Most things related to motorcycle travel: tents, camping gear (except gas canisters), tools and riding gear. Everything else has to fly with you. You can pack a first-aid kit, but only an emergency one – all medicines must go with you on the plane. We’ll send you a separate document with a special list to fill in of the items you’ll be shipping.

EU citizens don’t need a visa for any South American country. No customs carnets etc. are required, and there are no mandatory vaccinations. EU driving licences are recognised, but in theory you should also have an International Driving Permit.

We don’t book hotels in Valparaíso for you – everyone has a different budget and different preferences. Booking.com works perfectly. If you prefer a chain, the Ibis is a sensible choice – it has a car park, which isn’t common in Valparaíso.

Flights to Chile usually go via Paris, Amsterdam, London or Madrid. Combined tickets via Barcelona or Madrid are usually the cheapest. In 2026 a very good price from Europe to Santiago is 5,000 PLN, a normal one is 6,000 PLN, and anything above 7,000 PLN is a bit expensive…

US dollars and euros. Chile is a civilised country, but in Argentina you’ll always have trouble exchanging money, so it’s worth getting Argentine pesos while still in Chile. There are still two exchange rates there – check the current “dólar blue” rate before you exchange…

They work well almost everywhere in Chile; in Argentina coverage is a bit worse, but phones and internet work along all the roads. It’s worth bringing a second phone or a dual-SIM phone and putting in a local SIM card. Ask the seller to set it up for you – you probably won’t manage on your own. There are several providers, each with better coverage in some places and worse in others. We use WOM, and we’ve also had good experiences with Movistar and Claro. Mobile internet on these cards is pretty good. In Argentina it’s easy to buy a SIM card, but it probably isn’t worth it – wherever you stop there’ll be Wi-Fi, and registering a SIM card is a hassle. Alternatively, consider the Airalo app, which will give you internet almost everywhere.

For paper maps we recommend the ones sold at COPEC petrol stations. As for GPS, the free OSM maps for Garmin are enough. You can also use tracks from Wikiloc – there are plenty of them… The maps.me and mapy.cz apps work very well.

For Argentina and northern Chile, a good option is the Garmin map downloaded from viajerosmapas.com. iOverlander is also a handy app that makes life easier.

If you want to travel on your own, keep in mind that the whole of Europe fits into Brazil, Argentina is 8 times the size of Germany, and Chile is the longest country in the world – from Arica to Punta Arenas is as far as from Portugal to the Urals. The Andes are high and the roads are demanding; even 350 km can be a challenge. The exceptions are Ruta 5 in Chile and Ruta 40 in Argentina, where you can plan quite long stages. The police in Chile are fairly strict, but on these roads it’s easy to keep an average speed of around 100 km/h. Some of the passes between Chile and Argentina are gravel; the easiest (paved) crossings are Paso Jama, Paso San Francisco, Paso Libertadores and Paso Pehuenche, and in the south Chile Chico.

You can pay by card almost everywhere in Chile and in most places in Argentina. ATMs: easy in Chile, but in Argentina they unfortunately charge high fees – up to 10% of the amount withdrawn. ATMs are scarce in Bolivia, but they work. Fuel: we recommend filling up at COPEC or Petrobras stations in Chile and at YPF in Argentina. In Bolivia foreigners pay a different price than locals. Sometimes you can come to an arrangement with the station staff. And sometimes not…

Generally it’s safe; the exception can be cities, where theft happens – we don’t recommend leaving your phone on a café table. Wild camping is safe, although paradoxically it’s not easy to find a spot even in such a big country – fences will follow you along the roads for hundreds of kilometres. Finding an organised campsite, however, is no problem.

We recommend medical insurance, even for a modest sum, as South America isn’t really the best place to need treatment. Most importantly, the policy must not exclude motorcycle riding and must cover repatriation in case of an accident.

• Chile country code: +56
• Ambulance: 131
• Police: 133
• Fire brigade: 132
• Argentina country code: +54
• Emergency number: 911 or 101
• Tourist Police:
  in Buenos Aires +54(11)43565748, 0800-999-5000, 436 Corrientes St.
• in Mendoza: +54(261)4132135, +54(261)6444324, 1143 San Martín St.