Most journeys through southern Patagonia stop where the famous names end. This one keeps going. After Torres del Paine and the Perito Moreno, the road turns north into the empty steppe, past estancias and the painted hands of the Cueva de las Manos, crosses the Andes into Chile at Paso Roballos and follows the last, wildest stretch of the Carretera Austral to the village where it simply runs out. From there the only way on is by boat and on foot, into Argentina and the Fitz Roy.
Day 1 · Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales
Highlight · Some six thousand Magellanic penguins nesting at Seno Otway.
Drive · 160 km · paved
The car is collected in Punta Arenas and the first stop comes early: the Seno Otway colony, where some six thousand Magellanic penguins nest. Then north across the steppe to Puerto Natales, on the Última Esperanza sound.
Night · Puerto Natales
Day 2 · Into Torres del Paine
Highlight · The cave where the remains of a giant ground sloth were found, on the way into the park.
Drive · 126 km · part paved, part gravel
A short morning detour to the Cueva del Milodón, where the remains of a giant ground sloth extinct since the late Pleistocene were found. Then into the national park.
Night · Torres del Paine
Day 3 · Torres del Paine
Highlight · The base of the Torres, and the walk back down at sunset.
Walk · Base of the Torres · 6 h
A full day in the park on its gravel roads: the Salto Grande, Lago Pehoé, the Salto Chico and the Nordenskjöld lookout, with the Cuernos in view most of the way. The big walk is to the base of the Torres, back at sunset.
Night · Torres del Paine
Day 4 · Across the border to El Calafate
Highlight · Back into Argentina and down to the shore of Lago Argentino, gateway to the glaciers.
Drive · 285 km · 198 km gravel
Back into Argentina to El Calafate, on the shore of Lago Argentino and the gateway to the glaciers.
Night · El Calafate
Day 5 · The Perito Moreno
Highlight · The Perito Moreno at the far south-western end of Lago Argentino.
A day for Los Glaciares, a World Heritage site, and for the Perito Moreno, 80 km from town at the far south-western end of Lago Argentino, one of the great natural spectacles of the continent.
Night · El Calafate
Day 6 · North to an estancia
Highlight · A working estancia whose owners open their way of life to a handful of guests.
The road leaves the glaciers behind and heads north into the steppe, to Estancia La Angostura, a working estancia run by its owners, who open their way of life in the middle of nowhere to a handful of guests.
Night · El Calafate
Day 7 · Cueva de las Manos and Lago Posadas
Highlight · Hundreds of hands stencilled on the rock of a canyon thousands of years ago.
The Patagonian plateau keeps one of its great secrets in a canyon: the Cueva de las Manos, a World Heritage site where hundreds of hands were stencilled on the rock by the people who lived here thousands of years ago. The day ends at Lago Posadas, in one of the widest glacial valleys of Patagonia.
Night · Los Antiguos & Lago Posadas
Day 8 · Paso Roballos to Puerto Bertrand
Highlight · Basalt walls and sandstone, with Cerro San Lorenzo in view, before the crossing into Chile.
Into the Andes through some of the least visited country in the region: a day hike among basalt walls and sandstone formations, with Cerro San Lorenzo, one of the highest peaks in Patagonia, in view. Then west across Paso Roballos into Chile and down to the Baker river; the night is at Puerto Bertrand.
Night · Carretera Austral
Day 9 · Caleta Tortel
Highlight · A village without streets, built on some 7 km of cypress boardwalks.
South-west along the Carretera Austral to the Pacific fjords and Caleta Tortel, a village without streets: some 7 km of cypress boardwalks, bridges and stairways, protected for its architecture and its way of life.
Night · Carretera Austral
Day 10 · Villa O'Higgins, the end of the road
Highlight · The huemul, the deer on Chile's coat of arms, in the hills and wetlands of the Mosco valley.
The last stretch of the Carretera Austral ends at Villa O'Higgins, one of the fastest-growing villages on the route. Nearby, the hills and wetlands of the Mosco valley shelter a colony of huemul, the Andean deer on Chile's coat of arms. The car stays here.
Night · Carretera Austral
Day 11 · The last frontier, on foot to El Chaltén
Highlight · Crossing into Argentina on foot through the forest from Candelario Mancilla.
Walk · Candelario Mancilla to the Argentine border · 3 h
A boat down one of the eight arms of Lago O'Higgins to Candelario Mancilla, a few houses and a steady trickle of travellers. After lunch, on foot through forest to the Argentine border, then Lago del Desierto and the road into El Chaltén.
Night · El Chaltén
Day 12 · Laguna de los Tres
Highlight · The Fitz Roy, the smoking mountain of the Tehuelche, over the Laguna de los Tres.
Walk · Laguna de los Tres
The classic walk of El Chaltén, through lenga forest, past lagoons of different colours and climbers' camps, to the Laguna de los Tres at the foot of the Fitz Roy, the mountain the Tehuelche called Chaltén, the smoking mountain, for the cloud that almost always hangs on its summit.
Night · El Chaltén
Day 13 · Laguna Torre
Highlight · Icebergs from the Torre glacier floating under Cerro Torre.
Walk · Laguna Torre
The other classic walk: to the Laguna Torre, under Cerro Torre, the Adela range and Cerro Solo, often with icebergs calved from the Torre glacier. In the evening, the road south to El Calafate.
