14-night Essential Patagonia Expedition – Chilean Fjords and Torres del Paine

Dynamic and bustling, a city which seems never to sleep, Buenos Aires is one of the most exciting cities in Latin America. Tango was born here, restaurants serve an all manner of world cuisine, bars play the latest music, cafés spill on to the streets and nightclubs allow dancing throughout the night. Cultural hub of a society which traces its roots to European immigration, it is famous throughout South America for its theatres, museums and galleries. Gucci, Armani, Prada, to name a few, line the boulevards catering for the fashion conscious porteños, their offerings as stylish as anything found in the cities in Europe or North America.

Dynamic and bustling, a city which seems never to sleep, Buenos Aires is one of the most exciting cities in Latin America. Tango was born here, restaurants serve an all manner of world cuisine, bars play the latest music, cafés spill on to the streets and nightclubs allow dancing throughout the night. Cultural hub of a society which traces its roots to European immigration, it is famous throughout South America for its theatres, museums and galleries. Gucci, Armani, Prada, to name a few, line the boulevards catering for the fashion conscious porteños, their offerings as stylish as anything found in the cities in Europe or North America.

The world's southernmost city, Ushuaia overlooks Beagle Channel, named after the ship that took Charles Darwin to the bottom of the world. Founded just over one hundred years ago, this rustic town is situated amidst incredible snowcapped mountains, dramatic waterfalls, massive glaciers, and a forest known for its red foliage. Tierra del Fuego, the "Land of Fire," twelve miles to the west of Ushuaia, is known for its glacial landscape and its national park, which is a bird-watcher's paradise.

Rounding the extreme southern tip of South America, you'll be awestruck by the rugged beauty and imposing vision of Cape Horn, a craggy, massive rocky point that was the bane of early explorers.

Within the Beagle Channgel and chiseled among the Darwin mountains in Patagonia, the Pia Glacier is a highlight among the "Avenue of Glaciers", viewable by hiking up to a vista point where you can watch and listen to the loud shifts of ice and earth.

The Glacier lies in the Garibaldi Fjord, a narrow passage strewn with floating ice in shades of blue and green, and waterfalls that come down the steep mountainsides. At the head of this picturesque fjord, take in the quiet splendor of the retreating Garibaldi Glacier. The area also offers travelers extraordinary sights and an abundance of sea lions, the occasional sighting of dolphins and whales and the astonishing array of seabirds and marine life.

Aguila Glacier can be found when cruising though the majestic Agostini Sound. When arriving at the glacier you are taken back by the blue ice and surrounded by picturesque views all around.

The Chilean Fjords offer some of the most awe-inspiring sights of your journey. Simply look to the sky to see graceful Andean condors floating on the wind. Bring a camera to capture sights of incredible jagged walls of glacier ice rising up from the sea. And for pure enjoyment, watch the antics of the flightless, tuxedoed Magellanic penguins.

Puerto Natales is located on the coast of southern Chile. Here you'll have one spectacular experience after another -- seeing fjords, glaciers and perhaps encountering whales. And just a short distance inland you are reminded that this is Patagonia, home to Andean condors, guanacos and rheas (cousins of the ostrich), all of which can be found in monumental Torres del Paine National Park.

Torres del Paine is internationally recognized as one of the most beautiful, uncontaminated places on earth with natural lakes, rivers, waterfalls, glaciers, forests and diverse wildlife. This biosphere reserve dominates most of South America's national park and sits 2000 meters above the Patagonian Steppe, the granite pillars of Torres del Paine. 

Puerto Natales is located on the coast of southern Chile. Here you'll have one spectacular experience after another -- seeing fjords, glaciers and perhaps encountering whales. And just a short distance inland you are reminded that this is Patagonia, home to Andean condors, guanacos and rheas (cousins of the ostrich), all of which can be found in monumental Torres del Paine National Park.

Brookes Bay is an excellent place to watch Magellan penguins, and view magestic glaciers.

Punta Arenas is the southernmost city on Earth, overlooking the Straits of Magellan. Situated astride one of the world's historic trade routes, its prosperity has risen and fallen with that trade. Punta Arenas enjoyed its first great boom during the California Gold Rush, when it served as a haven for great clipper ships. Although the port's importance diminished after the opening of the Panama Canal, the city reached even greater prosperity early in this century as the center of Chile's international wool trade. Today, Punta Arenas reflects a great mix of cultures, from English sheep ranchers to Portuguese sailors, and it remains an utterly fascinating testament to the Chile's rich history. Punta Arenas is also the starting point for excursions to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.

Santiago is a huge city of nearly five million inhabitants surrounded by immense Andean peaks creating a spectacular backdrop. The city centre is quite manageable with a collection of wide avenues, squares and parks all laid out in a grid pattern. Chile has a distinctly European flavour and Santiago will bring this home to you as you visit the churches, monuments and museums all designed in a certain familiar style.