Chile and Argentina: Patagonia Expedition (Southbound)

Sixteen nights through Patagonia from Puerto Varas in Chile down to Punta Arenas, ridden self-guided with the route supplied. Bikes are rented, or riders can bring their own.

Puerto Varas starts it, a lakeside town founded by German settlers with two volcanoes on the skyline. The Carretera Austral follows, which is the reason to come at all: technical tarmac through forest, fjords and mountains, with fields of lupins along the verges in summer, running south to Coyhaique.

A ferry crosses from Puerto Ibanez to Chile Chico, which gets two nights, with a gravel ride-out, walking in what the operator fairly calls a lunar landscape, horse trekking, and a boat to the Marble Caves, where the water has cut caverns and columns into banded marble headlands.

The crossing into Argentina leads to Gregores along the wildest and remotest stretches of Ruta 40, through desert with llamas on it, then the route continues south towards Tierra del Fuego. A king penguin colony and an 80 kilometre gravel coastal ride come next, then a night at the small port of Porvenir, and the final leg to Punta Arenas. Most of the off-road is optional, though a few gravel sections are unavoidable. The price is quoted per rider. Self-guided suits Patagonia better than it sounds: there are very few roads to choose between, the navigation is simple, and the freedom to sit out a day of weather is worth having. The route notes, the bookings and the ferries are all arranged in advance, so what the rider gives up is company rather than support.