Best Chile Itinerary: Two to Three Week Options

Chile Guide:

Two to Three Week Itinerary

Chile Guide:

Two to Three Week Itinerary

best chile itinerary. this is the best chile itinerary. if you want to make the most of chile, check out our guide to create the best chile itinerary for a two week itinerary or a three week itinerary of chile. however, the secret to making the best chile itinerary is to take at least four weeks to really make the most.

Destinations: Check out the Map!

Length of Stay: 17 nights (November 2018)

Lodging: $19 USD/Night/Person Average

Looking to plan the best Chile itinerary? Then you're in luck because we have three options ranging from two to three weeks all planned out for you.

You can see a lot of Chile in two to three weeks and you won't regret the experiences it has to offer. Though were quite satisfied with everything we saw, we did miss the Lakes District around Puerto Montt and Chiloé. Nonetheless, it is included as an optional add-on within the full three week guide.

Since we only gave ourselves 2.5 weeks to see the country we didn't want to rush around and see everything. Instead, we wanted to take more time to experience each place. In our opinion that is the way to make the best Chile itinerary; give yourself time to absorb the experience.

Chile is a country of extreme biodiversity much like its neighboring country of Peru. In the north is the world's driest Atacama Desert and then in the far south there are great mountains of Patagonia. The cultural hubs of Chile lie towards the center in the neighboring cities Valparaíso and Santiago. Read more below about what this amazing country has to offer.

Budgeting Tip

Chile is an extremely long country so travel between the regions can be time consuming. Even though travel by bus and plane is quite inexpensive, it's worth noting that Chile has the highest cost of living in South America. This is especially apparent as you travel further south to Patagonia. We wrote a quick breakdown of our budget and some tips during our stay in Patagonia so you can see what we spent the most money on.

Santiago

Length of Stay: 4 Nights

Lodging: Aji Hostel ($27 USD/Night/Person)

Activities: Barrio Bellavista, Cerro San Cristóbal, Valparaíso

Santiago, the capital of Chile, is located in a valley of the Andean mountains. It's a highly developed city and is the cultural, political, and economic hub of Chile. After spending a few days in the city, we felt stimulated and refreshed with its sense of structured society. Santiago provided a stark contrast to Peru where there were a lack of traffic patterns and general chaos on the road.

During our stay we found some great budget things to do like exploring the bohemian community of Barrio Bellavista. The city is also full of beautiful parks that are free and open to the public. Near Plaza de Armas, the main square of the city, there are a strip of parks including Parque Balmaceda and Plaza a la Aviación. Read more about our budget 3 day guide below.

Valparaíso

Length of Stay: 2 Nights

Lodging: Hostal Po ($8 USD/Night/Person)

Activities: Free Walking Tour, Street Art

Just an hour west of Santiago is the seaside city of Valparaíso. There you will fall in love with the cool hipster vibe and its beautifully painted streets and alleyways. It's extremely affordable to travel from Santiago to Valparaiso; a round trip bus ticket costs roughly 6,000 CLP ($9 USD).

We got our tickets a couple days beforehand through Turbus and took a bus out of the Pajaritos station in Santiago. A trip from Santiago to Valparaíso can easily be done in a day, but we preferred to spend a couple nights and get to know the hippy/happy side of this artistic town. See our two day guide to Valparaíso below.

Patagonia

Length of Stay: 8 Nights

Lodging: Airbnb & Nikos II Adventure ($21 USD/Night/Person)

Activities: Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine

Patagonia was our favorite part of our entire Chile trip. In all honesty, you should really do a separate trip all on its own to this region because there is so much to see. Patagonia spans through both Chile and Argentina covering a number of national parks packed full of amazing treks. You could easily spend an entire two to three weeks down in this region, if not longer.

Puerto Natales, where we spent most of our time, is a backpacker and outdoorsmen's paradise. It's the gateway to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. We met some awesome new Swedish friends in this town and learned about their amazing experience on the Argentine side of Patagonia.

Below is a guide that goes over everything from trekking/tours, how to protect Patagonia's beauty, transportation options, where to stay, and budgeting tips. We learned so much about this spectacular region and already have plans in the works to make it back there.

San Pedro de Atacama

Length of Stay: 2 Nights

Lodging: Hostal Iquisa ($19 USD/Night/Person)

Activities: Salar de Atacama (Hidden Lagoons of Baltinache), Local Markets, Plaza de Armas

Located in northern Chile, the San Pedro de Atacama desert is the driest desert in the world. The terrain is home to Chile's famous San Pedro de Atacama salt flats, which are the result the extreme atmosphere. In fact, NASA even does Mars rover testing in this region due to its similar conditions to the red planet.

The town of San Pedro has a friendly vibe with plenty of markets, and even live music in the main square. During our visit we made a day trip to the Hidden Lagoons of Baltinache, which was much cheaper than the popular Lagoon Cejar. Read below about the top 5 things to in San Pedro de Atacama and how to visit the salt flats in a day!

Optional Add-on: Lake District

Recommended Stay: 3-4 Nights

Activities: Puerto Montt, Chiloé Island

Unfortunately we did not make it to the Lake District of Chile during our stay. However, its on our bucket list for our next trip to the country. We've heard nothing but great things about this region. The main port to begin a trip to the Lake District is Puerto Montt, which is sometimes considered part of the Patagonia depending on who you ask.

Near Puerto Montt is the island of Chiloé, which is known for its fishing culture and beautifully colored houses on stilts (photo credit: @siggy.davidov). Farther down in between the lake district and Patagonia are the famous Marble Caves. These caves are a site to behold in the remote region of Chile Chico, Aysén Region (photo credit: @throughtravelerseyes).