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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MY CAMERA EQUIPMENT
▸ 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 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:
➸
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!
MY HOTEL & HOSTEL RECOMMENDATIONS
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Cerro Castillo & Marble Caves of Rio Tranquilo, Carretera Austral Chile (Patagonia Expedition #03)
We continue hitchhiking the Carretera Austral in Chile in the third episode of our Patagonia Expedition to go hiking to the Cerro Castillo near Coihaique and to explore the beautiful marble caves of Puerto Rio Tranquilo
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. After making our way down from Puerto Montt to Puyuhuapi in the last episode we are trying to hitchhike down to Coihaique to rest for a few days - as it turns out we have to deal with a lot of rain and we need several rides that day to go down south with the Bosque Encantado being one of the stops.
After a few days we continue hitchhiking and get a lift by Cesar who takes us all the way to Villa Cerro Castillo where he is in the process of building a hostel for adventurous travelers like us as this place is all about the hike to Cerro Castillo which can be done in 4 days or in one day. We chose the day hike option and got rewarded with stunning views and impressive colors.
The next stretch should take us further down to Puerto Rio Tranquilo. We got lucky again as an english couple offered to take us all the way. After our arrival in Puerto Rio Tranquilo we met up with my old friend Pato who owns a tour company (explorasur.cl) and offered to take us to the most popular sight: the marble caves of Puerto Rio Tranquilo.
This part of the trip was executed within 1week by using altogether 5 rides via hitchhiking - following I list all the places we visited & Things to do at the Carretera Austral:
- Puyuhuapi
- Queulat National Park / Parque Nacional Queulat
- Bosque Encanta
- Coyhaique / Coihaique
- Cerro Castillo / Villa Cerro Castillo
- Puerto Rio Tranquilo
- Marble Caves / Capillas de Marmol
- Lago General Carrera
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 southern part of the Carretera Austral, 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!
===
My personal recommendations for Hotels & Hostels:
===
Music:
epidemicsound.com
Follow me:
Travel Patagonia by Drone in 4k (Best of the Patagonia Expedition)
For me Patagonia is one of the most beautiful travel destinations on earth, to showcase this I created a montage of the best drone footage from my recent trip.
My Guide for Chile:
My Guide for Argentina:
EQUIPMENT USED
DJI Phantom 3 Pro
Carbon Propellers
Remote Sunshade
Extra Batteries
Charging Hub
Manfrotto Drone Backpack
Waterproof Memory Card Case
Durable HDD
Over the course of 2 months I traveled Chilean as well as Argentine Patagonia from north to south to produce a documentary series called The Patagonia Expedition together with my friend Kristin Addis. The trip started in Bariloche (Argentina) and went via the Carretera Austral (Chile) down south to El Chaltén (Argentina) and finally to Torres del Paine (Chile).
It wasn't easy to travel with all the camera gear beside the other equipment we needed, especially considering all the camping stuff (tent, sleeping bag, cooking equipment etc) but I wanted to capture the beauty of traveling through Patagonia the best way possible.
Throughout the trip we got in touch with locals, stayed longer in one spot to really get to know the place and did all kinds of tough outdoor activities. Due to my former travels I already knew most of the places, got in touch with local friends and tourism businesses to help us create these videos. Not to mention the physical preparations which enabled us do all this activities under those partially tough conditions.
We are very grateful for all those experiences, new friendships and cooperations with locals as well as park rangers!
DRONE LAWS IN PATAGONIA
Please consider that all shots were filmed considering the drone laws in Argentina and Chile at the time we filmed there. Moreover we got special permissions by park rangers in some of the locations such as National Parks or filmed on private property with the permission of the owner (e.g. Torres del Paine).
Furthermore I'd like to point out that I took several weeks of practice in training spaces in Europe to ensure safe flights in Patagonia with my drone, especially due to the harsh weather and wind conditions.
In order to protect nature and wildlife in this sensitive part of the world I highly recommend to follow these rules as well if you plan to do something similar. Please check with the local laws before you fly, don't fly in National Parks without special permission, please check the weather conditions before you fly and take your time to calibrate your drone before each flight.
DRONE & PATAGONIAN WEATHER
Consider the extreme weather conditions and come prepared with special equipment as listed above such as a good drone backpack, special propellers, waterproof housing for sd cards and a durable HDD.
FILMING LOCATIONS
Following I list all the places we visited during our Patagonia Travel:
- Bariloche & Villa La Angostura
- Chaiten
- Puyuhuapi
- Villa Santa Lucia
- Cerro Castillo
- Puyuhuapi
- Puerto Rio Tranquilo
- Laguna San Rafael National Park & Eploradores Glacier
- Queulat National Park / Parque Nacional Queulat
- Queulat Glacier / ventisquero queulat (colgante)
- Villa O'Higgins
- Lago O'Higgins & Bernado O'Higgins National Park
- O'Higgins Glacier
- Candelario Mansilla
- El Chalten & Fitz Roy & Cerro Torre
- Los Glaciares National Park
- Torres del Paine
- Region Los Lagos
- Region de Aysén
- Provincia Rio Negro
- Provincia Santa Cruz
- Region Magellanes y Antartica Chilena
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:
GENERAL TRAVEL EQUIPMENT
insurance
packing list
Online Language Course
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My personal recommendations for Hotels & Hostels:
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Ep 10 | De Esquel até Villa Cerro Castillo | Entrando na Carretera Austral
Viagem de carro até Ushuaia, Fim del Mundo, 11500 km pelas estradas da Patagônia.
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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Music:
Audionautix.com
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Die Carretera Austral - Traumroute durch Patagonien & Südchile (Deutsche Doku)
Die Carretera Austral in Südchile gehört zu den beeindruckensten und abenteuerlichsten Routen in Patagonien. In dieser Dokumentation werden die Strecke, Geschichte und die Sehenswürdigkeiten erklärt.
In den folgenden Episoden trampe ich die gesamte Carretera Austral von Villa O'Higgins bis in den Norden nach Puerto Montt. Zusätzlich werde ich die Herausforderung annehmen von El Chaltén nach Candelario Mansilla zu wandern um von dort das Boot nach Villa O'Higgins zu nehmen - eine abenteuerliche 2 tägige Odysee!
--- Über die Carretera Austral in Chile ---
Die Ruta 7 verbindet die entlegensten Orte im Süden Chiles miteinander und zählt zu den schönsten Straßen Südamerikas. Sie ist zudem eine tolle Alternative zur Ruta 40 -- die Panamericana die auf argentinischer Seite gen Norden führt.
Bei Bikern und Radfahrer ist sie aufgrund ihrer Unwegsamkeit, aber vor allem aufgrund der Schönheit der Landschaft äußerst populär. Dabei wurde sie eigentlich nicht für den Tourismus sondern aus politischen Gründen gebaut - um die Souveränität der Region zu gewährleisten.
In den 1970ern gab es einen Grenzkonflikt zwischen Argentinien und Chile um die Territorien in diesem Teil Patagoniens, jede Seite beanspruchte die Gegend um den Lago del Desierto für sich. Vor einigen Jahren dann wurde der See Argentinien zugesprochen.
Die Carretera Austral befindet sich heute in 2 Regionen Chiles: der Region Los Lagos (nördlicher Teil) und der Region Aisen im südlichen Abschnitt.
Viele weitere Infos und Reiseführer über Patagonien und Südamerika findest du auf meiner Übersichtsseite:
Orte und Sehenswürdigkeiten in diesem Video:
- Villa O'Higgins
- Candelario Mansilla
- Lago O'Higgins
- Cochrane
- Coyhaique
- Puerto Rio Tranquilla
- Capillas de Marmol (Marmorhöhlen)
- Lago Bertrand
- Lago General Carrera
- Cerro Castillo
- Villa Manihuales
- Puyuhuapi
- La Junta
- Futaleufu
- Chaiten
- Hornopiren
- Puerto Montt
- Lago del Desierto
Map by Wikimedia:
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Musik:
Audionautix.com
Kamera:
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Exploradores Glacier & Villa O'Higgins, Carretera Austral in Chile (Patagonia Expedition #04)
In the 4th episode of the Patagonia Expedition we are going to ice hike on the Exploradores Glacier in the Laguna San Rafael National Park before we continue our way down to the end of the Carretera Austral in Villa O’Higgins.
My Guide for Chile:
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
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. After making our way down from Puerto Montt to Puerto Rio Tranquilo in the last episodes we decided to stay in one place for a few days to be able to do more activities. In the last previous episode we finished with the visit of the Marble Caves, in this episode we went on a full day „big ice“ excursion at the Glaciar Exploradores.
The Exploradores Glacier is situated on the northeastern slope of Monte San Valentín inside the Laguna San Rafael National Park and is a part of the Northern Patagonian Icefield. This ice field is the smaller of two remnant parts in which the Patagonian Ice Sheet in the Andes Mountains of lower South America can be divided.
Nowadays it is completely contained within the boundaries of Laguna San Rafael National Park. Once the Patagonian Ice Sheet was an extensive ice sheet that covered all of Chilean Patagonia and the westernmost parts of Argentine Patagonia during the Quaternary glaciations. Today, with its glaciers largely in retreat and only an area of 4,200 km2 (1,600 sq mi), the northern patagonian ice field is still the second largest continuous mass of ice outside of the polar regions.
This part of the trip was executed within 1week by using altogether 3 public buses and one ferry - following I list all the places we visited & Things to do at the Carretera Austral:
- Exploradores Glacier / Laguna San Rafael National Park
- Northern Patagonian Ice Field
- Cochrane & Rio Baker
- Villa O'Higgins
- Cerro Altavista
- Puerto Rio Tranquilo
- Marble Caves / Capillas de Marmol
- Lago General Carrera
I'm excited to share all our experiences in Patagonia over the course of the next 6 weeks with you. In the next episode we will do a boat excursion to the impressive O’Higgins glacier, cross into Argentina on foot 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!
===
My personal recommendations for Hotels & Hostels:
===
Music:
epidemicsound.com
Follow me:
Day 12 Onwards - Reñaca, Santiago and YOGA | Chile Travel Vlog
Here are the final days in Chile before flying back to London. In this video we visit a beautiful resort called Zapallar, head to Santiago to see the view from the top of Latin Americas tallest building and even do a bit of yoga.
If you are in Reñaca, Viña del mar, Concón or Ritoque and looking for a yoga teacher then add Antonio Arland gambaro to Facebook.
Check out my Chile photography over on my #Instagram
Carretera Austral - Ruta 7 in Chile / Patagonia (Documentary)
The Carretera Austral (Ruta 7) in the south of Chile is one of the most adventurous and scenic roads in Patagonia. In this small documentary you get to know about the route, the history and the sights along the way.
Related article:
--- my travel equipment ---
camera
insurance
packing list
Online Language Course
Don't miss out to subscribe as I will hitchhike the complete Carretera Austral from Villa O'Higgins to Puerto Montt in the upcoming episodes. Moreover I will hike from El Chalten to Candelario Mansilla and cross the Lago Bernardo O'Higgins by boat to get to my starting point.
Spots and Sights in this Video:
- Villa O'Higgins
- Candelario Mansilla
- Lago O'Higgins
- Cochrane
- Coyhaique
- Puerto Rio Tranquilla
- Capillas de Marmol (Marble Caves)
- Lago Bertrand
- Lago General Carrera
- Cerro Castillo
- Villa Manihuales
- Puyuhuapi
- La Junta
- Futaleufu
- Chaiten
- Hornopiren
- Puerto Montt
- Lago del Desierto
--- About the Carretera Austral in Patagonie ---
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 Carretera 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:
===
Music:
Audionautix.com
Camera:
Follow me:
Chile DJI Mavic Pro Fin de la Carretera Austral Villa O'higgins Ennio 2018 4K