Expedition into the Austral Winter

There is another way to see Chile, out of season, when winter empties the trails and gives the country back to itself. You travel down from the Mapuche north to the glaciers of Patagonia almost without flying, at the slow pace of night buses, ferries and the long gravel roads of the far south. Over the weeks you cross a land of contrasts, from araucaria forests to fjords, from the homes that take you in to the estancias where pumas leave their tracks. Here the weather decides and the route bends to it. You arrive in a season when almost everything is shut, and when doors open for you: those who work through the winter earn from these months what the high season never brings them. At Torres del Paine, the busiest park in the country, the trails are yours. From the first day to the last, it is the sense of being alone in the world that stays with you.

At a glance

A journey out of season, almost entirely overland and by sea. The pace is slow and the winter weather decides, so the route can change from one day to the next. This is an active trip, made of hikes and long walks. The adventure is in the travelling, not in the comforts: you sleep under a roof every night, from a simple family home to some of the finest hotels in Patagonia. It is for curious, self-reliant travellers, at ease in raw country and ready to change route if winter demands it.