Self-Launched Ushuaia to Cartagena: Patagonia, Chile's Fjords & the Andean Coast on Land and Local Ferries

Fly into Ushuaia (USH) — from Buenos Aires either direct from Ezeiza/Aeroparque, ~£90-140 one-way. Local taxi from the airport is ~£8. Check into a hostel in the centre and walk the waterfront, sampling Patagonian lamb and a Beagle Channel sunset. Sort your Torres del Paine and Chiloé logistics tonight.

🚌Taxi from airport ~£8

🛏Central hostel dorm, Ushuaia (~£16-20/night)

• →Waterfront walk and maritime museum area
• →Sort onward bus and border logistics

Take the local shuttle bus (combis from the tourist office, ~£10 return) into Tierra del Fuego National Park for the Coastal Path and Bahía Lapataia, then in the afternoon hike up to Martial Glacier on foot from town. Evening drink and set your early bus for Punta Arenas.

🚌Local combi to park ~£10 return

🛏Central hostel dorm, Ushuaia

• →Tierra del Fuego National Park day pass (~£12)
• →Martial Glacier hike (free)
• →Beagle Channel boat trip option (~£25)

Morning boat trip on the Beagle Channel to see sea lions and the Les Eclaireurs lighthouse (~£25 via a local operator — plus a few hours at Estancia Harberton if you take the longer tour). Then the overland crossing: Ushuaia to Punta Arenas by bus with a change in Río Gallegos (or direct daily bus in high season), roughly 12 hours overnight.

🚌Beagle Channel boat ~£25; Ushuaia-Punta Arenas bus ~£40-55

🛏Overnight bus

• →Beagle Channel sea lion and lighthouse boat trip
• →Border crossing into Chile

Pick your version of G Adventures' included options: either a local agency full-day estancia trip with gaucho lunch and sheep-shearing (~£45-60), or the city version — cemetery, Museo Regional Braun-Menéndez (free/nominal), then a local bus or taxi to the Magellan Forest Reserve at Reserva Nacional Magallanes for a half-day hike (~£8).

🚌Local bus/taxi to reserve ~£8

🛏Hostel dorm, Punta Arenas (~£15-18)

• →Estancia visit with lunch OR city museums + Magallanes forest hike
• →Visit the waterfront and Punta Arenas market

Morning bus ~3 hours to Puerto Natales (~£10-14). Sort a Torres del Paine day tour with a local agency for tomorrow, then walk the colourful corrugated-tin streets and the Last Hope Sound waterfront, eat at a cheap set-menu restaurant.

🚌Bus Punta Arenas-Puerto Natales ~£10-14

🛏Hostel dorm, Puerto Natales (~£15-18)

• →Last Hope Sound waterfront walk
• →Book Torres del Paine tour

Full-day shared minibus tour into Torres del Paine with a local agency (bookable on GetYourGuide or direct on arrival, ~£40-55) covering Salto Grande, the Cuernos viewpoint, Lago Grey and a stretch of the W if you choose a hiking variant. Kit: windproof layers.

🚌Shared tour minibus included in tour price

🛏Hostel dorm, Puerto Natales

• →Torres del Paine National Park full-day tour (park entry ~£25 extra)

The overland version of G's fjord sailing: take the bus north on the Carretera Austral spine via Puerto Montt over two days. Today's leg: Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt (overnight bus ~£35-45), or break the journey at Coyhaique depending on the season — the Chile Interior road gives you the cypress fjords, river valleys and canyons that the cruise sees from the water.

🚌Puerto Natales-Puerto Montt bus ~£38

🛏Overnight bus

• →Scenic Carretera Austral route
• →Fjord and valley views from the road

Morning bus from Puerto Montt across the Chacao Channel to Ancud or Castro (~£12-15). Check into a hospedaje palafito, wander the waterfront palafitos and the yellow-and-purple Iglesia San Francisco. Cook for yourself tonight to keep costs low.

🚌Bus Puerto Montt-Castro ~£13

🛏Hospedaje/palafito dorm, Castro (~£15-18)

• →Palafito waterfront walk
• →Iglesia San Francisco (UNESCO)

G Adventures' included Chiloé excursion, DIY style: hire a local colectivo driver or shared tour (~£30-40) to hit the UNESCO churches of Nercón and Dalcahue, the woodcraft market, and the penguins at Puñihuil if in season. Lunch at a curanto stand — Chiloé's clam-and-potato feast.

🚌Shared colectivo tour ~£35

🛏Hospedaje/palafito dorm, Castro

• →Chiloé UNESCO churches circuit
• →Dalcahue craft market
• →Puñihuil penguin colony (seasonal)

Bus or the Chiloé-Ancud route back to Puerto Montt, then the overnight bus to Santiago (~£30-40), or fly Puerto Montt-Santiago with Sky/JetSMART for ~£35-60 if you'd rather save a day. Overnight bus keeps the budget intact.

🚌Castro-Puerto Montt ~£10; Puerto Montt-Santiago overnight bus ~£35

🛏Overnight bus

• →Travel day

Recover in Santiago: walk the Centro, Cerro San Cristóbal cable car (~£7), the markets at Mercado Central, and sort your onward bus to Arica or a cheap flight north (LATAM/Sky Calama or Iquique). Cheap direct flight to Arica/Iquique saves two days and can cost under £50.

🚌Metro and bus ~£4

🛏Hostel dorm, Santiago (~£16-20)

• →Cerro San Cristóbal
• →Mercado Central lunch
• →Estación Central bus booking

The cheapest route into Peru is bus from Arica to Tacna (1.5h, ~£6) and onward to Arequipa (overnight bus ~£12-18), or a cheap flight. Get your Peru migration card at the border. Cross-border informal drivers are fine between Arica and Tacna but avoid unlicensed taxis after dark.

🚌Arica-Tacna ~£6; Tacna-Arequipa bus ~£14

🛏Overnight bus

• →Peru border crossing
• →Duty-free Tacna strip (legitimate shops only)

Free day in the white-stone city: Santa Catalina Monastery (~£7), the Colca Canyon viewpoints if you add a day, the rooftop terraces, and a menu-del-día lunch for £2-3. Cafes and nightlife in the Barrio San Lázaro.

🚌Walking/taxis ~£4

🛏Hostel dorm, Arequipa (~£8-12)

• →Santa Catalina Monastery
• →San Lázaro neighbourhood
• →Local markets

This replaces G Adventures' included Day 21 Nazca stop — same experience, booked locally. Overnight bus Arequipa to Nazca (~£12-16). Take a local tour to Chauchilla Cemetery (~£15-20 incl. transport and guide) to see 1,500-year-old mummies and pottery in the desert, plus a working potter's studio, and a Nazca Lines mirador viewpoint (~£2) or, if you want the flight, a small-plane flight over the lines (~£65-90).

🚌Arequipa-Nazca overnight bus ~£14; local tour transport

🛏Hostel dorm, Nazca (~£9-12)

• →Chauchilla Cemetery tour
• →Nazca potter's studio
• →Optional Nazca Lines overflight (~£75)

Long bus day up through the Andes via Abancay to Cusco (~£15-22, 12-14h overnight) — or a short hop flight if a cheap fare appears. Acclimatise with coca tea, sort your Machu Picchu arrangements (train + entry tickets sell out, book ahead online), and take it easy at 3,400m.

🚌Nazca-Cusco overnight bus ~£18

🛏Hostel dorm, Cusco (~£9-13)

• →Andean bus crossing
• →Book Machu Picchu entry and Ollantaytambo train online

The Cusco city tour G Adventures includes, done independently: Qorikancha (~£4), the Cathedral (~£4), Sacsayhuamán, Q'enqo and Tambomachay on a combined tourist ticket (~£12) reached on foot or by local combi. Evening in San Blas.

🚌Local combi ~£2

🛏Hostel dorm, Cusco

• →Qorikancha
• →Sacsayhuamán and the four ruins
• →San Blast galleries and bars

Take a local colectivo to Pisac (~£2) for the ruins and market, hire a shared taxi/van to Lamay where you eat lunch at the community-run Parwa restaurant (~£6-9) — the same farm-to-table project G Adventures supports via Planeterra, but you pay the restaurant directly. Onward to Ollantaytambo via the Ccaccaccollo women's weaving co-op (buy directly from the weavers).

🚌Colectivos and shared vans ~£8 total

🛏Hostel/guesthouse, Ollantaytambo (~£10-14)

• →Pisac ruins and market (~£8)
• →Lunch at Parwa Community Restaurant
• →Ccaccaccollo weaving co-op (buy direct)
• →Ollantaytambo ruins (~£12)

Early Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes train (~£45-55 one way on PeruRail Expedition/IncaRail — book weeks ahead), then bus up to the citadel (~£10 return) for a timed entry to Machu Picchu (official ticket ~£38, Huayna Picchu or Circuit 3 extra if wanted). A licensed shared guide at the gate is ~£10-15; or self-tour with the site map. Stay overnight in Aguas Calientes and soak in the hot springs.

🚌Train ~£50, bus up ~£10

🛏Guesthouse, Aguas Calientes (~£14-20)

• →Machu Picchu entry (~£38)
• →Shared licensed guide (~£12)
• →Hot springs

Early re-entry if you bought a two-day ticket, otherwise descend mid-morning, train back to Ollantaytambo (~£50) or take the slower, cheaper local route via Hidroeléctrica (collectivo + 3h walk or shared van, ~£10 total) if you're keen. Bus back to Cusco in the evening (~£5).

🚌Train/van + bus ~£15-55

🛏Hostel dorm, Cusco

• →Market shopping in Cusco
• →Recovery day

Cheap flight Cusco-Lima with Sky/LATAM/JetSMART (~£35-60) rather than the 22-hour bus. Evening in Miraflores: the Malecón clifftop walk, Kennedy Park, cheap ceviche at a mercado.

🚌Flight ~£45; airport bus ~£5

🛏Hostel dorm, Lima Miraflores (~£10-14)

• →Malecón sunset walk
• →Ceviche and anticuchos

Flight Lima to Guayaquil (~£60-90) with Avianca/Viva, then a bus or shared van north to Puerto López (~£5-8, 3.5h). Note: Peru-Ecuador land borders (Tumbes/Huaquillas) are also doable by bus for ~£20 but slow. Sort your Isla de la Plata tour for tomorrow at the Puerto López agencies tonight.

🚌Flight ~£75; bus Guayaquil-Puerto López ~£7

🛏Beach hostel, Puerto López (~£8-12)

• →Beach arrival
• →Book Isla de la Plata tour

G Adventures' included 'Isla de la Plata wildlife excursion', booked direct with a local operator or via GetYourGuide (~£30-40 incl. boat, guide, snorkel gear and lunch). Blue-footed boobies, frigatebirds, and a snorkel at a coral reef — the 'poor man's Galápagos'.

🚌Tour boat included

🛏Beach hostel, Puerto López

• →Isla de la Plata boat tour
• →Snorkelling
• →Whale watching in season (Jun-Sep) ~£20 extra

Bus to Manta or Guayaquil (~£6-8), then overnight bus or a cheap flight to Quito (~£20-45). Rest in Quito's colonial centre (a UNESCO site) — cheap hostels in La Mariscal or Centro Histórico.

🚌Bus + flight/bus ~£30

🛏Hostel dorm, Quito (~£9-13)

• →Quito historic centre evening walk

Basílica del Voto Nacional tower climb (~£2), the Panecillo, and a local bus to the Mitad del Mundo equator monument (~£4 return) if you want the cliché. Book your flight Quito-Panama City for tomorrow — Copa and Wingo often have fares under £120.

🚌Trolebus/local buses ~£4

🛏Hostel dorm, Quito

• →Basílica del Voto Nacional
• →Mitad del Mundo
• →La Ronda evening street scene

Flight Quito to Panama City (~£110-150). Afternoon in Casco Viejo: the colonial squares, the seawall, and cheap rum cocktails. Sort your Darien, Miraflores and San Blas bookings through local agencies tonight — San Blas requires an agency, there's no independent access.

🚌Flight ~£130; airport taxi ~£18

🛏Hostel dorm, Casco Viejo/El Cangrejo (~£12-16)

• →Casco Viejo walk
• →Book Darien, Miraflores and San Blas tours

Day trip to an Emberá community on the Chagres river (~£70-90 with local agency, or ~£45-60 if you join a shared departure): motorised canoe upriver, traditional village visit, lunch, and dancing — the 'Darien Jungle and Emberá tribe visit' from G's itinerary run by a community-owned operator.

🚌Agency transport and motorised canoe included

🛏Hostel dorm, Panama City

• →Emberá community visit by motorised canoe
• →Traditional lunch and craft market

Visit the Miraflores Visitor Centre (~£15) to watch the locks in action and the canal museum — the 'Shaping of Panama and Miraflores Locks' experience. If you want to actually transit, book a partial canal transit (~£65-80) or the cheap public option: the Panama Canal Railway to Colón (~£15-25) and back.

🚌Metro/taxi ~£5

🛏Hostel dorm, Panama City

• →Miraflores Locks and museum
• →Optional partial canal transit (~£70)
• →Panama Canal Railway option

G Adventures visits San Blas from the ship. Independently: book a 2-day/1-night San Blas island package with a Guna-operated agency (~£90-130, includes 4x4 from Panama City, boat, hammock/cabaña and meals) — you'll sleep on a tiny island with the Guna, snorkel, and eat fresh lobster if your budget allows.

🚌4x4 and boat included in agency package

🛏Basic Guna cabaña or hammock, San Blas (~included in package)

• →San Blas island-hopping
• →Snorkelling
• →Guna culture

Return by boat and 4x4 to Panama City. Afternoon to organise onward travel to Colombia — either a flight Panama City to Medellín/Bogotá (~£90-140) or the classic sailboat route through San Blas to Cartagena (~£350-450, 5 days — this is the only overland-free route, since the Darién Gap has no road).

🚌San Blas return included; transfers ~£5

🛏Hostel dorm, Panama City

• →Rest day
• →Book Colombia leg

Fly to Medellín (~£100-140). Check into an El Poblado or Laureles hostel. Evening: take the Metrocable up to Parque Arví (~£2) for views over the valley — Medellín's cable cars are public transport, not a tourist ride.

🚌Flight ~£115; airport bus ~£3

🛏Hostel dorm, Medellín (~£9-14)

• →Metrocable and Parque Arví
• →Laureles food scene

Free walking tour of the Centro, then a community-led Comuna 13 graffiti and escalator tour (~£15-20 direct with a local guide — there are many residents offering this). Botero Plaza and the Museo de Antioquia (~£5).

🚌Metro ~£2

🛏Hostel dorm, Medellín

• →Centro free walking tour
• →Comuna 13 community tour
• →Museo de Antioquia

G Adventures' 'Excursion in Bahia Solano' by air: fly Medellín to Bahía Solano with Satena/EasyFly (~£80-130, small planes, book early), landing on the Pacific Chocó coast. Whale-watching season is Jul-Oct; bioluminescent plankton year-round. Cheap cabañas on the beach.

🚌Flight ~£105

🛏Beach cabaña, Bahía Solano (~£12-20)

• →Beach and rainforest arrival
• →Book whale watching or snorkel trip

Local boat trip to a waterfall or to Playa Huina, snorkelling, or humpback whale watching in season (~£30-45). Eat fried fish and patacón at a beach shack for £3.

🚌Local boat ~£35

🛏Beach cabaña, Bahía Solano

• →Waterfall and beach boat trip
• →Whale watching (seasonal)
• →Rainforest walk

Return flight (~£90-110) then a bus or cheap flight toward the Caribbean coast. Either Medellín to Cartagena direct flight (~£40-60) tonight, or overnight bus to Montería and onward.

🚌Flight ~£100

🛏Hostel dorm, Medellín or Cartagena (~£10-15)

• →Travel day

The walled city at the end of the route: walk the old town ramparts at sunset, the Getsemaní street art, Castillo San Felipe (~£5), and Café del Mar for the sunset. Hostels in Getsemaní are excellent value.

🚌Airport taxi ~£4

🛏Hostel dorm, Getsemaní, Cartagena (~£10-15)

• →Walled city and ramparts walk
• →Castillo San Felipe
• →Getsemaní night scene

Shared speedboat day trip to the Islas del Rosario (~£25-35 with a local operator from Muelle de la Bodeguita) for snorkelling and beach time — the Caribbean turquoise finale G's ship sails past.

🚌Speedboat ~£30

🛏Hostel dorm, Cartagena

• →Islas del Rosario boat trip
• →Snorkelling
• →Beach time

Coffee at a Getsemaní café, the Museo del Oro Zenú (free), the Mercado de Bazurto food tour if you're brave (~£15 with a guide) and souvenir shopping. Last-night dinner on a plaza.

🚌Walking ~£2

🛏Hostel dorm, Cartagena

• →Museo del Oro Zenú
• →Bazurto market food tour
• →Old town shopping

Fly out from Cartagena (CTG) or take a bus to Santa Marta for onward travel. Domestic hop to Bogotá for onward international flights is often cheapest on Avianca/Viva.

🚌Airport taxi ~£4

🛏—

• →Departure