Most Inspirational Moment
Sunrise in Patagonia
Thoughts on Group Leader
Miguel
Advice for Potential Travellers
Take a thermos cup and make yourself a coffee at the hotel to take on the bus.
Reviews
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Reviews
Enjoyable trip
An enjoyable trip and you do cover vast distances but for a 13 day trip too much time is spent hanging around in airports.
I note that the itinerary has been tweaked for 2025 so this may help a bit.
One word of warning for solo travellers (apart from the excessive single supplement) is that there are very few group meals. Our guide did not stay in the group hotel at Santiago so for first couple of nights you’re left to your own devices for evening meals. We then flew north to Atacama and again no group meals. Only once we were in the Lake District did guide arrange a group meal one night and then there were group meals all the time in Patagonia.
Scenery in Patagonia was fantastic and we had a couple of decent walks.
Apart from San Pedro de Atacama the hotels were all good although wifi often only in reception area.
Credit and debit cards are accepted everywhere so you don’t need much cash. Wine is cheaper than beer or soft drinks and evening meals no dearer than UK.
Be prepared for a lot of early starts and quite a few breakfast boxes.
Discover Chile
Wonderful
Most Inspirational Moment
Atacama Desert
Thoughts on Group Leader
Absolutely Fab!!!!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Do this trip
Stunning Landscapes
This trip was a great way to see the top highlights while leaving you wanting to explore more! Perfect ‘Discovery’ trip! There are a lot of flights and the airline can move around the timings so you have to be flexible and open to late nights/early starts. There really is no other way to cover so much distance in just 2 weeks. Its well worth the travel as you get to see 2 completely different sides of Chile, the Desert and Salt flats of the North and the Lakes and Mountains of the South, both equally beautiful but very different. The food wasn’t as expensive as I thought, similar pricing to London restaurants so by no means cheap but not unaffordable and if you take some snacks with you its easy to skip lunches as dinner portions in every restaurant we went to are very generous. The hotels were clean, spacious and comfortable. The only pool in use (we were early in the season) was in San Pedro. Both optional excursions are well worth doing but I would recommend doing a little research into star constellations before going to help things make more sense as its a lot of information to take in. Our guide Miguel was very knowledgeable and clearly loves his country and the outdoors we were in good hands especially in the National parks as he knows the area well. He is also a keen photographer so we were going to great photo locations and he was always willing to stop the bus whenever wildlife or a good photo angle was spotted! There are long drives, but the scenery was so beautiful that the drives were just as special as the walks and plenty of stops to stretch our legs or take a photo or toilet stop.
Most Inspirational Moment
The town and location of Puerto Varas is so sweet and beautiful, that was the one area I feel like i could go back to and spend a while enjoying the lakes and mountains, it has inspired me to increase my fitness levels to get back out there for some outdoor activites.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Very funny, laid back, knowledgeable. Was willing to be flexible and move things around if it suited the group or the weather and when one of our flight times changed. He was very sociable and joined us for most meals. He knew every bit of wildlife we saw and was really good at getting us photo opportunities.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Take some snacks in your case for lunches or pack a little lunchbox and make some things at breakfast if you are concerned about spending money. Lunches are the easiest meal to skip and save on! Don't over pack, you will need both warm and cooler clothing due to the two locations but its such a casual tour and no one cared if people were re-wearing things. You have more than enough luggage allowance but you are repacking quite often so keep it simple for yourself. It can be windy down south, take a wrist or neck strap for cameras/phones and have a hat with a chin strap! Don't change money in Santiago airport the rate is terrible, there is an exchange shop just round the corner from the start hotel with a much better rate. Credit cards accepted but everywhere added on a foreign card fee of around 5%. If sensible with belongings/bags I felt more than safe enough having cash for the duration of my trip I just left most in the hotel padlocked in my case and just took out what i needed each day.
Disappointing
This was a trip that is advertised as a culture trip but is most definately is not. There is little emphasis on culture and it should be more accurrately advertised as a nature and photographic trip. While i enjoyed the contrasts bwteeen different parts it was not the trip i thought i was getting.
Most Inspirational Moment
Seeing the majiestic Patagonia mountains and the Lake Grey Glacier
Thoughts on Group Leader
My opinion of the Group leader was very mixed. He did a fantastic job when my luggage got lost on an internal flight, and dealt admirably when our flight got cancelled, but equally continually changed the advertised itinerary and delivered what he had been told to deliver by the local office. There were too many many stops and attempts to add more to an already packed timetable, meant that at times the basic and advertised trip was not delivered. His delivery of the trip was aimed at photographic opportunities directed at the fauna and Flora, rather than delivering a cultural trip, whic may have suited some members of the group, but did not deal with the cultural aspect of theis trip
Advice for Potential Travellers
If you are going on this trip to learn more about the culture of Chile, its history and its people, then this trip is not for you. If you want amazing photographic opportunities of the contrasts between the Atacama desert of the north and the panaramic south of Patagonia then do it. But be prepared for an awful lot of travelling, waiting at airports and the subsequent risk of flights being cancelled or delayed, that does eat into the itinerary. Be prepared to deal with changes in the weather from the +30 degree heat of the northern deserts to the minus tempertures of Patagonia, high altitude excursions and very little downtime. The food is amazing and everything is geared around fish, Lamb and wine.
Reply from Exodus
We would like to thank Paul for his review and were pleased to learn that he enjoyed Patagonia and the Lake Grey Glacier. On the other hand, we were disappointed that he felt there was not enough emphasis on Chilean culture and too much on nature and photography. Chile is of course known for its varied wildlife and stunning scenery and many of our customers appreciate the opportunity to capture this on film. That said, any photography stops should be incorporated into a group’s schedule and should certainly not impact the delivery of the main itinerary. Upon reviewing the feedback submitted by Paul’s group, we are satisfied that this trip was delivered in keeping with our expectations, despite the unfortunate travel disruption they encountered, however our customer services team are in direct contact with Paul to try to address his concerns.
Troy Glennon, Product Manager
Jam-packed holiday
I think this trip should be called Chile Highlights, as you do see best sites of Chile. There is a lot of travelling – planes and buses, so be prepared! Luckily with our trip we didn’t have any plane delays or cancellations, weather also didn’t spoil the plans, which was great! The standard of accommodation was adequate, I particularly liked Hotel Del Paine -mainlyy for the location and views, and Hotel Diego de Almagro (Atacama) had the best facilities and a great location next to centre of San Pedro.
Most Inspirational Moment
So many! Flamingos at Chaxa Lagoon Seeing Milky Way at the Atacama Desert Walk at Osorno Volcano Colourful Valpo the view in Torres del Paine National Park Grey Glacier boat trip
Thoughts on Group Leader
Felipe was great; there was not a question he couldn't answer about Chile and its history or culture. There was a lot to organise on this trip, 4 Flights (including one connection flight), bus transfers - everything worked like clockwork! He reserved dinners for the group for the most evening, all of them were a hit with the group!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Be prepared to move around a lot; there are many plane journeys, so you need to get yourself organised so it doesn't overwhelm you! Packing cubes are handy to organise your luggage. For shopping, any jewellery or home accessories/decoration, the Valporaiseo jewellery shop seemed particularly good! For clothing and textiles, the market at Puerto Montt is excellent and has very good prices! You don't get to return to these places, so you must make some quick decisions.
Great survey of Chile, but a bit hectic!
You see a heck of a lot of Chile. The Atacama and Patagonia were particularly amazing. There is a lot of travel, both internal flights, and driving in mini buses. We had 12 in our group, so usually had a couple of empty seats on our mini buses. I’m glad we didn’t have 16, though perhaps then we’d have gotten slightly larger buses.
Most Inspirational Moment
Staying at the Hotel Del Paine, with a wonderful view of Torres del Paine, was totally cool.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Felipe was fantastic. He had to do a lot of improvising, and did it well. Some things haven't totally reopened since covid. On our day trip to Valparaiso, he had trouble finding a lunch spot opened on Tuesdays, but had a friend with a newly opened restaurant, which was great! Felipe is obviously a very experienced guide. He said it was his first trip since the one he was leading when everything shutdown in March 2020.
Advice for Potential Travellers
We had a bad experience with the glacier boat trip at Grey Lake. We had to pay in advance, but then the weather was too bad, and the trip was cancelled. At first, they said they wouldn't refund our money, but then relented. However, we had to push to get the local Chilean agency, Turavion, to actually follow through on the refunds. The 6 people who used credit cards got their refund, but those of us who used debit cards did not. Turavion couldn't figure out how to refund us, which I found surprising. At any rate, 2 months later, I'm still out almost $500. I've disputed it with my bank, and they are working on it. So at the very least, my advice is to pay with a credit card.
Review of Discover Chile trip
An excellent introduction to Chile, it was very interesting to see the different climate regions, desert, Santiagio, Lakes and Patagonia. The group blended particularly well together. There were plenty of great photography moments. Felipe (our guide) was excellent.
Most Inspirational Moment
The boat trip to the glaciers was excellent. The blue ice was spectacular!
Thoughts on Group Leader
Felipe was excellent. he guided us to some excellent restaurants and was. He was very personable and receptive to the wishes of the group and provided his wide knowledge of Chile without talking too much. The short visit to his home where he showed us his artwork was fantastic. I felt that sometimes he could have given us a slightly clearer plan for the day.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Inevitably there is a lot of travel and in particular several days were spent relocating. These involved early starts which was fine for me since it meant more time in the destination.
Disappointing
We booked our own flights with BA and flew direct from Heathrow to Santiago and back again with no problems. We were told to beware picking up a taxi at the airport so pre booked one with Exodus. It was not there when we exited the airport and we had 15 minutes of hassle from taxi touts before it arrrived. Not a good start. After our Day Visit to Valparaiso we were told to be in the Hotel lobby ready to leave at 9.00 am for our flight to Calama. 3 hours later we get a phone call ( or note pushed under the door) to say the flight has been changed and we are now to meet at 4.00 am !!!. This happened with 2 more of our scheduled flights leaving earlier but only being told at the very last minute. On one flight we did not get the late message at all and had a 5am knock on the door whilst still in bed, saying the coach was waiting to leave. In the scrabble to get dressed and pack our cases my wife lost an expensive braclet. These last minute flight changes also meant missing 3 decent hotel breakfasts and instead having a “picnic” box of a dried sandwich, biscuit and drink. Most went into the bin. As a consequnce of the early departure from Calama, we then had to wait over 4 hours in Santiago airport for our connecting flight to Puerto Montt. Fortunately the group did not let it spoil our holiday and the Atacama and Patagonia were both excellent experiences. We have been on about 20 guided tours all over the world (including 6 in Central/South America )with various companies and have graded them 4/5 stars. This was our first with Exodus.
Most Inspirational Moment
Walking in the High Atacama Desert.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Felipe was a very nice person. He was personable and helpful on a one to one basis. He also had some nice touches in organising things for the group. But, unfortunately, he was not a strong group leader. For the first few days he did not give clear instructions on where and when to meet. On the walk around Santiago we just wandered around some streets with little idea of their history or what to look for. He was not able to project his voice to cover our group of 14. There were also lots of little things, like when we were in the Atacama we constantly had to ask for the air conditioning to be switched on in the mini bus. Luckily, we had a very compatible and easy going group and over the 2 weeks we found our own ways of working things out. I could see him leading a small Private Tour very effectively.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Of the 12 days in Chile, half of the time is, in effect, spent in travelling. Prices in Chile are at least comparable or more expensive than in the UK. Even the same Chilean wine that you can buy in the UK is more expensive there. Consider booking your own flghts to avoid long changeovers.
Discover Chile
Our guide Alex Aguilera was fantastic! He organised the group really well, was a fund of information and always on hand to answer queries. The trip was varied and really interesting. The standard of the accommodation apart from Santiago, was quite basic but adequate. The meal by the local lady on the way back from the geysers, was poor, but apart from that, all the breakfasts were fine.
Most Inspirational Moment
Torres del Paine in Patagonia.
Thoughts on Group Leader
As mentioned above, he was FANTASTIC! Highly recommended.
Advice for Potential Travellers
No
After COVID - first long haul for us, first tour for Exodus in Chile
Very good tour but with a few niggles. This was the first Discover Chile tour for 2 years, both for Exodus and for our guide.
The first niggle was that the guide didn’t have accurate or complete guest arrival information. My wife and I were successfully met at the airport the day before the official land tour start. However the guide didn’t have any information about four guests and thought that the remaining guest was only arriving the next day ( which meant she would be quarantining). So the Santiago tour was cancelled. My wife and I went on our own to explore, as the guide was expecting to have to meet the remaining guest. However it turned out that all of the other guests had arrived before us and turned up in the hotel lobby for the tour. The guide tried to contact us but we didn’t see the messages until it was too late to join her.
There was some confusion for one of the plane trips where our tickets were all marked as standby! We all got on but it was confusing.
For our stay in Punta Varas it was a little disconcerting when many of the restaurants closed at 7. This also surprised the guide, who hadn’t been to the town for 2 years.
We also missed out on the boat trip in the lakes because of a landslip and the back-up view from the ski resort was stopped by treacherous sleeting weather. It felt like there could have been an extra day in the Lakes region.
The first breakfast in the hotel in Puerto Natales was very disappointing, but they made a much better breakfast the next time. Perhaps they were rusty after a long break from foreign tourism.
In all the to-ing and fro-ing with Easter Island extensions our final transfer to the airport dropped off. Not a big issue because the guide sorted us out very efficiently.
The scenery was stunning throughout and more than made up for any long journeys