Welcome to the Mad or Nomad Motorcycle Travel Guide for South America. This detailed guide is packed with info covering everything you need to know about how to motorcycle travel in South America. If you’re planning an overland motorcycle adventure – start here…
This motorcycle travel guide is based on our ride through South America during our round the world trip. The guides on this website are constantly updated.
Contents
How to Motorcycle Travel in South America
By Andy Davidson
Mad or Nomad: Round the World Motorcycle Traveller
Welcome to South America – a continent made for motorcycle adventure.
From the towering mountains of the Andes to the windswept wilds of Patagonia, South America is a must for every motorcycle traveller. It’s packed with ancient and incredible culture, stunning scenery, and some of the best adventure riding in the world. It’s got everything from high-altitude passes to coastlines, jungles and deserts. There’s proper adventure to be had here.
And this guide is your launchpad: a continent-wide overview for overlanders and adventure bike riders who want a sense of the bigger picture. For those keen to dig deeper, we’ve built dedicated country guides filled with our favourite routes, local tips, paperwork advice, border info, moto travel stories and loads more. You can find them all in the South America landing page.
READ MORE: All South America Motorcycle Guides
Our motorcycle ride through South America
We (Andy and Alissa from Mad or Nomad) are on a round the world motorcycle trip and entered South America via Bogota, Colombia in 2024 and exited via Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2025. This guide is based on our experiences and what we learnt. However, as with all our guides, readers and fellow travellers kindly contribute more info, which we always update our guides with so they stay current.
For more info on our ride there and what we got up to, have a read of our South America Blogs – and check out our route in the section below.
READ MORE: Our Round the World Adventure Blogs
Our route through South America
Here’s a rough waypoint map of our motorcycle route through South America. This map can be downloaded and saved to help you plot your own route.
Paperwork for motorcycle travellers in South America
To enter any country in South America with a foreign motorcycle, you will need your passport, motorcycle registration document and driver’s licence.
You will then need to obtain a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) at the border. Most of the countries also require motorcycle insurance. Here’s the info in more detail.
Immigration
Most of the countries in South America operate a visa-free entry system for citizens of certain countries. You will need to check the visa policy for each country before entering to see what the rules are regarding your citizenship and passport.
Temporary Import Permit (TIP)
You will require a temporary import to take your foreign registered motorcycle into South America.
You do not need a Carnet for any country in South America. And you also do not need a Carnet for any country in North or Central America either.
To get your TIP you will need copies of your passport, vehicle registration and driver’s licence. These copies are made at the border by the staff, so you shouldn’t need to carry them with you.
In general, your TIP will be valid for the same duration as your visa. However, some countries offer longer TIPs, like Argentina which may offer an 8-month TIP dependent on where you’re from.
Your motorcycle must be taken out of SA before the TIP expires or it will be seized, and they can be quite strict on that.
If you’d like to pause your TIP and store your motorcycle for a while, the best and easiest country to do that in is Peru. You’ll find more info on this in the Peru pages.
Other alternatives are Uruguay, and Argentina – although you can’t pause the TIP in Argentina, but you may be able to get an 8-month TIP, which may be long enough for your needs.
Motorcycle insurance
Motorcycle insurance is compulsory in most of South America with the exception of Ecuador.
For most of South America you can get one Mercosur policy. However, some countries like Chile and Peru will require an additional insurance.
Specifics
For more info on where to obtain your insurance, which countries provide what TIPs, borders and paperwork requirements, check out our individual dedicated guides for each country in the South America Guides. Click the country and then have a read of the Motorcycle Travel Guide for it.
READ MORE: South America Guides
Detailed info on motorcycle travel 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.
READ MORE:
Getting in and out of South America
Although South America is connected to North America via Panama and Colombia, that connecting point runs through the Darien Gap – a notorious jungle.
Unfortunately, you can’t ride through it. There are no roads and it’s infamous for drug and people smuggling. That’s not to say it can’t be done – as it can if you’re really serious, but just have a quick read of this story first as I’m sure it’ll be enough to put you off – Welcome to the Jungle.
So, that means to get to South America from any other continent or country in the world you must either ship or fly your motorcycle.
From Panama to Colombia
Most overland motorcycle travellers will be riding the Americas and coming from Central America. The last country on that route is Panama. From there you can easily fly your motorcycle to Bogota, Colombia.
We did the same and have written detailed guides explaining the entire process.
READ MORE:
Motorcycle shipping
There are a number of countries you can ship to and from in South America. The most popular are:
- Colombia
- Chile
- Argentina
- Uruguay
If you’re looking to ship into or out of South America via any of these countries, we suggest looking at our Shipping Companies Finder page. Click the country you’re interested in and you’ll find a selection of companies to contact.
READ MORE:
Finishing your ride in Ushuaia
Assuming you are following the conventional route and riding from north to south, you will be ending in Ushuaia.
To exit South America you will need to ship your motorcycle off the continent by air or sea.
Note that there’s no shipping from Ushuaia itself. You will need to get your motorcycle back north in order to ship it out and that means heading to either:
- Argentina – Buenos Aires
- Chile – Santiago
- Uruguay – Montevideo
Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are the best options for shipping out of South America and there are great companies in each one who are experienced with shipping foreign registered motorcycles worldwide. Check our Shipping Companies Finder link for more info on those companies.
Returning north to ship out
If you are shipping from Argentina or Uruguay you will need to ride the boring, long and straight Ruta 3 along the east coast covering around 3,000kms.
If you would rather not ride, then you could consider shipping from Chile and contacting Julio Harboe from Motologistics as he is the Chile motorcycle shipper, and can help arrange ground transportation to take your bike from the south back to Santiago.
Ushuaia and Antarctica
Making it to Ushuaia will be an incredible feeling – you’ve ridden the length of the Americas and made it to the end of the road – congrats!
Ushuaia is a cool little town and a great place to chill out and relax after your long ride. But, it’s also the launchpad for trips to Antarctica – and if reaching the seventh continent has ever interested you – then this is the best place in the world to get a ticket.
If you turn up and ask around at the offices or try and get a last minute ticket, you can get as much as 60% off. There’s no guarantee, but it’s a once in a lifetime trip and you’re already there. We managed to get a ticket and it was easily the best thing we’ve ever done in our lives. Our packed Antarctica guides explain everything you need to know about getting a deal ticket.
READ MORE: Antarctica Guides
South American borders
Border crossings in South America are usually easy, straightforward and friendly. They’re generally far easier and more relaxed than the border crossings in Central America too. Once you’ve done a few you’ll get the hang of it and the process will become easy.
The continent is a well-traversed and explored route by overlanders so you pulling up on a motorcycle is not going to be something new for immigration or customs – especially if you’re on popular routes.
Procedures
- There’s a standard procedure at each border. You’ll go through immigration first to get your passport stamped in. Then it’s over to customs to get your motorcycle TIP. Some borders like Ecuador will want to take photos of your bike, plate and VIN numbers.
- You’ll need to make sure you’re covered for insurance. Colombia and Peru require SOAT, Chile requires SOAPEX and one Mercosur insurance policy can cover multiple countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay.
Tips
- Arrive early to avoid long queues and give yourself a buffer time.
- There are plenty of remote borders. They’re often faster and more relaxed, but may lack facilities or internet. You may need to get paperwork in advance if it’s very remote, like the Paso Raballos border in Chile (mentioned in the Chile guide).
- Basic Spanish goes a long way at borders and agents tend to appreciate the effort.
- Chile is strict about bringing in fresh produce; expect bag checks or dog sniffs. The same goes for Argentina. Don’t risk it, if there are signs up saying you can’t bring in foodstuffs then don’t try and sneak it in.
- Always be friendly, polite and smile, even if your patience is being tested.
South America country guides
If you’re heading to South America and would like detailed info on the countries there, have a look at our country landing pages. You’ll find our dedicated Motorcycle Travel Guides – these list everything you need to know about overlanding in that country from borders and paperwork to top tips, routes, shipping, mechanics, accommodation recommendations and more. You’ll also find our best routes and extra guides.
Riding the length of the Americas
The most common route is for motorcycle travellers riding the length of the Americas and most overlanders start in the US or Canada and ride down to Ushuaia, Argentina at the southern tip of South America.
You can ride it in reverse if you prefer. But whichever way you do it, you’ll want to make sure you’re in the weather window – especially for Ushuaia (which is November to March).
How you choose to ride the length and which route you go will depend on you, your budget, timeframe, your riding skills, choice of motorcycle and how much road or off-road you want to do.
Here are the main options below.
Motorcycling the Pan American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is the longest driveable road network in the world, stretching from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska all the way to Ushuaia, Argentina at 30,000 miles.
It’s not a single road, but instead a system of interconnected roads that make their way through 14 countries across North, Central and South America.
Classing the Pan Am for motorcycle travellers
It gets confusing because travellers often say they’re riding the “Pan Am”, “Pan America” or the “Pan American Highway” and they could either mean they’re riding the actual Pan American Highway route or they’re riding the length of the Americas and not necessarily sticking to the Pan Am route. It’s often used to loosely refer to any overland journey from Alaska to Argentina
But, strictly speaking – the actual Pan American Highway is a connection of specific main roads and highways.
And we’re highlighting this distinction because there may be travellers out there looking into riding the Americas and thinking the Pan American Highway is the way to go or the best route because it’s mentioned most. But that’s not the case – more on that in the next section.
If, however, you want to specifically ride the actual Pan Am, then note that the Pan American Highway is known by different names in each country and to ride it, you’ll need to connect those roads.
These are the road names of the Pan American Highway in the South American countries it passes through.
- Colombia: Ruta Nacional 25 / Carretera Panamericana
- Ecuador: E35 / Troncal de la Sierra / Panamericana Sur
- Peru: Carretera Panamericana Norte (PE-1N) and Sur (PE-1S)
- Chile: Ruta 5 / Carretera Panamericana
- Argentina: Ruta Nacional 7 and Ruta Nacional 3
Our honest opinion on riding the Pan Am Highway
Don’t do it.
If you’re planning on riding the “official” Pan American Highway – you’ll be mostly if not completely – sticking to asphalt the entire way. That means, you will be missing the very best each of these countries has to offer.
We personally, dipped down out of the mountains in Peru for a half a day’s ride on the Pan Am to get to the capital, Lima. We rode a section of the Pan Am on Chile’s Ruta 5 to get to Santiago. And we rode Argentina’s Ruta 3 after reaching Ushuaia along the west coast to get to Buenos Aires on the east.
Those three rides were the worst and most boring rides of the entire South America trip. Here’s the alternative.
The Andes Mountain Range
Stay away from the Pan American Highway. It’s hot, flat, boring, repetitive and all on road.
Instead, head for the mountains and ride one of the most epic mountain ranges in the world – the Andes.
The Andes Mountain range stretches over 4,000 miles (7,000kms) along the entire western edge of South America – it’s the longest mountain range in the world. And this is where adventure happens.
If you’re starting in Colombia, head into the coffee axis and all the way to Cocuy National Park. Ride through the green section of the Andes before dipping straight south into Ecuador to ride that section.
Then comes Peru – probably the most epic stretch and where the mountains really start soaring. Peru’s home to about 1,000 miles of the Andes and has some of the best most adventurous riding in South America.
Then dip into Bolivia, visit the Salt Flats and then the high Altiplano range. Drop back into Chile and dart straight for the Carettera Austral. Then it’s over to Argentina’s legendary Ruta 40. Weave in and out of Chile and Argentina on the west coast stopping to see Torres del Paine, glaciers and mountains until you reach the end of the world in Ushuaia.
The best motorcycle routes in South America
If you’d like to ride the Andes, we have written dedicated guides on each country listed above. You’ll find specific route guides listing our favourite roads, rides and routes for each one here in their landing pages.
Check out our South America landing page for more info.
READ MORE: South America Guides
Crossing the Amazon
Alternatively, you may want to break away from the popular Pan Am ride and head to the east of South America. Note that this side is nowhere near as well travelled by overlanders as the west. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
To switch between the west and east of South America is most easily done by riding down one side of Argentina and up the other – you’ll find info on that in our Argentina guides.
However, if you’re in the north of South America and want to switch sides, then have a read of this guide.
READ MORE: How to Motorcycle from Peru to French Guiana Using Amazon Cargo Boats
South America’s motorcycle highlights
Here’s a selection of our favourite things to do both on and off the bike in South America.
- Horse Riding
- Trampoline of Death
- El Cocuy National Park
- Tatacoa Desert
- Cocoro Valley
- Jardin Town
Info on all of these places can be found in the Motorcycle Travel Guide: Colombia
- Mindo
- Middle of the World
- Chimborazo
- Salinas
- Quilotoa Loop
Info on all of these places can be found in the Motorcycle Travel Guide: Ecuador
- The Best Riding Routes in Peru
- Machu Picchu
- Smurf Houses
Info on all of these places can be found in the Peru Motorcycle Travel Guides
- The Best Motorcycle Routes in Bolivia
- The Ruta de las Lagunas
- The Death Road
- Uyuni Salt Flats
Info on all of these places can be found in the Bolivia Motorcycle Travel Guides
- The Atacama Desert
- Carretera Austral (Ruta 7)
- The Marble Caves
- Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego
- Torres del Paine National Park
- King Penguin Park
Info on all of these places can be found in the Motorcycle Travel Guide: Chile
- Ruta 40
- Ushuaia
- Antarctica
- El Calafate and the Perito Moreno Glacier
- El Chalten and Mount Fitz Roy
Info on all of these places can be found in the Motorcycle Travel Guide: Argentina
Riding conditions
Riding a motorcycle through South America can be as challenging or as easy as you like. You could ride the whole way on primarily asphalt if you stick to the Pan Am. You can be adventurous and take all the small tracks and off-road routes – or you can seriously go off-piste. It’s your call.
If you go adventurous, expect mud, river crossings, sand, rocks and endless gravel. You can ride these routes without it being too challenging as long as you have off-road experience and are riding in the right season. Rains and storms in South America are no joke and can make an easy ride exceptionally difficult.
READ MORE: Riding Guides
Riding dangers
When it comes to riding through South America, the main dangers are the off-road routes, the remoteness and the Patagonian winds. You can prepare for these by not riding out of your comfort zone and taking it easy. Carry an emergency SOS device with you or at least let people know where you are. If you’re heading for seriously remote regions then it can be hours or even days before people pass by so take this into consideration.
And finally, the winds in Patagonia are no joke. You’ll find a section in the Argentina guide on Los Malditos 73 for example, which is treacherous. Use the Windy app to predict wind patterns for the day and don’t ride in anything over yellow (yellow itself is tough).
READ MORE: Riding Guides
Mechanics, spares and repairs
There’s no shortage of motorcycle mechanics, dealers and spares in South America. However, I would suggest getting most of your work done in the north and carrying spares from there.
Colombia is an excellent place to find decent and well priced garages. Ecuador too. And Peru is surprisingly good, although a little trickier, but still very cheap. Your best bets are in the capital.
Bolivia is tricky, there are some decent shops but you’ll have to go to the capital or Cochabamba and the choice is far less.
Surprisingly, Chile and Argentina we found the most difficult. Chile was a pain finding official Honda parts. We bought official Honda parts in Peru and Chile, and in the same parts were half the price in Peru.
Argentina is incredibly expensive at the moment, avoid buying any spares, tyres or having work done there.
Buy your parts and spares in the north, consider your routes and where you might need things changing as there are long stretches without shops in these countries.
Tyres are another factor. Ecuador is a good place to buy cheap tyres, same for Colombia and Peru. You can also get decent part worns and new tyres towards the end of the road in Punta Arenas, Chile. Just calculate your distances in advance and figure out where you’ll need them.
Motorcycle storage in South America
If you need to store your motorcycle in South America because you need to fly home, or want to ride part of the way and return to ride another day, we suggest Peru, Uruguay and Argentina.
Peru is by far the easiest because you can pause your Temporary Import Permit and leave for as long as you need. You’ll find a detailed guide and contact details on this is in our Peru Travel Guide.
Uruguay is also a good option due to the long TIP you receive. Contact Willi Motos for info.
Argentina is another option. But you can’t pause your TIP. However, dependent on your nationality, you may be given an 8-month TIP, which might be long enough for your storage needs. More info in the Argentina Guides.
When to ride in South America
When to ride depends on which country you’re riding through. Check our individual guides for each country in South America to find the best times of year. Plan your trip well, because many of the best and most epic mountain passes and routes through the Andes will be closed or impassible during winter.
However, if you’re planning to ride the length of the continent, then you will need to be careful with weather windows for Ushuaia. Typically the riding season for getting to Ushuaia is between November and March.
We started our ride in Colombia in September, arrived in Ushuaia in March and left in April. The weather was pretty good for the entire ride – apart from some cold days in Patagonia towards the bottom. And that was definitely out of season.
Money and costs
South America is on a whole affordable for motorcycle travel. It only gets costly once you enter Chile and Argentina.
With the exception of Chile and Argentina, hotels, food, activities and petrol are all very affordable and it’s easy to live and travel for long periods of time. But of course, this depends on your travel style and budget.
Money can easily be withdrawn at ATMs in large towns, you’ll find them using Google Maps (again, with the exception of Argentina).
Accommodation
We recommend using iOverlander and Booking.com to find cheap accommodation options. AirBnB is also surprisingly good too in cities. Accommodation is generally cheap and easy to find throughout South America, but if you’re heading to remote places, don’t expect luxury.
Camping is a great option throughout South America, 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.
READ MORE:
Petrol
You won’t have too much trouble finding petrol throughout South America other than in Bolivia. Bolivia is facing a severe petrol crisis. Have a read of our Bolivia guide for more info.
However, there are some very remote sections in South America so you may need to calculate your mileages. It’s worth carrying a jerry can fixed to your bike or a fuel bladder if you prefer. If you get caught out, you should be able to find petrol in small villages, which will most likely be sold from plastic bottles.
Safety and security for motorcycle travellers in South America
South America is generally considered a safe and popular country for motorcycle travellers, however, safety is always subject to change and cannot be guaranteed as situations change daily.
We recommend checking UK Gov website. Using that link you can check individual countries and will find a map with areas the UK Gov recommends you do not ride as well as a lot of safety and security information. Note that if you travel to places that your Government advises against travel to, your travel insurance will likely be invalid while you’re there.
READ MORE: How to Stay Safe on the Road
Avoiding dangerous areas
iOverlander – iOverlander is a great resource. You will find pins marked on the map where others have had trouble. But don’t take it as gospel because pins can be out of date. There were times we travelled along roads where there were pins that others had mentioned they had been robbed etc. But times change and those pins need updating. Still, it is a valuable guide.
Locals – Asking the locals is a great way to suss out a route or area. This is especially handy and useful if you’re thinking of taking a less travelled route or for off-road riding.
Don’t ride at night – This is an important one. For travellers, it’s sound advice wherever you are in the world. Livestock, wild animals, sand, gravel, potholes and speed bumps litter the roads. Always try and get to your accommodation way before it gets dark.
Ask fellow travellers – There are lots of Facebook groups for Overlanders. For South America we recommend the PanAmerican Route Riders Association. They’re a friendly bunch and you may find recent safety updates on there.
You can also join WhatsApp groups for overlanders. More on that in the Tips section at the end.
Common sense – Most importantly, use your common sense. If an area feels particularly dodgy or you have a lot of eyes on you without a lot of smiles accompanying them, just move on. The longer you travel the more you develop a kind of sense for these things regardless. And even if your sense is wrong, at least you avoided the potential risk.
READ MORE: How to Deal with Bribes
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.
It’s common for hotels and accommodations throughout South America to provide secure parking for motorcycles in a garage or behind a locked gate.
Regarding kit, we leave both our panniers on the bikes. Alissa’s panniers hold our personal rucksacks and they come into the hotel and that’s it. Everything else stays on the bikes. My panniers hold the camping gear in one and the tools and miscellaneous in the other. Mine are secured with a Mosko Moto cable lock. This could be cut relatively easily but deters opportune thieves. In our crash bar bags we have things like food, snacks, waterproofs. All of this stays on the bike overnight and when we leave the bikes to walk about and we’ve never had a problem.
When we started our round the world trip back in 2018, we left with a big chain lock, disc lock and motorcycle cover. Now we have a small bicycle lock and very rarely use it. If you are concerned, a tatty old cover is a good idea to act as an invisibility cloak.
READ MORE: How to Keep Your Motorcycle and Gear Safe While Travelling
Health
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.
Common sense – Use your common sense when travelling anywhere in the world. Ask if it’s okay to drink the tap water first, buy bottled if not. Be selective where and what you eat for example. Food and hygiene standards may not be what you are used to so a degree of caution should be taken to avoid falling sick. Have a read of our Staying Healthy guide below for more info.
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. There are very remote sections in Peru and some very rural parts too where help may take a long time to come, so this is an important one.
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.
READ MORE:
Riding gear
The weather can change dramatically in South America dependent on which region you’re in and at what time of year. You have the coastal routes, the Andes mountain range, the Amazon, pampas grasslands, glaciers, wild Patagonia and the end of the world.
If you’re going to be riding through multiple countries, climates and conditions, we recommend wearing a lightweight, ventilated and breathable riding suit.
Remove all thermal and waterproof liners (if it comes with any) and leave them at home. Pack a pair of decent throwover waterproofs in case it rains and a compressible down jacket in case it gets cold (or an electric heated riding jacket).
This gives you a multi-layer adaptable riding outfit that you can layer up or down with dependent on the ever changing weather. If you’re going to be riding off-road, a decent pair of adventure boots is a must too.
We have a dedicated guide explaining everything you need to know on how to choose your adventure riding gear below, and check out the riding gear guides for our recommended jackets, helmets, suits and boots.
READ MORE:
What to pack for a motorcycle trip in South America
What you’ll need to take largely depends on where you’re going, for how long, how much luggage you want to carry, your bike and how comfortable you want to be.
If you’re going for some serious off-road routes then you’re going to need to be as light as possible. If you’re sticking to asphalt the whole way then pack the kitchen sink.
But in general, you’re going to need a good mix of warm and cold weather clothing for on and off the bike, waterproofs, tools and any spares needed, a means of carrying water and spare fuel, any electrical equipment you need and a safe way of storing your paperwork and valuables.
We recommend having a read of our ultimate packing list. Use it as a base list and pick the things you might need for your trip.
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Rentals, tours and buying a bike in South America
Renting or joining a motorcycle tour in South America is an easy and fun way of travelling. You lose all the stress of getting your own bike there and back and can simply fly in and ride. There’s some fantastic companies out there for a wide range of riders and riding styles including multi-country tours. We recommend checking out our rental and tour companies finder below.
Buying a bike is also possible. Colombia is by far the easiest country to purchase a motorcycle as a foreigner. Chile is next, followed by Peru. We have a packed guide on buying in Colombia if you’re considering purchasing.
READ MORE:
Top tips
Tech
Facebook – There are lots of Facebook groups for Overlanders. For South America we recommend the PanAmerican Route Riders Association. You’ll find lots of info on travelling in South America in there with recent and up-to-date reports.
WhatsApp – We recommend joining the WhatsApp groups for Overlanders in South America – Motos in South America. There are individual WhatsApp groups for each country in South America that you can also join, here’s the links below.
- Traveling in Peru WhatsApp group
- Travelers in Brazil WhatsApp group
- Colombia Travellers WhatsApp group
- Colombia Moto Travellers WhatsApp group
- Overlanding Chile WhatsApp group
- Traveling in Bolivia WhatsApp group
- Overlanding Ecuador WhatsApp group
- Uruguay Overlanders WhatsApp group
Google Translate – 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 Peru and use it offline. The Best Free Apps for Motorcycle Travellers
Windy – The Windy App is vital for once you get into Patagonia due to the fierce winds. It’s a great tool for predicting wind and weather patterns.
SIM card – We recommend purchasing local SIM cards for your travels. It will make life easier when travelling and you can make phone calls to book hotels.
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.
Language
Spanish is spoken everywhere in South America with the exception of Brazil (Portuguese). 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.
If you’re riding through Central America first, we also recommend stopping off for a few weeks of Spanish language school in Guatemala (more info in our Guat guide). It’s one of the best places in the world to learn the language and you’ll find other overlanders there studying too.
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
Speak to the locals as much as possible – Make an effort in learning language basics and practice as much as possible. Locals always appreciate it when you try. Relax and enjoy your ride in South America, it’s an incredible place and made all the more better by the wonderful people you’ll meet.
Read more on motorcycle travel in South America
Thanks for checking out the Motorcycle Travel Guide: South America. We hope you enjoyed it! Here’s a few more articles on motorcycle travel in South America that we recommend you read next.
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Are you planning a motorcycle trip in South America? Do you have any questions, tips or suggestions? Let us know in the comments below.