Atacama & Patagonia hiking holiday
| country: | Patagonia, Chile |
| location: | Atacama, Patagonia |
| trip type: | Moderate walking holidays |
| departures: | 2008: 17 Oct, 31 Oct, 16 Dec 2009: 6 Mar |
| price: | From £3200 - £3500 (17 days) including flights from the UK, depending on departure date chosen. |
read 1 travellers review
the amazing things you'll be doing
Torres del Paine National Park - Atacama Desert - Santiago - climb a volcano - hike in breathtaking scenery - soak in hot springs - walk on a glacier
Explore the fantastic, contrasting landscapes of the Atacama Desert and Patagonia in depth, on foot. Spend as much time as possible in the open air of the Atacama, seeing the people, wildlife and scenery with the help of your expert guides. Relax as your bags are being carried for you, whilst you hike across Torres del Paine. Enjoy a hot meal and a warm bed at the end of each day.
Explore the fantastic, contrasting landscapes of the Atacama Desert and Patagonia in depth, on foot. Spend as much time as possible in the open air of the Atacama, seeing the people, wildlife and scenery with the help of your expert guides. Relax as your bags are being carried for you, whilst you hike across Torres del Paine. Enjoy a hot meal and a warm bed at the end of each day.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Fly to Chile. |
| Day 2: | Walking tour. Tour Santiago before flying up to San Pedro de Atacama and your boutique hotel. |
| Day 3: | Explore desert habitats. Morning bike ride across the salt flats. Lunch and early afternoon to relax. Afternoon walk in the salt mountains. (B) |
| Day 4: | Day walking in the Andes. Full day walking on old Inca roads from the high Andes down to the Salt Mountains. Walk 18km, 5hrs, down 1,000m. (B,L) |
| Day 5: | Volcano walk to summit. After several days of being active at altitude, today’s walk takes you high to the summit of a dormant volcano. Walk 6km, 3hrs, up 420m, down 420m. Afternoon to relax. (B) |
| Day 6: | Geysers and springs. Start the day with a visit to the world’s highest geothermal field – the Tatio geysers. Fly to Santiago this evening for a 2 night stay. (B) |
| Day 7: | Explore Santiago. Free day to explore Santiago. (B) |
| Day 8: | Fly to Patagonia. Fly south along the spectacular spine of the Andes towards the seafront town of Puerto Natales. (B) |
| Day 9: | River boat into Park. Catch a boat along the Ultima Esperanza Sound, along the Rio Serrano and into Torres del Paine. (B,L,D) |
| Day 10: | Walk Glacier Grey. Enjoy a boat ride along Lago Grey as far as the glacier, afternoon walk on top of Glacier Grey. For the next 4 nights you sleep in refugios. (B,L,D) |
| Day 11: | Grassland walk. Set off on the 4-day hike across the park, carry just a daypack whilst walking. Walk 11km, 4hrs, up 400m down 400m. (B,L,D) |
| Day 12: | Paine Grande walk. Walk under the mountain of Paine Grande then a steady uphill and a steep downhill to the shores of Lake Nordenskjold. Walk 9km, 4hrs, up 200m, down 200m. (B,L,D) |
| Day 13: | Lakeside walking. Continue your walk along a good path in the shadow of the mountains throughout today. Walk 13km, 5hrs, up 600m, down 300m. (B,L,D) |
| Day 14: | Hike to the Torres. Early start to hike up to the distinctive mile-high granite towers. Walk 16km, 7hrs, up 650m, down 900m. (B,L,D) |
| Day 15: | Return to Santiago. Fly to Santiago for your last night in Chile. (B) |
| Day 16: | Free morning. Explore the city before flying home (flight times may vary). (B) |
| Day 17: | Arrive UK. |
travellers' tales
The highlight was trekking with the most amazing mountain backdrop for several days, in Torres del Paine, culminating in the climb up to Las Torres themselves; there just aren't the words to do this place justice. (more)
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places.how this holiday makes a difference
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This holiday is unique to us. We have an unrivalled passion for Chile and this trip was designed for our clients to gain a real feel for the Atacama Desert and Patagonia’s Torres del Paine. Our guides in Chile are all experts in their areas: Maria in Santiago, Camilo in the Atacama and Juan in Patagonia. Put together they represent a really fascinating group and make a huge difference to the quality of your experience in the country.
We are passionate about the places it visits. To help preserve the integrity of these destinations we keep groups small to minimise environmental impact. We also administer a carbon offset scheme to compensate for the impact of your flights. We work directly with local businesses and organisations to directly benefit local economies. We use small, locally owned hotels and restaurants. We know the owners except in the large cities. We work with local guides so that our holidays are more interesting for clients and more beneficial locally. And, we make payment to suppliers before our clients arrive. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've lead the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |