Our History 

The Company

​MOTO PATAGONIA is a small motorcycle guide and rental service based in Puerto Varas, Chile, with a big appetite for adventure. We design our tours to give our clients a more intimate and exciting travel experience. We are year-round residents of southern Chile. This offers us--and you--first-hand experience of the best routes and what the local conditions are for any season. We brave the rainy and cold winter here in Patagonia spending our time planning the best moto adventure trips possible. We live the moto lifestyle, and we love it! We want you to experience the Chilean and Argentinean Patagonia with confidence. Our bilingual skills will help our clients who do not speak Spanish (or Chilean Spanish for that matter!) feel more comfortable. And while our tours and expeditions are designed to provide maximum enjoyment while riding, we also strive to immerse you in the culture and activities that are unique to Patagonia. We don't want you to simply "see" southern Chile. We want you to live it!

About the Founders

Daniel Palazzolo
Founder/Lead Guide

Never one to shy away from a challenge… Born and raised in the United States, Daniel worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a Wild Land Firefighter and Helicopter Rappeller in support of wildfire suppression in remote areas of the Western states. Daniel is also an ASE Certified Auto Technician with many years’ experience in repairing and restoring vintage cars. This background has fostered Daniel’s strong confidence when traveling remote areas of the world by motorcycle. 
Now living full time in southern Chile, Daniel has created one-of-a-kind tour routes with strong community contacts that add value to all our tours. The goal of MOTO PATAGONIA is to offer true Adventure Motorcycle rides in one of the last remote places of the Earth. Daniel incorporates several elements to make MOTO PATAGONIA tours more authentic--small group sizes, no support truck, and original routes that others always seem to bypass. These three features are what make MOTO PATAGONIA stand apart. Rides for riders, designed by a true adventure motorcycle enthusiast.

​​Paula Palazzolo
​Founder/Logistics Manager

Always on the go, Paula was born and raised in Santiago, Chile. Besides her role as a doctor of Veterinarian Medicine in Santiago and as a bilingual Biology and Science Teacher in both Chile and the United States, she also spent some years as an International Flight Attendant for LATAM Airlines. She has traveled the world and is a talented organizer, leader, and logistics manager.
Paula’s passion for travel, science, and outdoor adventure has taken her to many remote parts of the globe, including Galapagos Islands in Ecuador and Easter Island in Chile. This combination has created the perfect foundation to work as our base and Logistics Manager for MOTO PATAGONIA.
Together, Daniel and Paula create an experience that is the perfect balance between absolute adventure and safety. 

Our Equipment

The motorcycle for a motorcycle tour is a big deal. While this was a tough decision to make, we ultimately went with mid-sized dual sport motorcycles because they combine good fuel range and great durability, two very important factors when it comes to adventure riding in remote areas. Another is a larger front wheel diameter which allows for good ground clearance and easy handling over dirt roads. All of that makes the mid-sized motos well suited for Patagonia. Our motorcycles are late model and well outfitted for travel. As for luggage for the longer expeditions we use Giant Loop Moto. GIANT LOOP PANNIER SYSTEMS are simple and durable.We also use Double Take Mirrors to help avoid costly mirror damage in case one of our bikes falls over. Our equipment choices were made with reliability and functionality in mind. All our equipment is maintained to the highest standards. We love our motorcycles, and it shows! 

Chile

Southern Chile is wild and beautiful. From the start of Patagonia in the Los Lagos Region to the southern tip of Chile in the Región de Magallanes, to say that the Chilean Patagonia has a lot to offer is an understatement. Densely packed with beautiful fjords, rivers, lakes, mountains, and glaciers, Patagonia's rich geography is a spectacle to behold. This unique geography has given rise to local cuisines and cultures that you're not likely to find anywhere else in the world. And of course, there is the vast network of dirt roads that take you to all those wonderful places. With cool, dry summers, it's a perfect place to tour on a motorcycle. Chile has a very good road system with lots of amazing dirt roads to explore. Chile is an adventure travel mecca that is very hospitable to travelers from all over the world. IN 2021, CHILE WAS AGAIN PICKED AS THE BEST ADVENTURE TOURISM DESTINATION IN THE WORLD BY THE WORLD TRAVEL AWARDS. If you have any specific questions about Chile, Patagonia, or some of the places we travel to, please feel free to send us an email. We would love to hear from you.