Florianopolis - Valparaiso

Cycle route from Florianopolis (Brazil) to Valparaiso (Chile)

It all started on the island of Florianopolis where we took only 50 km of BR 101, a very high traffic road. Then we got a state road which is gorgeous. Some nice hills with few cars and great sights. Up to São Bonifacio it's fully paved but from this spot until Rio Fortuna it is a gravel road. We had heavily loaded bikes and nothing happened. It's OK.

From Rio Fortuna we got a really nice paved road that took us directly to São Joaquim, which is just 30 km from the state of Rio Grande do Sul. We chose to take another gravel road of 80 km to the very first city in the new state, the city of Bom Jesus. That road was HARD CORE. It was rainy and pure rocks with loads of fresh mud. It took almost 3 days to do the 80 km.

Once we got to Bom Jesus we took BR 285, which is GREAT, till Passo Fundo. The road is very good but we wanted some small roads inside small villages so we took BR 153 and RS 223 that took us to Ijuí, back on BR 285. Great alternative for those who want time to enjoy some nice non-touristic sites.

It was about 200 km more to the border to Argentina. In São Borja there is a bridge that crosses the Uruguay river to Santo Tomé, a very picturesque city. From Santo Tomé we took our first Argentinian route where they call RUTA. It was all really, absolutely, incredibly FLAT and REALLY hot. We got to Paso de Los Libres and were really tired. Then took a bus to Cordoba. It was too much for us.

In the state of Cordoba, which is incredible, we spent some 4 days in the capital (city of Cordoba) and left to San Luis but in a smooth rhythm that we got to know all the Mountains (Las Sierras) of the state. Nice tour, I strongly advise. We got to know La Cumbre, Carlos Paz, El Condorito National Park and Mina Clavero. It's a perfect region for cycle touring. Great.

From Mina Clavero we cross it to the state of San Luis which is nice, but kinda flat again. The capital is nice, good place to rest for like two nights or so. There are several Balnearios (places with a weird pool with LOADS of people) where you can swim for a bit or just relax reading a book. It was alright.

From San Luis we took a freeway (autopista) straight to Mendoza. This bit was hard cause there are not many villages and getting water can get hard sometimes. Be prepared.

Mendoza is great. A nice, cozy city with loads of parks where you can rest, do picnics or just enjoy good literature! There are the BODEGAS where they make wine. This is awesome as well. Great to go with bikes because when we got to know about this wine stuff the guy from the hostel said that there are many tours where you pay like 100 pesos and have a bus that takes you out. It's hell expensive, go with bikes. It's cheaper and you know that the knowledge of knowing places on bikes is greater than knowing with private motorized machines called cars.

From Mendoza we cross the Andes passing through some really nice villages. The best is Potrerillos, there is a lake from defrosted waters that melted in the summer. It's a really green water that you can see everything. Strongly advise, THUMBS UP.

Then we continued to Puente del Inca and finally Las Cuevas, which is the highest point of this road, 3300 mts I think.

The best part was going down LOS CARACOLES, a really dangerous place with sinuous hills and a great view. What took us 3 days to go up, cost us 4 hours to go down. NICE.

It took us 4 days to cross the Andes.

Once we got in Los Andes we were nearly finished. Next day got in Valparaiso and finally met the Pacific ocean. NICE.

The trip started 19th December 2009 at Florianopolis and ended on the 5th of February 2010 at Santiago do Chile. It was a nice smooth, calm rhythm which is suitable for beginner cyclists like us and people who want to crack the day-to-day routine.