Patagonia and Easter Island Tour, 16 Days from Istanbul

Long-haul flight to Buenos Aires

We meet our tour leader at 06:30 at the International Terminal of Istanbul Airport and complete baggage, passport and ticket formalities together.

The Turkish Airlines flight departs for Buenos Aires. The routing connects and takes around 18 hours 20 minutes. Entry to Argentina is visa-free on a Turkish passport, a passport stamp is all that is needed.

After customs on arrival, a private vehicle and our guide take us to the hotel. Check-in is late and the night is for rest.

Flight details: THY, Istanbul (IST) 10:05, connecting at São Paulo (GRU), Buenos Aires (EZE) 22:25.

Accommodation: NH Collection Buenos Aires Centro Histórico, 5-star or similar.

From Plaza de Mayo to Tigre

After breakfast we set out on a full-day city tour. The morning is spent in the historic centre.

Plaza de Mayo is the historic heart of the capital, ringed by the pink facade of the Casa Rosada, the cathedral and the Cabildo. In San Telmo we walk through colonial streets that gave tango its first stages. Caminito in La Boca is known for its painted tin houses and for Boca Juniors, and we stop here to walk and take photographs. In Recoleta we visit the cemetery where Eva Perón is buried, then look at Puerto Madero, the modern dockside quarter.

Lunch is in Puerto Madero, built around the Argentine parrilla tradition.

In the afternoon an hour on the road brings us to the Tigre Delta, a settlement built where the river meets the sea. A one-hour boat trip takes in the channels, the dense vegetation and the coloured houses standing on the water. We return to the city centre afterwards.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch included.

Accommodation: NH Collection Buenos Aires Centro Histórico, 5-star.

Landing at the world's tip

We leave the hotel early and transfer to Ezeiza Airport for the domestic flight to Ushuaia.

Ushuaia is the southernmost town in the world and the port from which Antarctic voyages depart. After the transfer and a short rest we head into Tierra del Fuego National Park.

The End of the World Train, the Tren del Fin del Mundo, runs a 7-kilometre track that was once used to carry prisoners exiled to the region out to their work sites. Inside the park we stop to walk among Patagonian vegetation, quiet bays and mountain views.

We return to the hotel after the tour.

Flight details: Aerolíneas Argentinas, Buenos Aires (EZE) 09:50, Ushuaia (USH) 13:30, direct, 3 hours 40 minutes.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner included.

Accommodation: Cilene del Faro Suites & Spa, 4-star or similar, Ushuaia.

Sea lions on the Beagle Channel

After breakfast we transfer to the harbour for the Beagle Channel boat tour. The channel is the narrow passage that opens onto the South Atlantic.

The first stop is the Les Eclaireurs lighthouse. Red and white, it has guided sailors since 1920 and is known as the Lighthouse at the End of the World. At Bird Island we see gulls, cormorants and other local species in their own habitat. Sea Lion Island is the emblem of the channel, with dozens of sea lions visible at close range. Snow-covered Andean peaks line the water throughout.

We return to central Ushuaia after the tour. The rest of the day is free, for the harbour and its small shops or for time at the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner included.

Accommodation: Cilene del Faro Suites & Spa, 4-star, Ushuaia.

On to glacier country

After breakfast we transfer to Ushuaia Airport and take a short domestic flight to El Calafate.

El Calafate is a quiet Patagonian town and the gateway to the Perito Moreno Glacier. After checking in, there is time for a short walk in the surrounding country.

Dinner is served at the hotel, built around Patagonian cooking.

Flight details: Aerolíneas Argentinas, Ushuaia (USH) 15:35, El Calafate (FTE) 16:55, direct, 1 hour 20 minutes.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner included.

Accommodation: Hotel Kosten Aike, 4-star or similar, El Calafate.

Face to face with Perito Moreno

We leave the hotel at around 08:30 with our guide and vehicle. An hour and a half from El Calafate brings us into Los Glaciares National Park, with the Patagonian steppe and Lago Argentino alongside the road.

There is free time on the walkways facing the glacier. Different terraces give different angles on the ice front, and with luck you will see huge blocks calve away and drop into the water.

Around midday a one-hour boat tour takes us close to the face of the glacier, where the scale of the ice wall becomes clear.

After free time we return to El Calafate.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner included.

Accommodation: Hotel Kosten Aike, 4-star, El Calafate.

Overland to Torres del Paine

After breakfast we check out and set off for Puerto Natales, inside Chile. The drive takes around 5 hours, following the Patagonian plateau and the southern foothills of the Andes, with photo stops along the way. Passport formalities are completed at the Chilean border post.

On reaching Puerto Natales we continue into Torres del Paine National Park for a panoramic drive. The park is the best known wilderness in Chilean Patagonia.

The route passes Lake Sarmiento, Laguna Amarga and Lake Nordenskjöld. The Torres range and the Cuernos del Paine are where we stop for photographs.

We reach the hotel in the late afternoon. Dinner is at a restaurant serving the food of the region.

Border crossing: Overland from Argentina into Chile, passport formalities at the border post.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner included.

Accommodation: Hotel Costaustralis, 4-star or similar, Puerto Natales.

Penguins on Magellan Island

After an early breakfast we drive on to Punta Arenas, around 4 hours further towards the southern tip of Patagonia.

From the port at Punta Arenas a short boat crossing brings us to Magellan Island, home to a natural colony of tens of thousands of South Patagonian penguins. With our guide we watch the birds at close range in their own habitat and follow the walking paths across the island.

After the tour we return to central Punta Arenas. Dinner is at one of the better local restaurants in town.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner included.

Accommodation: Hotel Cabo de Hornos, 4-star or similar, Punta Arenas.

On to Chile's capital

After breakfast and some free time we check out and transfer to Punta Arenas Airport.

A domestic flight takes us to Santiago, the Chilean capital. The Patagonian half of the trip closes here.

On arrival a private vehicle takes us to the hotel.

Flight details: LATAM Airlines, Punta Arenas (PUQ) 18:31, Santiago (SCL) 21:59, direct, 3 hours 28 minutes.

Meals: Breakfast included.

Accommodation: Hotel Nodo, 4-star or similar, Santiago.

Santiago from a funicular

After breakfast we set out on a full-day tour of Santiago.

We see La Moneda Palace from the outside, the administrative centre of the country. Plaza de Armas is the heart of the city, with the cathedral and the historic post office among its colonial buildings. A funicular carries us up San Cristóbal Hill for the panorama over Santiago, with the Andes behind it.

Bellavista is the bohemian side of the city, and we walk through its painted streets and galleries. Santa Lucia Hill offers a different angle on the centre.

Lunch is at a local restaurant, with empanadas, pastel de choclo, ceviche and completo on the menu.

We return to the hotel, and the rest of the day is free.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch included.

Accommodation: Hotel Nodo, 4-star, Santiago.

Rapa Nui in the Pacific

After an early breakfast we transfer to the airport for the flight to Easter Island.

The island, Rapa Nui in its own language, lies 3,500 kilometres off the Chilean mainland in the middle of the Pacific. It is one of the most isolated inhabited places on earth, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a centre of Polynesian culture.

We are met at the airport and taken to the hotel. After a short rest we begin a half-day island tour. The crater of the extinct Rano Kau volcano holds the largest crater lake on the island, and we walk its rim. Orongo is the ceremonial village where the Tangata Manu, or Birdman, rituals were held, and its petroglyphs and stone houses are still in place.

We return to the hotel after the tour.

Flight details: LATAM Airlines, Santiago (SCL) 09:15, Easter Island (IPC) 12:40, direct, 5 hours 25 minutes.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner included.

Accommodation: Hotel Altiplanico Rapa Nui, 4-star or similar, Easter Island.

In the footsteps of the Moai

After breakfast our guide takes us out for a full day across the archaeological heart of the island.

Rano Raraku is the quarry where the Moai were carved. Hundreds of figures remain here, many still half cut from the rock, and the site is among the most argued over in archaeology.

Ahu Tongariki is the largest Moai platform on the island, fifteen statues standing in a row. It is one of the best places in the Pacific to watch the sun come up.

Lunch is served outdoors, from a Rapa Nui menu.

Anakena is one of the finest beaches on the island: white sand, palms, turquoise water and Moai standing behind it. There is free time here.

We return to the hotel at the end of the day.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch included.

Accommodation: Hotel Altiplanico Rapa Nui, 4-star, Easter Island.

Back to the mainland

After breakfast there is a short window of free time.

A domestic flight then returns us to the mainland at Santiago.

On arrival a private vehicle takes us to the hotel.

Flight details: LATAM Airlines, Easter Island (IPC) 14:20, Santiago (SCL) 20:50, direct, around 4 hours 30 minutes.

Meals: Breakfast included.

Accommodation: Hotel Nodo, 4-star, Santiago.

A free day in Santiago

The whole day is free, set aside for exploring the Chilean capital at your own pace.

In the centre, the Mercado Central fish market, the Iglesia de San Francisco, the oldest building in Santiago, and the restaurants of the Lastarria quarter are all within walking distance.

Two optional excursions are available for those who want them: a wine tour of the Maipo Valley, and a day trip to Valparaíso, the UNESCO-listed art city on the coast. Neither is part of the tour package.

There is also time simply to rest at the hotel or to shop.

Meals: Breakfast included.

Accommodation: Hotel Nodo, 4-star, Santiago.

Heading home

After breakfast we check out at the time set by our guide and transfer to Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago.

The Turkish Airlines flight carries us back to Istanbul. The routing connects and takes around 17 hours 40 minutes, so tonight is spent in the air.

Flight details: THY, Santiago (SCL) 11:40, connecting at São Paulo (GRU), Istanbul (IST) 11:20 the following day.

Accommodation: Overnight on the plane.

Sixteen days, journey's end

We land at Istanbul Airport at 11:20 local time.

From the tango streets of Buenos Aires and the painted houses of Caminito, to the End of the World Train and the sea lions of the Beagle Channel, to the ice walls of Perito Moreno and the ridges of Torres del Paine, to the Magellan penguins and the Moai of Easter Island, the 16-day route ends here.