Chile Lake District

I can't recommend tours, but actually, the Lake District of Chile is perfect self-drive road-trip territory. You can rent a car and book hotels just like you would in the USA. Happy to make recommendations about stops etc. The roads are excellent - some remote stretches are still unpaved, but even those are in good condition.
If you had that in mind, crossing the border into Argentina is a messy, queue-prone process that requires pre-approval from the rental company, and Argentinian roads and drivers are much worse. Personally, I did not care as much for the Argentina side of the lake district anyway.

Some knowledge of Spanish would be helpful once out of the main population centers, but I do not know if it is essential (I speak Spanish).

marciaandcb,

Oops! I hit the wrong button....to correct,
marciaandcb,
In 2015 my husband and I spent two+ weeks in Chile. We didn't visit the Lake District, but had a wonderful time and found the country beautiful, the people friendly, and a great variety of things to experience. Briefly, we arrived in Santiago, saw some of the sights there, flew for three days to Easter Island, back to Santiago from which we took an all day fabulous tour of wineries in the Colchagua Valley, and experienced more of that city. Then we flew to Punta Arenas in Patagonia and took a three night cruise on a small(ish) boat to explore the Straits of Magellan, glaciers, Isla de Los Penguinos, and the flora and fauna of some of the islands there. Back to Santiago and after a couple of days, home to California. You can pm me if you have questions. We didn't have time for the Torres del Peine national park or the lake district. And our boat returned to Punta Arenas, so we didn't go to Argentina. We also didn't get to visit the Atacama Desert, which was just as well, be cause they had a freak storm there at that time, with horrible flooding.
I would go back and spend some time in the Atacama (telescopes!!!), visit Valparaiso, the Andes near to Santiago, and the national parks south of the capital.
I made all our own arrangements. It is very easy to visit Chile without a tour group, so I have no recommendations there.
I hope you get to go. It is one of my best memories.

We have been to Chile three times, all in connection with cruises. However, we spend several days in the Santiago-Valpariaso area.

One of our cruises was Around the Horn from Buenos Aires to Chile and stopped in several Chilean ports. We saw Cape Horn, as well as lots of Chilean Mountain scenery. One port excursion took us to a village on a lake in the mountains that was like a Swiss or German village. Apparently, many Germans and Swiss settled there.

Chile is great, love the wonderful sea bass and crab.

Thanks for your input! I’ve passed it on to hubby to consider. Travel planning is so much easier with all our RS friends!

I did this OAT tour in 2017:

https://www.oattravel.com/trips/land-adventures/south-america/chile-and-argentina-the-andes-to-patagonia/2021/itineraries?icid=global:adventures:central-and-south-america:land-adventures:aca

It was fabulous! And OAT has a new South American tour that also sounds amazing:

https://www.oattravel.com/trips/small-ship-adventures/south-america/exploring-south-america-rio-buenos-aires-patagonia-and-chilean-fjord-cruise/2021/itineraries?icid=global:adventures:central-and-south-america:land-adventures:sko

These obviously include more than just Chile, but if that's okay with you, they're worth considering.

Dear Marcia:
I am planning a three week trip to Chile and I noticed your post. What was your itinerary. Did you visit the Lake District as suggested. I am planning a three week trip to Chile as well. I find that many of the itineraries that people adopt are not very relaxing and allow one to only superficially see and explore a region. On trips to Europe that I have taken I have often joked that what Rick Steves can get done in three days takes me a week to do. I am thinking a good itinerary for Chile would be to spend 4 days in Santiago, fly to Calama and rent a car before driving to San Pedro de Atacama for four nights. Leaving Calama and flying to Temuco in the Lake district. Renting a car and over the course of 12 days drive to Peurto Montt visiting Pucon, Valdiva and Peurto Varas along the way. Possibly going to Chloe island and Castro. I have to flush out the details and would appreciate any advice on things to do in the Lake District. My wife and I enjoy hiking and being outdoors and are in pretty good shape however hiking to the top of a volcano could put us out of commission for a few days and may not be worth it. We considered going to Easter island but are worried that if the flights to Easter island are delayed that this could throw our plans off for the rest of the trip (ie flights and car rentals). Having done a little research I also think that Patagonia may merit a 2-3 week trip solely dedicated to this region. Is Chloe island worth the visit?I have heard mention of a multicity flight pass in Chile which would work well for my trip. Does anyone know anything about this pass? any other suggestions would be appreciated.

We spent time in the Chilean Lake District which we arrived sat from the Argentinian Lakes. We did the Lakes Crossing from Bariloche Argentina to Puerto Varas, Chile. Highly recommended! Volcanoes and lakes, one lake after the other. Most do it in one long day but we spent the night in Puella.

How does the Chilean Lakes District compare to the Argentinian side? We are trying to decide if we should do one or both and how to divide our number of days . We really have 12 days at most for both destinations.

I much preferred the Chilean side, with the volcanoes and the Araucaria forests.