PATAGONIA NORTH & SOUTH    13 days, 12 nights

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Bariloche  ↠  San Martin de los Andes  ↠  Pucón  ↠  Puyehue  ↠  Bariloche

Bariloche  ↠  El Calafate

El Calafate (2 nights)  ↠  Puerto Natales (2 nights)  ↠  Punta Arenas  ↠  Ushuaia (2 nights)

Discount on package price for extension : +2 days for return Ushuaia  ↠  Río Gallegos  ↠  El Calafate

Forget the stress of everyday life, take a little break to spend a few days in fabulous landscapes !

Discovering the north and south of Patagonia on the same trip is really a MUST !

These are the two most famous parts of Patagonia, but they are totally different, having in common high quality infrastructure and services and landscapes of exceptional beauty.

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   4 days of self driving tour in Northern Patagonia, straddling Argentina and Chile, 900 km in the beautiful Lakes & Volcanoes region, with great stops in famous resorts and charming little villages.

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   7 days of self driving tour in Southern Patagonia, also straddling Argentina and Chile, 1400 km discovering the imposing glaciers and icebergs, the majestic peaks of the Andean Cordillera, recorded among the “50 Best places to see” in the world (by National Geographic). 

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HIGHLIGHTS

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* San Carlos de Bariloche, the most famous ski resort in South America, and Pucón, the most charming resort in Chile, dominated by the smoking Villarica volcano… 

* Driving along beautiful lakes at the foot of volcanoes, inside National Parks and Reserves, observing the specific fauna and flora

* Perito Moreno, the glacier that goes forward and shatters under your eyes…

* Full day boat excursion on Lake Argentino in the midst of giant icebergs to huge glaciers Upsala & Spegazzini

* Sporty off-road excursion to Balcones de El Calafate, offering a great panoramic view to Cerro Huyliche and El Calafate

* Torres del Paine National Park, a paradise for trekking, fauna and flora observation and photography. 

* Walk on the Costanera, in Punta Arenas, at the edge of the Strait of Magellan, which the greatest navigators challenged with their boats to access posterity

* Fantastic drive in a no man´s land to the “end of world city” Ushuaia

* Tierra del Fuego National park, the most southern park on the planet and the only one in Argentina with a combination of mountains, forest and sea.

Route Map

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Arrival in Bariloche A

Bariloche - San Martin de los Andes B (205 km)

San Martin de los Andes - Pucón C (185 km)

Pucón - Puyehue D (330 km)

Puyehue - Bariloche A (101 km)

Bariloche - El Calafate (by plane) 

Full day around El Calafate E (101 km)

El Calafate - Perito Moreno Glacier O - P. Natales F (430 km)

Full day in the Torres del Paine National Park (200 km)

Puerto Natales - Punta Arenas G (295 km)

Punta Arenas - Ushuaia H (440 km)

Full day around Ushuaia (25 km)

Leaving Ushuaia

OR Ushuaia - Río Gallegos I (580 km)

Río Gallegos - El Calafate E (305 km)

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GUIDE AND ASSISTANCE VEHICLE 

* The guide is permanently at the disposition of the group.

* The guide speaks several languages, including necessarily English and the language of the country, this can be useful if you do not master it enough.
* The guide knows the route and opens the convoy with the assistance vehicle, stopping at the best points of view. You are then free to follow him or go solo, to meet the group later in the day or in the evening at the hotel.

* The assistance vehicle carries the first aid kit, any excess baggage, a container of fuel, engine oil,...
* If necessary, the guide activates external services (insurance, mechanical repair, rescue,...).
* The guide takes care of check-in and check-out in hotels, restaurant orders, border crossing procedures, access to national parks, tourist sites and any other means of transport (local taxis, boat, plane),...
* Last but not least... the guide tells you about the country, the regions crossed, or even the places visited (when there is no local professional guide).

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Note : For any convoy of 6 or more vehicles (excluding assistance vehicle opening the convoy), another assistance vehicle is included, which closes the convoy.

Accomodation

History & Culture

North and South, two regions, two histories but one culture : Patagonia ! 

Lakes & Volcanoes region (North)

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Large natural lakes with peaceful and transparent waters, surrounded by green hills and preserved forests, dominated by the most majestic volcanoes of the Andes (some of which are still active) with perfect symmetries and snow-capped, lined with typical villages or internationally renowned resorts,... this is the region of lakes and volcanoes : exceptionally beautiful and varied, tremendously relaxing.

Our loop self driving tour in the Lakes & Volcanoes region crosses 2 Argentine provinces and 3 Chilean regions :

​Rio Negro province : The most famous place of the 4th largest province of Argentine, created in 1955, is San Carlos de Bariloche, for its ski resorts and superb hiking in the nice mountains all around, as well as for its hotels, restaurants and luxury shops. We will spend the first and last day of our trip in San Carlos de Bariloche, at the edge of the beautiful Lake Nahuel Huapi, in the border between the provinces of Rio Negro and Neuquén.

Southern Patagonia

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Known as a land of explorers, navigators and adventurers, it is historically the land of the Amerindians. Since the first traces of human civilization around 35,000 BC, several tribes inhabited the region, mainly between 12,000 and 8,000 BC : the Picunches (the largest Mapuche community of that time), the Huilliches and Chonos in central Patagonia; the Onas, the Yagans and the Alacufes in southern Patagonia; and the Mánekenkes who lived in Tierra del Fuego for 10,000 years. In the Andes, these populations hunted guanacos, llamas, rheas and two extinct species : the mylodons (big bears with camelid heads) and hippidion horses. On the coast, they lived fishing on lenga bark canoes and also fed on Lhao-Lhao mushrooms.

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After the discovery of the strait linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans by the Portuguese navigator Fernando de Magellan in 1520, Patagonia became the scene of conflicts between the Mapuche Indians and the Spanish colonizers led by Pedro de Valdivia, who died in 1553, a year before the Mapuches of the chief Lautaro win the battle of Marihueñu. The Mapuches reconquered most of Araucania but the clashes continued until the nineteenth century, without, however, harming the progressive evangelization of Amerindians.

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Local Gastronomy

While enjoying fantastic landscapes, we can also feast on delicious local gastronomy !