The Best of Northern Patagonia (Private Group, Guided)

Nine nights in a loop from Pucon through the volcanic Lake District, fully guided and now sold only to private groups. The hire is included, with a long upgrade list.

Pucon sits below Villarrica, then Curacautin by way of Huerquehue National Park, Lago Caburgua and Conguillio, where three lagoons sit among monkey puzzle trees a thousand years old and lava flows from Llaima run through the forest.

Villa Pehuenia follows in Argentina past Volcano Lonquimay and the Crater Navidad lava flow, left by an eruption in 1988 and still bare rock, with the Paso Icalma crossing and Lago Alumine beyond. Bariloche comes next with Lanin on the skyline, the Seven Lakes Route and Nahuel Huapi, and a rest day for the Circuito Chico or, alternatively, whitewater rafting at Futaleufu.

Futaleufu follows back in Chile with Los Alerces National Park, then Hornopiren at the head of the Carretera Austral, with Pumalin National Park and Chaiten, a town largely destroyed by the 2008 eruption that buried it in ash and shifted the river through the middle of it, and two ferry crossings through the fjords. Puerto Varas closes the loop with the Cochamo valley and its granite walls. Prices are quoted in US dollars. Nine nights of active volcanic country with a guide who knows which roads the last eruption closed is a reasonable argument for the private group format. Nine nights also keeps it to a week and a half of leave, and the Lake District is the most comfortable corner of Patagonia: short distances, good hotels and a volcano on most horizons.