Chile: Top to Toe

Fly to Chile's sophisticated capital Santiago, arriving the same day. Depending on your time of arrival the rest of the day is yours to start soaking up the local culture.

Travel to the coast to visit the bohemian port town of Valparaíso. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Valparaíso is a unique and delightful tangle, draped over a series of hills. Funiculars connect the industrial seafront with the cerros (hill) neighbourhoods, each a maze of colourful, artfully-dilapidated mansions and enchanting street art. Ride the funicular up into the hills to explore and discover the hidden treasures such as art galleries, breweries, coffee shops and the house of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's house.

Transfer to the airport and fly to the northern city of Calama, from where you will drive to the desert oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama before enjoying a local lunch in Ayllu de Coyo. Explore some of San Pedro's most famous landscapes with a drive out to Death Valley and Moon Valley, some of the driest spots on the planet. With lonely volcanoes populating the horizon, enjoy the views and the silence as the afternoon sun turns the hues of the rock from orange, to red to purple.

Spend the day exploring the otherworldly Salar de Atacama, the largest salt flat in Chile. Journey under the watchful gaze of barren mountains, passing salt lakes full of flamingos, to reach Miscanti and Miñiques lagoons, which sit on the high plains at the base of two colossal volcanoes of the same names. The lagoons are astonishingly blue, whilst the salt deposits around the water's edge are brilliantly coloured.

Rise early to travel deeper into the Atacama to visit El Tatio. Set within a ring of volcanoes, there are about 80 lively geysers and fumaroles, which are at their best at sunrise. In the afternoon, you'll see the Rainbow Valley and the petroglyphs of Yerbas Buenas. Enjoy stargazing this evening. Atacama is considered to be the best place in the world for stargazing. So relax, sit back and look upwards.

Transfer back to Calama and fly south to Puerto Montt, the gateway to Chile's spectacular Lake District. Travel on to Puerto Varas, a charming town on Llanquihue Lake, overlooked by two snow-capped volcanoes.

Travel further around Llanquihue Lake to the village of Ensenada at the foot of Osorno Volcano, where you'll take an easy hike on the volcano's verdant slopes to reach the Osorno Ski Mountain Centre at 1,240 metres. Travel through Perez Rosales National Park to Petrohué Falls, where boardwalks will help you admire the turquoise waters and lush greenery of the Petrohué River.

Visit the City Central Market this morning on the way to Puerto Montt. Fly to Punta Arenas followed by a ground transfer to Puerto Natales, arriving at your hotel in the late evening.

Set sail on the gloomily named Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) Fjord, a body of water that is set in a magnificent landscape. Cruise to the Mount Balmaceda Glacier, where as well as a tumbling wall of ice to admire, you'll spot cormorants and sea lions. Continue to the end of the fjord and take a short walk through native forest to the foot of the magnificent Serrano Glacier, part of the Southern Ice Field.

Patagonia is a spectacular destination in general, but the jewel in the crown is the UNESCO World Heritage-designated Torres del Paine National Park. Packed with waterfalls, lakes, glaciers and rugged peaks, the park's best-known view is of the jagged granite towers from which the park takes its name. Spend the day amongst this breathtaking example of resplendent nature, with visits to Salto Grande waterfall, Pehoe and Grey lakes, Milodón Cave and Grey Glacier.

Transfer back to Punta Arenas and fly to Santiago, with a farewell dinner in a local restaurant.

Fly to New Zealand, arriving home two days later.