Patagonia, Atacama & Salar

Set at the foot of the Andes Mountains in central Chile, Santiago is the capital city and the main transport hub for the country. Whilst some travellers want to get through here as fast as possible, it’s actually a rather pleasant place that’s a pleasure to explore in more detail and with some rather cool hotel options.

Set in the far south of Chile, Torres del Paine is a substantial national park and one of the most strikingly beautiful places on earth, with dramatic mountain peaks, vast glaciers and stunning lakes, fabulous lodges, superb hiking and some truly remarkable puma action.

Set at the foot of the Andes Mountains in central Chile, Santiago is the capital city and the main transport hub for the country. Whilst some travellers want to get through here as fast as possible, it’s actually a rather pleasant place that’s a pleasure to explore in more detail and with some rather cool hotel options.

Set in the north of Chile, the Atacama Desert is one of the driest locations on Earth. It‘s also one of the most spectacular, with martian landscapes, geyser fields, multi-coloured soda lakes and remote archaeological sites. The remote oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama is the main hub for visitors and contains some excellent lodges.

Set in the deep southwest of Bolivia, Eduardo Avaroa National Park is a large and extremely scenic conservation area, with some remarkable high altitude scenery, active volcanoes, geysers and multi-coloured soda lakes covered with flamingos. Access is by means of a private guided overland safari, usually travelling between San Pedro de Atacama and Salar de Uyuni.

Set in the southwest of Bolivia, Salar de Uyuni is a vast salt pan, one of the most truly extraordinary places on the continent. Featuring in almost every trip to this part of the world, there are some really interesting accommodation options, including hotels which are actually built of salt.

Set in the south of Bolivia, Potosi is a modest town which happens to be the location of the richest mine in history, for centuries the source of much of the silver currency in the world. There’s a fabulous historic lodge in the surrounding countryside and some really interesting activities, including going down the active mines.

Set in the south of Bolivia, Sucre is a beautifully preserved historic Spanish city, previously capital of the country, but these days less than an eighth the size of La Paz. There are some pleasantly low key hotels in the town and some modestly interesting places to explore, including some remarkable dinosaur footprints.