikes, climbs, horse-rides, and tours by van or vehicle to choose from - suit yours
  • Included Perhaps horseback ride with a traditional gaucho through the Patagonian landscapes
Click here for dates & prices
Duration

9 days

Price from

$4,550 USD

Per person, sharing

Daily departures, late September - April