Top 10 Places to visit along the Carretera Austral, Chile
In this video guide I summed up my personal top 10 places to visit along the Carretera Austral in the most beautifula part of Chilean Patagonia
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The Carretera Austral is a mostly unpaved road that connects the most rural part of Patagonia in the very south of Chile. Tourism in this area is not as pronounced as it is in other parts of the country, as regular bus routes, accommodations and detailed info is hard to find.
But in this seclusion lies the attraction and a special charm. During my last trip I met very few travelers from Europe and North America. The locals welcomed me warmly and most attractions were not crowded.
After traveling this route twice via hitchhiking I thought it is about time that I put together a handy Carretera Austral guide which highlights the main sights along this 1200km long road. The video shows you my favorite places to visit from north to south, starting in Puerto Montt and finishing in Villa O’Higgins.
To do the Ruta 7 properly I recommend about 2 weeks - following I list all the places I visited & Things to do along the Carretera Austral:
- Fjords, Hornopiren, Pumalin Park, Chaiten
- Queulat National Park, Queulat Glacier, Puyuhuapi
- Rio Futaleufu, Futaleufu
- Cerro Castillo, Villa Cerro Castillo
- Marble Caves & Lago General Carrera, Puerto Rio Tranquilo
- Exploradores Glacier, Puerto Rio Tranquilo
- Rio Baker, Cochrane
- Caleta Tortel
- Villa O'Higgins
- O’Higgins Glacier
---About the Patagonia Expedition---
The Patagonian Expedition is a 95% self funded video documentary project following my trip in 2012/2013. Our aim is to show you the beauty of the rather unknown parts in Patagonia alongside with the famous spots.
Beside beautiful landscape you can expect loads of information and our personal experiences and struggles along the way:
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MY TRAVEL EQUIPMENT
▸ insurance
▸ packing list
▸ Online Language Course
The whole trip was executed over the course of 2 months using mostly local transport such as busses, cars and trucks. A big thank you goes to Lufthansa for providing the flights into and out of South America in their new Premium Economy Class!
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Top 10 Places to Visit in Chile
This list of top 10 places to visit in Chile shows you the highlights of the country. I have been backpacking in Chile 2 times already where I managed to visit 13 of 15 regions.
My complete Guide to Chile:
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Due to it’s long and narrow shape Chile is one of the most diverse countries on the continent. Therefore Backpacking in Chile is very attractive but also time consuming in matters of covering distances – you should plan your journey well and avoid underestimation of distances!
Things to do in Chile covered in this video:
- Atacama Desert, San Pedro de Atacama,
- Streetart in Valparaiso, Valparaiso
- Osorno Volcano, Puerto Varas
- Villarrica Volcano, Pucon
- Carretera Austral & Fjords near Puerto Montt
- Futaleufú River, Futaleufu
- Marble Caves, Puerto Rio Tranquilo
- O'Higgins Glacier and O'Higgins Lake, Villa O'Higgins
- Torres del Paine, Puerto Natales (a must do in Chile!)
- Isla Magdalena & Los Pinguinos, Punta Arenas
Best Places to Visit in Chile: your favorites?
Did I miss any important spot you should visit when backpacking Chile? Tell us your favorite place to visit in Chile in the comments below and feel free to share this video with your friends!
More travel guides for South America can be found here:
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Photo Credits for O'Higgins Lake & Glacier:
1) Lago O'Higgins-San Martín, NASA:
2) Glaciar O'Higgins o Ventisquero Grande, Roberto Araya Barckhahn:
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Patagonia TOP 10 best places to visit
Patagonia is a region in South America, share by Chile and Argentina. In the Southern Andes you will find dramatic landscapes like deserts, pampas and grasslands (with guanaco). This region is located just north of Tierra del Fuego. The amazingly stunning Carretera Austral runs through this area and is a great roadtrip on your holiday. When you visit Patagonia, make sure you visit these highlights, as these are the best things to do in Patagonia:
1. Torres del Paine (Parque Nacional Torres del Paine)
The iconic of Patagonia: the three giant granite peaks are well worth the visit! Whether you want to do a day hike or the W circuit multi-day hike, this will be one of the highlights!
Cheapest stay: goo.gl/P64qgJ
Closet to track: goo.gl/6VeMBi
2. Cerro Fitz Roy ( El Chalten, Parque Nacional Los Glaciares)
Mount Fitz Roy is located on the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. It is among the most challenging mountains to climb, but the views from the bottom are also fabulous!
Great stay at this B&B: goo.gl/PVMBR8
3. Cavernas de Marmol (Puerto Rio Tranquilo)
This Marble cathedral is a natural wonder, consisting of formations of calcium carbonate. It is located on the shore of the General Lake Carrera and can only be reached by boat.
Explore the area from your own (discount) bungalow: goo.gl/Jv4WVs
4. Ventisquero Colgante (Parque Nacional Queulat)
Also called the hanging glacier, this stunning glacier is hanging above a cliff. You can either walk the short way to the lookout or be amazed by the glacier and the surroundings from a boat.
great accommodation: goo.gl/GpZNGc
5. Salto del Laja (Bio Bio region)
These waterfalls of the Laja river are spectacular in every sense. Where the river is calm upstream, downstream it gets more and more like a rapid as the waters rush through a deep and narrow canyon.
Nice and comfortable pace near the waterfalls: goo.gl/FXbkVs
6. Volcan Chaiten (Parque Nacional Pumalin)
This volcano is easily to be climbed for great views from the ever active volcano. The most recent eruption was in 2008!
For a complete stay: goo.gl/Kq2Ep7
7. Araucaria Araucana (Parque Nacional Nahuelbuta)
The Monkey Puzzle trees in the area near Temuco are dated to be 2000 years old. The many walking paths give you a great opportunity the view these impressive trees.
recommended stay: goo.gl/ruanWJ
8. Villarica Volcan (Parque Nacional Villarica)
Also known as Rucapihan, this is one of the most active volcanoes of Chile and is located in the Central Chilean Valley. The hike to the top is truly amazing, although it can be dangerous when there is too much snow.
Great views best value: goo.gl/rW75wK
9. Perito Moreno (El Calafate, Parque Nacional Los Glaciares)
This immense glacier is one of the few glaciers worldwide that are advancing. It is easy to go to the large viewing platform and see enormous pieces of ice collapse into the water.
Fabulous views and great Patagonian breackfast: goo.gl/EEECJC
10. Mirador Cuernos (Parque Nacional Torres del Paine)
The views on the Torres are truly beautiful from this side of the lake. There are plenty of walking tracks to several lookouts for the best views.
Hope you enjoyed this short video. Don't hesitate to contact me for more information or leave a comment. For more inspiration and FREE travel tips, please subscribe to my channel:
Chaiten, Puyuhuapi & Queulat NP, Carretera Austral in Chile (Patagonia Expedition #02)
In the second episode of our Patagonia Expedition we start hitchhiking the Carretera Austral in Chile and explore the Fjords north of Chaiten and the hanging glacier of Queulat near Puyuhuapi.
My Guide for Chile:
--- equipment used to produce this video ---
Cam1:Sony A7 II
Cam2: Sony NEX 5
Cam3: GoPro
Drone: Phantom 3 Pro
Drone Backpack: Manfrotto D1
Amazon Tripod
Joby Gorillapod
Audio Recorder: Zoom H2n
SDHC Memory Card
Waterproof Memory Card Case
Backpack Osprey Farpoint 40
The Carretera Austral is a 1200km long road in the south of Chile which connects the most remote areas of the country. The ruta 7 is a paradise for adventure seekers as it is a mostly unpaved road which brings you to the lesser known parts of Patagonia in the stunning Los Lagos and Aysen Region.
Our plan was to get from Puerto Montt till Villa O’Higgins by thumb to get in touch with locals and fellow adventurers along the way. But for the first stretch from Puerto Montt to Chaiten we chose public transport as you need to take 3 ferries to cross through the Fjords. The landscape with its fjords and temperate rainforests around the national parks of pumalin and hornopiren is stunning and reminded me of scandinavia.
Chaitén, once destroyed by a volcano was our first stop. We explored the city and I was surprised how it came back to live after my last visit 3 years ago - a lot of restaurants and shops opened and tourism is increasing with tours to the nearby volcano and to the Pumalin park.
On the next day we got up early, headed out of town and started hitchhiking. After just about 20 minutes we got our first ride which took us to Villa Santa Lucia where we got stuck as there were many like minded adventurers. Shortly before we gave up we got lucky again and got a lift to La Junta where we stayed for the night.
Another day of waiting, only a few cars passed us that day until..after about 6h…a big truck pulled over and offered to take us - we climbed into the back where a party was going on with a bunch of other hitchhikers who got picked up along the way. This ride from La Junta to Puyuhuapi turned out to be one of the most memorable hitchhiking experiences I’ve ever had.
Puyhuapi was our base for 3 days as we wanted to explore the nearby paqrque nacional Queulat with its impressive hanging glacier Queulat. The park is located 20km out of Puyuhuapi. This time Sergio who is the park ranger at Queulat gave us a ride and told us more details about the famous hanging glacier. With this early arrival we were the first to hike up to the viewpoint to get the best view of the glacier - simply overwhelming!
This part of the trip was executed within 1week by using the local buses and altogether 5 rides via hitchhiking - following I list all the places we visited & Things to do along the Carretera Austral:
- Puerto Montt
- Hornopiren
- Pumalin Park
- Chaiten
- Villa Santa Lucia
- La Junta
- Puyuhuapi
- Queulat National Park / Parque Nacional Queulat
- Queulat Glacier / ventisquero queulat (colgante)
I'm excited to share all our experiences in Patagonia over the course of the next 6 weeks with you. In the next episodes we will Hitchhike the central part of the Carretera Austral, trek through the most impressive mountain ranges, ice hike over the glaciers of the southern Patagonian Icefield and meet impressive characters along the way.
The Patagonian Expedition is a 95% self funded video documentary project following my trip in 2012/2013. Our aim is to show you the beauty of the rather unknown parts in Patagonia alongside with the famous spots.
Beside beautiful landscape you can expect loads of information and our personal experiences and struggles along the way.
--- my travel equipment ---
insurance
packing list
Online Language Course
The whole trip was executed over the course of 2 months using mostly local transport such as busses, cars and trucks. A big thank you goes to Lufthansa for providing the flights into and out of South America in their new Premium Economy Class!
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Chaitén after Volcano Eruption - Hitchhiking the Carretera Austral in Chile (Part 4)
I went to Chaitén to find out more about the chaiten volcano eruption and the catastrophe which happened here in 2008 in the 4th episode of my Hitchhiking trip along the Carretera Austral.
Related article:
After as short stop in the former capital and seeing the massive destruction it was time to move on to the north to finally get to the end/start of the Road 7 in Puerto Montt.
--- my travel equipment ---
camera
insurance
packing list
Online Language Course
--- About the Carretera Austral in Patagonia ---
The Road number 7 connects the most remote areas of Chile and is one of the most beautiful roads in South America. It is an alternative road to the Panamericana which is located on the argentinean side of Patagonia.
Amongst Bikers and Cyclists this route is very popular due to the beautiful landscape even though the construction of the road was not done for tourism purpose.
In the 1970s there was a border conflict between Argentina and Chile in this part of Patagonia - the territories around the lago del desierto have not been clearly defined. Therefore Pinochet decided to build a road and populate the south of chile to claim the region and strengthen the position of Chile.
Nowadays the Ruta 7 is a mostly unpaved road and is located in 2 regions of Chile: Region Los Lagos in the northern part of the road and Region Aysen in the south.
To find out more about the Carretera Austral in Patagonia, Chile check out this mini documentary:
Spots and Sights in this Video:
- Futaleufú
- Chaitén
- Chaitén Volcano
- Pumalin National Park
- Hornopiren National Park
- Caleta Gonzalo
- Puerto Montt
- Puerto Varas
Map by Wikimedia:
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Chaitén - Chile / Natour.cl / Abre tu puerta a la Patagonia
Natour is a tour operator located in Chaitén, northern entrance of the Carretera Austral. Helping you to book the best outdoor activities, accommodations, restaurants and transportation in the beautiful city of Chaitén.
Visit our website on:
WWW.NATOUR.CL
A Flux production.
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Multisport in Torres del Paine with Chile Nativo Travel
Enjoy an ultimate adventure: riding, hiking and paddling in and around Torres del Paine National Park!
We begin riding on strong Criollo horses, experiencing the gaucho culture of Patagonia and feeling the wind in our faces as we gallop across the pampas (steppe).
Next, strap on your hiking boots as we enter into Torres del Paine National Park and hike the famous “W”; experiencing up close the magic of the granite peaks of the Towers and a enjoy the view of icebergs of different tones of blue up to the Grey glacier.
Finally we start paddling our sea kayaks to follow the Serrano River, floating by un-touched forests and snow capped mountains, visiting two hanging glaciers at the remote Bernardo O'Higgins National Park.
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Dónde ir en Chile: Carretera Austral - Find your Chile
Ruta escénica de la Patagonia y única en el mundo. Más de 1.000 kilómetros de belleza natural te esperan en el sur del mundo. La Carretera Austral enamora a todos los que la visitan en automóvil o bicicleta, con paisajes prístinos y un aire que solo respiran los afortunados que conocen esta ruta.
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Day Tours in Torres del Paine, Chile (Patagonia Expedition #09)
In the last episode of the Patagonia Expedition we show you all possible day tours in Torres del Paine including the popular full paine tour and finish with a boat excursion to the Grey Glacier
My Guide for Chile & TdP:
Kristins Article:
--- equipment used to produce this video ---
Cam1:Sony A7 II
Cam2: Sony NEX 5
Cam3: GoPro
Drone: Phantom 3 Pro
Drone Backpack: Manfrotto D1
Amazon Tripod
Joby Gorillapod
Audio Recorder: Zoom H2n
SDHC Memory Card
Waterproof Memory Card Case
Backpack Osprey Farpoint 40
After doing the full circuit hike in Torres del Paine we stayed for 4 days more at the Hotel Las Torres to explore the other sides and viewpoints of the national park we haven’t seen yet. One of the best options to see various sights in just one day is the Full Paine tour in Torres del Paine which follows the road inside the park and takes you to some very stunning viewpoints e.g. at the Pehoe lake and the Lago Grey.
At the end of the road you can opt-in for a boat excursion on the Lago Grey to see the Grey Glacier up close. The boat trip isn’t cheap but the views to the glacier are incredible! Other great day tours are:
day hike to the base of the torres / mirador base de las torres
day hike / horseback ride to the top of Cerro Paine (aka Huella de Puma)
half day tour to Laguna Amarga & Laguna Azul
horseback ride along the Lago Nordernskjöld
day hike to Refugio Los Perros
This part of the trip was executed within 4 days and this is what we saw:
- Torres del Paine National Park
- Hotel Las Torres
- Cerro Paine
- Hosteria Pehoe
- Southern Patagonian Ice Field
- Salto Grande
- Laguna Amarga
- Laguna Azul
- Campo Hielo Sur
- Glaciar Grey / Grey Glacier
- Refugio Grey
- Hotel Lago Grey
- Lago Nordernskjöld
- Base Las Torres
- Valle Ascencio
- Lago Pehoe
It was a pleasure to share all our experiences in Patagonia in this video series. You can find all information needed to replicate our trip or parts of it on my website.
The Patagonian Expedition is a 95% self funded video documentary project following my trip in 2012/2013. Our aim is to show you the beauty of the rather unknown parts in Patagonia alongside with the famous spots.
Beside beautiful landscape you can expect loads of information and our personal experiences and struggles along the way.
--- my travel equipment ---
insurance
packing list
Online Language Course
The whole trip was executed over the course of 2 months using mostly local transport such as busses, cars and trucks. A big thank you goes to the Hotel Las Torres for supporting this part of the trip with accommodation, food & drinks as well as tours:
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My personal recommendations for Hotels & Hostels:
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From the Marble Caves to Puyuhuapi - Hitchhiking the Carretera Austral in Chile (Part 2)
This is the second episode of my Hitchhiking adventure on the Carretera Austral in Chile - I explore the marble caves of Puerto Rio Tranquilo in the General Carrera Lake and continue hitchhiking to Coihaique and finally Puyuhuapi.
Related article:
--- my travel equipment ---
camera
insurance
packing list
Online Language Course
Spots and Sights in this Video:
- Puerto Rio Tranquillo
- Capillas de Marmol (Marble Caves)
- Lago General Carrera
- Murta
- Villa Cerro Castillo
- Coihaique
- Villa Manihuales
- Puyuhuapi
To find out more about the Carretera Austral in Patagonia, Chile check out this mini documentary:
--- About the Carretera Austral in Patagonia ---
The Road number 7 connects the most remote areas of Chile and is one of the most beautiful roads in South America. It is an alternative road to the Panamericana which is located on the argentinean side of Patagonia.
Amongst Bikers and Cyclists this route is very popular due to the beautiful landscape even though the construction of the road was not done for tourism purpose.
In the 1970s there was a border conflict between Argentina and Chile in this part of Patagonia - the territories around the lago del desierto have not been clearly defined. Therefore Pinochet decided to build a road and populate the south of chile to claim the region and strengthen the position of Chile.
Nowadays the Ruta 7 is a mostly unpaved road and is located in 2 regions of Chile: Region Los Lagos in the northern part of the road and Region Aysen in the south.
Find more info and useful travel guides for Patagonia and South America on my Website:
Map by Wikimedia:
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Audionautix.com
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