Patagonia & Tierra del Fuego at Christmas

Day 1: UK/Santiago
You’ll depart on your scheduled flight via Madrid to Santiago today.

Day 2: Santiago
On arrival in Santiago transfer to your hotel for a two-night stay. Take the opportunity to freshen up prior to an included afternoon tour of the Chilean capital. Cosmopolitan Santiago is a city of wide boulevards and delightful parks and gardens, all set against a majestic mountain backdrop. Visit the Presidential Palace and the city museum where you can learn more of Chile’s history. Step inside the Cathedral and stroll across Plaza de Armas, then travel through the residential districts of Las Condes and Providencia, famous for their lively streets and beautiful homes and gardens. A cable car ride takes you up San Cristobal Hill for spectacular views over the foothills of the snow-capped Andes.

Day 3: Santiago
Enjoy a day at leisure or take the opportunity to join an optional full-day excursion to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. Travel through dramatic mountain ranges and fertile farmlands abundant with orchards and citrus groves. Pinot noir, sauvignon blanc and rosé wines are all produced at the award-winning Veramonte vineyard and a wine-tasting is included here.

Discover palm-fringed avenues, the Fine Arts Museum and the beautiful Rioja Palace in Vina del Mar and then continue to the coast and Valparaiso, Chile’s most significant port. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before a city tour. Discover steep streets lined with quaint, colourful houses and drive along Alemania Avenue, which traverses the hills on which the city is built. From here you can take in the panoramic views of the city. Visits to Fisherman’s Wharf, Plaza Sotomayor and the Naval Academy are also included this afternoon.

Day 4: Torres del Paine
This morning you’ll fly to Punta Arenas, Chile’s southernmost city and once the staging post for voyages around the treacherous Cape Horn. Today it is the starting point for your Patagonian adventure. Travel through snow-capped mountains to the fascinating Milodon Cave where pre-historic animal remains were discovered in the 19th century. From here you’ll continue to Torres del Paine National Park, where a three-night stay has been arranged.

Day 5: Torres del Paine
Jagged granite peaks reach towards the sky and icebergs snake through the landscape, cascading into the deep waters of sparkling blue and green lakes below. This is Torres del Paine National Park an area of spectacular natural beauty and home to over 40 species of mammal including foxes, llama and even the rarely seen puma. This morning you’ll take a boat trip along the Serrano River to stunning Balmaceda where the huge glacier flows out into the sea. After an included lunch explore the park further on a series of walks around the area of Grey Lake with its incredible floating icebergs.

Day 6: Torres del Paine National Park
Another day of scenic splendour awaits on a full-day included tour in Torres del Paine National Park. You’ll visit the gushing Big Waterfalls which drain serene Lake Nordenskjold and feed into Lake Pehoe. Continue to Amarga Lagoon for spectacular views of ‘The Towers’, you may even see colonies of flamingos here too. You’ll then visit Paine Waterfall and the deep blue waters of Azul Lagoon. Lunch is included today.

Day 7: El Calafate
You’ll depart Torres del Paine National Park and travel east across the border into Argentina and onto El Calafate, Patagonia’s capital of glaciers where you stay for three nights.

Day 8: El Calafate
A full-day included tour will take you through the Patagonian steppe to the magnificence of Los Glaciares National Park today.

Perito Moreno Glacier, an awe-inspiring sheet of ice, flows into Lake Argentino, where its impressive face stands some 200 ft high. Take an unforgettable walk to the base of the glacier and watch in amazement from specially designed platforms as icebergs calve accompanied by thunderous booms and crashes.

Day 9: El Calafate
Today you can join an optional full-day cruise on Lake Argentino to Onelli and the Upsala Glacier, the largest continental glacier in the southern hemisphere. You’ll travel by catamaran from Puerto Bandera to view the north arm of the lake with its blue icebergs, glaciers and lush green forests, and enjoy lunch.

Day 10: Ushuaia
You’ll transfer to the airport for the flight to Ushuaia, where you will stay for two nights. Set on an archipelago between Cape Horn and the Strait of Magellan the world’s southernmost city, located on the tip of South America, was once a remote prison from which escape was almost impossible. Today it is the gateway to the legendary Tierra del Fuego.

Day 11: Ushuaia
Join our included morning tour into Tierra del Fuego National Park. You’ll visit Lapataia Bay and the end of the famous Pan-American Highway, which stretches all the way from Alaska. The astonishing nature reserve has a huge variety of flora, fauna and is home to more than 200 species of bird including the majestic condor – ‘King of the Andes’. You’ll visit several panoramic viewpoints for beautiful views over the Beagle Channel and a guided walk is also included.

The afternoon is free. Alternatively, join an optional boat trip along the Beagle Channel. You’ll sail close to small islands renowned for their birdlife and seal colonies before continuing to Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse. This extraordinary journey takes you as far south to the end of the world as it is, in normal circumstances, possible to go.

Day 12: Buenos Aires
Today you’ll fly to the Argentinean capital, Buenos Aires where you stay for two nights.

Energetic and seductive, this city has it all. Skyscrapers cast their slender shadows on 19th century plazas, tango bars fill with the hazy smoke of cigars and the doors of treasure-filled antique shops open out onto cobbled streets. Giant football stadiums ring with the calls of the crowd and polo pitches glitter with the glamorous jet set.

Day 13: Buenos Aires
Today you’ll see all the highlights of Buenos Aires on an included morning city tour. Visit Plaza de Mayo, Casa Rosada and the fine Cathedral. Discover charming 19th century architecture on the Avenida de Mayo and the brightly painted houses of the La Boca District, now a thriving artists’ colony. Explore San Telmo, a paradise for antique lovers, where the sounds of sensuous Tango fill the air and locals of all ages come to dance.

At Recoleta Cemetery, stroll around the beautiful family tombs and visit the burial place of Eva Peron, and in the residential district of Palermo see elegant homes and beautiful parks. The afternoon is free for you to explore at leisure. An optional Tango show with dinner is available this evening.

Day 14: Buenos Aires/UK
Transfer to the airport for your return flight to the UK via Madrid.

Day 15: UK
Arrival in the UK.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Included excursions and visits

Santiago city tour (half day)
Milodon Cave
Torres del Paine National Park including walks at Grey Lake (full day)
Torres del Paine National Park including Big Waterfalls, Amarga Lagoon, Azul Lagoon and Paine Waterfall (full day)
Los Glaciares National Park and Perito Moreno Glacier (full day)

Your holiday includes

All state and local taxes
Hotel porterage (one bag per person)
All airport taxes and security charges
The services of a Travelsphere Tour Manager and Local Guides
UK Airline Passenger Duty
12 nights’ accommodation with breakfast, plus 2 lunches
Scheduled flights, overseas transfers and other transportation

With 50 years’ experience in arranging escorted tours to exciting destinations across the globe, Travelsphere have built an excellent reputation founded on quality and value.

By choosing a Travelsphere escorted holiday you can travel with confidence, knowing that every aspect of your holiday has been carefully planned and arranged from start to finish. Further to this they are ATOL bonded and members of ABTA.

Travelsphere’s thorough planning of travel arrangements, itineraries and accommodation combined with the unique insight of their knowledgeable Tour Managers and Local Guides will enable you to experience the culture, traditions and hidden away places less accessible to other travellers.

Our Opinion
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