Marble Caves
The Marble Caves are one of Aysen’s most beautiful natural sights: surreal rock cathedrals in a glacial lake that can be explored by boat or kayak.
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Reasons to go to Aysen
- Grab your rucksack and boots and head into the mountains hiking for some of Patagonia’s most dramatic views – on empty trails yet to be discovered by mass tourism
- Take a road trip along fjords, mountains, valley and lakes along the Carretera Austral, one of the world’s most epic and remote highways
- Paddle a kayak to the dazzling Marble Caves, perched on the shores of turquoise Lago General Carrera
- Get in touch with the gaucho soul of the region, exploring the wilderness on horseback
- Shiver at the face of giant glaciers, as they slowly pour down from the great Patagonian ice fields
The Cerro Castillo mountains
Kayaks inside the Marble Caves
View of Lake Cerro Castillo
The Carretera Austral highway
Remote trekking in Aysen
San Rafael glacier from the Skorpios cruise ship
Views on the Avellanos Valley ride
Cerro Castillo National Park
Guanaco in Patagonia National Park
What to see & do in Aysen
Hiking
With so much varied scenery and huge stretches of wilderness, Aysen is a place to get out and about. The hiking here is some of the best in Patagonia, with everything from gentle day hikes to longer expeditions in the mountains.
The extraordinary thing about hiking in Aysen is that you can have the trails almost completely to yourself. Whether you’re exploring the great massif of Cerro Castillo, hiking into Patagonia National Park, or just taking a short walk in Queulat or Villa O-Higgins for some dramatic views, Aysen constantly gives the hiker the pioneering feeling of breaking trails somewhere new.
Hiking in Aysen's Leones Valley
Road trips
The Carretera Austral is one of the world’s greatest highways, with most of its 789 miles (1270 km) threading its way through Aysen. Taking a road trip here isn’t just a necessity for getting around, it’s a real highlight of the region.
As it meanders through some of the most beautiful and secluded areas in Patagonia, it runs past mountains for hiking, lush temperate rainforests to explore, rivers for kayaking and peaceful lakes and rivers to laze by. There’s a dramatic view around almost every bend, so be prepared to arrive later than you think after stopping for so many photo opportunities.
Driving the Carretera Austral
Swoop says
Aysen feels like somewhere to be a pioneer, and nothing embodies that like touring along the Carretera Austral. There seems to be a new view or a surprise around every corner – but what's really cool is that if you want to go somewhere that few people have ever been, it can easily be arranged.
Melinda Cleaver Patagonia Tailor Made Consultant
Adventure activities
Aysen’s spectacular landscapes aren’t just for hiking through; the region can be experienced in a host of different ways.
This is the land of the gaucho, with plenty of opportunities to go horseriding ride for an afternoon, day or even a longer expedition. On the water, you can kayak to the famous Marble Caves, the face of a glacier or down one of Aysen’s mighty rivers. These waterways are also stocked with some of the best trout and salmon runs in the world, for those wanting to grab a rod and go fishing.
Activities can easily be combined as part of a wider trip, to give you a taste of Aysen’s great diversity in a single package.
Kayaking at the Marble Caves
Glaciers
Much of Aysen is wedged between the Northern and Southern Patagonian Ice Fields – the world's largest density of ice outside the polar regions. As a result, there are plenty of opportunities to get close to some extraordinary glaciers. Some of the best are in and around Laguna San Rafael National Park. Here, you can cruise or kayak to the San Rafael Glacier, as it emerges from a landscape of temperate rainforest, hike to the face of the Leones Glacier, or even don crampons to walk on the back of the Exploradores Glacier.
Elsewhere, many hikes take to some impressive hanging glaciers high in the mountains, including in Aysen’s Cerro Castillo and Queulat National Parks.
Ice cave on the Exploradores glacier
Swoop says
My hike through the Leones Valley was like living through a geology textbook, topped off by an incredible hanging glacier. And we were the only people on the trail – it was a great reminder that Patagonia has so many beautiful, unexplored glacial regions!
Sydney Miller Patagonia Specialist
Wildlife
The relatively untouched nature of the Aysen region means wildlife here still flourishes, and even a drive on the Carretera Austral offers the possibility of seeing wildlife from the vehicle.
For a more focussed experience, head to Patagonia National Park, where there is a higher density of the endangered huemul deer than almost anywhere in Patagonia, and puma flourish in the Chacabuco Valley thanks to an abundance of guanaco. Don’t be surprised if you see both from your accommodation.
Close to Coyhaique you can even visit a condor nursery, where condors fly within metres of you: the world’s largest bird of prey.
Andean condor in Aysen
Where to explore in Aysen
Cerro Castillo National Park
Cerro Castillo offers the best hiking in the whole of Aysen. Trek among the peaks, ride like a gaucho, and seek the bright turquoise lagoons hidden deep in the mountains.
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Laguna San Rafael National Park
Explore one of Aysen’s best kept secrets by boat – the San Rafael glacier, hidden in a rainforest and calving icebergs into a freezing lagoon.
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Patagonia National Park
Explore the beauty of Chile’s greatest conservation project, where fences were torn down to recreate a thriving ecosystem amid spectacular valleys and mountain scenery.
Discover MoreActivities in Aysen
Hiking in Aysen
Chile’s Aysen region is full of wild mountains, glacial lakes and lush forest, with epic trails waiting to be discovered by the pioneering hiker.
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Horse riding in Aysen
Saddle up in Aysen for horse riding excursions or to follow long cross-country trails, exploring the deep wilderness with the spirit of Patagonia’s gauchos.
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Kayaking in Aysen
Kayaking in Aysen gives you access to some wildly remote corners, where you can travel for days without seeing any signs of civilization.
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Fishing in Aysen
Aysen is one of the most renowned fishing areas in Chile. Its rivers, lakes and fjords make it a fisherman’s paradise, with rainbow trout and brown trout the most prized catches.
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Swoop says
In Aysen, you'll often hear the saying that he who hurries in Patagonia wastes time. This is a great rule to follow in a region where there there is so much to be discovered: it's one reason why we keep coming back to Aysen over and over again.
What our customers think of Aysen
Aysen trips scored 4.3/5 from 20 reviews
Highlights of Aysen...the San Raphael glacier approached by boat on a day of swirling mists, ultimately bright sunshine and dead calm was incredibly atmospheric. Carlos the Condor doing a close fly-past as we approached Laguna Cerro Castillo.
Travelled: March 2017
Sarah and Charles - UK
Aysen was another highlight of our trip. We loved the Enchanted forest and our stay at Fiordo Queulat Eco Lodge.
Travelled: February 2017
Mike and Edwina - UK
Review:
Where to stay in Aysen
As tourist infrastructure continues to blossom in Aysen, there are more and more choices of great places to stay, running the whole spectrum from small homestays to luxury lodges and everything in between.
When planning a trip to Aysen, it’s worth remembering that the region is very large, so it’s often better to base yourself in two or even three locations rather than just a single base, so that you can get the most out of this extremely diverse destination.
How to get to Aysen
Balmaceda (airport code BBA) is the main gateway to Aysen, with connections to Chile's capital Santiago and Punta Arenas (PUQ) for Torres del Paine. Balmaceda is near the regional capital of Coyhaique, in the centre of Aysen.
Overland travel is possible from northern Chile via Puerto Montt in the Chilean Lake District, along the Carretera Austral highway, or from the Argentinean Lake District via Futaleufu. From southern Patagonia, there are overland crossings to Los Glaciares National Park and the hiking hub of El Chaltén.
When to go to Aysen
Spring The start of the visitor season. Receding snow reopens the trails. Mornings and nights are still chilly, but there are very few hikers on the trails.
Summer Long days of over 17 hours of daylight, with typically fine weather but with strong winds. Although this is peak season, availability in Aysen is generally not a problem.
Autumn A time of glorious Fall colours. One of the best times to visit due to generally clearer skies, but later in the season there's always a chance of snow.
Winter Aysen shuts down for tourism almost completely. Snow closes the hiking trails and many hotels shut for the season.
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