Patagonia adventure holiday, tailor made
| country: | Argentina, Chile |
| location: | Patagonia |
| departures: | This trip can be tailor made anytime between 20th September 2009 and 8th April 2010, and can be adapted to suit your interests, budget and requirements as necessary |
| price: | From £1613 - £1815 (11 days) excluding flights. This is a guide price per person based on a minimum of 2 people travelling. Price depends time of trip |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Patagonia adventure holiday, tailor made
Patagonia adventure holiday: Patagonia’s sensational landscapes, crisp mountain air and long Summer days are the stuff of dreams for anyone who enjoys the great outdoors.
Our Patagonia adventure holiday presents an enjoyable combination of easy sightseeing and walks to suit most abilities. Here, close to the tip of southern South America, horizon-hugging steppes meet jagged mountain massifs, ice fields and mint-green, glacial lagoons.
You’ll pause for a night in Chile’s capital Santiago, at the foot of the snow-capped Andes, prior to flying to Punta Arenas on the Straits of Magellan. Just north of here, the magnificent Torres del Paine National Park is your base for the next three days, staying at the novel and award-winning Eco-Camp within sight of the Park’s iconic granite towers; you’re not really camping but staying in a fully furnished igloo with en suite facilities. There’s a daily menu of activities and excursions, including minibus tours and boat trips to the Grey glacier, rambles of a few hours’ duration, even exhilarating all-day hikes for the more energetic. Magnificent scenery is all around, as is an abundance of wildlife – guanaco, rhea, condor...puma if you are very lucky.
Continue across the border into Argentina to El Calafate for the next three days; this thriving lakeshore town, surrounded by sweeping plains is just an hour’s drive from the 5km-wide Perito Moreno glacier, which you visit on a full-day excursion. To witness the ice calve and crash thunderously into Lago Argentino is spellbinding. You have a day at leisure, an opportunity to take a catamaran tour to marvel at the Upsala and Onelli glaciers, before your flight to the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. With two full days at leisure to explore and enjoy the city, there’s time to see a tango show, people-watch in grand Cafe Tortoni, browse upmarket boutiques in Recoleta and tuck into some of the finest steak south of the equator.
Looking for something slightly different?
As specialists in tailor made travel to Latin America, we can design an itinerary just for you. If the accommodation, duration of the tour or any other part of the itinerary is not as you would like, we can offer our expertise and adapt the itinerary to suit you and your budget.
Our Patagonia adventure holiday presents an enjoyable combination of easy sightseeing and walks to suit most abilities. Here, close to the tip of southern South America, horizon-hugging steppes meet jagged mountain massifs, ice fields and mint-green, glacial lagoons.
You’ll pause for a night in Chile’s capital Santiago, at the foot of the snow-capped Andes, prior to flying to Punta Arenas on the Straits of Magellan. Just north of here, the magnificent Torres del Paine National Park is your base for the next three days, staying at the novel and award-winning Eco-Camp within sight of the Park’s iconic granite towers; you’re not really camping but staying in a fully furnished igloo with en suite facilities. There’s a daily menu of activities and excursions, including minibus tours and boat trips to the Grey glacier, rambles of a few hours’ duration, even exhilarating all-day hikes for the more energetic. Magnificent scenery is all around, as is an abundance of wildlife – guanaco, rhea, condor...puma if you are very lucky.
Continue across the border into Argentina to El Calafate for the next three days; this thriving lakeshore town, surrounded by sweeping plains is just an hour’s drive from the 5km-wide Perito Moreno glacier, which you visit on a full-day excursion. To witness the ice calve and crash thunderously into Lago Argentino is spellbinding. You have a day at leisure, an opportunity to take a catamaran tour to marvel at the Upsala and Onelli glaciers, before your flight to the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. With two full days at leisure to explore and enjoy the city, there’s time to see a tango show, people-watch in grand Cafe Tortoni, browse upmarket boutiques in Recoleta and tuck into some of the finest steak south of the equator.
Looking for something slightly different?
As specialists in tailor made travel to Latin America, we can design an itinerary just for you. If the accommodation, duration of the tour or any other part of the itinerary is not as you would like, we can offer our expertise and adapt the itinerary to suit you and your budget.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive Santiago de Chile; transfer to your hotel. |
| Day 2: | Fly to Punta Arenas in Patagonia and continue by road to the Eco-camp in Torres del Paine National Park. |
| Day 3-4: | Explore Torres del Paine: go walking in the mountains, visit Grey glacier, spot and identify wildlife. |
| Day 5: | Continue across the Argentine border to El Calafate, on Lago Argentino. |
| Day 6: | Excursion to the Perito Moreno glacier in Los Glaciares National Park, including a boat ride to take a closer look at the glacier. |
| Day 7: | Optional excursion by catamaran to the Upsala and Onelli glaciers. |
| Day 8: | Fly to Buenos Aires. |
| Day 9-10: | Explore this vibrant city at leisure; optional excursions include the city’s museums, crossing the River Plate to Uruguay for the day, or an evening tango performance. |
| Day 11: | Transfer to the airport. |
tailor made holiday
This trip is run by a company which specialises in only Central and South America holidays. It can be tailormade to create a unique holiday for your individual requirements by travel experts with intimate knowledge of the destination. The length of stay, standard of accommodation and even the itinerary can all be amended and tailored to suit your preferred style of travel and budget. Quality and value are the hallmark of these trips.how this holiday makes a difference
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Our Patagonia adventure holiday takes in two of the earth’s most beautiful national parks: Torres del Paine (Chile) and Los Glaciares (Argentina). Torres del Paine gained national park status in 1959, and in 1978 was declared a UNESCO Biosphere reserve. Neighbouring Los Glaciares was created in 1937, and gained UNESCO World Heritage status in 1981. By paying to visit these parks you are helping contribute towards the preservation and conservation of these fragile regions.
You’ll stay for several days within Torres del Paine national park itself and you’ll probably consider the impact of your visit to such a fragile environment. We’ve selected the Eco-Camp with good reason: it’s a Chilean company and its owners have impressed us with their highly commended approach to responsible tourism built upon 15 years of experience. It’s Eco-Camp’s policy to employ Chilean guides as much as possible. What’s more, it’s the only property in the National Park without a permanent structure, meaning that its long-term impact on the landscape is minimal. You’ll see when you visit how it blends in remarkably with its surroundings. But it doesn’t stop there. Your igloo is comfortable but with due consideration to the environment: electricity is solar-powered, waste is disposed of by a compost system and there is no central heating – but don’t worry: warm Patagonian bedclothes are provided to keep you snug at night and heating is by low-emission wood stove. We think the Eco-Camp is a great compromise between staying in a hotel room and camping: you’ll feel closer to nature and comfortable too. The journey to and from Torres del Paine is a long one; therefore, as a policy Eco-Camp offers its programmes using shared transfers with other guests, cutting down on needless emissions. In fact, to minimise waste (and bring you a good-value holiday), where practical we’ve included excursions and transfers on a shared basis. We can, of course, organise private transport if you wish. |
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. |
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