Land of Ice & Fire

Detailed Itinerary

Day One – Start of your Holidays to Chile

Your holidays to Chile will begin this morning as you touch down in Santiago de Chile, and we will be there to meet you and take you straight to your hotel in the upmarket Providencia area of the city. You will then have the rest of the day free to relax and enjoy one of South America’s most sophisticated capital cities.

Day Two - Tour of Santiago

This morning we will pick you up and take you for a tour of colonial and modern Santiago, so you can get a feel for the contrast between old and new which typifies the city. We will start off with a look at the grandest of Santiago’s colonial buildings, such as the imposing Presidential Palace and Mint Building, and the neo-classical Cathedral. We will then travel through some of Santiago’s most modern districts on our way to San Cristobal hill. Here a funicular railway takes right to the top so we can finish the tour with a fantastic view over the city. (Breakfast included)

Day Three – Into the Atacama Desert

We will take you to the airport this morning for your flight up to the north of the country to the Atacama Desert. You will arrive in Calama this afternoon where we’ll meet you and driver out of the city towards the small town of San Pedro de Atacama, in the arid, high Atacama Desert. Along the way we will be able to enjoy some stunning views of the Cordillera de la Sal, and a beautiful panoramic view of the Gran Salar, lying at the foot of the enormous Licancabur volcano. This evening we will adventure out to the mystifying Death & Moon valleys, boasting incredible stone and sand formations. At sunset we will have the opportunity to view the beautiful fading light over the vast landscapes. (B)

Day Four - Salar de Atacama and Toconao

We will pick you up after breakfast for a short tour of San Pedro de Atacama, and a visit to the Father le Paige Archaeological museum. From here we will make the short drive to reach the 3000 year old pre-Columbian village of Tulor. The archaeological remains that can be viewed here constitute the oldest evidence of human settlement of the valley. Your tour will continue on to the Pukara de Quitor a fortress, which has seen many battles. In the afternoon you will visit Toconao: a village where white volcanic stone sculptures are made by locals. Afterwards you will continue on to the Atacama Salt Lake; an inland sea formed millions of year ago and an impressive sight dominated by rock formations and crystalized salt. (B/L)

Day Five - Tatio Geysers and Machuca

We will leave the hotel before dawn this morning so that we can appreciate one of Atacama’s most amazing spectacles as we drive out to the magnificent Tatio Geysers. These enormous columns of steam shoot out from the otherworldly landscape, and the sensation of being on another planet is compounded by the sulphurous smell and tremendous noise as the geysers blow. Once the sun rises, the geysers lose their force so we will head back to San Pedro, stopping at the village of Machuca on the way to see the llama caravans of the ancient Inca highway. You will have some free time this afternoon to relax in San Pedro. (B)

Day Six - Back to Santiago

This morning you will have a final free morning in Atacama before we take you back to the airport in Calama for your flight back to Santiago. On arrival, we’ll pick you up and take you back to your hotel. (B)

Day Seven - Travel to Patagonia

After breakfast today we will pick you up and take you to the airport for a flight south along Chile’s long Pacific coast and down into Patagonia. This icy landscape is a total contrast to what we have seen before and really shows you the differences between these two sides of Chile. We will land this afternoon in Punta Arenas, the southernmost city in the country, and then we will have a short tour of the city centre with a local guide. Later today we’ll drive north to the small town of Puerto Natales, the jumping point for visits to the beautiful Torres del Paine National Park. (B)

Day Eight - Torres del Paine National Park

We will spend the whole of today exploring the stunning area of Torres del Paine, with its towering snow-capped peaks, emerald lakes and swift-running streams and waterfalls, including a short hike out into the National Park to allow us to get some fantastic views of the Cuernos del Paine peaks. You will stay overnight in Torres so you can enjoy a full day amid this magnificent scenery. (B/L)

Day Nine - Free time in Torres del Paine

After a free morning for you to enjoy relaxing or walking in the beautiful scenery, we will pick you up this afternoon and take you back to your hotel in Puerto Natales, where you will enjoy your final night here in Chilean Patagonia. (B)

Day Ten - Last Day of your Holidays to Chile

Today will be the last day of your holidays in Chile. We will take you to the airport in Punta Arenas this morning for your flight up to Santiago, where you’ll arrive in plenty of time to check-in for your international flight home. (B)

What's Included?

The standard price for our "Land of Ice and Fire" holidays in Chile is £2850 per person, which is based on two sharing a double or twin room in our standard hotels.

That price includes all your accommodation, internal transport, transfers, tours, guides and entrance fees. It also includes all your meals in the Torres del Paine National Park, lunches on your full-day tours, and breakfast every day.

We don't have any "local payments" or sneaky charges: everything you have read about on this itinerary is included in that price. And because everything we do is tailor-made, we don't have fixed departure dates or minimum numbers for our trips. Outside of national holidays or other special events, this price is valid for the whole of 2020.

International flights

So with the exception of a few meals, everything on your holiday is included. What we don't include as standard is your international flights, because with these you have a huge range of options depending on the date you want to travel, the route you want to fly, and your preferred departure airport in the UK.

We aren't tied to any particular airline, and we will be delighted to discuss all options with you, or you can even book the flights yourself if you prefer: it's totally up to you.