Fly to Chile's sophisticated capital, Santiago, arriving the same or following day. You will be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. Enjoy a welcome dinner.

Travel 3 hours to the coast to visit the bohemian UNESCO port town of Valparaíso. Explore this colourful city where you will visit La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's eclectic home, before heading to the serene Casablanca Valley. At Casas del Bosque Winery, enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour and sample award-winning wines. Go on to savour a gourmet lunch amidst stunning vineyard views, before returning to Santiago.

Today you will fly to the northern city of Calama. From here you will drive to the desert oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama before enjoying a local lunch in Ayllu de Coyo. Discover some of San Pedro's famous landscapes on an exploration of the Moon Valley, one of the driest spots on the planet. With lonely volcanoes populating the horizon, enjoy the views and the silence as the afternoon sun turns the hues of the rock from orange to red to purple. This evening you'll be stargazing in Atacama – considered the best place in the world for viewing the night skies.

Travel to the otherworldly Salar de Atacama, the largest salt flat in Chile. Visit the scenic Chaxa, Miscanti and Miniques lagoons. Travel to the village of Socaire to see ancient agricultural terraces with irrigation channels. Visit another peaceful village with typical colonial architecture built in Liparita (volcanic stone). Explore the village before returning to your hotel.

Rise early to travel deeper into the Atacama to visit El Tatio. Set within a ring of volcanoes, there are about 80 lively geysers and fumaroles, which come to life at sunrise. This afternoon is at leisure to wander the quaint town of San Pedro.

This morning, transfer back to Calama and board your flight to Puerto Montt, the gateway to Chile's spectacular Lake District. The flight is approximately 5 hours via Santiago. Continue on to Puerto Varas, a charming town on Llanquihue Lake that is dominated by two snow-capped volcanoes. Check into your hotel for a relaxing evening.

Travel further around Llanquihue Lake to the village of Ensenada at the foot of Volcan Osorno, where you'll take an easy hike through the volcano's plentiful nature to reach the visitors centre at 1,240 metres. Travel to Perez Rosales National Park to Petrohué Falls, where boardwalks will help you admire the turquoise waters and lush greenery of the Petrohué River.

Transfer to the airport and fly further south to Punta Arenas, a city that sits at the end of continental South America on the Straits of Magellan. From there, head to Puerto Natales, the lively, picturesque town that is the gateway to the Torres del Paine.

Sail on the gloomily-named Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) Fjord to Mount Balmaceda Glacier before continuing on foot to the magnificent Serrano Glacier. Admire a tumbling ice wall, look our for cormorants and sea lions, and take a walk through native forest to the foot of of the magnificent Serrano Glacier, part of the Southern Ice Field.

Enjoy another full day excursion, this time to the UNESCO World Heritage-designated Torres del Paine National Park. Keep an eye out for large herds of guanacos as you go. Visit the Salto Grande of the Pehoé River with the impressive mountains of Torres del Paine in the background, and visit Lake Pehoé, Lake Grey and Grey Glacier. After lunch stop at Milodon Cave where the remains of a prehistoric animal were found in the last century.

Transfer back to the airport in Punta Arenas and board your flight to Santiago for a farewell dinner this evening to round off the trip.

Fly to New Zealand, crossing the International Date line and arriving home two days later.