South America Itinerary: 5 Ways to Spend 2 or 3 Weeks

A South America itinerary of two or three weeks has room for two countries per fortnight, from the same half of the continent. That is the answer most route maps hide. South America is not one trip: the Andes of Peru and Bolivia and the far south of Chile and Argentina have their best weather in opposite halves of the year, and every border you add costs travel days you do not get back.

So this guide does not hand you one route. It gives you the rule, the building blocks, and the five combinations that survive it.

Two halves, two seasons: the rule behind every route

The continent splits in two for a traveller, and the month you can travel decides which half you should see.

Half	Countries	Best months
The Andes	Peru, Bolivia, Galapagos	May to September, the dry season
The far south	Chile, Argentina	November to March, Patagonia’s summer

The figures behind each line are measured, not folklore. In Cusco, June to August together bring just 2% of the year’s rain, and the Andean rainy season runs roughly November to March, by the definition Peru’s weather service uses for a rainy-season month. The station series is in our best time to visit Peru guide. Southern Patagonia’s season runs November to March, with December to February as the core, as our best time to visit Argentina guide shows from Argentina’s weather service.

The variable that decides is your travel month. Travel between May and September and the Andes are your trip. Travel between December and February and the south is. Iguazu Falls is the exception that fits either: it is warm and wet all year.

What each country costs in days

Before you add a country, know its minimum. These are the lengths we build our own routes on, and each is the shortest version we would sell.

Block	Days	What it covers
Peru, the core	7	Lima, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cusco
Bolivia, added to Peru	4–5	The border at Lake Titicaca, La Paz, the Uyuni salt flat
Galapagos, added to Peru	5 nights	Two islands, via Guayaquil
Argentina	10	Buenos Aires, the Perito Moreno glacier, Iguazu Falls
Chile	13	The Atacama Desert and Torres del Paine

Then add the travel. Every extra internal flight costs about half a day once you count transfers and check-in, before the flight itself. That half-day is why a third country in two weeks so often turns into three airports and no sightseeing.

South America itinerary, 2 weeks: three routes

Fourteen days holds two countries in one half, or one country done properly. These are the three routes we would build.

Route	Days	Season	Highest night
Peru and Bolivia	13	May to September	Puno, 3,830 m
Machu Picchu and the Galapagos	12	May to September	Cusco, 3,399 m
Argentina or Chile alone	10–13	November to March	San Pedro de Atacama, 2,407 m

None of these routes has to stay as printed: a border, a season or a week can move. If your dates, your countries and the half of the continent do not line up, ask a specialist to stitch your countries together and tell us the month you can travel. That single fact changes the route more than any other.

1. Peru and Bolivia, 13 days. Lima, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cusco, Lake Titicaca, La Paz and the Uyuni salt flat, overland across the border. It climbs in steps, so the altitude has time to settle. Our guide to combining Peru and Bolivia explains the order.

2. Machu Picchu and the Galapagos, 12 days. The Peru core, then a flight to Guayaquil and five nights across two Galapagos islands. It is the one two-week route that pairs the Andes with the sea, and the Machu Picchu and Galapagos route runs it in 10, 12 or 16 days.

3. The far south in one country, 10 to 13 days. In the southern summer, either Argentina’s Buenos Aires, glaciers and Iguazu in ten days, or Chile’s Atacama and Patagonia in thirteen. Our Argentina itinerary guide covers the domestic flights that make the Argentine version possible.

South America itinerary, 3 weeks: two routes

Three weeks does not mean a third half of the continent. It means taking a two-week route and carrying it across one more border by land, which costs days on the road instead of days in airports.

4. Peru, Bolivia and the Atacama, about three weeks. The 13-day Peru and Bolivia line, then from the Uyuni salt flat across the altiplano by 4x4 into Chile and down to San Pedro de Atacama. It stays in one season and descends at the end, from 3,656 m on the salt flat to 2,407 m in San Pedro. Fly home from Santiago.

5. Argentina and Chilean Patagonia, about three weeks. Buenos Aires, Iguazu and the Perito Moreno glacier, then across the border by road to Torres del Paine, and on to the Atacama if the days allow. It belongs to the southern summer, and its constraint is the domestic flights, which are seasonal. The Chile route through the Atacama and Patagonia carries its Chilean half, and our Patagonia trip on both sides of the border joins Torres del Paine to the Perito Moreno by road.

The trip through South America most people picture, Machu Picchu and Patagonia in three weeks, is not on this list for a reason. The Andes are at their best in the southern winter, outside Patagonia’s season, and Patagonia is at its best when Cusco is in its rainy season. It can be done at the edges of both seasons, late October to November or March to April, but neither half is at its best.

The order of a trip through South America: low to high

Inside a route, the order is set by altitude more than geography. Arrive low, sleep low first, and climb in steps: the CDC’s ascent guidance advises against going from below 1,200 m to sleeping above 2,750 m in one day. Lima sits at about 150 m, the Sacred Valley at 2,871 m, Cusco at 3,399 m and Puno at 3,830 m; the Uyuni salt flat is at 3,656 m. Flying straight into La Paz, whose airport is at 4,061 m, puts the highest point of the trip on the first night.

That is why routes 1 and 4 start in Lima and finish high or come down at the end, and why the Galapagos sits after Cusco in route 2. Our guide to altitude in South America has every elevation and the ascent rules behind this order.

What a South America trip itinerary actually costs in days and money

The day count is the budget, and the flights are the line that moves it. As observed in September 2026, Lima to Cusco runs about $60 to $130 one way, La Paz to Uyuni $100 to $190, and Quito or Guayaquil to the Galapagos $300 to $500 return. The Galapagos National Park fee is a fixed $200 for a foreign visitor over 12, paid on arrival.

Compare every quote per person per day, land only. Our South America travel cost guide has the daily ranges by level of service and the fixed fees no operator can discount, so that a two-week and a three-week quote can be read side by side.