Andes and Pacific
4,270 kilometres from desert to glacier, and an island 3,700 kilometres off the coast.
This is Chile
From the Peruvian border to Cape Horn, Chile is 4,270 kilometres long and on average only 200 kilometres wide. The Pacific lies on one side, the Andes on the other.
The Atacama lies in the north. Calama gets an average of 6.8 millimetres of rain a year. In the south, around Puerto Montt, it is over 1,500 millimetres. Further south still are the glaciers and granite peaks of Patagonia.
And 3,700 kilometres off the coast lies Rapa Nui, the island of the moai. It belongs to Chile, but you can only get there on a separate flight.
In short
Tailor-made tour
A tour of Chile begins in Santiago. From there you fly north to Calama for the Atacama, and south to the lakes and Chiloé, to Balmaceda for the Carretera Austral, or to Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales for Torres del Paine. Valparaíso and the wine valleys are visited by road from Santiago. For Santiago with the Atacama and Patagonia, count on two to three weeks. If you want to see Rapa Nui, it is a flight of about five and a half hours from Santiago.
So the long distances are covered by domestic flights. Within a region you travel with your own driver or guide, or drive yourself. From Calama it is about an hour and a half by road to San Pedro de Atacama.
As a couple you decide how far you walk and how early you set off. With children Chile works well if you do not try to see too many regions: the distances between them are large. Travelling alone, a guide helps a great deal in the Atacama and Patagonia. With your own group of friends or family you travel in a private vehicle, and the group can split up: half on a multi-day trek in Torres del Paine, the other half on day walks.
The most unusual stays are in Torres del Paine. For the W and the full circuit around the Paine massif you must have a reserved place in the park's refugios or campsites; without one you cannot enter the mountain area. In the Atacama you stay in San Pedro, close to the salt flats. On Chiloé you sleep among the wooden churches of the islands. And on Rapa Nui your accommodation must be registered with the local authorities, otherwise you are not allowed onto the island.
The regions
Each region has its own season. The order of your trip depends on it.
Every trip begins and ends in Santiago. In January it averages 30 degrees, in July 16. The domestic flights to the north and south leave from here.
Valparaíso was the main merchant port on the Pacific coast of South America until the Panama Canal opened in 1914. The city climbs the hillsides, with lifts from the early industrial era. In February and March the harvest begins in the wine valleys.
You fly from Santiago to Calama in about two hours and then drive to San Pedro de Atacama. Some of the places you visit here lie between 2,500 and 4,700 metres.
Around Puerto Montt more than 1,500 millimetres of rain fall each year, and you can see it in the green. On the islands of Chiloé, sixteen wooden churches are on the World Heritage List, out of a group of about seventy built by the Jesuit and Franciscan missions.
You fly from Santiago to Punta Arenas or Puerto Natales. In Torres del Paine park, glaciers and snow cover about 16 percent of the area, and some 130 bird species are recorded. Balmaceda is the way into the Carretera Austral.
Rapa Nui lies 3,700 kilometres off the Chilean coast, about five and a half hours by air from Santiago. The island has about 900 moai and more than 300 ceremonial platforms, the ahu.
A country lengthwise
Chile is 4,270 kilometres long and on average 200 kilometres wide. Try to do it all by road and you spend most of your time in the car.
That is why a tour here works with domestic flights. From Santiago you reach the country's main cities in under 4 hours. Calama is about two hours' flying to the north. In the south there are direct flights to Balmaceda, Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas.
That leaves time within each region. In the Atacama for the salt flats and the night sky, in Patagonia for walking.
How you combine the regions depends on the season. We set them side by side and build the order that fits your travel dates.
Calama gets 6.8 millimetres of rain a year.
Puerto Montt more than 1,500.
Rapa Nui
Rapa Nui was settled by a society of Polynesian origin. From the tenth to the sixteenth century it built the ahu and raised the moai. The national park has been on the World Heritage List since 1995.
Visitors face their own set of rules. You may stay for at most 30 consecutive days. You need a return ticket, a passport valid for your whole stay and a booking at accommodation registered with the local authorities. Beforehand you fill in a separate entry form.
We arrange the flight from Santiago and registered accommodation, and place the island at the start or the end of your trip.
Possibilities
Directions to help you notice what draws you and what you would rather leave out.
A multi-day trek with places reserved in advance in the park's refugios or campsites.
For those who prefer day walks in Torres del Paine: no refugio reservation is needed for that.
From San Pedro de Atacama with a guide to the salt flats, and in the evening out under the night sky.
Wooden churches on the islands, built by the Jesuit mission.
Up the hills on the old lifts, and back down on foot.
The island with a guide, past the ahu and the moai that were never finished.
What you end up doing, we build around what drives you.
When would you travel?
November to March is summer. That is when Patagonia is easiest to reach: in Punta Arenas it averages 15 degrees in January, 4 in June and July. It is also the time for the lakes. In February and March the grape harvest begins.
September and October are spring. In the south, the walking season starts on the Carretera Austral. In April Santiago still averages 23 degrees.
May to August is winter. Santiago then gets most of its rain, an average of 80 millimetres in June. The Atacama, with 6.8 millimetres of rain a year in Calama, and Rapa Nui can be visited all year.
Same months, other destinations
Who else is at their best in these months?
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Looking past the highlights
Torres del Paine needs a reservation. For the W and the circuit around the massif you need a reserved place in a refugio or campsite. We arrange that first and build the rest of the trip around it.
Rapa Nui goes at one end. The island lies 3,700 kilometres off the coast. The flight from Santiago fits best at the start or the end of the trip.
The season has a say. Travel in July and the trip centres on the Atacama and Santiago. Travel in January and you can go all the way to Patagonia.
Worth knowing
We go through the full, current picture with you personally, including what matters specifically for your trip.
For Patagonia and the lakes, the best time in Chile is November to March. That is summer in the southern hemisphere. From May to August it is winter: Punta Arenas then averages 4 degrees and Santiago gets most of its rain. The Atacama and Rapa Nui can be visited all year.
Yes, for the W and the circuit around the massif in Torres del Paine, Chile, you reserve a place in the park's refugios or campsites in advance. Without that reservation you cannot enter the mountain area. This does not apply to day walks, such as to Base Torres.
For Rapa Nui, which belongs to Chile, you need a return ticket, a passport valid for your whole stay and a booking at accommodation registered with the local authorities. Beforehand you fill in a separate entry form. You may stay for at most 30 consecutive days.
The current travel advice for Chile is on the website of the Belgian Foreign Affairs service, diplomatie.belgium.be, under Travel advice. We follow it before departure and during your trip, and adapt the trip if the advice changes.
Or perhaps this
Still weighing it up? That is no problem at all. The right country often only becomes clear once the conversation starts.
Two islands of volcanoes, glaciers and fjords, with a Māori history you meet everywhere.
Inca cities in the Andes, a lake at 3,810 metres and rainforest on the eastern side of the range.
Canyons, mountains and a South with its own music, linked by the national parks.
How it works
Six steps, from your first story to your homecoming. The conversation and the feasibility check cost you nothing.
Fill in the form or give us a call. You do not need a route yet: a country, a period or just an idea is enough.
We call you within two working days. We talk through what you are looking for and check whether it can be done. If it can, we set down together what we will make for you.
We build your programme up, day by day, together with our own people in the country itself.
You read your journey day by day, with everything that is included. You say what you would like differently, until it is right.
You send us your details, we send you your travel documents. You have one fixed contact who knows your journey.
Your contact stays reachable while you are away. Once you are home, we call one more time.
The next step
Tell us what draws you to Chile, who you are travelling with and how much time you have. We get to know you as a traveller first and build from there, together with a local partner who knows the country from the inside.
Updated in October 2026