Patagonia Top Ten – the best things you need to experience!
At Ride Expeditions, we are addicted to motorcycle adventures. From our very first tours in Cambodia, to our ever popular Himalayan rides and our epic journeys across South Africa and Mongolia, we just love riding bikes and exploring all over the world.
But there can be few journeys more exciting than one that takes you to the end of the world. Buts that’s exactly what our Patagonia adventure does – travelling from Pucón in the North of Chile, all the way to Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaia at the very bottom of South America – The End of the World Tour is truly spectacular from start to finish.
So we thought we’d look at our Top Ten for this epic trip – the things that made our jaws drop, the places that filled us with wonder and the views that will stay with us for a lifetime.
1. Torres Del Paine National Park
OK straight away we are in with a big hitter and you can’t get much bigger than the landscapes in this incredible place. Situated around 70 miles to the north of the pretty little town of Puerto Natales in Chilian Patagonia, this vast National Park has a positive embarrassment of natural wonders from enormous glaciers to soaring mountain, incredible lakes and crashing rivers.
The park covers over 700 square miles and borders two other national parks, their protected status ensuring that the epic landscapes are preserved. Luckily, Ride Expeditions stop off at Puerto Natales for a couple of days on the Worlds End tour, allowing riders a full day to ride through and explore this magical place.
2. Perito Moreno Glacier
If you are looking for truly jaw dropping natural spectacles, you are going to love this one. Located in the Los Glaciares National Park in Argentine Patagonia, it’s hard to overstate just how astounding this glacier is.
The ride of around 50 miles from El Calafate is impressive enough as it snakes west into the National Park, but nothing can quite prepare you for the view as you round the corner an get your first glimpse of the vast blue walls of the glacier that sits over Lake Argentina. At over 19 miles long and covering an area of 97 square miles, the Perito Moreno Glacier fills you view in every direction.
To get a close up look at the towering cliffs of the glacier, there’s a boat service that will take you there, and you can even take a walking tour onto the top of it, an experience worth every penny. But for us, the view from the visitor centre that sits over the very end of the glacier is one of the best, allowing you to take in the incredible size and scale of the massive ice field.
3. The Route of Seven Lakes
So, number three on our list is high up at the north of Argentina, starting just outside San Martin de Los Andes, an attractive little town that sits on the end of Lake Lacar. The ‘Ruta de Los Siete Lagos’ as it is more correctly called is a truly joyful road that carves it’s way through the stunning landscape past those seven beautiful lakes as it tracks south
It’s no surprise that this area is often known as ‘Little Switzerland’ as the mountains, lakes and cool coniferous forests have a distinctly Alpine feel as you sweep along the perfect tarmac towards the largest lake in the region, Lake Nahuel Huapi, having passed Lakes Espero, Correntoso, Escondido, Villarino, Falner and Machonico on the way.
For motorcyclists, this stretch of Route 40 is one of the best in the region and rivals anything that Alpine routes can offer. And on a KTM 890R with the sun in the sky, we think you’ll be forced to agree.
4. IPA or APA
So for a moment we are going to step away from epic landscapes and natural wonders, and instead go to a truly unexpected treat at the end of the day in the saddle. And that is the fact that Patagonia seems to have a particularly diverse and thriving craft beer industry. In almost every town there’s a host of locally and nationally brewed beers from a seemingly vast network of small and microbreweries.
Top on our list for it’s wonderful selection of cool bars serving wonderful craft beer is Coyhaique. This bustling little Chilean town is definitely recommended for a stop off if you are riding or driving the road to the ‘End of the World’ and once you’ve parked up, a walk into the town will give you plenty of options for great food and perhaps more importantly, great beer.
But just a hint – the locals call the beers as if IPA and APA were actual words, rather than the Initials of Indian Pale Ale and American Pale Ale. Our favourite? Patagonia IPA of course – delicious!
5. Lake General Carrera / Lake Buenos Aires
Stradling both Chile and Argentina and hence having two different names, this vast lake covers an astounding 700 square miles. The road leading to the lake from the north at Puerto Murta offers precious little views of what is ahead until you crest the hill to be greeted by the almost unbelievable topaz waters of the lake. As with many rivers in the area, the bright colour comes from the dissolved minerals within the water of this glacial lake, and without doubt it is one of the most stunning lakes you could hope to visit.
Surrounded by the Andes, Lake General Carrera is understandably popular with tourists, and as the End of the World route goes along the lower half of the lake – and there is a petrol station at Puerto Tranquillo – attracts hordes of motorcyclists as the make their way south. And for Ride Expeditions it’s the same, with our tour stopping for two nights at the far end of the lake in beautiful lakeside lodges. It’s a chance to chill out and take in the scenery, and maybe even visit the truly wonderful spectacle of the marble caves on the shoreline by Puerto Tranquillo. You’ll need a boat to see them, but it’s so worth it!
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6. Los Alceres National Park – Route 71
Ok, so it’s not so much about the park this time, it’s more about the epic gravel road that passes through the park and out the other side. Starting at the far end of the typically beautiful Lake Futalaufquen – No we can’t pronounce it – this section of Route 71 is pure gravel riding heaven from start to finish.
Ok so if you are an off-road virgin, them you might need to fine tune your off-road riding skills before taking on this type of challenge, but if you are already a committed dirt rider, this road will make you grin for hours on end. With little traffic, wonderfully sweeping curves and super grippy and predictable gravel to keep your tyres firmly planted, it’s a question of getting up on the pegs and turning that throttle and get your drift on.
And if the gravel trail were not enough to make it the best day ever, as you leave the park and the rough stuff behind, the road beyond takes things to another level. With new and perfectly smooth tarmac for mile after mile, the road snakes on for miles, urging you to scrape off the hero blobs like never before. Life affirming stuff right there!
7. El Chaltén
Set in the Northern end of the Los Glaciares National park, the small village of El Chaltén is both a delight to ride to and spend some time in. The road that takes you to this little gem is just off the infamous Route 40, and hanging a right takes you onto Route 23 that runs alongside the North shores of Lake Viedma and its deep turquoise water. But although you might be momentarily distracted by the lake, it’s the view of the distant snow-covered mountains that demands your attention. From the jagged peak of the almost comically triangular Mount Fitzroy to the peaks of Cordon Mariano Moreno and Cerro Torre, these are mountains turned up to 11.
The town itself is a mecca for tourists and particularly hikers who like nothing better than lacing up their boots and heading for the Laguna Torre Trail that will take them high up into the mountains for truly exceptional views and vistas of glaciers, lakes and those achingly beautiful mountains.
For those with a slightly less athletic appetites, the main drag in the village is generously populated with cool bars and restaurants serving everything from tasty tapas to enormous Argentine steaks. If you are looking for a recommendation, we loved the Bourbon Steakhouse – craft beers, great food and a great choice of tunes. Garlic Fries, a pint of IPA and some 90s Hip Hop – that will do for us!
8. Route 3 – Terra Del Fuego
So if you are going to ride to the End of the World, you are going to end up on this truly iconic road. Whether you take the longer ferry crossing from Punta Arenas to Porvenir, or chose the longer route north from Punta Arenas and round to the short crossing at Puerto Progreso. Both routes will take you via Route 257 to Route 3 – the road that travels a breath-taking 200 or so miles down to Ushuaia and then on to the End of the world at Bahía Lapataia – which unsurprisingly is the end, and indeed the start of Route 3.
Much of Route 3 tracks the Eastern coast as it travels south and although the views and can be truly spectacular, the frequently strong winds that lash the landscape can make riding this section particularly challenging, and you’ll need to be on you’re A game for this part of the journey. But when the road eventually cuts inland, the wide open planes are eventually replaced with forests either side of the road, the branches of the almost skeletal trees draped with pale green lichen blowing in the wind.
And as if this wasn’t enough, the final part of the road before you hit Ushuaia leads you into another Alpine landscape as you climb towards the epic Garibaldi Pass and the stunning views back towards Lake Escondido. It can be pretty cold up here and we’ve often had snow falling as we ride the roads, but it’s worth every second as Route 3 begins the long descent to Ushuaia. This could be one of the best roads you will ever ride.
9. King Crab In Ushuaia
So as the last town before you quite literally fall off the end of the world, getting to Ushuaia is one hell of an achievement and deserves some serious celebration. And what better in the most southerly port in Argentina than to stock up on the local delicacy of King Crab. And there are plenty of Crab restaurants to chose from in downtown Ushuaia, with many of them on the main shopping street – Avenue San Martin.
Based on nothing more than we liked the quirky look of the brightly painted exterior and the homely feel inside, we went to La Casa de Los Mariscos – and as that means the House of Seafood, it sounded like a good choice. And we were certainly not disappointed – monster portions and more delicious King Crab than we could ever eat, washed down with Argentine beer – the perfect end of tour blowout.
10. The End of the World - at Bahía Lapataia
It’s appropriate that last on out list is the last place you can drive to on the iconic Route 3. It’s a bit of a way beyond Ushuaia, the tarmac road heading west beyond the houses before turning to a gravel road as it enters the Tiera Del Fuego National Park and you need to get there early as by 9.00 AM it’s flooded with tourists .
If you are on an adventure bike, it’s another joyful slice of dirt riding as the road meanders through the forests, and you’d have to be a very dour motorcyclists to not want to slide out the back end on the corners and blast along the gravel trail on the pegs.
As you pass the Senda Costera hiking area at the end of Lake Roca, the road starts to skip over inlets and rivers of the Laguna Verde area before eventually arriving in the large car park at Bahía Lapataia. From here you’ll have to leave the bike and take the raised pathways to reach the viewpoints that looking out into the coastal fjord and towards the Islas de Tiera del Fuego.
OK with quite so much land in front of you it’s hard to really feel you are at the end of the world, but if you’ve travelled all the way down through South America to get here, it’s a pretty special place with views that are hard to beat.
You’ve made it to the End of the World – and that feels Epic!
