The Travel Plan
Fly to Chile and day hike in Patagonia and the Atacama Desert.
Itinerary At a Glance – February / March 2023
| DAY 0 | Fly from Durango, Colorado to Santiago, Chile |
| DAY 1 | Drive from Santiago, Chile to Viña Del Mar |
| DAY 2 | Drive from Viña del Mar back to Santiago |
| DAY 3 | Fly from Santiago to Puerto Natales in Patagonia |
| DAY 4 | Stay in Puerto Natales at The Singular Patagonia |
| DAY 5 | Transfer to Explora Torres del Paine |
| DAY 6 | Half day hike “Aonikenk” |
| DAY 7 | Full day hike “Alto del Toro” |
| DAY 8 | Full day hike “Glacier Grey” |
| DAY 9 | Fly from Puerto Natales to Santiago |
| DAY 10 | Fly from Santiago to Calama and transfer to Explora Atacama |
| DAY 11 | Multiple excursions: “Puritama”, “Laguna de Chaxa” and Stargazing the Southern Hemisphere |
| DAY 12 | Two excursions: “Dunas de la Chula” and “Tebenquinche” |
| DAY 13 | Full-day excursion “Rio Blanco” (aka the Tatio Geysers hike) |
| DAY 14 | Fly from Santiago, Chile to Durango, Colorado |
Day 0 – Fly from Durango, Colorado to Santiago, Chile
Long travel day, arriving in Santiago the following morning: To use my husband’s frequent-flyer miles, we flew United Airlines out of Durango, a busy, but small airport.
Flying up to Denver, the United hub, we caught the flight to Houston, and from there took the overnight flight to Santiago. This was my first time flying Polaris Class. It was wonderful to have a fully reclining seat and sleep through most of the 9-hour flight.
Day 1 – Drive from Santiago, Chile to Viña Del Mar
Rent a car and head west to Viña Del Mar: To allow for any flight delays and tiredness from the long trip, I made sure our first two days in Chile were flexible and paced for a gradual easing in to our vacation.
I had reserved a Budget rental car online and one night at the Sheraton Miramar in Viña del Mar. Was it risky to drive in Chile? Yes and no. On one hand we were hyper alert to avoid any accidents, but on the other, the route involved just one main highway, and in Chile, they drive on the right-hand side of the road, just like the States!
Even though I had a reservation, the Budget rental process took a long time. We were in the system, but apparently that didn’t translate to the local business, which meant remaining patient while the young man behind the counter entered everything in.
As we headed out to find the shuttle to the rental car park, we saw one of the ubiquitous red ATM machines. I was prepared with a Schwab debit card (no fees!), but was glad for help from one of the other rental car guys who kindly pointed out which buttons to select. From that point on, we were experts in extracting Chilean pesos for tips and miscellaneous sundries.
Quick stop at Veramonte Vineyards: Driving along Ruta 68 from the airport to Viña Del Mar, we made our first winery stop. We didn’t have a reservation for a tour or tasting, but wanted to enjoy a glass to celebrate our arrival in Chile! We shared their Ritual Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Both were excellent.
LINKS
Day 2 – Drive from Viña del Mar back to Santiago
Wine tasting and bike ride at Viña Casas del Bosque: With an early morning flight to Puerto Natales in Patagonia the next day, our plan was to make our way back to Santiago and spend the night at the airport Holiday Inn. It’s positioned between the national and international terminals, sort of like the bar that connects the side of an “H.” Other than allowing time to return the rental car, we planned on a slow return to the city with a stop at Casas del Bosque vineyard.
When I researched our trip, most articles recommended vineyard reservations, with some even suggesting you could be turned away if you didn’t. This might be the case during their busy season, but we had a great experience.
Not for lack of trying, but I wasn’t able to nail down a reservation. First, I attempted to navigate the vineyard’s online system, but had difficulty regardless of different browsers I used. Then I turned to email, and faired much better, but I couldn’t keep up with the back-and-forth messaging on our preferred times and activities. I decided to adopt a que será será attitude, and figured, worst case, we could at least enjoy a glass of wine.
When we arrived at Viña Casas del Bosque we were able to do a wine tasting and sign up for their self-guided bike ride through the winery. No problem!
The tasting was very informative. We learned about the Carménère grape (similar to a Merlot) and sampled four different wines. After that, they gave us a backpack with bottles of water, helmets, and a brief orientation on the bikes and best route through the vineyard before sending us on our way. We were a bit wobbly at first. I can’t say how long it had been since we’d both been on bikes, but at least eight years!
The bike tour included complimentary glasses of Sauvignon Blanc upon our return. We enjoyed relaxing in their courtyard and didn’t leave for Santiago until 5:30 pm.
LINKS
Day 3 – Fly from Santiago to Puerto Natales in Patagonia
Fly SKY Airline to Puerto Natales: The walk from the Holiday Inn to Terminal 1 took around 5 minutes. It’s that convenient. All the airlines seem to be kiosk-based. You grab an available kiosk and enter the flight confirmation code (this worked best for us) to print baggage tags and boarding passes. Then you take your luggage to a sort of counter where you use a hand scanner to self-scan your tags and then put the bags on the automated belt.
Like most airports, SCL is filled with countless food places, especially Starbucks. I lost count of how many Starbucks we saw. We had no problem using our Visa credit card to purchase vanilla lattes and pastries. Be aware that if you’re not fluent in Spanish, which we’re not, it’s easiest to select something off the menu. For example, we asked if they had any other kind of syrup (hazelnut, anyone?), but all we got were perplexed faces. We ended up sticking with a vanilla latte which we could point out on the menu board.
I originally had us booked with LATAM airlines for our flight down to Puerto Natales, but ended up changing it to SKY Airline to align with the lodge’s transfer times down in Patagonia. We flew LATAM up to Calama for the Atacama part of our trip, which we preferred, but it was interesting to fly both airlines for comparison.
Tickets on both airlines were around the same price. We opted for premium seat tickets because they were fully refundable and allowed for extra luggage. We didn’t end up taking more than one suitcase and one carry on apiece, but we didn’t know for certain how much luggage we would take at the time we make the reservations. With that said, I would recommend the premium tickets if you can afford it. They were like a mini business class with front of the plane seating, drinks and meals included, USB plugs, and priority seating. Definitely nicer if you want to make the trip more special.
Transfer to The Singular hotel: When we landed in Puerto Natales, it was cold and windy. Pretty typical for Patagonia! After getting our luggage, we went outside where our driver waited to take us to The Singular hotel, only a 10-minute drive from the airport.
Similar to our Viña del Mar excursion which allowed for travel delays to Santiago, we had two nights in Puerto Natales before transferring to the Explora lodge in Torres del Paine.
LINKS
Day 4 – Stay in Puerto Natales at The Singular Patagonia
Relax at The Singular: The Singular is located in an old cold-storage plant built in 1915. Glass doors and floating walkways makes the space feel more vast and old machinery throughout gives a steampunk vibe.
All of the rooms have floor to ceiling windows to face the panoramic Patagonian fjords of Last Hope Sound and the Andes mountain range. It’s stunning and serene. The Singular offers full board and an excursion package, but knowing that our Explora stay would involve daily excursions inside the Torres del Paine National Park, we went with the breakfast only package.
Explore Puerto Natales: We took a taxi from the hotel into town. The hotel has complimentary bikes, but the wind was a deterrent, and the taxi only cost 5000 pesos – well worth it!
Being the end of summer / early fall, the little town of Puerto Natales felt a bit deserted. We walked around to work up an appetite for pizza at a popular place called Napoli Pizzeria. We split the Capricciosa pizza with ham, artichokes, black olives and cheese. I had a coke and hubby tried the local beer.
Back to The Singular to relax and try a Calafate Sour at the bar before dinner. The Chilean Calafate berry is purplish in hue and similar to a blueberry in size and shape. The legend surrounding the berry is that anyone who eats one will be drawn back to the Patagonia region. We hope so!
LINKS
Recap
- The end of February, beginning of March was a great time to go. The weather cooperated and we avoided larger crowds.
- We were glad we included both Patagonia and Atacama in our trip. It required more planning and stretched our budget, but it was a dream vacation that we will never forget.
- Staying at a lodge that included excursions greatly simplified that part of trip planning. I didn’t have to prebook costly excursions or be concerned about weather or physical limitations that might crop up. There was complete peace of mind.
- Adventurous locations don’t necessarily require a certain level of fitness or ability. There are often ways to access sites, such as vehicles, boats or horses, enabling you to have unique experiences.
- Never be afraid to ask. For example, at Explora we discovered half-way through our stay at the second lodge that we could get coffee (including cappuccino!) in to-go cups. And we didn’t realize we could ask for nuts, chips or other available snacks at the bar. What other little treats could we have enjoyed had we just asked?
- When planning future trips with multiple stops, I intend to avoid single overnight stays at airports. They’re inconvenient with extra unpacking and packing, plus the Holiday Inn at the Santiago Airport has seen better days, probably due to the amount of travelers coming through. It was a bed to sleep on, but that’s about it. And we did it twice!
- We considered trying another brand for the Atacama portion of our trip, but couldn’t resist the discount that Explora offered on booking two properties. It was worth it, so keep an eye out for those types of offers when planning a multi-stop trip, and make sure you understand the offer. For example, when we initially booked Explora, they offered 10% off each property. I later saw the offer change to 25% off a second property booked. I had booked the less expensive property last and would have received a smaller discount under that offer.
- We packed carefully. Each of us had one medium-sized piece of checked luggage and a backpack. We hand washed laundry as needed which worked out well except for Atacama where items seemed to take forever to dry. In the future, I might pack a bit of extra clothing (we had room) or splurge on a laundry service.
