These South America tours are sample routes, not fixed departures. Each strings together places such as Machu Picchu, Patagonia, Iguazú Falls and Rio de Janeiro in an order that works on the map and on the calendar, and the Galápagos can be added. Treat them as travel packages you are allowed to take apart. Every trip is tailor-made: we design it around your dates, your pace and your choice of hotels, and local partners deliver it on the ground.
Browse by route: Argentina and Chile, Argentina and Brazil, Peru and Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. By style: adventure, nature and wildlife, honeymoons. Or see all multi-country tours, or design your own.
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Seven weeks for the whole continent: Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, the Andes lake crossing, both sides of Iguazú, and Rio, Buenos Aires and Santiago.
Pacific to Atlantic in one trip: Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and La Paz, then Paraguay and Iguazú on the way to Rio de Janeiro.
Built for a honeymoon: Rio’s beaches first, then Iguazú Falls, Buenos Aires and Santiago, ending with the history of Cusco and the Sacred Valley.
Mostly by train: out of Buenos Aires to the wildlife of Península Valdés, then the La Trochita steam train in Patagonia and on into Chile.
Three countries in nine nights, for travelers short on time: Lake Titicaca and La Paz, the Uyuni salt flats, San Pedro de Atacama and Salta.
Pick the style first. It usually picks the countries for you.
Adventure and nature trips point to Patagonia, the Amazon and the Galápagos; history and culture to Peru and Bolivia; food and wine to Argentina and Chile. Trains, cruises, lodges and spas change how you travel; honeymoons, golf and agricultural tours change why.
Most people start by asking which countries to see. The better question is in what order. Patagonia’s season and the dry months in the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes fall in opposite halves of the year, so a trip with both belongs in the shoulder months: the Andes first in September or October, Patagonia first in March or April. Internal flights link the regions, some borders are worth crossing overland or by boat, and an open-jaw ticket, into Lima and home from Rio, saves a long backtrack. Cusco and La Paz sit high, so we keep the first days there light.
Our 32 sample itineraries show how the pieces fit. Juergen Keller, Co-Founder & CEO, reviewed this page.
“Visited Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Easter Island and Peru over a six week period. Very good itinerary collated by South America Travel. […] 18 flights all well scheduled.”
Robert Cort, six-week South America trip
What to see...
Plan by kinds of days, not lists of sights: a trek on the Inca Trail or in Torres del Paine, wildlife in the Pantanal, tango in Buenos Aires, food in Lima. Our things to do in South America guide takes them one by one; the adventure, history and culture and UNESCO World Heritage pages turn them into routes.
When is the...
There is no single best month, because the continent crosses the Equator. Argentina, Chile and Uruguay have their summer December through February, and Patagonia’s season is November through March. The Andes of Peru and Bolivia are driest in the southern winter, the classic time for trekking and ruins. The Amazon is hot all year and follows high and low water instead, and the Galápagos work in any month. For a trip across several regions, the shoulder months, September through November and April and May, suit most of them at once. Our best time to visit South America guide goes month by month.
The Best...
Start with these eight. Each links to its own page of tours and travel advice, with a note on what pairs well with it. Two or three of them, in a sensible order, make a full first trip. For more ideas, see our guide to the best places to visit in South America. Colombia and Uruguay have their own pages too.
Patagonia spans southern Argentina and Chile, so one trip can take in the glaciers around El Calafate, the trails of El Chaltén and Torres del Paine, which makes it the natural meeting point of an Argentina and Chile trip. Its short season often sets the dates for the rest of the route.
The islands belong to Ecuador and are wildlife country: giant tortoises, sea lions, marine iguanas. You see them from a small expedition boat or from hotels on the inhabited islands. They pair with mainland Ecuador and with Peru; see Peru and Ecuador tours.
The largest rainforest on Earth is hot in every month, so its seasons are measured in water: high water for canoeing into the flooded forest, low water for jungle trails. Stays are at jungle lodges or on river cruises, reached through Peru, Brazil or Ecuador; our Coast to Coast Tour goes in through Puerto Maldonado in Peru.
More Adventure
Cross the Andes lakes by boat between Bariloche and Puerto Varas, or pair Mendoza’s wineries with Santiago’s (Argentina and Chile tours).
Iguazú Falls has an Argentine side and a Brazilian side; add Buenos Aires and Rio for Argentina and Brazil, or Colonia and Montevideo for Argentina and Uruguay.
Uyuni’s salt flats and the Atacama face each other across the border, with the Red and Green Lagoons between (Bolivia and Chile tours). For longer routes, see all multi-country tours or plan around UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Planning a trip to South America? Our travel info covers the practical side: visas, safety, weather, money, flights and health.
Short answers to the questions that come up before booking a South America trip.
The best company for your trip is one that plans South America in depth and can explain why your route goes in the order it does. Before you book, ask whether the itinerary is a tailor-made plan or a fixed group departure, who looks after you on the ground, how internal flights and border crossings are handled, and what past travelers say. Our traveler reviews are one place to check us against that list.
The best tours to South America build around one or two famous sights and the region around each, rather than racing between airports. Pairings that work well: Machu Picchu with Lake Titicaca, Iguazú Falls with Buenos Aires or Rio, Patagonia’s glaciers with its trails. The five tours above are good starting points.
The best package tours for South America keep a well-planned route but let you change it. Fixed group departures suit travelers who want company and a set schedule. Every tour on this page is tailor-made, a starting point we reshape around you. See how a custom South America tour works.
Aim for October or November if your trip spans several regions: the south is in spring and the Andes are near the end of their dry season. Single-region trips have their own best months, such as the southern winter for Machu Picchu; see our best time to visit South America guide.
Four things drive the cost: how many internal flights the route needs, the hotel level, the length of the trip and the season. Flights between regions add up on a continent this size. The tour cards above show a “From” price where one is published; for your own dates, request a free itinerary with the form above.
Most of our multi-country sample itineraries take 9 to 17 nights and cover two or three countries. Short add-ons, like 2 nights at Uyuni and the Atacama, fit onto a longer route, and Highlights of South America takes 49 nights to cover the continent’s best-known sights.
The best guided tours put a local guide where local knowledge matters: Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, the Iguazú trails, a first walk through Buenos Aires or Rio. On a tailor-made trip, a local guide can lead the sightseeing at each stop, rather than one tour leader and one group for the whole journey. See our history and culture tours.
A tailor-made specialist can, because a luxury trip here depends on the details: the right hotel at each stop, remote lodges and spas, and connections that work. Most of our sample tours are priced at several hotel levels, up to five-star on many, and the South America Deluxe Tour covers the highlights over 25 nights.
Small ships suit the Galápagos, where expedition boats move between the islands, and the Amazon, by river cruise. In the far south, expedition ships sail to Antarctica between November and March. See our South America cruises, the Galápagos and the Amazon.
The official answer comes from the US State Department, which publishes a current travel advisory for each South American country. Levels differ between countries and sometimes between regions of the same country, so check the advisory for every country on your route before you book and again before you fly. US citizens can also enroll in the State Department’s free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). Our South America safety guide covers everyday precautions.
For some routes, yes. The CDC lists recommended vaccines for each country, and some areas, including parts of the Amazon, call for a yellow fever vaccination or malaria precautions. See a travel doctor or clinic well before you leave, and read our staying healthy in South America page.
Thinking of traveling to South America? We take your South American travel dream and make it a reality. Every fully custom South America trip is planned by your own expert personal Travel Consultant.
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