Begin your journey to Peru's vibrant capital city. These flights almost always arrive at night. You will be met by Van Evans or his associate. Be certain to wear your Southern Cross Expeditions cap as you exit customs so we can recognize you. We will probably check in for our flight the next day and then transfer to the hotel. No need to buy water or exchange money yet.

Have breakfast (always included in the hotels), check out, and fly to Cusco. Our team will meet us at the airport and take us to get some lunch. We will have a money exchanger on the bus. We still have a short tour of the plaza of Cusco. After lunch, the driver will take us to the top of the Sacred Valley of the Incas where we will stop for photos like this one to the left. We then drop down into the valley, stopping first at the Pisaq outdoor artisan market. Buy an alpaca sweater or blanket there. After shopping, we will head to our hotel in Urubamba or Yucay. Dinner is on your own.

Sleep in to catch up on two long days of traveling. Just take your day pack and the driver will take us to Ollantaytambo to the train station to board a late morning train to Machu Picchu. In just under two hours the train arrives in Aguas Calientes, the town below the ruins. We may have time for lunch in Aguas Calientes. Then we will walk to the bus transfer which will take us up to Machu Picchu and spend a few hours at this remarkable Inca sanctuary (you may opt to add on the climb to Huayna Picchu). Meet back down in the town to have an early dinner and then board the train back to the Sacred Valley. Trains are on time in Peru! Don’t be late! We will be met at the train station in Ollantaytambo and taken back to the hotel.

After breakfast, we will visit the Yucay farm and orphange. Your Patagonia ride will raise funds for the staff and expenses for this home among others. The bus will take us to the Raqchi scenic overlook of the Sacred Valley and then we will visit the town of Chincheros and see how the women dye and spin and weave. They may feed us lunch too! After that, we will continue on to Cusco and head to the airport for our flight to Lima. Stay in the Costa del Sol hotel in San Isidro.

Morning gathering at Templo del Sol for bike hand-over, route briefing, and group photos. We roll south along the Pan-American Highway, chasing the Pacific coast past dunes and fishing villages. Watch pelicans dive for breakfast, smell salt and diesel, and feel the desert heat rise as Nazca appears. Sunset arrival in Nazca — the gateway to one of the world’s greatest mysteries awaits at first light. Tonight the desert sky ignites with more stars than you’ve ever seen.

Dawn flight over the enigmatic Nazca Lines — astronauts, monkeys, and hummingbirds etched 2,000 years ago. Visit Casa-Museo María Reiche and the ceremonial center of Cahuachi (“City of Bountiful”) in sacred silence. Afternoon ride along desert cliffs to the ocean-side town of Camaná for fresh seafood. Fall asleep to waves crashing — tomorrow we cross into Chile and the driest place on Earth. Walk the black-sand beach under moonlight, listen to sea lions bark, and feel the journey truly begin.

Border crossing into Chile just south of Tacna, passports stamped, engines humming with anticipation. Drop into the Atacama — officially the driest desert on Earth — and roll into Arica beneath the towering Morro cliff. Evening stroll on Playa Chinchorro, Pacific sunset painting the sky orange over the oldest desert alive. Sleep with the sound of waves knowing tomorrow we ride where rain hasn’t fallen in centuries. Climb the Morro at golden hour for panoramic views — the Pacific meets infinity in one perfect frame.

Continue along the Panamerican highway. A long day. Full Atacama traverse: endless straight roads, the Hand of the Desert sculpture rising like a lonely giant. Lunar landscapes make you feel you’re riding on Mars — red rock, zero humidity, pure horizon. Travesing the driest desert in the world. Maybe stop for photos at abandoned nitrate towns frozen in time, ghosts of a richer past. Overnight in Antofagasta with Pacific views and the Milky Way blazing overhead like never before. Stand on the Tropic of Capricorn marker — half the planet behind you, half the adventure still ahead.

Skirt the coast, then climb into the flowering desert (if we’re lucky with rare winter rains). Purple and yellow blooms explode across valleys that see water once a decade — pure magic. Copiapó welcomes us with quiet plazas, excellent Carmenère, and stories of rescued miners. Tonight we toast the desert behind us and the green valleys ahead — the ride is just beginning. Walk the old town at twilight, taste empanadas de horno, and feel the continent softening beneath your tires.

Another long day down the Panamericana. Rejoin the ocean, pass Santiago’s skyline in the distance, and arrive at glamorous Viña del Mar. Fresh seafood, colonial architecture, and maybe a dip in the Pacific under golden light. Extra riders may join here — new faces, same fire, ready to chase Patagonia together. Sleep steps from the beach knowing tomorrow we rest and tomorrow night we celebrate being alive. Watch the sun sink into the Pacific from Reñaca beach — the perfect welcome to Chile’s Riviera.

Free day to wander colorful cerros of Valparaíso (UNESCO), ride the flower-clock coastline, or simply relax. Ascend funiculars to street art that rivals Berlin, feel the bohemian pulse. Empanadas de mariscos and a sunset over the Pacific — the perfect pause before the south calls again. Tonight we recharge batteries, human and lithium, for the final push into the wild heart of Chile. Those who cannot afford the time for the first half of the trip may join us today (flight to Santiago).

Vineyards and rolling hills stretch like green corduroy under a sky turning Patagonia blue. Pass through Santiago’s outskirts and enter Chile’s fertile heartland, wine country at its finest. Overnight in Chillán among thermal springs. Soak sore muscles, drink dark beer, and dream of the Lake District waiting just ahead. Visit the mural-filled mercado, taste longaniza sausages, and breathe air thick with pine and promise.

Lush rainforest, volcanic peaks, and rivers that run silver under morning mist. Valdivia’s riverside markets and 19th-century German architecture feel like Bavaria dropped into South America. Walk the costanera, watch sea lions bark from the docks. Tonight we sleep in a riverside lodge knowing tomorrow we cross into Argentina and the true Andes begin. Cruise the Calle-Calle river at dusk — otters play while the sky turns lavender over volcanoes.

Cross the Cardenal Samoré Pass through monkey-puzzle forests and emerald lakes that stop your heart. Late lunch in fairy-tale Villa La Angostura, then cruise along Lake Nahuel Huapi into Bariloche. Chocolate capital of Argentina — every corner smells like cocoa and fresh pine. Tonight we toast with fondue — Patagonia officially begins here. Stand on the lakeshore at sunset — the Andes glow rose-gold and you know you’ve entered another world.

Rest day or easy ride on the Seven Lakes Circuit: turquoise waters, snow-capped peaks, pure magic. Roads that belong on every rider’s bucket list wind between mirrors of water and ancient forests. Optional boat trip on Lago Nahuel Huapi or chairlift to panoramic views that steal your breath. Tonight we sleep surrounded by mountains that make you feel gloriously small. Hike to a hidden waterfall.

Enter true Patagonia — big skies, endless steppe, and the wind that gives the region its name. Guanacos race your shadow across the pampas, horizon so wide it bends the soul. Overnight in a classic roadside estancia — fire roaring, lamb on the asador, stories until midnight. Sleep under a billion stars knowing tomorrow is the longest, wildest day yet. Watch the Southern Cross rise over empty plains — tomorrow we ride into legend.

The longest day — classic Ruta 40 gravel and asphalt, guanacos sprinting alongside like escorts. Wind tries to own you, but you own the road — every mile a badge of honor. Arrive El Calafate exhausted but exhilarated, steak and Malbec the perfect reward. Tonight we collapse victorious — the glacier awaits and the end is in sight. Raise a glass to the riders who dared the longest day — tomorrow we witness living ice.

Visit Torres del Paine national park. Lodge in Puerto Natales. (optional: Fly out of El Calafate [FTE] to Buenos Aires)

Or fly to Buenos Aires. Spend day or two there.

But if you don't think 21 days is enough adventure and you crave more, try adding a day or two in Santiago or Buenos Aires