Welcome to Chile. This detailed motorcycle travel guide is packed with info covering everything you need to know about motorcycle travel in Chile including paperwork, routes, safety, top tips and more. If you’re planning an overland motorcycle adventure in Chile – start here.
This Chile motorcycle travel guide is based on our ride through Chile during our round the world trip. The guides on this website are constantly updated to keep them up-to-date.
Contents
Motorcycle Travel Guide Chile
By Andy Davidson
Mad or Nomad: Round the World Motorcycle Traveller
The long spine of Chile runs down the western edge of South America. At over 2,600 miles, if you placed it on the west coast of the US, it’d span from Canada to Mexico. It’s the longest north-south country in the world – but it’s also one of the narrowest averaging 110 miles wide.
And squeezed into all of that is a land of extremes. From the arid Atacama Desert in the north to the towering Andes Mountains and wild Patagonian glaciers in the south. This makes it a dream ride for motorcycle travellers and overlanders.
Whether you’re flying in to rent a bike, riding a motorcycle through South America or riding the entire length of the Americas, this detailed guide covers everything you need to know about motorcycle travel in Chile.
READ MORE: All Chile Guides
Our motorcycle ride through Chile
We (Andy and Alissa from Mad or Nomad) are on a round the world motorcycle trip and entered Chile in February 2025. This guide is based on our experiences and what we learnt, but will be constantly updated and kept current. For more info on our ride through the country and what we got up to, have a read of our Patagonia Blog.
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Paperwork
For motorcycle travellers entering Chile, you will need your passport, motorcycle registration document and driver’s licence. The paperwork required to ride in Chile is as follows:
Immigration
Chile has a visa exemption policy for citizens of numerous countries including most of the European Union, the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and South America. Citizens of other countries, such as Australia for example will need to apply for a visa in advance. Check this page to see if your country requires a visa or is visa exempt.
If you are visa free, then you simply need to turn up at the border to get your passport stamped in. You will typically be given 90 days. It may be possible to extend your visa while you are in Chile for another 90 days at an immigration office. But the easiest method that most travellers use is to simply exit and re-enter, which grants them a new 90 day visa. This is only applicable if you are visa-exempt.
When you have your passport stamped, you will be given a “tourism card”, which is a slip of paper with your entry information on. It’s incredibly important to keep this and not lose it. You must show it when exiting the country.
Entering and exiting Chile via Argentina
If your motorcycling Pan-America or heading down to ride through Patagonia, you will have probably noticed you need to flit between Chile and Argentina a few times. Don’t worry, you can exit and enter Chile and Argentina as many times as you need to if you are visa exempt.
Temporary Import Permit (TIP)
You will require a temporary import to take your foreign registered motorcycle into Chile. To get your TIP you will need your vehicle registration document and driver’s licence.
A Chile motorcycle temporary import permit (TIP) lasts 90 days, running alongside your visa. If you exit Chile and re-enter you will be given a new TIP alongside your new visa.
SAG
SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero) is Chile’s Agricultural and Livestock Service. You’ll find SAG at every border entering and exiting Chile and their job is to enforce biosecurity at the borders.
There are restrictions on the foodstuffs you are allowed to take into Chile. For example, fruit and veg are prohibited and must be declared. You will need to fill out a form (usually online using a QR code) each time you enter. Don’t try and hide food, they do random searches and you will be fined.
Motorcycle insurance
Motorcycle insurance is compulsory for Chile. But it’s a bit of a minefield dependent on who you ask. Some travellers get Mercosur insurance which covers them for the whole of South America (including Chile) and believe that is sufficient. While others say you absolutely must have SOAPEX. It seems the majority of riders go with SOAPEX or purchase Mercosur to cover South America and then get an additional SOAPEX policy for Chile.
You can purchase SOAPEX here: soapex.com and you’ll find plenty of contacts for Mercosur insurance in the Motos in South America WhatsApp group. Suppliers are constantly recommended in that group, so join and search for Mercosur to see who is the current best provider.
Remote border crossings
If you’re heading for a remote border crossing – like the one at Passo Raballos – then you must apply for a Salvoconducto in advance.
This is very important because the Chilean border post there lacks a PDI (Chilean Immigration Police) office. So you will need to complete an online police clearance (salvoconducto) before arriving. Without it, you’ll be turned back.
You’re supposed to do this five days in advance. We did ours the night before and it was approved within an hour, but that doesn’t mean yours will be, so plan accordingly. This is the link to apply: pdichile.cl
More on paperwork
If you’re planning a motorcycle trip and aren’t used to the different types of paperwork requirements, or are just trying to get your head around motorcycle paperwork in general, have a read of our packed paperwork for motorcycle travellers guide too.
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Getting into and out of Chile with a motorcycle
Chile shares land borders with Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. Crossing between these borders is relatively easy and straight forward.
However, border situations are always changing, so we recommend using the iOverlander app to find a border that suits your route and reading the current and up-to-date info left by other travellers to pick your border.
Note that border towns are rarely the nicest places to stay. So, it’s always worth getting to the border early with a full stomach and drinks and snacks to hand so you’re not rushing or stuck in mid-day heat.
Border crossings with Bolivia
There are a few borders between Chile and Bolivia.
The most southerly and remote border is exiting the Ruta de las Lagunas from the south of Bolivia. If you’re not riding that route, the next one up bypasses it at Ollague and takes you straight to Uyuni.
The next borders heading north will give you easier access to La Paz.
Border crossings with Peru
There is one main crossing between Chile and Peru and that’s on the Pan American Highway.
Border crossings with Argentina
There are dozens of border crossings between Chile and Argentina. These border crossings are professional and easy to cross.
Note, there’s no official limit on how many times you can cross between Chile and Argentina. You must just meet the requirements to enter and temporarily import your motorcycle correctly each time.
Each time you cross between the two you will be given a new visa entry (dependent on which nationality you are) and a new Temporary Import Permit.
Shipping a motorcycle to and from Chile
You can ship your motorcycle in and out of Chile. This is usually done from Santiago. The most trusted and well-used motorcycle shipper for overlanders in Chile is Julio Harboe who runs motorlogistics.cl
You can contact him via email here: julio.harboe@motologistics.cl
Note, Julio can help transport your motorcycle throughout Chile. Or, if you finish your ride in Ushuaia for example, he can help transport it back to Santiago.
He is also able to help with services, maintenance, tyres etc.
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When to ride in Chile
Chile is 2,670 miles long, so weather conditions vary massively from one end to the other.
Northern Chile – The best time to ride the Atacama Desert is during the shoulder and dry seasons – March to May and September to November.
Central Chile – The best time to ride central Chile is between October and April.
Southern Chile – The best time to ride the South is December to March. Bear in mind, that by March things are getting nippy. Past March and you’ll miss the weather window for Ushuaia.
Riding the Carretera Austral – If you’re riding the legendary Austral route, then you’re going to want to ride between December and March. January and February are the busiest months.
We entered Chile in Atacama in February and reached Ushuaia by March. We found some cold days, some rainy days, but overall it was an easy ride and quiet.
Money and costs
Chile isn’t cheap. Especially when compared to neighbouring Peru and Bolivia. But it’s not as expensive as Argentina.
Hotels, food, activities and petrol are affordable, just not cheap.
Money can easily be withdrawn at ATMs in large towns, you’ll find them using Google Maps.
Petrol
Fuel is easy to find in Chile and the fuel quality is good. However, there are many sections in Chile with long stretches of road without stations. If you’re riding the Carretera Austral for example, just check Google Maps or iOverlander for where the next stations are and carry a spare supply if needed.
Accommodation
We recommend using iOverlander and Booking.com to find cheaper accommodation options in Chile. AirBnB is also surprisingly good too and we used it a number of times in bigger towns.
Camping is possible in Chile, but as always, use your common sense and don’t camp just anywhere. Speak to locals and make sure you have a good understanding of the area you’re planning on staying first.
For more info on camping, have a look at our camping guides.
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Mechanics, tyres and repairs
Here’s a few recommendations on good motorcycle mechanics in Chile.
- Santiago – Johnny Motos – An excellent mechanic in Santiago, able to help with any repairs of big adventure bikes.
- Santiago – Julio Harboe – Julio is the man for motorcycle shipping in and out of Chile (his details are in the shipping section above) but he can also help arrange tyres and services throughout the country.
- Punta Arenas – Moto Alejandro Lago – An excellent tyre change shop, well priced, has new and part worns.
Safety and security for motorcycle travellers in Chile
Chile is a relatively safe country for motorcycle travellers. Of course, keep your wits about you and be vigilant in large cities. Belongings and bags have been known to be pinched from parked motorcycles in big towns and cities. Check iOverlander for warning pins and try and park your motorcycle inside a locked garage at night.
For safety advice specific to Chile, we recommend having a look at the UK Gov website.
As with everywhere in the world, use your common sense, don’t travel to the dangerous parts of towns and cities, talk to locals, don’t ride at night and consider where you’re staying.
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Keeping your motorcycle and gear safe
It’s always a good idea to find accommodation that has secure parking. And if it doesn’t, then pay to put your bike in a secure carpark with security for the night.
If you’re booking via booking.com then it’ll say whether or not it has parking and you can set a filter. If you’re on iOverlander, then again it will most likely say in the description. And if it’s via Google Maps, you can either look through the pictures or call and ask (one of the reasons we recommend buying a local SIM card so you can make calls).
We tend to put our bikes in safe parking areas belonging to the hotel or more commonly inside a hotel’s courtyard. On occasion, when a hotel doesn’t have that, they just let us bring our bikes inside. We have even brought the bikes into our rooms before.
And on occasion, we simply leave them outside. It’s dependent on the area and what the hotel staff say about safety.
READ MORE: How to Keep Your Motorcycle and Gear Safe While Travelling
Health and safety
Vaccines
When travelling abroad, it’s important to read up on the vaccine recommendations and requirements of the countries you are travelling through.
The best website we have found, that clearly explains what is needed and required is travelhealthpro.org.uk. Simply click on each country you plan on travelling through and read through the vaccine recommendations.
Yellow Fever
There is a risk of yellow fever transmission throughout parts of Central and South America. And some countries in the Americas will require you to show a yellow fever vaccination certificate. So, we recommend getting the vaccine before travelling. You can find info on the travelhealthpro website, and the fitfortravel.nhs.uk website has additional info with a map of areas at risk of yellow fever.
READ MORE: How to Stay Healthy on the Road
Travel insurance and emergencies
We highly recommend getting decent personal travel insurance before you leave on your trip. It’s incredibly important that you’re covered in case of an accident and your medical bills will be taken care off.
If you are planning on heading into very remote regions and off-roading, then we also recommend carrying an emergency satellite GPS device so you can call for help if you have a medical emergency.
Alissa had a serious crash in Nepal years ago and we wish we had an SOS device back then. Luckily we had excellent travel insurance though, which took care of the £20,000 hospital bill. Do not risk it, make sure you are covered.
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Planning your motorcycle route through Chile
Chile has a lot to offer and is incredibly varied – from the baking hot deserts and rugged coastlines in the north to Patagonia and the legendary Carretera Austral in the south.
Here’s some of our top recommendations of things to do and places to ride your motorcycle in Chile.
The Atacama Desert
Northern Chile’s Atacama Desert offers one of the most distinctive riding environments in the world. Known as the driest non-polar desert on Earth, you’ll find vast salt flats, volcanic peaks, and high-altitude plateaus.
Motorcycle travellers typically base themselves in San Pedro de Atacama. It’s an oasis of a town – especially if you’re coming in from the tough Lagunas Route in Bolivia. Rest up here and then you can head out to the Valle de la Luna, El Tatio Geysers and the Salar de Atacama.
You’ll also find the famous Hand of the Desert here.
Carretera Austral (Ruta 7)
The Carretera Austral is Chile’s famous adventure riding route. It stretches for over 1,200 kilometers from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins. Technically, the acutal end is 7km after Villa O’Higgins, at Bahia Bahamondes. Either way, the last section of the route from Puerto Bertrand down to Villa O’Higgins is 280km one way as VOH is a dead-end. So you’ll have to ride all the way down and back up again if you want to visit VOH.
Ruta 7 covers remote fjords, rainforests, and glacial valleys. The road is a combination of tarmac and gravel, with ferry crossings mixed in and limited infrastructure. The gravel roads are easy riding and it’s a popular route so you’ll see many other motorcycle travellers.
Note, the main ferry from Hornopiren to Caleta Gonzalo can get fully booked quickly, so you may need to book in advance. We skipped this ferry and crossed the border to Bariloche in Argentina, rode south and then crossed back into Chile.
The Marble Caves
Chile’s Marble Cathedral is a natural wonder on General Carrera Lake. These rock formations have been carved by thousands of years of glacial waves lapping and eroding them into incredible shapes. The solid marble you see in our photos has been there for around 300 million years. The last ice age was around 12,000 years ago, at which point there was no lake here – only glaciers.
Fast forward to 6,000 years ago and those glaciers had melted forming this lake. So, it’s taken since then to erode and shape these rocks.
Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego
While Ruta 7 dips down into Patagonia, it only covers the north and central regions. Go further south and you’ll enter the magnificent Southern Patagonia region of Chile and Argentina. Here’s where you’ll find the most epic mountains, glaciers, fjords and wildlife. This is where the magic happens in Chile.
Torres del Paine National Park
The Torres National Park is one of Patagonia’s most striking riding routes. You’ve got about 200kms of gravel tracks around the park and epic views of the famous Torres (mountain towers).
There is a fee to enter the park, even if you’re riding in for one day and you can pay by card at the ticket office as you ride in. Base yourself in Puerto Natales and ride the loop in a day or stay at one of the designated lodges or campsites along the way.
King Penguin Park
A colony of King Penguins lives in Bahía Inútil, Tierra del Fuego. It’s the only known colony on the South American mainland as they usually only live in the sub-Antarctica range.
They arrived in 2010, and conservation efforts have helped them stay. King Penguins are the second-largest penguin species. Emperor penguins are the largest, and around 15cm taller than the Kings and twice as heavy.
The King Penguins can be seen year-round at the Reserva Natural Pingüino Rey due to their breeding cycle. It’s impressive seeing so many of these incredible birds and a must if you’re close by. You will need to book a timeslot in advance. Here’s the location.
Riding gear
We always recommend choosing a lightweight, breathable and well vented adventure riding suit – and one that is not waterproof. Pack a light set of throwover waterproofs for rain and a compressible down jacket to wear underneath if you get cold.
The aim of the game here is a layering system. It can get hot and cold in Chile and so you want to be in well vented kit with easy access to waterproofs and a warmer layer if needed. Keep in mind that if you’re heading all the way to the south, the weather can change in an instant and it can be freezing cold, so warm gloves or bar muffs and a heated jacket are a good idea.
For more info and guides on adventure riding gear have a look at the below guides.
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Rentals and tours
If you fancy riding in Chile and Patagonia, but don’t want to take your own motorcycle, then there are some fantastic motorcycle and rental outfits based there. Use the below link to access our Rental and Tour Companies Finder.
READ MORE: Motorcycle Rental and Tour Companies
Top tips
WhatsApp – We recommend joining the Chile WhatsApp group for overland motorcycle travellers.
Language – Learning the language goes a long way in any country you visit. And luckily, Spanish is a relatively easy language to learn for English speakers. We recommend at least learning the basics (hello, thank you, please etc) to be polite and make an effort. Anything else you learn goes a long way in improving your experience interacting and engaging with locals. But don’t worry, it’s easy and fun to communicate even if you really struggle with languages and you can get by without it. Communicating When You Don’t Speak the Language
Apps – Download the Google Translate app onto your phone, and then download Spanish onto it. This will work offline and you can easily communicate with locals using this app.
iOverlander – It’s a fantastic tool for overland travellers and is free. Download it and contribute wherever you can.
Maps.Me – A free offline map and navigation app. Simply download the maps for Chile and use it offline. The Best Free Apps for Motorcycle Travellers
SIM card – We recommend purchasing a SIM card for your travels. It will make life easier when travelling and you can make phone calls to book hotels. They’re easy to buy from any mobile phone store.
We personally use Holafly eSIMs. This way, you can get mobile data on your phone ready for when you cross into South America and you can get packages that cover the entire region. It’s the easiest and quickest way to have unlimited data on your phone.
Read more on motorcycle travel in Chile
Thanks for checking out the Motorcycle Travel Guide: Chile. We hope you enjoyed it! Here’s a few more articles on motorcycle travel in Chile and South America that we recommend you read next.
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Are you planning a motorcycle trip in Chile? Do you have any questions, tips or suggestions? Let us know in the comments below.
Fantastic web site with lots of useful info. Thanks!