Valparaiso to Ushuaia – Chilean Fjords and Patagonia

Overview

This all–encompassing journey is an explorer’s dream. Discover the wild tranquility of snow-capped mountains and peaceful waters of Chile’s fjords. Leaving the colourful, clifftop houses of Valparaiso, set sail for the icy beauty of Patagonia. Be prepared for the unexpected – because no matter how well-travelled you are, nothing can prepare you for the astonishing glacial that float silently by.

Embark today in Valaparaiso, Chile’s oldest and most important seaport that’s bustling with activity. With its improvised urban design and unique architecture clinging to the hillsides, Valparaiso is a labyrinth of winding narrow streets, cobblestone alleyways and colourful hillside neighbourhoods. Continue a short distance north around the bay to Viña del Mar, the most famous and visited seaside city of the area. Its many parks with huge trees and palms have led it to being known as the “Garden City”. Also visit the beaches and the 1930s-era Casino, and learn about its history.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, catching up on your reading or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shore side.

Today you will visit Niebla, a small village on the banks of the Rio Valdivia where Chile’s Corral Bay meets the Pacific Ocean. Now Niebla is a beach resort, but in 1671 it was a defensive fortress built by the order of the Viceroy of Peru to prevent attacks against the town of Valdivia by pirates and corsairs. Niebla is well-known for its lively markets, the remains of the colonial fortress declared a National Monument in 1950 and restored in 1992, and a museum dedicated to its history. Nearby is the charming river port city of Valdivia, where cultural influences from the native Mapuche, Spanish settlers, and German immigrants have blended.

Today you will step off into windy Puerto Montt. For most of its history, it was the end of the line for just about everyone travelling in the Lake District. Now the Carretera Austral carries on southward, but for all intents and purposes Puerto Montt remains the region’s last significant outpost, a provincial city that is the hub of local fishing, textile, and tourist activity. Today the city center is full of malls, condos, and office towers—it’s the fastest-growing city in Chile—but away from downtown, Puerto Montt consists mainly of low clapboard houses perched above its bay, the Seno de Reloncaví. If it’s a sunny day, head east to Playa Pelluco or one of the city’s other beaches. If you’re more interested in exploring the countryside, drive along the shore for a good view of the surrounding hills.

Bright, wooden huts teeter on stilts over Castro’s estuary waterfront, inviting you into a patchwork of colour that’s sure to brighten any day. These traditional palafitos give the warmest of welcomes, as you prepare to experience Chile at its most vibrant. Castro has faced something of a tumultuous past, having been hit by a by a succession of earthquakes and fires – the most recent a devastating earthquake in 1960. But this city is incredibly resilient, and today the capital of Chiloe Island makes for a fantastic base for exploring the archipelago that surrounds it.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind and catch up with what you’ve been meaning to do. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, catching up on your reading or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to busy days spent exploring shore side.

Tortel is a commune located in Southern Patagonia, a spectacular wilderness region of rugged mountains, glaciers, rivers and forests of infinite beauty. The uneven geography of Tortel shapes a unique landscape, characterized by an archipelagic area with numerous islands and channels. Tortel is known as the “footbridge city” for the unique beauty of its wooden walkways that connect the piers and houses of this quaint place through bridges and stairs, built from cypress wood, that run for four and a half miles around the cove and that respect the rich vegetation that grows under them. Even though it is the sixth largest commune in Chile, it has the lowest population of all with roughly 531 people.

The English Narrows warrant time spent on the outer decks as the Captain and local Chilean Pilots expertly maneuver through the slalom course of islands and channel markers. The waterway is home to Magellanic Diving Petrels, Steamer Ducks, and the rare endemic Chilean dolphin. This small dolphin is shy of ships and enjoys spending its time in constricted straits with heavy tidal rips such as the English Narrows.

The Pio XI Glacier is classified as a tidewater glacier, which means the river of ice starts in the high mountains and then courses downhill all the way to sea level where it slowly melts into the salty ocean bit-by-bit. The Pio XI Glacier is an offshoot of the South Patagonian Ice Field and approaching from the sea, the ice sprawls out in front of the ship in a wide band that reflects a remarkable shade of brilliant blue.

Winding through the vast expanses of the Chilean Fjords will reveal mountains looming on both sides, waterfalls, and the marvel of hardy flora clinging to barren rocks. Seals and dolphins patrol the length of these uninhabited fjords as they have done for millennia. Small fishing-boats come out of Punta Arenas luring fish and trapping for king crab, while terns dip and glide coaxing their own small fish out of the deep, dark fjord waters amongst tiny islands thick with vegetation.

Welcome to Chile’s City at the End of The World – a wind-whipped, fractured land of islands, glacial fjords and mountains, which drop away towards Antarctica. A hardy city, where the temperature hovers in single figures throughout the year, Punta Arenas nevertheless offers a warm welcome and refuge, ahead of – and following – epic adventures and expeditions south across Drake Passage. Punta Arenas is a remote place, but with custom-free status, and more than 100,000 people calling it home it’s also surprisingly cosmopolitan.

Looming like a colossal river, frozen in the icy hold of time – the first time you set eyes on the Garibaldi Glacier will live with you forever, sending shivers down your spine that are absolutely nothing to do with the fjord weather’s chill. A stunning, unimaginably vast wedge of slowly creeping blue-white ice, the glacier is a fitting climax to the voyage through the cinematic majesty of the Garibaldi Fjord. Sail amid tumbling waterfalls, tightly-packed forestry and soaring mountains as you explore the glacier-sculpted Parque Nacional Alberto de Agostini – the newest member of Chile’s exclusive club of extraordinary, remote National Parks.

Disembark in the morning in Ushuaia. A southerly frontier – on the cusp of wild nature and extraordinary adventures – the excitement in Ushuaia is palpable. Prepare for memorable exploits amid the extremes of this southerly location – as you adventure into the colossal scenery of the fractured Tierra del Fuego and beyond. Known as the ‘End of the World’ Ushuaia looks out across the Beagle Channel, and is surrounded by the Martial Mountains to the north. One of the most dramatic landscapes on the planet – Argentina’s land of fire, National Park Tierra del Fuego, is a place of titanic natural forces and limitless beauty. Snow-covered mountains poke the sky, while glaciers spill down between peaks, and gaping fjords open up. With incredible wildlife – from penguins to whales – the park offers some of South America’s most amazing hiking opportunities and panoramas.