Chile itineraries: 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 weeks

Chile rewards a narrow route. The country runs 4,300 km north to south, and the two headline regions — the Atacama desert and Patagonia — sit at opposite ends, so a trip is built around two or three flights through Santiago rather than a long overland line.

Use the table as a spine, then move nights between stops. Add a night in Santiago if you land late or want a wine valley day; add a night in Puerto Natales if you plan the full W trek rather than day hikes.

Land in Santiago, sleep off the flight, and give the city three nights: Cerro San Cristóbal and Cerro Santa Lucía early, the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino and the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in the afternoon heat. Valparaíso works as a long day trip by bus, or as one night if you want the hills at dusk.

Fly Santiago to Calama, then transfer about an hour to San Pedro de Atacama for four nights. That is enough for Valle de la Luna, the altiplanic lagoons (Miscanti, Miñiques) and the El Tatio geysers at dawn. San Pedro sits near 2,400 m, so keep the highest tours for your second or third day and drink more water than usual.

This route is the safest first week in Chile: one internal flight each way, no border crossings, and both regions work year-round, though Patagonia does not.

The 10-day version cuts Santiago to two nights and puts five nights in Puerto Natales and Torres del Paine. Fly Santiago to Punta Arenas, then bus or transfer north to Puerto Natales, the base for the park. Five nights covers day hikes to the towers and the grey glacier, or the five-day W trek if you are fit and have booked refugios.

With 14 days, insert the Lake District between the desert and Patagonia: fly Calama back through Santiago to Puerto Montt, base in Puerto Varas for three nights under the Osorno volcano, then continue south. It breaks up the long jump and adds lakes and volcanoes for one more flight.

Patagonia is a summer trip. The park and its refugios fill for November to March, so book the park entry and beds before you lock in flights — that order matters more here than anywhere else in Chile.

Three weeks lets you keep the 14-day spine and add one more region. Chiloé, two nights from Puerto Montt, is the easy add: wooden churches and seafood. The Carretera Austral is the ambitious one — a remote road trip that needs seven nights or more, its own vehicle or a tour, and a tolerance for gravel and weather.

The other swap is Easter Island (Rapa Nui), four nights, flown from Santiago. It replaces a mainland region rather than adding to one, and the park ticket allows one entry each at Rano Raraku and Orongo, so plan those two days carefully.

If you have three weeks and want one route rather than hops, run north to south: San Pedro, Santiago, the Lake District, Chiloé, then Patagonia. It is a lot of buses and flights, but it is the only way to see the country as a line rather than as islands.

Chile spans desert, Mediterranean centre and sub-Antarctic south, so no single month suits the whole route. Patagonia and the Lake District are summer trips, roughly November to March. The Atacama is good most of the year, with March to May and September to December the most comfortable. Santiago and the central valley are best September to April.

If your dates are fixed, let the season choose the route: a July trip should stay north and centre, a January trip can do the full north-to-south line. Shoulder months buy cheaper flights and quieter parks at the cost of wind and rain in the south.

Book the long internal flights early if you travel in January or February, when Chileans holiday and domestic fares rise. Buses cover the short legs — Santiago to Valparaíso, Punta Arenas to Puerto Natales, Puerto Montt to Puerto Varas — and are cheap and frequent.

Carry cash for small towns and park fees, and expect card machines to work in cities. Tipping is a small addition on restaurant bills, not a US-style percentage. Most visitors from the US, UK, Canada, Australia and the EU do not need a visa for tourism, but check your own passport's rules before booking.

Pack layers rather than one heavy coat: the same trip can be 30 °C in San Pedro and near freezing at El Tatio at dawn, and Patagonia's wind changes the felt temperature by a lot.

Treat the routes above as templates. Pick two regions for a week, three for two weeks, and accept that each extra region costs a flight day through Santiago. Write the flights first, then fit the nights around them, then book the park and the refugios before anything non-refundable.

If you are still choosing, start from the country overview and the places list, then check transport and costs before committing to dates.