Patagonia biking holiday, Chile and Argentina

country:	Argentina, Patagonia, Chile
trip type:	Adventurous mountain biking holidays
departures:	2010: 30 Jan
price:	From NZ $4290 (15 days) excluding flights.
vouchers:	Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday

Mountain biking holidays

Patagonia holidays

Chile holidays

the amazing things you'll be doing

15 Days adventure biking in Northern Patagonia

Chile and Argentina are two very different South American countries sharing a common region, the stunning and varied Patagonia. With wild windswept plains, ice capped mountains, and spectacular alpine glaciers and fiords Patagonia is one of the most contrasting and beautiful regions in the world.

We begin our journey in Puerto Montt, in the south of Chile’s Lake District nestled in a spectacular setting where mountains meet the sea and the gateway to Chilean Patagonia. Our biking journey through pristine lakes and untouched rain forest takes us across the Andes twice passing through Argentina before meeting the Carretera Austral in Chile. This infamous road links widely separated towns and hamlets along its length as it passes through a wonderland of mountains, lakes, glaciers and fiords to Coihaique and finally to end at Villa O’Higgins.

We bike through this region of unparalleled beauty, stop to explore National Parks and Reserves in both Chile and Argentina, hike to the base of a hanging glacier, soak in natural hot springs, go fishing in the fiords with local fishermen and relax and explore this beautiful region of timeless towns and villages.

trip profile

We travel from Puerto Montt in Chile via the Andes and Argentina to Coihaique back in Chile.
12 days biking – 60-70% on unpaved roads, and 30-40% on paved roads. All of the riding on this trip is non-technical, but some off road biking experience will help on the unpaved sections.
100% vehicle supported. Our trusty support vehicle carries all your luggage, helps you up those hills (if you like) and always has lunch, snacks and water at hand.
Group size: minimum 4, maximum 12 plus Escape leaders and local crew.
Accommodation: Twin Share: 1 night - hotel, 7 nights guest houses / cabins, 6 nights camping.
Food: Includes 3 meals per day from evening day 1 to breakfast day 15, except 7 evening meals which are at your own expense to give you the opportunity to experience local cuisine of your own choosing.

day-by-day itinerary

Day 1-2:	Arrive Puerto Montt.
Day 3:	Bike along the Rio Puelo and ferry to Llanada Grande.
Day 4:	We make our way to Argentina across the Andes by a series of bike tracks and boat hops.
Day 5:	Bike to La Bolsa on the edge of Parque Y Reserva Nacional Los Alerces.
Day 6:	Biking on through Parque Y Reserva Nacional Los Alerces.
Day 7:	Biking through Argentine Patagonia and back across the Andes into Chile .
Day 8:	A mostly downhill ride along the Rio Futaleufu.
Day 9:	A challenging day along the Carretera Austral.
Day 10:	Bike to Puerto Puyuhapi.
Day 11	A free day out of the saddle to relax in Puyuhapi.
Day 12:	AM ride to Parque Nacional Queulat. PM hike to glacier: Ventisquero Colgante.
Day 13:	Continue biking south - Puyuhapi Fiord and rural farmlands.
Day 14:	Bike to Coyhaique
Day 15:	Fly out.

how this holiday makes a difference

Landsape view, Patagonia mountain biking holiday, Chile

It is important to us that when we travel to different parts of our amazing planet that our exchange is always a mutual one and that we make a positive contribution to people and places that we visit along the way.

These days ‘responsible travel' and ‘sustainability' are hot topics. Responsible travel is not about donating large sums of money to charity (at least not without thoroughly researching the long-term intentions or effects of the charity). We believe responsible travel is about taking time to think about how our actions can benefit or how they impact the people, communities, economies, environments and eco-systems we visit, and then use this to make a difference (or sometimes more appropriately - how we can NOT make a difference). We are constantly considering our actions and how we and the people who travel with us can improve our impact on the places we visit.

Here are just some of the ways that we ‘make a difference’:

Social integration with the local people is a central part of our trips. Simply travelling by bike is a great start – a great way for our bikers and local people to meet and start a conversation.
We employ a local Chilean support driver.
We always buy locally grown food and shop in small local markets; we support local businesses by staying in locally owned guesthouses, hotels and campsites and eating in local restaurants.
Educate our bikers – about the effects of buying products that come from endangered species, or products that are destructive to wildlife or the environment (any products that are made from the destruction of the Patagonian rainforests for example).
Waste/rubbish management – when we travel we should treat our surrounding as we would treat our home (or better!). We do our best to avoid ‘single use packaging’ only using reusable or recyclable packaging. We recycle what can be, and manage any rubbish in the best possible way. We always leave our lunch spots and campsites as we find them (or better!).
We avoid campfires to help prevent deforestation.
We have an environmentally conscious office – To avoid paper waste we aim to use as much computer technology as possible in our office. And when we do print we use paper from recycled sources!
For every person who flies to join our trips we donate 10 trees to a reforestation project.

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 led 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.