The 8 most spectacular road trips in Patagonia

01.07.2024 - 09:29 / lonelyplanet.com

Jun 30, 2024 • 12 min read

Spanning across vast stretches of southern Argentina and Chile, Patagonia's landscapes are famed for both their beauty and remoteness.

Given many of its most scenic sites are well off the beaten track, a road trip is a great way to explore the region and choose how your trip proceeds. The main roads between towns are mostly paved, but you may still have to contend with some challenging driving conditions, including occasional landslides, muddy stretches of road or bumpy, pothole-riddled stretches of track.

While a 4WD is not essential, hiring a vehicle with high clearance is wise – and essential on minor side routes. The best time for a Patagonia road trip is between October and April, as side routes are often closed due to snowfall in the southern hemisphere's winter.

Bear in mind that some routes cross the border between Chile and Argentina, so you'll need special permission from your rental company. Also, one-way drop-off fees are hefty, so plan your journey carefully. Here are nine of the best road trips in Patagonia (and Tierra del Fuego), ranging from three hours to a couple of weeks.

Most iconic road trip
Puerto Montt-Villa O'Higgins; 1223km (760 miles); allow 10 days

This is the big one. The so-called "Southern Highway" is Chile's most iconic drive that snakes south from the Lake District across a landscape of dense forest, snow-peaked mountains, volcanoes, glacial rivers, and misty fjords.

A Pinochet-commissioned project in the 1970s, the road was supposed to tame the wilderness and help settle the isolated Aysén region. The southern section is still not paved, which makes the drive more challenging. Be prepared for inclement weather and occasional delays (landslides, having to wait for car ferries, etc).

Starting in Puerto Montt, the Lake District's port city, take the first of four ferries and then pass through the salmon-farming town of Hornopirén. Then you board two interconnecting ferries through the fjords, with a strip of land in between, to reach the southern half of Parque Nacional Pumalín Douglas Tompkins – a vast area of native forest, gifted to the state by the Tompkins philanthropists.

Just south is Chaitén, half buried by the volcanic eruption of 2008 but since recovered, followed by the Villa Santa Lucía crossroads town; from here, you can detour to Futaleufú – Chile's whitewater rafting capital. Passing through dense woodland, you reach the market town of La Junta, before arriving at picturesque, fjordside Puyuhuapi, famous for its hot springs.

The road skirts the fjord and passes high-end fly-fishing lodges before the highest section of the Carretera Austral takes you over Queulat Pass, with mist-shrouded mountains looming ahead. Stretch your legs in Parque