Adventure Trips in Patagonia and Chile Tour Packages

Compare Adventure Trips in Patagonia and Chile Tour Packages from NOLS, OARS, Natural Habitat Adventures and more!

Although incredibly spindly up and down its 2,600-mile length, the icicle-shaped Chile knows how to “pack on” scenic diversity and adventure opportunities all along its slender frame.

According to the National Geographic Society, Chile’s Atacama Desert is the driest place on Earth. Parts of this high tableland haven’t seen a drop of rain since recordkeeping began. Dotted with snow-dusted, twenty-thousand-foot volcanoes, the Atacama doesn’t appear to be a natural part of this blue planet. In fact, the Atacama was once a testing site for lunar rover prototypes.

Stretching six hundred miles from Peru’s southern border into northern Chile, the Atacama Desert rises up in stages from its thin, coastal skeleton. The low salt pans soon give way to alluvial fans sloping from the Andean foothills. Then, the altiplano begins, where lofty, white-capped volcanoes march along the Continental Divide. Hiking in Chile’s Atacama will reveal the place where three of the world’s six flamingo species congregate. Make excursions to geyser fields, the famous salt pans, and a flamingo reserve on your trip to Chile, and visit with the people in oasis villages who call the Atacama home.

In contrast to the dry Atacama are the country’s rivers, fjords, and channel mazes. Flowing through Chilean Patagonia is the Rio Futaleufú, one of the world’s premier white-water destinations. If your Chilean travels include time on the “Fú,” you’ll kayak far beneath the spires and snow-packed crowns of the Andes as the river’s steely, blue-green waters carry you through granite walls and lush vistas snatched from a sci-fi movie.

While in Patagonia, do some trekking in Chile’s Aysen Glacier region or kayak in Pumalín Park, where an original, temperate rain forest reaches all the way to the ocean — something that is increasingly rare worldwide. Or spend most of your Chile tour in Torres del Paine National Park, surrounded by the dramatic and iconic granite monoliths, forests, and shockingly blue lakes. On the southern fjords, you can take lessons in navigation, paddling techniques, developing rescue skills, and route planning.

When you travel to Chile, don’t be fooled by the country’s slim profile. When it comes to wildness and adventure, it’s a heavyweight.

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