Planning trip to Chile, help with itineraries and practicalities

Hi, we are planning a trip for Chile, for Xmas period. We will have 16 full days between Dec 22nd and Jan 6th. The focus is, as expected, Atacama region and Patagonia. I have already been to Easter Island and mid-Chile (Santiago, Valparaiso, Vina etc) several times but this is new to me, plus my friends do drive, so they want this to be a road trip.

Questions:
1. how would you allocate the 16 days available?
2. I understand we could easily rent a car in Santiago and drop it off in Atacama, passing by several interesting sites on the way in 4 days, more or less as described here: https://planedia.com/blog/exploring-chile-road-trip-from-santiago-to-atacama/ . But in order to see the Atacama region highlights we would need to get local excursions, is that correct? Meaning, we could not see the sights without a 4WD there?
3. Patagonia is a pain in the ass. Supposing we spend 4 days on the way to Atacama and another 4 there we have been left with 8 full days for Patagonia. Which places should be unmissable? Would you recommend landin in Punta Arenas and finishing in Puerto Montt? I also understand that crossing into Argentina in high season with a rental car is time consuming, would you advise staying within Chile?

Thanks for any advice.

Hi! I can't help you with your northern travels but have some suggestions for your Patagonia trip. Are you planning to rent a car in Punta Arenas? That would be my recommendation. Fly into Punta Arenas and drive (about 4-5 hours) to Puerto Natales. Stay in Puerto Natales (beautiful town, very windy!) for a night and then continue on another 3 hours or so to Torres Del Paine National park (make sure to fill up on gas in Puerto Natales as there are no gas stations in the park). You can then tour the park and either camp at various locations or stay at the Refugios (these can be be booked at the website http://www.fantasticosur.com/en/). There are numerous hikes you can go on throughout the park before you make your way back out to head back to Puerto Natales and then onto Punta Arenas. It is not possible to drive to Puerto Montt (you would have to ship your car which wouldn't make sense with a rental). You could, however, fly into Puerto Montt if you want to explore that area for a bit on your way back out of Chile. Puerto Montt itself is not too exciting so I personally would drive the 30 minutes to Puerto Varas and stay there for 3 days max. As for crossing into Argentina you could rent another car and drive to Bariloche (about 6-7 hours including custom stops) which is a beautiful town. If you only have time for one of these things I would hands down head to Torres del Paine!

Great, thanks for the prompt reply.

Actually the idea would be to make this more of a road trip and less of a trekking adventure. We do plan to spend 2 days in Torres del Paine, but ideally we'd like to drive around the rest of the days, enjoying the route and vistas. Apart from Torres del Paine which other places would you suggest, since Puerto Mont is impractical? Bariloche as you mentioned and what else? We are looking for scenic routes mainly, even if they demand 4WD.

So would you drive from Santiago? If so you could drive to Puerto Varas and stay a couple days. From there you could do a day trip to Ensenada (although check reports because this was the area heavily impacted by the volcano eruption so I'm not sure if it will still have lots of ash) and to Petrohue. You could also circle Lago Llanquihue on your way to Bariloche. Then you would drive back to Puerto Varas and on to Puerto Montt where you would leave your car and fly to Punta Arenas and rent a different car fOr your Torres del Paine trip (this is the most scenic of all the areas mentioned). Hope this helps. :)

Most car rental companies in Chile are small and regional. You may have to shop around for a company which will allow a one way drop off in San Pedro de Atacama or Calama. I would price it before you decide to do this itinerary as the cost may be higher than you expect.

Thanks guys, I already scanned for cars. My main doubt is still Torres del Paine: does it make sense to rent a car to go there? I read you need 4 days for the shortest trek, meaning we would have the car immobilised for 4 days? Or is it possible to trek for a day or two and actually get to see some glimpses of the best landscape the park has to offer?

You can definitely see plenty of beautiful sights from the road in Torres Del Paine. We only spent two nights in the park and toured the whole thing by car. The shortest hikes are about an hour long so you can just leave the car at a parking lot and go. We never left our car more than overnight.

Excellent! Is 4WD absolutely necessary?

No, the roads are paved to the park and once there it is packed dirt. We had a small compact car. :)

The roads inside the park are limited. The park is really designed for multi-day hikes. If you are planning to do the W trek then a car will be little use. You can do short hikes from where you leave your car but not multi-day ones. You can park near the beginning of the hike to the Mirador, about 8 hours there and back, but if you want to see the best of the rest of the park you hike.

Thank you vert much.

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