In this guide
The question always arrives two weeks before the trip, when everything is paid for and the suitcase is open on the bed: what do we bring. And the honest answer is that most people bring far too much of one thing and none of what actually matters.
This list is written from the other side of the counter. It is what I see when I hand over a camper, and more importantly, what I see when it comes back.
What is already in the camper
Start here, because this is where you save the most space. All of it is already inside and you do not need to bring it:
- Full bedding, with a premium down duvet, and the bed made at handover. No sleeping bag, no pillows.
- A 22 litre Alpicool fridge with a real compressor. No cool box needed.
- A complete kitchen: gas stove, pots, pan, plates, glasses, cutlery, board, knife and a sink with a fresh water tank. Leave your camping set at home.
- A diesel heater independent of the vehicle's tank, so the camper warms up without running the engine.
- Solar panel, auxiliary battery and a 220V inverter to charge everything you use.
- Camping table and two chairs.
- All terrain 4 season tyres, a spare and jump cables.
What we don't include and you will need
Not much, but it matters:
- Towels. Not included. Bring microfibre ones: they dry fast and pack down to nothing. If you land without them, the Decathlon in the Puerto Montt mall is 20 minutes from our base.
- Toiletries and any medication you take. Small towns have pharmacies, but not always what you are looking for.
- A head torch. Nobody brings one and everybody borrows one. In December it stays light past ten, but when you need it, you need your hands free.
And three things we do have, as add ons rather than standard equipment: an awning, a grill, and a portable gas hot water shower. If you want any of them, ask when you book, not on handover day. Same for Starlink satellite internet, which we rent at $10.000 CLP per day capped at $150.000 for the whole trip, so from 15 days it costs the same however long you stretch the route.
Clothing: how Patagonia is actually dressed for
Here is the most common mistake, and it is conceptual: people prepare for cold. The enemy is not cold, it is wind. Twelve degrees and still is a pleasant afternoon in a t-shirt. Twelve degrees with fifty kilometres an hour of wind sends you back inside the camper.
That is why a light windproof jacket beats a thick parka, and why the three layer system works so well down here:
- Base layer: thermal, merino or synthetic. Never cotton. Wet cotton does not dry inside a camper and it will make you cold.
- Mid layer: fleece or a light down jacket. This is the one you take off and put back on five times a day.
- Outer layer: waterproof and windproof, with a hood. If there is one good garment in your bag, make it this one.
The rest of the clothing list, kept short:
- A warm hat and light gloves, even in January. At eight in the morning on a viewpoint it is six degrees and windy.
- Quick dry trousers. One pair covers everything. Wet jeans are a punishment.
- One waterproof shoe for walking and one comfortable pair for driving. You do not need heavy mountain boots unless you are doing serious trekking.
- Sunscreen and sunglasses. UV levels in southern Chile are genuinely high, and it burns on cloudy days too.
- Swimwear. It sounds odd after all of the above, but there are hot springs at Puyuhuapi, at Ralún and along the way, and they are among the best parts of the trip.
The eight in the morning test
Before anything goes in the bag, ask yourself whether you would put it on at eight in the morning, standing at a viewpoint, in the wind. If the answer is no, you probably will not wear it all trip.
Luggage: soft bags, always
This is the most practical advice on the list and the one nobody tells you until it is too late: travel with soft bags or backpacks, never a hard shell suitcase.
A soft bag empties, folds and slides under the bed in two minutes. A large hard suitcase does none of that, fits in no compartment, and ends up occupying the back seat or half the camper for two weeks. We see it every season, and it is a daily annoyance that is entirely avoidable.
If there are two of you, two medium bags work far better than one large one, because they tuck into different spaces.
Food and shopping
Do your big shop in Puerto Varas or Puerto Montt before you leave. It is the last time you will see a supermarket at normal prices. South of there the village shops are well stocked, but everything arrived by truck and ferry, and the price shows it.
Twenty two litres of fridge gives you three or four days of fresh food. What works: pasta, rice, tinned food, eggs, coffee, and sturdy fruit and vegetables. What does not: frozen food and anything that needs to stay very cold.
Two details that save trouble: bring your own rubbish bags, because there is not always somewhere to dispose of waste on the road, and if your route crosses into Argentina, empty the fridge of fruit, vegetables and meat before the agricultural checkpoint on the way back.
Still deciding on the camper?
Send us your dates and we will send a quote the same day, plus the list of places we sleep ourselves along your route.
Get a quoteMoney, documents and signal
- Cash in Chilean pesos. In Villa O'Higgins, Caleta Tortel or Puerto Río Tranquilo there are days with no signal, a dead card machine and an empty ATM. This is not folklore, it happens.
- A valid driving licence from your country, and your passport. If you cross into Argentina we prepare the vehicle paperwork, but your own documents are yours.
- Offline maps downloaded before you leave Puerto Varas. Offline Google Maps, Maps.me or Organic Maps. You will drive for hours without data.
- A power bank. The solar system charges everything, but on a long hike the power bank in your daypack is what saves you.
About the 220V inverter
It charges phones, cameras, laptops and drones without trouble. It is not for anything that heats: hair dryer, electric kettle, iron. They draw far more than the system delivers and will flatten the battery. For hot water there is the gas stove, which is faster anyway.
What people bring too much of
- Clothes for every day of the trip. Five or six changes is plenty. There are laundries in Puerto Varas, Chaitén, Puyuhuapi, Coyhaique and Cochrane, and several campsites will do it for you.
- Hard shell suitcases. I laboured the point above, but it is genuinely number one.
- Sleeping bags and pillows. The bed is made.
- Cool boxes. There is a fridge.
- Three pairs of shoes. Two, and wear one of them.
- Hair dryers. See the box above.
The short list
If you only read one part, read this one:
| Category | The essentials |
|---|---|
| Outer layer | Waterproof and windproof jacket, with a hood |
| Warmth | Fleece or light down, warm hat, light gloves |
| Base | Thermal base layer (never cotton), quick dry trousers |
| Footwear | One waterproof pair for walking, one comfortable pair for driving |
| Sun | Sunscreen and sunglasses |
| Bathroom | Microfibre towels and your own toiletries |
| Kit | Head torch, power bank, rubbish bags |
| Papers | Licence, passport, cash in pesos |
| Digital | Offline maps downloaded |
| Luggage | Soft bags or backpacks, never a hard suitcase |
With that you are better prepared than 90% of the people who leave Puerto Varas. Anything else you can buy on the road if you find you need it, which is part of the trip too.
If you are still choosing dates, the best time to travel guide tells you what to expect month by month, and if you are building the route, the Carretera Austral by camper has the full day by day.
