Chile’s Norte Grande offers surpassingly beautiful desert landscapes and high plateaus with unique fauna and flora. Numerous national parks and reserves have been created to protect the delicate ecology of the area while providing access to the public. This region presents a combination that includes a unique landscape with impressive geological formations, geysers, thermal oases, archaeological treasures, charming villages and the Atacama Desert, the driest in the word, with its salt flats and Andean lagoons.
In the Norte Chico, vegetation is more abundant in the western part of this area. The flora is composed mainly of cacti and desert shrubs, but the rainy season gives way to the "Blooming Desert",when a large portion of the dry land is covered with colorful flowers. Clear skies and beautiful beach resorts can be enjoyed year round.
Central Chile is not only the geographic center of the country, but also the country’s cultural and economic axis. This is Chile’s most populated area. Located in this region are the coastal cities of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, and the capital city of Santiago. This part of the country portrays abundant vegetation, Mediterranean climate and its agricultural valleys.
Southern Chile is a place of abundant green forests, lakes, and rivers. A region of national parks and ecological reserves, it is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, and its residents enjoy constant rains. Scattered throughout the south are quaint towns such as Puerto Varas, Puerto Montt and Castro, along with cities of growing importance such as Concepción, Temuco, and Valdivia.
The Patagonia region of Chile reveals a world of adventure and interesting destinations to be discover. Visiting the glaciers, fjords, islands and channels in diverse types of embarkations offers access to terrain of unusual beauty. Undoubtedly, the main landmark of this region is the Torres del Paine National Park. Created in 1959 and declared by the UNESCO a biosphere reserve in 1978, has a surface area approximately 242,242 hectares. It is located between the Andes mountain range and the Patagonia plains that gradually descend to the ocean. Its climate is trans-Andean and freezing in the high parts. It rains sporadically, although not heavily, and its winds may reach speeds of up to 75 miles per hour. The park’s main attractions are the massive rocky peaks that dominate the scenery, followed by its innumerable lakes, lagoons and rivers, along with icebergs and glaciers.
