Lake Pehoé, Torres del Paine National Park

1024px-Lake_Pehoe_(5501703508)

Best time to travel: Jan-early March, Nov-Dec
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Surface water body located in Torres del Paine National Park
  • In the Pehoe Lake watershed there are numerous flora and fauna, including grazing wild guanaco, a close relative of the llama

Marble Caves, General Carrera Lake

Best time to travel: Jan-early March, Nov-Dec
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$$

  • Formed over 6,000 years ago as the water melted from nearby glaciers, filling up General Carrera Lake and eroding the rocks slowly over time into intricate caverns and tunnel systems

Valle Nevado, Andes Mountains

Best time to travel: Nov-early Dec
Ease of travel: Hard
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Ski resort located in the Andes Mountains
  • Founded in 1988 by French entrepreneurs, it includes housing facilities along with around 2,223 acres of skiing area
  • The resort opened the first mountain cable car in Chile in 2013

Valle de la Luna, Atacama Desert

Best time to travel: Jan-late Feb, late Nov-Dec
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Valley located in the Atacama desert that has various stone and sand formations which have been carved by wind and water
  • It has a range of color and texture, looking somewhat similar to the surface of the moon
  • The Atacama desert is considered one of the driest places on earth, as some areas have not received a single drop of rain in hundreds of years
  • A prototype for a Mars rover was tested there by scientists because of the valley’s dry and forbidding terrains

San Cristóbal Hill, Santiago

Best time to travel: March-May, Sept-Nov
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Hill in northern Santiago that rises above the rest of Santiago
  • Cerro San Cristóbal was named by the Spanish conquistadors for St Christopher, in recognition of its use as a landmark

El Tatio, Andes Mountains

Best time to travel: Jan-April, Sept-Dec
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

  • Geothermal field with many geysers located in the Andes Mountains, 14,170 ft above mean sea level
  • The hot springs are a major source of arsenic pollution in the river
  • The vents are sites of populations of extremophile microorganisms, and El Tatio has been studied as an analogue for the early Earth and possible past life on Mars
  • There are no recorded eruptions of the Tatio volcanoes in the historical period

Anakena, Rapa Nui National Park

Best time to travel: April-June, Oct-Dec
Walk difficulty: Hard
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

  • White coral sand beach in Rapa Nui National Park on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), a Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean
  • Anakena is unusual for Easter Island in that it is one of only two small sandy beaches in an otherwise rocky coastline