At Lonely Planet, we love a dream journey. We’re at all times on the lookout for locations that you may't discover anyplace else. And South America has numerous alternatives for adventures that test an merchandise off your bucket listing. This yr, head south and discover towering glaciers, multi-night cruises alongside the Amazon and otherworldly deserts.
Nonetheless, craving extra? That’s the reason we have now gathered eight of the dreamiest journeys to take by way of this expansive continent.
1. Trek into the Wilds of Patagonia in Chile and Argentina
If you're on the highway to nowhere at South America's southern tip, preserve going. There's no reaching Patagonia in a rush, whether or not you arrive bleary-eyed by airplane, on a rumbling in a single day bus or by uneven ferry. However it's immediately value it whenever you first see its toothy granite peaks, piercing blue lakes, booming glaciers and buff-colored steppe veined with silver rivers. Topping each Patagonia must-trek listing is Torres del Paine and its much-raved-about, four-day, 50-mile (80km) 'W' hike. The masterstroke is the huge, iceberg-calving, crushed-meringue-like expanse of the Grey Glacier. Nowadays, you may select your degree of consolation, from wind-pounded tent to refuge dorm mattress to luxe lodge the place you may spherical out a day's hike over steaks and pisco sours.
For fewer crowds, sidestep peak season (November to February) or sort out the harder, remoter, less-hyped eight- to 10-day 'O' circuit. Argentina lures intrepid folks to Parque Nacional Los Glaciares for difficult treks just like the four-day, 40-mile (65km) Huemul Circuit, or you may embark on the long-distance Huella Andina, a 372-mile (600km) stomp throughout Northern Patagonia from Neuquén to Chubut, rounding up 5 nationwide parks. Trek in Patagonia and also you'll curse the depraved winds and merciless climbs. However you'll be again, bearing muddy boots, as there's no place on Earth fairly prefer it.
2. Journey down the Amazon in Brazil
Within the roadless tracts of the Amazon, highways are made from water and outsized ferries are floating buses carrying folks and produce from place to put. Start in Manaus the epicenter for adventures into the jungle. Dozens of lodges lie inside a half-day boat journey from the town, together with riverside spots the place the times are spent monitoring monkeys, macaws and pink river dolphins, and the nights supply immersion within the wondrous cacophony of the rainforest's nocturnal wildlife. It's a sluggish, four-day journey to Belém aboard a triple-decked wood vessel strung with hammocks. Alongside the best way, there are a number of worthwhile locations to interrupt up the journey, together with Santarém, which has a nice riverside promenade, leafy parks and open-sided eating places serving up recent fish from the Amazon. Simply west of Santarém is Alter do Chão, a village fronting an astonishing lagoon full with white-sand seashores and limpid waters best for snorkeling. The boat journey ends at Belém, a charming metropolis close to the mouth of the river. By day, buyers crowd into the huge belle epoque Ver-o-Peso Market, the stalls heaving with unique Amazonian fruits, medicinal crops and the recent catch of the day. Within the night, mates and {couples} collect on the open-air bars and eateries of shore-hugging Estação das Docas, the proper spot to observe the sundown over Guajará Bay.
3. Dwell it up in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janiero has an idyllic setting for a metropolis. Wedged between forest-covered mountains and golden seashores, human life mixes with marmosets skittering by way of leafy parks and capybaras grazing alongside the shores of Lagoa, whereas road markets heave with unique fruits. The wonders of the tropics appear deeply woven into the city cloth right here. When the solar is excessive overhead, there's no higher place to be than Ipanema Seashore. Surfers jockey for house off rocky Arpoador as distributors wind by way of the bikini and sunga (Speedo)-clad crowds proffering agua de coco (coconut water), cerveja (beer) and different chilly drinks. Bronzed our bodies are all over the place – kicking footballs, jogging alongside the water's edge and biking the promenade. Within the night, life takes a unique type. Samba's speedy rhythms draw revelers to Lapa's dancehalls and a bohemian crowd heads for Santa Teresa's hilltop cocktail lounges. With a lot on supply, it's no marvel Cariocas (locals) joke that “Deus é Brasileiro” (God is Brazilian) and couldn't think about dwelling anyplace else.
4. Go to different worlds within the Atacama Desert in Chile
Steam spills from gurgling mud swimming pools as a geyser blasts superheated water into the frosty air. The solar peaks over the mountains, bathing the geothermal area of El Tatio in golden gentle. Strolling amid these sputtering options excessive within the Andes, it's simple to really feel such as you've left Earth behind and landed on one other planet. To the west, the wind creates clever, undulating patterns within the red-gold sand dunes of the aptly named Valle de Marte (Mars Valley). Close by lie the dramatic multihued rock formations of the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley) and shimmering salt lakes that appear as lifeless as the encompassing desert – till a flock of good pink flamingos arrives to feed on brine shrimp and different microorganisms. These are just some of the various astonishing landscapes of the Atacama, one of many oldest and driest deserts on the earth – and the otherworldly wonders don't finish at sunset. With clear skies and little gentle air pollution, the area can be famend for stargazing.
5. Enterprise from the desert to the jungle in Colombia
Colombia's 1000-mile Caribbean shoreline is far more than only a string of palm-fringed seashores. Behind the strips of sand lies a mixture of strident cultures, numerous ecosystems and molded-in-stone historical past. Flush up in opposition to the border with Venezuela, La Guajira stands on the northern tip of the South American continent. The scrubby landscapes, greatest navigated in an off-road car, are inhabited by the Indigenous Wayuu folks, identified for his or her intricate weaving and forthright resistance to colonization. The coast's largest lure for first-time guests is the well-preserved walled metropolis of Cartagena, 249 miles to the west, its primary construction unaltered for hundreds of years, and its allure and mystique unequalled anyplace within the nation. With intimate plazas and durable fortifications, the previous commerce port is an evocative place for lovers of historical past, romance and good meals. You'll discover grittier and fewer crowded city motion in Santa Marta. The coast round Santa Marta is lush and humid, culminating within the small, forested swathe of Parque Nacional Pure Tayrona, a paradise of meandering coastal trails resulting in idyllic swimming spots. The town is used as a base for excursions into the misty mountains of Minca and the remoted trek-in ruins of Ciudad Perdida, a one-time citadel of the pre-Columbian Tayrona civilization. West once more, previous Cartagena, the coast is much less touristy till you attain the Gulf of Urabá, past which lies the skinny jungle-covered Darien Hole isthmus, the place North and South America meet.
6. See evolution in motion on the Galapagos
The world has loads to thank the Galápagos Islands for. Famously linked to Charles Darwin and his principle of evolution, these islands have been by no means a part of the South American mainland, that means crops and animals right here adopted their very own extraordinary paths. Tortoises, freed from predators, grew to become big. Finches, missing competitors, sub-specialized into software customers (woodpecker finch), seed eaters (floor finch) and bloodsuckers (vampire finch), amongst others. Flightless cormorants dive like porpoises, and iguanas feed within the sea. The landscapes are simply as uncommon, various from island to island. Youthful islands like Isabela burst with volcanic exercise, whereas central Santa Cruz options endangered Scalesia forests. Older islands to the east embrace Española, whose flat-topped cliffs are residence to colonies of waved albatross – a fowl so large it wants a runway to get aloft. Whereas it's not possible to see every thing in a single journey, on even a brief cruise, the times are full of once-in-a-lifetime experiences, from recognizing blue-footed boobies in a mating dance to snorkeling over lava formations.
Professional tip: Small (sometimes 16-passenger) cruise ships supply the easiest way to see the islands. Peruse a variety of itineraries with Elsewhere.
7. Marvel at surreal Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia
Driving throughout the blinding white panorama, it's simple to lose all sense of proportion. The horizon vanishes, and mirages type after which soften away on Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni – the biggest salt flats on the planet. The surreal perspective solely intensifies after a rainstorm, when a skinny layer of water creates a mirror-like floor reflecting the sky overhead. Stepping out of the 4WD and throughout this otherworldly terrain is like strolling on the clouds. Excursions from the lofty city of Uyuni (elevation: a whopping 12,140ft/3700m) rumble out to the good sunbaked plains. Alongside the best way, you'll cease at a mountaintop rising from a snow-white sea – or a minimum of that's what Isla Incahuasi resembles. This cactus-covered “island” is all that is still of an historic volcano that was as soon as surrounded by a prehistoric lake. By late afternoon, the blustery desert chilly arrives together with a legendary sundown, because the sky and glass-like earth beneath gentle up in fiery colours.
Professional tip: Quite a few firms supply excursions (sometimes three-day circuits) from Uyuni. It's value paying additional for a good outfit.
8. Encounter historic civilizations and Legendary Ruins in Peru
Peru's unimaginable ruins showcase a wealthy tapestry of pre-Columbian cultures unfold over 5 millennia. From fortified ridgelines within the Andes to mysterious geoglyphs within the Nazca Desert, the nation is scattered with archaeological websites. The misty terraces that embellish the slopes of Machu Picchu are merely a gateway to much less heralded however equally fascinating locations. Whereas none are fairly as spectacular because the fabled “Misplaced Metropolis of the Incas”, many are considerably older, and most are loads much less crowded. The South is an efficient place to start out. With Cuzco as your base, pitch northwest to the ruins and museums of the Sacred Valley. A particular ticket, the boleto turístico, covers a dozen websites right here, together with magnificently terraced Pisac, megalithic Sacsayhuamán and geometrically aligned Ollantaytambo, well-known for its aqueducts and fountains. Save time for the Misplaced Metropolis's smaller sibling, Choquequirao. Typically known as a mini Machu Picchu, it's extra tranquil due to its relative isolation (it's a four-day round-trip hike). A number of websites are simply visited from Peru's large cities. Pachacamac, 20 miles (31km) southeast of the capital, Lima, is an historic citadel with adobe and stone palaces and temple pyramids. Chan Chan, on the coast simply exterior good-looking Trujillo, is the Americas' largest pre-Columbian city and the biggest Adobe metropolis on the earth. Branching off into distant valleys within the snowcapped Cordillera Blanca, you'll should endure lengthy bus rides and skinny air to feast your eyes upon Chavín de Huántar – it's definitely worth the effort, although.
