Santiago, Lake District, and Torres del Paine
Trip Type: Small Group Adventure
Territory: South America
Region: Patagonia
Trip Price: From $5,595
Single Supplement: $2,175
On-Trip Airfare: $800
Duration: 9 days/8 nights
Trip Begins/Ends: Santiago, Chile / Santiago, Chile
Minimum Travelers: 4 travelers
Maximum Travelers: 12 travelers
Pricing detailed for this Small Group Adventure is based upon double occupancy. Additional charges for single travelers and any on-trip airfare required for the trip apply. A booking deposit is required to reserve your space. Small Group Adventure pricing includes all lodging, meals (unless otherwise noted), activities, baggage handling, transportation, and guide service. Not included are travel costs to/from gateway cities, guide gratuities, and personal incidentals including, but not limited to, trip cancellation/interruption insurance, alcoholic beverages, and laundry service. Travel with Off the Beaten Path requires agreement to our standard Terms & Conditions.
No Sweat - 1-2 miles of walking or hiking per day, plus easy activities
Nice & Active – 3-6 miles of hiking or walking per day, plus physically active exploration
High Five! – 5-12 miles of hiking per day, plus possible peak bagging or other action-oriented fun
International travel with one 5-hour drive to Torres del Paine. Hiking of 2-7 miles on several days, reaching elevations of up to 4,000 feet. Some time spent at elevations of 5,000 feet.
Most all of our Small Group Adventures can be made private to just your traveling troupe. Just give us a call at (800) 445-2995 and tell us that you would like to “make it private”!
Generally, there are two ways to make a small group adventure private. First, you could capture one of our published departure dates for just your group. In order to achieve this, we have to have sufficient space available to create a separate private trip. Second, we could take the details of this itinerary and fashion it for just your group on dates of your choosing. For this, too, we just need to review your interest, group size, and preferred timing in order to create the trip.
In all cases, the process begins with a phone call so give us a ring at (800) 445-2995 and after just a few minutes gathering information, we can set to the task of making your trip a reality!
Your guide is waiting at the Santiago airport to take you to your hotel for a little rest. Refreshed, it's off to the Central Market for a Chilean seafood lunch paired with local wines, then a visit to some of Santiago’s most famous landmarks and museums.
This morning we explore the wine country of Casablanca Valley, tasting wines at the Bodegas RE vineyard, where they REcreate, REinvent and REveal ancient wines produced in beautiful clay jars. Next up is the colorful seaport city of Valparaiso and Concepción Hill and Sotomayor Plaza. Evening finds us back in Santiago.
A relatively short flight takes us south to Chile’s Lake District. We're quickly awash in local color at the Angelmó fish market, where vendors offer a variety of fish, shellfish, and artisanal products. From there we head to the Catedral de Puerto Montt, designed along the lines of the Parthenon and built entirely of larch.
A morning drive takes us past traditional fishing villages and up through forested mountains to the entrance of Alerce Andino National Park. Our hike along the River Chaicas leads to mature Valdivian rainforest, marked by ferns, bamboos, and a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees. Our trail eventually takes us to the falls on the Chaicas River and “The Grandfather,” an alerce tree that is more than 3,000 years old.
At Vicente Perez Rosales National Park, on the eastern slope of Osorno Volcano, we follow gentle paths through Valdivian rainforest to Petrohue River Falls, where water cascades through lava chutes in a roaring rush. Later, a short forest walk delivers us to Laguna Verde, said to be a fountain of youth. Imbued with new vigor, we hike up to Burbuja Crater for spectacular views of the Petrohue Valley, Calbuco Volcano, and Andes.
This morning we fly to Punta Arenas and our ultimate destination, Torres del Paine National Park, where soaring granite spires dominate a landscape further bejeweled by azure lakes, emerald forests, ethereal-blue glaciers, and a wealth of distinctive flora and fauna. The next two incredible days are based at the matchless EcoCamp Patagonia.
Each day brings a choice of guided activities immersing you in this awe-inspiring landscape. Among the diverse options: An easy-going walk complete with guanacos and Andean condors. A moderate hike through fairytale forest to the furious Salto Grande waterfall. A longer, harder hike across a hanging bridge onto a steep trail leading to the heart of the Paine Massif. On all these outings, keep an eye open for guanacos, Andean condors, ostrich-like ñandús, and the huemul deer.
Bidding adios to your new EcoCamp family, we transfer to Puerto Natales for flights back to Santiago and connections home.
Your clean and contemporary high rise hotel in Santiago's upscale El Golf commercial district offers spacious rooms, plenty of sunlight, and terrific views of the Santiago skyline.
Just five minutes away from the Central Square, your room sports a view of Lake Llanquihue, volcanoes, and Puerto Varas Bay. The seventh-floor restaurant offers amazing views and specializes in regional Chilean cuisine.
Revel in the rustic luxury of your private geodesic dome, which features a woodstove and bathroom with composting toilet. Fall asleep gazing at the star-filled sky through your dome’s skylight, and wake up to a panoramic view of Torres del Paine.
I’ve just finished ten weeks of travel in three of my favorite places on the planet: Japan, Greece, and France. One of the great lessons I’ve re-learned on this trip is the importance of slowing down. Wherever you may be—a garden in Kyoto, or an Inca ruin in Peru, or a canyon trail in Utah—the […]
With Scotland‘s summer travel season now in full swing, it may seem premature to be looking ahead to autumn and winter. But this is the exact right time to let us start planning your off-season independent custom travels, so we can get you booked into those much sought after lodgings with the “wow” experiences to match. […]
Off the Beaten Path Custom Travel Planner Julianne Mohr recently returned from a scouting trip to Samoa. Here’s her report… I wasn’t sure what to expect when I stepped off the plane into the warm air of Samoa, but it didn’t take long to fall in love with this idyllic, friendly place. If you’re looking […]
When your family is ready for an entry-level adventure vacation, tiny Costa Rica is the perfect place to start. Costa Rica family vacations have it all, beaches, jungles, volcanoes, and abundant wildlife, all in one beautiful and relatively safe and compact package. Costa Rica has bestowed some of my kids’ favorite travel moments and memories […]
