When people discuss great South American cities, Lima is often overlooked. But Peru's capital can hold its own against its neighbors. It has an oceanfront setting, colonial-era splendor, sophisticated dining, and nonstop nightlife.It's true that the city—clogged with traffic and choked with fumes—doesn't make a good first impression, especially since the airport is in an industrial neighborhood. But wander around the regal edifices surrounding the Plaza de Armas, among the gnarled olive trees of San Isidro's Parque El Olivar, or along the winding lanes in the coastal community of Barranco. 

The port city of Paracas is blessed with magnificent natural beauty and rich historical importance, offerings inviting beaches, ideal weather and pleasant scenery — a combination that draws visitors throughout the year. The shores of the Paracas Peninsula and waters of the bay teem with wildlife and have been declared a national reserve. Condors frequently can be seen gliding on the sea winds or perched on the cliffs; pink flamingos often rest here on their migratory flights. 

Enjoy wine tastings, designer boutiques, language and dance classes onboard. Take in a matinee movie, check the market or your e-mail in the Internet Point, slip away with a novel from the library to a sunny chaise or with a movie to your suite. Or just take in the sun poolside. The choice is yours.

Arica boasts that it is "the land of the eternal spring," but its temperate climate and beaches are not the only reason to visit this small city. Relax for an hour or two on the Plaza 21 de Mayo. Walk to the pier and watch the pelicans and sea lions trail the fishing boats as the afternoon's catch comes in. Walk to the top of the Morro and imagine battles of days gone by, or wonder at the magnitude of modern shipping as Chilean goods leave the port below by container ship.

Enjoy wine tastings, designer boutiques, language and dance classes onboard. Take in a matinee movie, check the market or your e-mail in the Internet Point, slip away with a novel from the library to a sunny chaise or with a movie to your suite. Or just take in the sun poolside. The choice is yours.

Situated between the ocean and the mountains of the Coastal Range is Chile’s largest city in the northern region. Antofagasta's role as the port for the exportation of nitrate began in 1866. In 1872, when silver was discovered, the first municipality was established. Today, Antofagasta is still the center of nitrate and copper mining, as well as an important hub for rail traffic to La Paz, Bolivia, and Salta, Argentina. According to the treaty signed after the War of the Pacific, much of Bolivia's international commerce transits through Antofagasta.

The rugged shores of Isla Pan de Azucar (or Sugarloaf Island) are home to thousands of Humboldt Penguins. The penguins come to this arid island to breed and spend their days fishing, swimming, and diving, as do many of the other birds found here. The waters around Isla Pan de Azucar also support Kelp Gulls, Blackish Oystercatchers, Peruvian Boobies, pelicans, sea lions and the reclusive South American marine otter.

The name Coquimbo is derived from a native Diaguita word meaning 'place of calm waters'. In fact, Charles Darwin had noted that the town was 'remarkable for nothing but its extreme quietness'. Since then, Coquimbo has developed into a bustling port and the region's major commercial and industrial center from which minerals, fish products, and fruits are exported.

Valparaíso's dramatic topography—45 Cerros, or hills, overlooking the ocean—requires the use of winding pathways and wooden ascensores (funiculars) to get up many of the grades. The slopes are covered by candy-color houses—there are almost no apartments in the city—most of which have exteriors of corrugated metal peeled from shipping containers decades ago. Valparaíso has served as Santiago's port for centuries. Before the Panama Canal opened, Valparaíso was the busiest port in South America. 

Enjoy wine tastings, designer boutiques, language and dance classes onboard. Take in a matinee movie, check the market or your e-mail in the Internet Point, slip away with a novel from the library to a sunny chaise or with a movie to your suite. Or just take in the sun poolside. The choice is yours.

Niebla is a small village on the banks of the Rio Valdivia where Chile’s Corral Bay meets the Pacific Ocean. Today Niebla is a beach resort, but in 1671 it was a defensive fortress built by the order of the Viceroy of Peru to prevent attacks against the town of Valdivia by pirates and corsairs. Niebla is well-known for its lively markets, the remains of the colonial fortress declared a National Monument in 1950 and restored in 1992, and a museum dedicated to its history. 

For most of its history, windy Puerto Montt was the end of the line for just about everyone traveling in the Lake District. Now the Carretera Austral carries on southward, but for all intents and purposes, Puerto Montt remains the region's last significant outpost, a provincial city that is the hub of local fishing, textile, and tourist activity. Today the city center is full of malls, condos, and office towers—it's the fastest-growing city in Chile—but away from downtown, Puerto Montt consists mainly of low clapboard houses perched above its bay, the Seno de Reloncaví. 

Bright, wooden huts teeter on stilts over Castro's estuary waterfront, inviting you into a patchwork of color that’s sure to brighten any day. These traditional palafitos give the warmest of welcomes, as you prepare to experience Chile at its most vibrant. Castro has faced something of a tumultuous past, having been hit by a by a succession of earthquakes and fires - the most recent a devastating earthquake in 1960. But this city is incredibly resilient, and today the capital of Chiloe Island makes for a fantastic base for exploring the archipelago that surrounds it.  

Enjoy wine tastings, designer boutiques, language and dance classes onboard. Take in a matinee movie, check the market or your e-mail in the Internet Point, slip away with a novel from the library to a sunny chaise or with a movie to your suite. Or just take in the sun poolside. The choice is yours.

Tortel is a commune located in Southern Patagonia, a spectacular wilderness region of rugged mountains, glaciers, rivers, and forests of infinite beauty. The uneven geography of Tortel shapes a unique landscape, characterized by an archipelagic area with numerous islands and channels. Tortel is known as the “footbridge city” for the unique beauty of its wooden walkways that connect the piers and houses of this quaint place through bridges and stairs, built from cypress wood, that run for four and a half miles around the cove and that respect the rich vegetation that grows under them.

The English Narrows warrant time spent on the outer decks as the Captain and local Chilean Pilots expertly maneuver through the slalom course of islands and channel markers. The waterway is home to Magellanic Diving Petrels, Steamer Ducks, and the rare endemic Chilean dolphin. This small dolphin is shy of ships and enjoys spending its time in constricted straits with heavy tidal rips such as the English Narrows.

The Pio XI Glacier is classified as a tidewater glacier, which means the river of ice starts in the high mountains and then courses downhill all the way to sea level where it slowly melts into the salty ocean bit-by-bit. The Pio XI Glacier is an offshoot of the South Patagonian Ice Field and approaching from the sea, the ice sprawls out in front of the ship in a wide band that reflects a remarkable shade of brilliant blue.

Winding through the vast expanses of the Chilean Fjords will reveal mountains looming on both sides, waterfalls, and the marvel of hardy flora clinging to barren rocks. Seals and dolphins patrol the length of these uninhabited fjords as they have done for millennia. Small fishing-boats come out of Punta Arenas luring fish and trapping for king crab, while terns dip and glide coaxing their own small fish out of the deep, dark fjord waters amongst tiny islands thick with vegetation.

Impenetrable forests, impassable mountains, and endless fields of ice define Chilean Patagonia and meant that the region went largely unexplored until the beginning of the 20th century. Located in the southernmost part of the country, this area is still sparsely inhabited, though you will find a few populated places—like the colorful provincial city of Punta Arenas, which looks like it's about to be swept into the Strait of Magellan. Some unique wildlife, colonies of elephant seals and penguins, call this breathtaking topography home. To the north is Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.

Puerto Deseado (Port Desire) is a city and fishing port located along the estuary of the Deseado River in the Patagonia region of Argentina. The estuary is a natural reserve and was visited in 1833 by Darwin, who described the area as one of the most secluded places he had ever seen, a “rocky crevice in the wild plain.” Puerto Deseado has a population of 15,000, with an economy based primarily on the fishing and tourism industries. Tourists come to Puerto Deseado mostly to view the estuary’s diverse fauna. 

Isla Pinguino (Penguin Island) is a tiny island less than a mile across located off the coastline of Santa Cruz province in Argentina. The island was previously known as an “island of the Kings” for ships traveling on their way to the Magellan Strait; from the 16th to the mid-19th century, sailors and travelers knew this location was a supply point of food. While several bird species live on this island, none are so numerous and distinctive as the southern rockhopper penguins, with their yellow-plumed eyes and squat stature. 

Cute penguins waddle and skip in the waves that roll ashore near the sleepy, unspoiled town of Camarones. Life here is lived well and truly in the slow lane, but this fishing village has plenty of joy to offer intrepid visitors. ‘Camarones’ translates as ‘prawns’ and, as the name suggests, this is a great place for seafood – with the octopuses and clams that are scooped from the city's waters proving to be some of the most mouth-wateringly delicious available. 

Approaching from Ruta 3, it's hard to believe that the horizon line of buildings perched just beyond the windswept dunes and badlands is the most successful of all coastal Patagonia settlements. But once you get past the outskirts of town and onto the wide coastal road is known as the Rambla, the picture begins to change. Ranged along the clear and tranquil Golfo Nuevo are restaurants, cafés, dive shops, and hotels, all busy—but not yet overcrowded—with tourists from around the world.

Enjoy wine tastings, designer boutiques, language and dance classes onboard. Take in a matinee movie, check the market or your e-mail in the Internet Point, slip away with a novel from the library to a sunny chaise or with a movie to your suite. Or just take in the sun poolside. The choice is yours.

Glamorous and gritty, Buenos Aires is two cities in one. What makes Argentina's capital so fascinating is its dual heritage—part European, part Latin American. Plaza de Mayo resembles a grand square in Madrid, and the ornate Teatro Colón would not be out of place in Vienna. But you’ll know you’re in South America by the leather shoes for sale on cobbled streets and impromptu parades of triumphant soccer fans. Limited-production wines, juicy steaks, and ice cream in countless flavors are among the old-world imports the city has perfected.