One month in southern Chile: possible by car or do we need internal flights?

Hi! We’re planning to spend a month (February or March 2026) in southern Chile, starting from Santiago (Lake District, Torres del Paine Park, Punta Arenas). Can we do this itinerary by car, or do we need to take internal flights? Has anyone done this trip and can give us some tips? Thanks! Fabienne and Jérôme

Hi there,

I’m sharing the link to a similar post that was published 2 days ago. Everything’s explained in it.

https://voyageforum.com/forum/transports-en-commun-puerto-natales-santiago-d10789994/

Fred

The journey is done by car, then taking a boat to get to Puerto Natales and continuing by road to Punta Arenas. Check out the TABSA website: tabsa.cl You could drive to Caleta Tortel or Puerto Yungay. From there, you take the ferry that will take you to Puerto Natales and the road to Punta Arenas. Book several weeks in advance because it’s popular between January and March. There’s nothing in Puerto Yungay except the infrastructure for the boat. Caleta Tortel is a special place in itself. I biked the Carretera Austral last winter.

Hi there,

We got back a month ago. We’d only planned a week in Patagonia for a 23-day trip, so we took an internal flight to Punta Arenas with a car rental at the airport via Lys. We’re planning to go back for a month to follow the route recommended in the forum, but we’ll still take an internal flight to get closer to the lake region and rent a 4x4 with a camper cell. That way we can do the Carretera Austral, camping wild or not. Odile