hi , I'm planning to cycle some part of Chili in Feb/March ! Does anyone have good routes to cycle on and advice on section to do or not to do ! Thanks
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Cycling route in Chili
日, 2017-12-10 08:20
#1
WS Member
Cycling route in Chili
Hi Mario. The most popular routes during that time of year are south of Santiago. One of the most spectacular routes for a bike tour is the Carretera Austral, between Puerto Montt and Villa O'Higgens. This is a more difficult route becaue it has long stretches with no settlements and gravel roads, but the scenery is very rewarding. I backpacked this route last year and saw many bikers. This is the local tourism website: http://recorreaysen.cl/en/atractivos/carretera-austral/.
Thank you Pablo..I will look it up ! Merry a Christmas
Hello Mario,
Tony and I will also cycle in Chile the next months. We are in Buenos Aires right now and plan to go to Patagonia soon to cycle there.
We plan to cycle the carratera Austral I we heard also that it is a great road to cycle.
Let's keep in touch if you like :) Perhaps we'll meet on the road.
Agathe & Tony
Hey. Also the "lake district" in Chile is beautiful. Between Temuco and Puerto Montt ( some parts you can cycle in argentina, which is also amazing lake district). And the nationalpark Conquillo was amazing....its like cycling on the moon because of the old lava from the vulkan. And there are monkey-puzzle-trees which are very rare on the world and just stunning!
depends how many time you have, and which kind of roads you prefere/how experienced you are, you can maybe combine it with the carretera austral. My husband and I cycled 14 month in southamerica - so we also spended some month in Chile. Of course the carretera austral is the highlight because of the landscape. But I wouldn't say that it is difficult - there are many cyclists qho just fly over to cycle this part, so its manageable. As I can remember we never carried food for more then two days and its easy to find water down there.
Enjoy it....if you have more detailed questions, just ask!
I fully agree with Sabrina. Carretera Austral is very beautiful scenery and not very difficult. Further down south the wind might be difficult to handle. Walking from Villa O'Hiigins to El Chalten (Lago Desierto) was easy, but you better be with 2 persons, one pushing, the other steering.
Led a trip there in 2016 and reccied one in 2015, spending 6 weeks there
The area I went to was Puerto Montt and then east to Bariloche, north along the seven lakes road and back into Chile finishing close to Temuco
Notes
1) Tarmac is coming but there are stretches of gravel road, some many km long. Some is like marbles, so take wide tyres and be patient. If you buy the right map, they mark the tarmac with a different colour. The gravel roads are more extensive further south
2) It's not cheap and quite Westernised in this area
3) Volcanoes are amazing, don't miss climbing one from Pucon (Villarica)
4) Traffic is reasonably light
5) If you do cross into Argentina, the customs are tricky. You might need to prove where your bike was bought and have the frame number handy
6) It gets windy further south
7) We stayed in hotels but met quite a few camping cycle tourists
8) Direct flight from UK to Santiago now
It's a lovely country, enjoy
Neil