Family Travel to Patagonia, Chile

A Guide for Traveling with Kids in Chile’s Southernmost Region

May 4, 2009

Patagonia is known as a mecca for hard-core hikers. But its towns, national parks and wildlife offer plenty of exciting adventures for parents traveling with children.

Patagonia’s main sights center around the small cities of Punta Arena and Puerto Natales and the famed Torres del Paine National Park. This is a vast area, and to see it all, families will have to spend a fair amount of time driving. Renting a car is essential, especially when traveling with kids. It’s best to travel here during the warmer months of November through March to avoid the otherwise harsh climate. See other tips for traveling with children in Chile.

Sights in the City of Punta Arenas, Chile

Most trips to Patagonia begin in Punta Arenas, the capital city in this region of Chile and the largest. The city itself has a good stock of hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, pharmacies and souvenir shops. Take a walk around the lovely main square, Plaza Muñoz Gamero, then continue several blocks and climb the stairs to the overlook point of Mirador Cerro la Cruz. It offers fantastic views of the city, the Strait of Magellan, and even Tierra del Fuego.

Get a Close Look at Magellanic Penguins in Their Native Habitats

Kids and their parents can get up close and personal with the charming Magellanic penguins. From Punta Arenas, take a two-hour boat ride to Isla Magdalena, an uninhabited island and a nesting ground for the penguins. While visitors are not allowed to touch the birds, they can stand on the beach as the birds waddle past and plop into the water. Also, plan a visit to beautiful Otway Sound (Seno Otway), a protected penguin nesting site just 45-minutes outside of Punta Arenas. There, visitors can follow a designated path through a nesting sanctuary and get a peek inside their burrows.

Activities in and around the Town of Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales is a charming, small city on the windy shores of Ultima Esperanza Sound. It is well-equipped to cater to tourists, with hotels, cafes and lots of shops. From here, families can enjoy an all-day boat cruise through the Ultima Esperanza Sound to visit 2 impressive glaciers. The boat stops at a ranch for lunch, so there is a chance for the kids to run around.

Another fun adventure for children is a visit to the Milodon Cave, 17 miles/28 kms outside of Puerto Natales. The huge cave and the well-preserved remains of a prehistoric animal, later deemed to be a miladon (a 12-foot giant sloth), were discovered by a local resident in the 1890s. A fiberglass re-creation of the miladon stands at the entrance of the cave, a former home to prehistoric humans.

In the natural splendor of Torres del Paine National Park, children will have fun playing along the rocky edges of the many glacial lakes and spotting exotic wildlife: guanacos (wild llamas), ñandus (like small ostriches), pumas and red foxes. There are plenty of low hills around the park that are perfect for short hikes.

A must-do activity in the park is a boat tour of Lago Grey, where the boat skims the edges of the Grey glacier, a 160-foot (50 meter) high wall of ice--almost close enough to touch it! Hosteria Lago Grey is a comfortable hotel and has great views of the glacier.

Note that supplies are limited inside the park, so travelers should stock up on everything they might need in Puerto Natales (e.g., diapers, snacks, bottled water, sunscreen).

The copyright of the article Family Travel to Patagonia, Chile in Chile Travel is owned by Kate Rodriguez. Permission to republish Family Travel to Patagonia, Chile in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.