Chile is over 4,000 kilometres long and rarely wider than 200, which makes it a country of extremes end to end: the Atacama desert in the north, Santiago and the wine valleys in the middle, and Patagonia with Torres del Paine in the far south.
The guides on this page cover Chile as a whole. Domestic flights link the regions; driving the length of the country is a serious undertaking. Patagonian season runs roughly November to March, when winds are strong but routes are open, while the Atacama is accessible year-round with cold nights at altitude. Santiago sits in a valley that traps smog in winter, most noticeably from June to August.