Three Weeks in South America: Chile And Argentina- South America has endless options of places to explore, we really had to narrow down where we wanted to go while we spent 19 days in the country. This schedule is for December, January, February or March itinerary for Santiago, Mendoza and Patagonia as it will be their summer months, prime season for hiking and winery visits. On this route you will visit Santiago, Mendoza, and all the highlights of Patagonia (Torres Del Paine, W Trek, Perito Moreno Glacier, and Mount Fitz Roy Hike).

This itinerary is best for the traveler that likes short and long hikes. My three week schedule is jammed packed with hiking, scenic views, great food stops and the best wineries in Mendoza. It is definitely for the fast pace traveler as we were constantly on the go. But we never felt over traveled, it was still so enjoyable. This schedule lets you see and experience the incredible areas of Chile and Argentina. On this schedule you will be on a few different flights and will rent a car for certain areas (although it can be done on public transportation).

Overview

Santiago (Days 1-3)
Puerto Natales (Day 4)
Perito Moreno Glacier (Day 5)
Mount Fitz Roy Hike (Day 6)
Puerto Natales (Day 7)
W Trek in Patagonia (Days 8-12)
Tranfer Day (Day 13)
Mendoza, Argentina (Days 14-18)
Back Home (Day 19)

When To Go

We went on this trip during the winter holidays, overlapping with Christmas and New Years to use those extra vacation days. December to March is the prime season to go to Patagonia especially for the warmest weather. But with that great weather is crazy winds, so be prepared for any type of weather wherever you go. December and January may be the most crowded months as many people have time off for the holidays, and it is considered Patagonia’s summer months. We went in December and never felt like it was overly crowded. April will be fall, and might make a spectacular view with warm colors as that is the peak of their fall season.

For Santiago and Mendoza this is their summer months as well. It will be much warmer in these areas than in Patagonia. So pack for both temperatures. I wore pants and jackets in Patagonia, and shorts and tanks in Mendoza and Santiago.

What to Pack for Patagonia

Days 1-3: Santiago

Day 1

Flight and Arrive

This first day we were coming from the United States, so it was a completely full day of travel. We flew from Cincinnati, Ohio to Toronto, Canada to Santiago, Chile.

Days 2-3

On our way to Patagonia and Mendoza we had a quick two day stop over in Santiago, Chile to be able to try all the best food and drinks the city has to offer. I am not much of a city explorer but I do love trying affordable places to eat and drink in cities. And in Santiago there are so many options. We had less than 48 hours so we mostly ate in the Bellavista, downtown and Lastarria areas of Santiago. I made a list of all of our favorite places to eat and drink in Santiago during our two days there. Check out places we went to during our time there in my article Where to Eat and Drink in Santiago.

Some other places to visit in Santiago would be:

9 Best Things To Do In Santiago

We Stayed At: Apart Hotel B in Bellavista. We got this through AirBnB (use this link for up to $55 off your first stay).

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Days 4-10: Patagonia

Day 4: Transfer to Patagonia

Flight to Puerto Natales

This next leg of this trip was a budget flight with Sky Airline from Santiago, Chile to Puerto Natales, Chile. This is a 3.5 hour flight to a tiny airport for only $50 each way. I would suggest flying into Puerto Natales instead of Punta Arenas. This will put you a little closer to the Patagonia region. The budget airline we used did only fly on certain days, so you would have to plan this perfectly with your schedule before and after.

Drive to El Calafete

Once we arrived in Puerto Natales we rented a car with Rent a Car Newen. They met us at the Teniente Julio Gallardo airport and we immediately drove to El Calafete to stay the night. You will need to cross the Chile-Argentina border on this route, make sure the rental car company knows this as you will need to proper paperwork.

Tip for driving across the border:

Let the rental car company know so they can give you proper paperwork, it may require a small fee.
Check border crossing hours. We went across the Paso Río Don Guillermo border crossing, their summer hours were 8:00am to 10:00pm.
Make sure you have a full tank of gas, very few towns and gas stations in between Puerto Natales and El Calafete, and again later when we went from El Calafete to El Chalten.
Be sure you that you do not have any food (fruits and vegetables) as these are not allowed in your car while crossing the border

We Stayed At: Folk Suites (they have private rooms and shared hostel rooms as well)

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Day 5: Glacier

Perito Moreno Glacier

The El Calafete Glacier is popular to visit, not only for its up close and personal views, but its size, its vibrant blue layers, having a chance to walk on it, and it’s massive sheer drop offs. This Perito Moreno Glacier article will cover, where to stay, when to go, price/cost, tours, how to get there and more. I highly suggest a trip here, we only viewed the glacier from the platforms but you can also spend a full day here seeing the glacier from kayak, boat or hike on the glacier.

Drive to El Chalten

After spending many hours walking around the platforms to see all angles of the glacier we drove back through El Calafete, getting gas and lunch, before heading to the small hiking town of El Chalten. On Google Maps El Calafete to El Chalten said 3 hours and 45 minutes, but with new road construction it took us an even shorter time. We arrived in El Chalten just in time to check in, visit the La Zorra brewery and Rancho brewery before heading into bed.

We Stayed At: Rancho Grande (they have private rooms and shared hostel, as well as a restaurant and a brewery attached)

Day 6: Fitz Roy

Mount Fitz Roy Hike

The Fitz Roy Hike to Laguna de los Tres is one of the most popular hikes in the Patagonia region of Argentina. Mt. Fitz Roy is in the Andes mountains, and was made famous as it is the mountain logo for the Patagonia clothing brand. Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia clothing brand’s owner, climbed it in 1968. Here in this article on Hiking Mt. Fitz Roy will fill you in on all you need to know for the hike, how hard is the hike, where to go, how long is it, what to bring, where to stay, how to get there and more. I highly suggest this hike.

Drive to El Calafete

After the hike we then drove back to El Calafete to stay the night. It seemed like a lot of driving, but well worth it to fit in the Fitz Roy Hike, and get us a little closer to Pueto Natales for the next night.

We Stayed At: Folk Suites (same place as before).

Day 7: Drive Back to Puerto Natales

Drive Back to Puerto Natales

After topping off our gas tank again we drove back to Puerto Natales to prepare for the highlight of our South America trip, the W Trek. After arriving in Puetro Natales we checked into Factoria Patagonia to stay the night and dropped our car off at the rental office in town.

W Trek Briefing and Dinner

We booked our W Trek through a company called Chile Nativo. They requested we attend a briefing the evening before our trek. Here they quickly went through our tickets, the routes and tips along the trail. We ate dinner and went to bed early for the next big day.

We Stayed At: Hostal Boutique Factoria Patagonia

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Days 8-12: W Trek

W Trek

The next 5 Days are on the W Trek in Torres Del Paine National Park. This trail was one the main reasons we went to Chile and Argentina. We built our entire schedule around this hike and it’s availability. This hike to consider a through hike, there are a ton of different options on how you can complete this hike. You can choose if you want to bring your own food to cook, or have your meals made by staff along the trail at refugios (kind of like hostels). You can also choose how you stay along the trail, bring a tent, rent a tent, stay in bunkrooms or stay in some private rooms along the route.

It really isn’t a super difficult hike and would highly suggest it to any type of hiker. Find all you need to know about this hike and our route in my article of FAQs About the W Trek and also 5 Days and 4 Nights Itinerary for the W Trek.

Stay back in Puerto Natales

At the end of this hike we stayed back in Puerto Natales at Hotel Vendaval. This was good as the bus station dropped us off here and also we were tired, ready to eat dinner and rest our feet before our next leg. I wouldn’t try to travel on this evening.

What Else to See in Torres Del Paine

If not wanting to tackle the W Trek I would suggest hitting these scenic hikes and areas:

Hike to the Three Towers
Visit by hike, boat or kayak to Glacier Grey
5 Must Do Activities in Torres Del Paine

We Stayed At: Hotel Vendaval (they own a great restaurant next door)

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Day 13: Flight to Santaigo

Explore Town

We had a few hours to kill in Puerto Natales before our next flight. We spent time exploring the town, buying souvenirs, trying some breweries and local restaurants.

Flight to Santiago

Our next area in South America to explore was Mendoza, Argentina. To get here we had an overnight layover in Santiago, Chile. We thought about staying downtown in downtown Santiago but felt like it would be too rushed, so we just stayed in the Hotel Airport Holiday Inn. I was so glad we did this as when we went to Santiago in the first part of this trip, traffic was really bad to get downtown from the airport. We wouldn’t have been able to do much with our time there.

Days 14-18: To Mendoza

Mendoza

An early morning flight landed us in Mendoza to stay for 4 nights.

We spent 4 days and 3 full days in the Mendoza wine region of Argentina. This was something I was looking forward to for a long time. I wanted to make an itinerary in which we could explore all the different wine regions; we got to see the Lujan de Cuyo Valley, Maipu Valley, and Uco Valley. I felt like this highlighted the best regions and wineries in Mendoza. Not only did we make a great winery schedule for our 3 days there, but we got to taste some of the best food we have ever had as well. Read about our entire time in wine country on my 3-4 Guide to Mendoza.

My favorite winery was La Azul.

This itinerary is best for those with a rental car or a car for hire. This will take you to 3 different wine regions in Mendoza. Highlighting ones with great mountain views and architecture. Some wineries we only went to the tasting, some we went on the full tour, and a few we had meals at (which I highly suggest).

We Stayed At: Posada Borravino (they had included breakfast, dinner and lunch available for purchase, bike rental and a pool)

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Day 19

The last day in our almost three weeks in South America was transferring from Mendoza to Santiago, then Toronto to Cincinnati. It was a long day but all worth it to see all that we did.