On a map, Chile looks like a freak of geography, a long and impossibly skinny country wedged between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. In between are lakes, a desert, and vineyards, creating some dramatic road trip opportunities on scenic drives.
The Pan-American Highway is one of the longest freeways in the world—though in parts of it, the word “highway” is wishful thinking. Its most extensive stretch in Chile covers approximately 3,363 kilometers and is paved. This is one memorable journey option if you have the time, where changes in weather and landscape can be enjoyed by simply gazing out of the car window. You don’t have to be some road rally enthusiast and drive down from Alaska, however. You can fly into the country and then rent a car in Chile.
If you rent from a company like Discover Cars, you can see prices from multiple rental car agencies in one place. You can get something tiny and fuel-efficient if you’ll be on main roads, rent something luxurious if you’ll be on the open road, or get a four-wheel-drive SUV if going onto dirt roads like on the Carretera Austral.
If you did the whole stretch, you could include the Atacama Desert in the north, visit vineyards in the various valleys (including the wineries near Santiago), then head through Patagonia until you reach Tierra del Fuego at the end of the Southern Cone. More likely you’ll just stay in one area though.
Here are seven routes that are a mix of ones I’ve been on myself and ones I that I’d love to experience in the future. For the best luxury hotels to use as a base or a stopover, see our detailed reviews of the best Chile luxury hotels.
1) From Porvenir to Lago Fagnano: the Route to the End of the World
I am starting at the bottom of the country for this rundown of the best scenic Chile drives because more foreign tourists come to southern Patagonia than to the other areas. Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego is the largest island in this Chilean archipelago, covering close to 48,000 square kilometers. This is about as far south as you can go in the Americas.
Tierra del Fuego’s rich cultural heritage, together with the remote geographical nature of its location, has made it a favored destination for nature lovers trying to find serenity away from the crowds. In the central-south area of the island, hidden between a labyrinth of valleys, mountains and lenga forests, is Lake Deseado, the best-kept secret of the region. It’s one of the most wild and unspoilt areas of the country.
This route is through Tierra del Fuego isn’t fully paved, which is why a 4×4 vehicle like this is recommended:
Distance: 380 kilometers
Best time of year: the austral summer, from December to March
2) The Edges of Torres del Paine National Park
Road trips in the Torres del Paine, Patagonia region of Chile are a bit tricky because of the way Patagonia was divided back in 1881. You can’t actually drive from the region mentioned above to northern Patagonia without driving through Argentina for a while. So if you’re renting a car, make sure that’s allowed by the agency.
You can see spectacular scenery outside your window without going that far, however. To give you an idea, here’s a photo I took through the window as someone else was driving:
Just to get from Puerta Natales to the middle of Torres del Paine National Park takes 1.5 to 2.5 hours depending on which section you’re heading to, then a few roads connect different sections of the park, its lodges, and its surroundings. So you can spend hours on these roads stopping off at lookout points without venturing much further. See our guide to the best luxury hotels around Torres del Paine.
You can extend the road trip though by heading down toward Punta Arenas and Tierra del Fuego (after taking a ferry). You can’t drive into the huge Bernardo O’Higgins National Park though: you’ll need a boat for that roadless region.
Distance: 360 kilometers round trip to cover all the routes from Puerto Natales
Best time of year: the austral summer, from December to March, but mid-October/November and April can sometimes present clear roads too.
3) The Carretera Austral: Villa O’Higgins to Puerto Montt (or Vice-Versa)
If you rent a car for this, you’ll probably need to make it a round trip, so you’d better set aside a month or more to do this trip justice. The road is unpaved as much as it’s paved, Route 7 on the map, and it goes for 1,240 kilometers, or 740 miles. Renting a little Nissan March in Puerto Montt for this epic drive is not going to cut it: you’ll need a heavy duty vehicle that can handle dirt, gravel, and mud.
Some travelers take this route on with a camper van or they pack tents and sleeping bags. This is a wild and sparsely populated region, full of forests and mountains. Assume you won’t have cell service half the time and pack plenty of supplies. The southern third skirts the Laguna Rafael National Park, while the rest of it is in the scenic Aysen area and Chile’s lake district.
This is not a road trip to be done on a whim or to be taken lightly. See our blogger buddy Jackie’s Ruta del Parques post about it here and she has links to podcast episodes if you’d like to listen instead.
Distance: 1,240 kilometers
Best time of year: mid-December to mid-March to avoid any chance of snow
4) From Puerto Montt to Puerto Octay: An Day of Harmonious Landscapes
This is the shortest journey on this list, a far cry from the one above, but is a route full of superb natural landscapes. Lake Llanquihue is the second largest in Chile and from the village of the same name to Puerto Octay the green hills seem to disappear along the horizon, alongside panoramic views of the lake, against a backdrop of volcanoes.
Along the route there are beautiful houses, cemeteries and churches, clearly influenced by German architectural design. You could do this as a round trip from Puerto Montt, having lunch in Puerto Octay then going around the other side of the lake on the return trip to see it from a different angle and go through Puerto Varas.
Distance: 69 to 120 kilometers one way, 189 kilometers for the loop
Best time of year: October through April
5) From Valdivia to Concepción: Travel Through History
This spectacular coastal route passes by a series of villages, characteristic to the south of Chile, including Lota, Lebu, Cañete, Puerto Saavedra and Lake Budi, where you can visit villages in the Mapuche community and experience the beauty of Nahuelbuta’s mountainous landscape.
Chile isn’t widely known for its indigenous communities, but this area presents an opportunity to meet them and learn more about their lifestyle through visits or homestays. Read more about them (and other indigeneous groups in the country) at this Chile Tourism page.
Take a detour to Vallarrica and/or Pucon to see a lovely lake setting and a conical volcano often topped with snow. Stay at andBeyond Vira Vira to take it all in from a comfy chair. Click the photo to read the full review and see more photos from our contributor.
Distance: 445 kilometers
Best time of year: from October through April.
6) From Taltal to Paranal and Antofagasta: Sea and Desert
This is an excellent alternative to Route 5 (Pan-American Highway) that takes you along the coast and through the desert to the city of Antofagasta. The road snakes its way along the stretch between Taltal and Paposo and then plunges deep within the Atacama Desert before finally arriving to the Paranal Observatory, one of the largest in the world.
You could continue on from there to San Pedro de Atacama, the tourist heart of the Atacama Desert, sitting at at 2,438 meters above sea level. While you might rough it a little in the other towns and cities, here you can sleep in style at small upscale hotels like Our Habitas Atacama or Tierra Atacama.
Distance: 246 kilometers, or 557 if continuing on to San Pedro de Atacama
Best time of year: possible any month, but the most ideal months are cooler April to November.
7) From Calama to Visviri: the Great Highlands Route
On organized tours this is often a five-day scenic drive in Chile that crosses most of the northern highlands, which is probably a good sense of how slowly you should take it yourself. The journey departs from Calama, following the route towards Ollague in a northerly direction. You contine on to arrive to Visviri before returning to Putre and then moving on to Arica, the final Chilean port before the border crossing with Peru.
Along the way you’ll see amazing desert landscapes and cross high mountain passes in the Andes, seeing a million stars at times and wondering how people survived in ancient times with so little water available. Be sure to stop at this mesmerizing spot featuring the Tutelares Sculptures by artist Juan Diaz Fleming outside of Arica.
Distance: 770 kilometers
Best time of year: April to November, with May through October being especially ideal
Have you been on a scenic Chile drive that we missed? Tell us where you went exploring?
