SOUTH AMERICA TOP 2 BOTTOM EXPEDITION

Most motorcycle tours show you a country. This one shows you a continent. The 62-day South America Top 2 Bottom Expedition starts in the very north of the South American continent, in the colorful colonial city of Cartagena on Colombia's Caribbean coast, and ends in Ushuaia, Argentina — the southernmost city in the world, on Tierra del Fuego, the Land of Fire, the most southern point of the American continent a road will take you to. In between, the route passes through six countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.

Riding the entire continent from north to south means experiencing its incredible diversity in scenery and cultures in a single, continuous journey. The highlight list reads like a rider's bucket list because it is one: the Pan American Highway, a coffee plantation tour in Colombia, Cusco's historic center and a day trip to Machu Picchu, the Nazca lines, Lima, La Paz, Lake Titicaca, the Salar de Uyuni salt flats, the Bolivian Altiplano, the Atacama Desert, Mendoza, Torres del Paine, and finally Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaia. Machu Picchu alone — one of the world's absolute wonders — would justify a trip; here it is one stop among sixty-plus days of them. The same goes for Uyuni, the world's largest salt flats on Bolivia's Altiplano, a lunar landscape that is a unique experience for any rider.

Our riders confirm the scale of it better than we can. Tez Almond from the UK, a verified rider on this expedition, put it plainly: "There are too many highlights to describe — every day was a highlight." His verdict on the whole thing — "the best thing I've ever done" — is the kind of sentence a 10-day tour rarely earns. Sixty-two days across a continent does.

How the border crossings work on this expedition — our full guide →

We publish a terrain profile for every tour so you can match the route to your skills before you book. South America Top 2 Bottom rates 15% off-road, 75% comfort and 100% fun. In plain words: this is an incredibly varied but mostly paved "once-in-a-lifetime" adventure. The backbone of the route is pavement — including long, legendary stretches of the Pan American Highway — with enough unpaved riding, on the Altiplano, around the salt flats and in the far south, to make it a genuine expedition rather than a road holiday.

That mix is exactly what riders remember. Phil Hacker from the UK, a verified rider on this expedition, said "the highlight has been the off-road portions — the scenery, the mountains and the lakes", and summed up the geography with a line that captures what 62 days down one landmass feels like: "The sheer vastness of this country is endless. Peru and Colombia were fantastic, but Chile and Argentina — just amazing." The terrain changes constantly: tropical lowlands out of Cartagena, Andean mountain passes in Colombia and Ecuador, the Peruvian coastal desert, the high Altiplano of Bolivia at the world's highest capital, the driest desert on Earth in the Atacama, wine country around Mendoza, the Chilean Lake District, and the wind-blasted open roads of Patagonia down to the Strait of Magellan.

You are never alone out there. A professional multilingual tour leader rides with the group, a support team and vehicle travel the entire route, and the expedition runs with deliberately small groups — minimum 6, maximum 12 riders. Sixty-one nights of accommodation in shared rooms are included, along with all breakfasts, so the adventure is in the riding, not in wondering where you will sleep. That is the 75% comfort score doing its job across two months on the road.

The full day-by-day itinerary is published further up this page. Rather than repeat all of it, here is how the 62 days break down by country, with the anchors of each stage:

• Colombia (from day 1). Arrival in Cartagena, then inland through tropical lowlands to Medellin — the city of eternal spring, with a full day to explore its cable cars and museums — before the coffee region around charming Salento, colonial Popayan, and the mountain run to Pasto near the Ecuadorian border.
• Ecuador. Across the highlands to Otavalo, past volcanoes and lush valleys to Banos — a day there for waterfalls, hot springs and adventure sports — and on to Cuenca, a beautiful colonial city in the Andes.
• Peru. The longest single-country stretch: the beach town of Mancora, the Panamericana to historical Trujillo, a climb into the Andes to Huaraz, Peru's bustling capital Lima, the Huacachina desert oasis, Nazca and its mysterious lines, then deep into the mountains via Abancay to the Incan capital Cusco — with two full days there and the included day trip to Machu Picchu — before the Altiplano ride to Lake Titicaca and Puno.
• Bolivia. Along the lake and across the border to La Paz, the world's highest capital, then south through the Andean plains via Oruro to the historic silver mining city of Potosi, and into the vast salt flats of Salar de Uyuni.
• Chile and Argentina, crossing and re-crossing the Andes. Into Chile through desert landscapes to San Pedro de Atacama, over high Andean passes to Salta in Argentina, down through Catamarca and San Juan to Mendoza, Argentina's wine capital, then back across the Andes to Santiago and south through vineyards, lakes and forests to Osorno.
• Patagonia to the end of the world. Bariloche on Lake Nahuel Huapi, the remote Patagonian towns of Esquel and Perito Moreno, glacier-rich El Calafate, the granite peaks of Torres del Paine, Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas on the Strait of Magellan — and then Tierra del Fuego: Rio Grande, Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, and Tierra del Fuego National Park, before the return leg to Punta Arenas and the fly-out home.

Group activities and entry fees are included along the way — the Machu Picchu day trip and the Nazca lines fly-over among them — as are the airport transfers at both ends, to and from Cartagena (CTG) and Punta Arenas (PUQ) international airports on the official arrival and departure days. Two of the six countries are crossed more than once; border logistics are part of what our support team handles, so the paperwork days feel like riding days.

This expedition works differently from our shorter tours, and the difference matters: it is a one-way ride, and the base price of $23,999 is for a rider on their own bike, in a shared room. If you have a motorcycle you trust and want to take it down the spine of the Americas, this is the trip for it — bearing in mind that all costs of using a personal motorcycle, including fuel, maintenance, shipping, permits and insurance, are yours to arrange.

If you would rather arrive with a helmet bag and ride away on one of ours, three Honda rental options are available: the Honda NX500 for +$5,999, the Honda Transalp XL750 for +$6,999, or the Honda Africa Twin CRF1100 for +$7,999. The rental price is not just the bike — it covers the authorisation to cross borders with the rental motorcycle, all shipping of the bike (to Cartagena before the tour, and back from Punta Arenas after it), fuel and road tolls along the whole route, and the mandatory third-party liability insurance. In other words, the one-way logistics problem that stops most riders from ever attempting a Cartagena-to-Ushuaia ride is solved before you land. The mandatory motorcycle damage and theft liability reduction insurance is a separate +$1,500 option, and a refundable security deposit on your credit card is required before any bike leaves the rental facility, sized according to the bike you choose.

What the price covers. Beyond the 61 nights of shared-room accommodation and all breakfasts, the $23,999 base price includes the professional multilingual tour leader, the support team and vehicle, group activities and entry fees, both airport transfers, a pre-tour preparation guide and briefing, a MotoDreamer apparel gift, up to 25% discount on riding gear and accessories from our partners Klim, Giant Loop and Mosko Moto, all taxes, and our price match guarantee. Not included: airfare, lunches, dinners and drinks, personal paperwork, permits and visas, tips to staff, and travel and evacuation insurance with cancellation coverage — for that we point riders to Global Rescue.

Upgrades and companions. A single-room upgrade for the whole expedition is +$4,499, and the Add Pillion/Passenger option (+$11,999) covers a co-rider on the back for the full 62 days.

The group. Minimum 6 riders, maximum 12 — small enough that by Ushuaia the group is part of the story. Tez Almond's list of what made his trip is worth repeating here, verbatim: "The places, the countries, the people, the group, the tour leader… outstanding from start to finish." Both of the reviews on this page average out to 5.0 stars, and both riders are talking as much about the group as the geography.

Who can join. You need to be 20 or older with at least one year of experience on a 500cc-or-bigger motorcycle, hold a valid driver's license with motorcycle endorsement, carry a passport with at least six months' validity at tour start, and be physically and mentally fit to ride. When you register we also ask you to rate your adventure touring and off-road skills, your experience in tight mountain curves and in third-world city traffic — not to gatekeep, but so our tour leader knows the group before day one.

Dates and booking. The October 15 to December 15, 2026 departure is sold out; the next edition runs October 15 to December 15, 2028, and private departures are available for groups of 6 or more riders. Hit Book Now, pick your date and pay the deposit; we accept bank transfer, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal and Bitcoin, and you can split the balance into monthly payments with no interest. Booking as a group is rewarded: when 5 riders pay, rider number 6 travels free. Every booking is backed by our price match and departure guarantees.

We were the first tour operator in Colombia, and 17+ years of operating with more than 4,000 riders have gone into refining this route — our longest and most ambitious ride in the Americas. Or, in Phil Hacker's three closing words from his review: "I loved it."