Complete Patagonia
Cueva de las Manos, the prehistoric painted hand cave off Ruta 40, and a king penguin colony at Porvenir on Tierra del Fuego, on a drive that ends in Ushuaia between the Martial Ranges and the Beagle Channel.
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Tell us your trip details and we'll put together a complimentary Stradora Expedition Pack for the journey.
The route
Twenty-one nights driving the full Carretera Austral and then Ruta 40, from Coyhaique to Ushuaia, with four border crossings and two ferry crossings of the Strait of Magellan. Travellers drive themselves with a guide leading, and Compass supply the vehicle.
Santiago and a flight south start it, then Puerto Chacabuco and a day out to Laguna San Rafael, where the glacier calves directly into the lagoon and the ice floats out among the boats. The Carretera Austral follows to Puyuhuapi and back to Coyhaique below Cerro McKay, then Puerto Guadal on Lago General Carrera, the second largest lake in South America.
The Andes are crossed into Argentina through Patagonia National Park to Bajo Caracoles, and the Cueva de las Manos comes next: several hundred painted handprints on a canyon wall, made by stencilling around the hand with pigment blown through a tube, the oldest of them some nine thousand years old. Tierra de Colores and the Ruta 40 steppe follow to Gobernador Gregores.
El Chalten sits below Fitzroy in Los Glaciares, then El Calafate and the Moreno glacier, then back into Chile for Torres del Paine and Puerto Natales. The ferry crosses to Tierra del Fuego and the route reaches Ushuaia between the Martial range and the Beagle Channel, with the national park beyond it. A second ferry returns by way of Porvenir and its king penguin colony to Punta Arenas and the flight to Santiago. Prices are quoted in US dollars, per person, and no wildlife sighting can be promised.
Images selected by Stradora to represent the journey.
What's included
- Airport transfers
- Santiago to Coyhaique and Punta Arenas to Santiago flights
- 4WD rental
- fuel and tolls
- Moreno Glacier boat cruise
- Laguna San Rafael excursion
- 21 nights' accommodation from hosteria and guest houses up to 3 and 4 star hotels
- 21 breakfasts, 16 lunches, 15 dinners
- services of Compass Expeditions leader and support staff
- access to the Compass Expeditions app with route maps
- pre-departure material
- Compass Expeditions tour shirt
- entrances to all attractions and excursions mentioned in the itinerary
Not included
- International flights
- visas if required
- personal health and travel insurance
- tips and gratuities
Ready to drive it?
22 days, from £13,420pp