Chile runs 4,300km. Book the right days.

The driest desert on earth at the top, ice fields at the bottom, wine valleys and a painted port in the middle, and an island 3,500km out in the Pacific. Pick the stretch your dates can carry.

The days that fill first across the whole country, from the Cajon del Maipo picnic runs to the coast trip that finishes in a Casablanca cellar.

1

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 6,110 reviews

Valparaiso Port and Viña del Mar with Casablanca Wine Tasting

Review of a 10-hour Santiago day trip to Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, and Casablanca Valley, with street art, a funicular ride, and wine tasting.

From · $75

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2 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 3,789 reviews Cajon del Maipo/Embalse del Yeso Tour with Picnic from $37 3 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 · 2,838 reviews Vina Del Mar, Valparaiso, Casablanca & Reñaca Tour from $39 4 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,325 reviews Cable Car, Funicular and Sightseeing Bus in Santiago one day from $60 5 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 2,277 reviews Small-Group Cajón del Maipo Full-Day Tour and Picnic from $41 6 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 2,273 reviews Tour to Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Pablo Neruda Museum and Vineyard from $111 7 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,983 reviews Maipo Valley Wine Tour with 4 vineyards from Santiago. from $135 8 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,897 reviews Inca Lagoon in Andes Mountain Range – Visit Local Vineyard with Tasting included from $79

★★★★★★★★★★4.7· 943 travellers on the busiest Atacama run

Geysers steam at 4,300 metres before sunrise, the salt lagoons turn pink by noon, and the sky after dark is the reason the world put its largest telescopes here. Three runs carry most visitors. The full list splits the rest by how early you are willing to get up.

• 1El Tatio Geysers Tourfrom $70
• 2Etno-Stargazing Tour with Transferfrom $41
• 3The Roofless Experience San Pedro de Atacama Stargazing Tourfrom $65

The night one

Telescopes, the Milky Way, no moon

2–3h· from $35· transfer included

Under a millimetre of rain a year and 2,400 metres of altitude, so the air holds almost nothing. Sessions run around the new moon and stop when the moon is full, which is worth knowing before you fix the dates.

The early one

El Tatio geysers before the sun

7–9h· from $50· 4am pickup

Eighty geysers at 4,320 metres, fiercest in the half hour before dawn while the air is still below freezing. Breakfast beside the fumaroles, then a hot spring on the way down.

The long one

Altiplanic lagoons and the salar

9–11h· from $85· lunch included

Piedras Rojas, the Miscanti and Miñiques lagoons, flamingos working the salt crust. Long drives between the stops, and the highest of them sits near 4,200 metres.

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Every tour on the site, banded by price. Distances here are long and transport is most of the bill, so the band tells you more about the day than the itinerary does.

Under $50

95 tours

Walking tours, the funicular and cable car, a stargazing session, a cellar visit with tasting.

• 1Cajon del Maipo/Embalse del Yeso Tour with Picnicfrom $37
• 2Vina Del Mar, Valparaiso, Casablanca & Reñaca Tourfrom $39
• 3Small-Group Cajón del Maipo Full-Day Tour and Picnicfrom $41

$50 to $150

305 tours

The standard full day: Cajon del Maipo, the coast run, El Tatio at dawn, a Torres del Paine bus.

• 1Valparaiso Port and Viña del Mar with Casablanca Wine Tastingfrom $75
• 2Cable Car, Funicular and Sightseeing Bus in Santiago one dayfrom $60
• 3Tour to Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Pablo Neruda Museum and Vineyardfrom $111

$150 and up

157 tours

Private guides, Patagonia hiking with park transfers, Easter Island days, ski packages with gear.

• 1Cajon del Maipo : El Yeso & Spa Reservoir River Sanctuaryfrom $207
• 2From El Calafate: Torres del Paine Full Day Tourfrom $229
• 3Villarrica Volcano ascentfrom $190

Vineyards and volcanoes run the length of this continent. A sky this dry, a set of statues this far out to sea and a colony you can walk straight into do not.

Above the weather

The Atacama Sky

The desert takes under a millimetre of rain a year and sits above most of the wet atmosphere, which is why the largest telescopes ever built are going up on ridges a few hours from San Pedro. Public sessions run nightly around the new moon and pause when the moon is full, so the calendar decides the date, not you.

1. 1Etno-Stargazing Tour with Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 629 reviews
2. 2The Roofless Experience San Pedro de Atacama Stargazing Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 522 reviews
3. 3Stargazing Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 489 reviews

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Five hours out over the Pacific

The Moai of Rapa Nui

Nearly nine hundred statues on an island 3,500 kilometres from the mainland, and most of them are still lying in the quarry where they were cut. Rapa Nui National Park sells one entry ticket for the whole stay and requires a licensed guide at the main sites, so a tour is not an upgrade here.

1. 1Rapa Nui Culture Sightseeing Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 307 reviews
2. 2Easter Island Highlights 2-Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 205 reviews
3. 3Easter Island Sightseeing Full Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 189 reviews

See all 37 →

November to March

The Magellanic Colonies

Magdalena Island holds tens of thousands of breeding pairs and the path runs straight through them, roped off at knee height. The boats sail only while the birds are ashore, roughly November to March, and the wind in the Strait of Magellan cancels crossings with very little notice.

1. 1Walk with Penguins on Magdalena & Marta Island★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 611 reviews
2. 2Full-Day Whales, Penguins, and Glaciers Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 325 reviews
3. 3Full Day Tierra del Fuego & King Penguins★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 179 reviews

See all 19 →