Go East or North from Santiago?
 

Got 2 months and plan to start in Santiago. Initial plan was to go east to Buenos Aires and then north-west back and up to Bolivia.

But realize that its FAR crossing the continent (and back) and will take much of the time, worst case not even getting to Bolivia and even less chance of seeing Peru. And looks very flat (confirmed by google street view) east of Andes which in my book means boring roads and scenery. Or are there entertaining and scenic routes???

Plan is to buy bikes in Santiago so also need to go back to sell the bikes in Chile (though not to Santiago of course).

So wondering if better plan staying on the west side crossing back and forth between Chile and Argentina. Gives us a lot more flexibility and time for Bolivia and Peru. And when tired of riding, pop dwon to the coast and spend a couple of days on the beach :Beach:

So what would you do? Want spectacular scenery and fun roads, both tarmac and gravel. But maybe just too much Andes doing it for 2 months :confused1:

Or something in between, any advice is welcome

I kind of agree with you. Whatever you do don´t miss: Paso Agua Negra (this is a must!) and Paso Jama, Uyuni salt flats and of course San Pedro de Atacama.

If you like crossing back and forth (I do), Paso San Francisco and Paso Sico are also very nice, San Francisco nicer than Sico. Another very nice area is the Cafayate region in Argentina.

From SPA I´d suggest crossing Paso Jama to Argentina and then entering Bolivia via LaQuiaca in Argentina all the way up to Tupiza and Uyuni in Bolivia. And then go back to Chile via Ollague/Abaroa. Ask around, there are two roads that will take you from Uyuni to Ollague, the southern one is much nicer.

There is another alternative to go from Uyuni to SPA via the lagoons but it is a relatively difficult ride albeit extremely beautiful.

In other words, sticking to the Andes is, IMO, a very wise decision, there are many wonderful roads and places to go.

Ride safe, Fernando

Thanks both for comment and tip for places :)

From Buenos Aries to within sight of the Andes, the ground rises gradually from sea level to not much over 250 metres so you can't expect much in the way of changing scenery.

Stick to the Andes on both sides and the NW area of Argentina and western Bolivia and Peru. You will soon get a feel for road conditions and how much you can cover in a day and can then extend your trip accordingly.

Don't forget problems associated with going from sea level to three or four thousand metres in one day. A freezing, sleepless night spent gasping for breath isn't the best intro to the area.

BTW - let us know what two months you intend travelling in as some sections of the Andes crossings are closed during winter.

Plan is leaving after new year 2016 so still over a year (working in Nigeria for a month so got time to start planning).

So figured it made sense starting south and go north, though January and February is both summer months so guess not a big deal which direction we go.

First plans was to start at the very south of SA but soon realized that the distances are just to big if we want to see anything else than Chile and Argentina (which I'm sure would be nice anyway).

Still seems like a good plan starting in Santiago and spend whatever time we've got left at the end in Bolivia and Peru before heading back to sell bikes in Chile.

Done a bit more research and looked at pictures of roads and scenery. Looks like the landscape north of Santiago is mostly rocks, rocks and more rocks.

South of Santiago on the other hand looks, well, nicer. Green, varied and more interesting (fun) roads.

Is my impression correct? If it was you, and you had 2 months, would you rather go south than north from Santiago?

EDIT: Like this road!

can recommend paso agua negra, did it something like a week ago. but i'd head south (i'm missing that, heading north up to mexico, so the south is something for my next trip)

the stretch from valparaiso/santiago up to ovalle/la serena (which leads to the beautiful valle elqui and to the paso agua negra) though is a pain (tried to find a decent alternative to the routa 5, but couldn't, maybe you know some options).

san pedro de atacama really worth it ? passing into bolivia from argentina within the next week but thought crossing directly via la quiaca as san pedro seems to be a rip off in terms of costs of accommodation ...

OK, thanks.

Will continue looking into the South Chile/Argentina alternative, looks promising.