Chile’s attractions range from the towering volcanic peaks of the Andes to the ancient forests of the Lake District. There are a multitude of good parks here and plenty of opportunities for fine adventure travel. Chile is justly famous as the location of Torres del Paine, considered by many to be one of the finest nature travel destinations in all of South America.

For anyone who has ever been fascinated by geography, the long, impossibly thin line of Chile has always produced a tiny moment of astonishment. Chile stretches over 4,300 km (2,700 mi) along the southwestern coast of South America, a distance roughly the same as that from San Francisco to New York, or from Edinburgh to Baghdad. At the same time, its width never exceeds 240 km (150 mi), making the country more than eighteen times longer than its widest point.