With good roads and beautiful scenery, Chile is an excellent destination to consider hiring a car and exploring the country with more independence. Around Santiago and the central valley zone, self-driving is an ideal way to explore the more obscure and traditional wineries to the south of the city in the Colchagua and Casablanca valleys. The artistic port cities of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar meanwhile are also just a short distance away, whilst the Campana National Park offers a good day of walking if you have the flexibility of your own vehicle.
In Patagonia having a car opens up the possibilty of visiting some of the less well trodden paths in the Huilo Huilo National Park and lets you tour independently in the Lake District, further south the epic landscape of the southern Aisen icefields along the Austral road remains the iconic roadtrip for many national and international tourists alike. After a flight down to the southernmost part of the country, car hire can also be a good way to explore the Torres del Paine National Park, with Puerto Natales as your base for venturing out. You might even choose to take a car ferry over the Straights of Megellan to Tierra del Fuego to visit a colony of King Penguins.