How to Get Around Along the Longitudinal Highway

Getting here: Lan Chile flies Sundays from Los Angeles to Santiago, returning Saturdays. Call toll-free (800) 735-2445. Lan Chile and Ladeco both have flights twice daily from Santiago to Puerto Montt and daily to Coihaique.

Getting around: Car rentals are available from major companies in Puerto Montt, and from the Automobile Club of Chile, which has a reciprocal agreement with the AAA. In Santiago: Marchant Pereira 122, Providencia. In Puerto Montt: Cauquenes 75. Budget offers a small four-wheel-drive sedan, the Subaru Justy, for about $40 a day. There is a steep drop-off charge of nearly $100 if you leave the car in Coihaique after driving there from Puerto Montt. Hertz has an office at Moraleda 420 in Coihaique.

Ferries: Transmarchilay Ltd., the state-owned shipping company, runs many of the ferries in the region. In Santiago: Agustinas 715, No. 403. In Puerto Montt: Antonio Varas 215. It is essential to book for the 22-hour Puerto Chacabuco-Chonchi ferry. The fee for a car to Chonchi is about $60; a two-bunk cabin is $100 extra. Note: the 2 1/2-hour ferry through the fiord south of Rio Negro, on the way to Chaiten ($15 per car, $1.50 per passenger), goes twice a day, 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. First come, first served.

Navimag offers a 36-hour trip once a week from Puerto Chacabuco to San Rafael Lagoon, starting at $100, including five meals. Santiago: Miraflores 178. Puerto Montt: Ferry Terminal.

Tours: Empremar, a major shipping company, runs a five-day “adventure tourism” program with its car-ferry ship Rio Cisnes, in which travelers take their own (or rented) cars on board, travel from Puerto Montt to Chaiten, travel in caravan to Puyuhuapi and other points on the highway for two days, reboard the ship at Puerto Cisnes, travel to the San Rafael Lagoon to see the famed glacier, return to Puerto Chacabuco, drive another section of the highway and return to Quellon, Chiloe Island, for the drive back to Puerto Montt.

In Coihaique, Quelat Tours (Dussen 340, 2nd Floor, P.O. Box 555) offers highway tours, fishing, rafting and other expeditions. Also, Artetur Turismo (Baquedano 1347, Box 361) has bus trips to Chaiten that take 16 hours. Also in Coihaique: Buses Australes Pudu, 21 de Mayo 1231.

Where to Stay: In Puerto Montt: Hotel Vicente Perez Rosales (Antonio Varas 447; about $70 U.S. double, with bath; comfortable). If that’s full, try the Hotel Colina, which is more modest (Talca 81; about $45 double, with bath). Both hotel have views of the bay.

Rio Negro (Hornopiren): The Hotel Holiday, a simple, clean two-story wooden hotel ($25). Owners will turn on hot water when you want a shower.

Chaiten: Mi Casa, up on the hill. Acceptable: Hosteria Schilling, a simple, clean inn facing the bay.

Las Juntas: Espacio Y Tiempo, a new complex of three attractive cabins and good restaurant (about $60).

Puyuhuapi: Best is the Termas de Puyuhuapi, a fine, renovated inn with thermal baths, luxurious rooms and an excellent dining room overlooking a peaceful inlet. Drive about eight miles south of town to the hotel’s landing for a short boat trip across the fiord to the hotel. Cost is $79 for a double room, $120 for three people in a cabin.

Coihaique: Hotel Coihaique (Magallanes 131; $70 double). An inn on the edge of town facing the mountains, with a good restaurant. Also: Hotel Chible and Hotel Los Nires.

Miscellaneous: For Spanish speakers, the Turistel guidebook for southern Chile is indispensable. Put out by the Chilean phone company for each region of the country, the guide gives history and suggested excursions, plus hotel and restaurant information.

For more information on travel to Chile, contact the Chilean National Tour Board, 510 West 6th St., Suite 1210, Los Angeles 90014, (213) 627-4293.