Patagonia is the kind of place that makes you put your phone down and just stare. Charles Darwin called it boundless, and once you see the deep-blue lakes, glacier ice and endless sky for yourself, you'll understand why. The Argentine side alone could fill a dozen trips: alpine villages tucked against snowcapped peaks in the Lake District, whales cruising the protected waters of Peninsula Valdes, and wide-open southern estancias where desert gives way to ice fields. Keep heading south toward Cape Horn and the horizon seems to run straight to Antarctica.

For all its wild scale, getting around is easier than most travelers expect. Roads and regional flights connect the headline sights, including the towering face of Perito Moreno Glacier and the jagged spires of Mount Fitz Roy. Wildlife is everywhere. Magellanic penguins and albatross share the shoreline at Punta Tombo, and ancient handprints still mark the walls of the Cave of the Hands.

The secret to Patagonia is sequencing: the distances are big and the weather has a mind of its own. I build the route, flights and stays so you spend your time on the trail and at the glacier, not in transit.