Chile

Imagine a country where all the world’s climatic and topographical variations are represented in a thin ribbon of land and you have Chile. Like a spine along the western seaboard of South America, Chile is over 2,500 miles long but never more than 150 miles at its widest point.

The Original Travel team are hot on Chile, having visited several times in the last few years, and can explain what best to see and do in this extraordinary destination. We can arrange a visit to the lunar landscapes of the Atacama Desert, which have never recorded rainfall – a concept as close to inconceivable as is possible to the average Briton.

In contrast, the Lake District in the mid-south is a region of mountains, waterfalls and forest designed for the enjoyment of outdoor pursuits. While we’re on the active subject, there is quality skiing in the Andes, and we recommend resorts like Portillo and Valle Nevado which are knee-deep in powder from June to August. Santiago, the capital, is a pivotal point, and to the south-west of the capital lies the outstanding (and hugely under-rated) wine-growing district of Central Valley.

Further south still we know all about where to stay and what to do in wild, desolate and quite magnificent Chilean Patagonia. Here we can organise trips to see glaciers running down to the ocean, and the forbidding peaks of Torres del Paine, a world biosphere reserve, towering over a series of lakes and rivers.