A journey where the road is the destination.
The Carretera Austral isn't a journey you rush. The road itself won't let you. You drive slowly as forests gradually give way to mountains, rivers appear beside the road and enormous lakes begin to fill the horizon. Sometimes the road is paved. Sometimes gravel. Sometimes you drive for kilometres without seeing another car. And little by little, the landscape changes around you. There are glaciers, marble caves and extraordinary hikes along the way. But they aren't really the point. The Carretera Austral is for travellers who enjoy the space between destinations as much as the destinations themselves.
The Carretera Austral stretches through an enormous part of Chilean Patagonia, and I prefer thinking about it in two sections. I like thinking about the Carretera Austral as two journeys. Not because one is better than the other, but because they make you experience Patagonia differently.
Hornopirén / Chaitén → Coyhaique Here, nature surrounds you. Mountains rise so steeply beside the road that sometimes you look up and still can't see their summits. Dense forests meet fjords, glaciers appear between mountains and volcanoes remind you that the landscape is still very much alive. Part of the journey happens on water too. Ferries navigate through a coastline fragmented into islands, channels and fjords before returning you to the road. The landscapes constantly transform around you.
Coyhaique → Villa O'Higgins Mountains become more imposing, the enormous General Carrera Lake appears, the Baker River brings almost impossible shades of blue and some of the route's best-known experiences — San Rafael Glacier, the Marble Caves and Patagonia National Park — become possible. I've travelled the southern section both in summer and in winter. They felt like two completely different worlds. And although the road officially continues all the way to Villa O'Higgins, that doesn't mean I think every traveller needs to follow it to the end.
One of my favourite memories of the Northern Carretera Austral happened before I had even started driving. I boarded an overnight ferry and woke the next morning surrounded by the fjords of northern Patagonia. The coastline was fragmented into islands and mountains, morning light was beginning to reveal the landscape — and then whales appeared beside us. It wasn't an excursion. We hadn't gone looking for them. They were simply there. That's something I love about this journey.
Climb above Chaitén
Never judge a hike by its kilometres. The climb towards Chaitén volcano isn't particularly long, but it gains altitude relentlessly. Your legs will notice. And then you reach the top. Below you, the landscape suddenly explains everything you've been travelling through: the volcanic crater and its fumaroles, the valley, the fjords and mountains stretching towards Caleta Gonzalo. It remains one of the most extraordinary views I've experienced in Chile. And perhaps one of the hardest-earned.
Short hike. Very long climb. Absolutely worth it.
Wake up facing a glacier
Not every extraordinary landscape needs to be earned through exhaustion. Around Yelcho, the pleasure can be much simpler. Wake up with the lake in front of you, mountains rising around it and a glacier suspended in the distance. Then walk through dense forest towards the Ventisquero Yelcho, on a trail that lets you enjoy the landscape without turning the day into a physical challenge. Sometimes the Carretera Austral asks you to climb. Sometimes it simply asks you to look.
Go to the end of the road — then cross the border
Futaleufú is famous for rafting. But what stayed with me was something else. The feeling of being incredibly far away. After hours of roads, ferries and mountains, you arrive in a small town tucked deep inside a valley, far from the rhythm of the rest of the country. And for adventurous travellers, the journey doesn't necessarily need to end there. Cross into Argentina towards Esquel and the landscape begins to transform again. The mountains gradually recede. The forests disappear. And the vast Patagonian pampa takes over. Within one journey, you've moved through fjords, volcanoes, glaciers, lakes, dense forests, mountains and finally open steppe.
Sometimes crossing a border is less about entering another country than watching one landscape become another.
The classics, differently.
San Rafael Glacier
If glaciers are one of the reasons you're travelling through Patagonia, this is an experience I would seriously consider. The journey takes time, but the smaller boats used for the experience can make the encounter with the glacier feel remarkably intimate. You navigate between icebergs until this immense wall of ice begins to dominate the landscape. And because the boat feels so small beside it, you do too. For travellers continuing towards Torres del Paine, I would look at the whole itinerary before deciding how many glacier experiences to include. But if what you're looking for is a more intimate encounter with Patagonian ice, San Rafael can be very special.
Marble Caves
I'll admit it: I was a little underwhelmed. The marble formations are fascinating, delicate patterns carved into the rock by water, and exploring them by small boat or kayak can be beautiful. But they're smaller than photographs can sometimes make them appear. Would I skip them? Not necessarily. If you're already staying around Puerto Río Tranquilo, they're absolutely worth considering. I simply wouldn't build the entire journey around them.
Patagonia National Park
Here, the landscape becomes something to walk through again. Wildlife, demanding hikes and an extraordinary conservation story make the park worth slowing down for — particularly for travellers who want to step out of the car for a while.
Villa O'Higgins
Reaching the end of the Carretera Austral has undeniable symbolic appeal. But unless that symbolism matters to you, I don't think you need to drive every last kilometre simply to stand beside the sign. Sometimes knowing where to turn around makes for the better road trip.
Caleta Tortel
This one is harder for me to dismiss. A tiny village built along wooden walkways instead of conventional streets, tucked into the landscape beside the water. Getting there takes time and the journey isn't the easiest. But I loved it. If logistics allow, it's exactly the kind of place where I would rather slow down than arrive, photograph it and immediately leave again.
Not every end of the road needs to be reached. Some detours, however, are worth taking.
For the kind of road trip I recommend, I would travel the Carretera Austral between roughly November and March. I've driven the southern section in winter too. It was extraordinary. Snow, mist, almost empty roads and entire landscapes appearing for a few minutes between clouds made Patagonia feel as though it had gone into hibernation. In many ways, it had. Accommodation was difficult to find. Tourism services had largely stopped. Driving was considerably more demanding. I don't regret the experience for a second. But I wouldn't design it as a normal journey for my travellers.
How long do you need?
The Carretera Austral rewards time. You can travel faster, of course. But if every day becomes a race to reach the next village, you lose much of what makes this road special in the first place.
Northern Carretera Austral 10–12 days — My recommendation
Enough time to combine the road, ferries and changing landscapes with places such as Chaitén, Yelcho and Futaleufú — without turning every day into a transfer. Depending on your interests, we can make it more active, more contemplative or even cross into Argentina to experience the extraordinary transition from mountains and forests to Patagonian steppe.
Southern Carretera Austral 8–10 days — My recommendation
A good rhythm for travelling south from Coyhaique while leaving time for the experiences that matter to you: hiking around Cerro Castillo, San Rafael Glacier, the General Carrera Lake, the Baker River, Patagonia National Park or perhaps the detour to Caleta Tortel. Not all of them necessarily need to make the itinerary.
North + South Around 17 days — The full road trip
Combining both sections doesn't mean simply adding the two itineraries together. Some experiences overlap. Some stops become less essential. And the beauty of a tailor-made journey is deciding where your time will be best spent. Seventeen days gives us enough time to experience the transformation of the Carretera Austral without needing to stop everywhere simply because there's a dot on the map.
Have less time?
That's possible too. Rather than squeezing the entire Carretera Austral into too few days, I would choose one section — or even one small part of it — and experience it properly. And if you only have a few days available, there may be another answer altogether. The Puelo region, for example, can offer a taste of that remote, road-trip feeling without adding the logistics of a full Carretera Austral journey.
Good to know
Slow down
I usually plan around two to three hours of driving per day on average. Parts of the Carretera Austral are now paved, while others remain good-quality gravel roads. You don't need to race them. Driving slowly is safer — and missing the landscape because you're concentrating on arriving twenty minutes earlier rather defeats the point.
You don't necessarily need a 4x4
For a classic Carretera Austral itinerary in season, a good SUV is generally enough for the routes I design. More important than having the biggest vehicle is having one you're comfortable driving.
Know how to change a tyre
Punctures are one of the more realistic inconveniences on a gravel road. Rental vehicles have a spare, but knowing how to use it is extremely useful. I also recommend considering the rental company's additional windscreen protection. Gravel and windscreens aren't always the best of friends.
Fuel isn't the great expedition you might imagine
There are fuel stations in the main settlements along the route, including places such as Villa Cerro Castillo, Puerto Río Tranquilo and Cochrane. I still prefer not to run the tank unnecessarily low, but this isn't a journey where you need to carry an expedition's worth of fuel.
Expect to disconnect
Phone coverage disappears frequently between villages. That's part of the journey. You'll generally reconnect when reaching settlements, and internet access has improved considerably even in remote places. For everything in between, enjoy being temporarily unreachable.
Book the beds
The road may feel empty, but accommodation is limited. I recommend booking several months ahead, particularly if you have specific lodges or dates in mind.
Let Patagonia decide sometimes
Weather can affect activities — particularly glacier navigations. A little flexibility in the itinerary matters here.
On the Carretera Austral, having a plan is useful. Being able to change it is even better.
My perfect Carretera Austral day doesn't exist.
Usually, I can tell you exactly what my perfect day in a region would look like. Not here. Because my strongest memories of the Carretera Austral didn't necessarily happen at the places I was trying to reach. They happened in between.
Waking up on a ferry as the fjords appeared in the morning light. Driving beneath mountains so steep I couldn't see their summits. Watching dense forest gradually give way to lakes, glaciers and rivers.
Following a winding road into a valley without knowing what would appear around the next bend. Crossing into Argentina and seeing the mountains slowly disappear into the vastness of the pampa. On the Carretera Austral, the breathtaking moments often happen while you're still moving.
So my perfect day? A good breakfast. A car I trust. No need to rush. And a road ahead of me.
