Chile is a very long stretched country; in the North is the Atacama desert, in the West the enormous Andes-mountains and in the far South the glaciers of Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire). It takes at least a couple of weeks to explore all those diverse landscapes in Chile. I visited a friend in Chile in May 2006. She volunteered as an English teacher in a rough neighbourhood near Santiago. In the 2 weeks I visited her, I explored central Chile.
1. Santiago and around
San Cristóbal and Santa Lucía
You can’t miss the statue of the Virgin Mary at the hilltop of San Cristóbal in Santiago. The statue is 14 meters and stands tall over the city. The Cerro San Cristóbal is the highest point in Santiago and it’s a holy place for Catholics. Besides the statue of Mary, you could also walk around in the Botanic Gardens or visit the Zoo; both are located on the mountain.
You could hike to the top of the mountain starting at Barrio Bellavista (about 1,5 hours) or you take the “Funicular”, an old train climbing the mountain since 1925, near the entrance of the Zoo in Barrio Bellavista. Another option is taking the modern cable car (“Teleférico”) to the top. There are days the view isn’t very spectacular, because of the haze. The polluted air lingers over Santiago because of the cold air and high mountains of the Andes.
Santa Lucía hill is another great viewpoint in Santiago. Compared to Cerro San Cristóbal this is just a small hill, but it has a beautiful park with a fantastic view over the modern buildings. When you’re climbing the many stairs to the top, you’ll pass a couple of buildings, fountains and statues. Bring a picnic and enjoy the view (on a clear day)!
Tip: Unfortunately there’s still a lot of crime in Santiago and especially at night the city is not safe, so only visit San Cristóbal and Santa Lucía at daytime! Be careful and don’t bring valuable items.
Sleeping, eating and transportation in Santiago
In the vibrant and colourful Bellavista Hostel is a garden and a bar to meet your fellow travellers. The hostel organizes a lot of fun activities you could join. The hostel also offers free bikes to explore the area. I really liked this hostel and the location is superb!
The Bellavista Hostel is situated at the foot of the San Cristóbal mountain in the hip neighbourhood Bellavista. Please do visit ‘Patio Bellavista’. At this place there are a couple of nice bars, restaurants and shops. The upcoming neighbourhood Barrio Lastarría is also worth a visit. There are many places to grab a bite and have a drink.
Do you want to know what food and drinks you’ll definitely have to order in Chile? Read my blog “Pisco and Completo – Food and drinks in Chile”.
The metro is very organized and easy and fast transportation in the city. For your own safety, always take a (official) taxi after dark, also in Barrio Bellavista and Barrio Lastarría, even though it’s just a short walk to your hotel.
Locations:
Bellavista Hostel
Dardignac 0184 – Providencia, Barrio Bellavista, SantiagoBook via hostelworld.com and booking.com
Patio Bellavista
Constitución 53, Providencia, Santiago
Website: https://patiobellavista.cl (only in Spanish)
2. Wine tasting
In wine country Chile you can’t skip a wine tasting. I visited the vineyard “Concha y Toro”. It’s a stunning estate with guided tours in English at the vineyard, the wine cellars and of course a wine tasting. The wine tasting glass was a present from the wine estate (and it survived the trip back home in my backpack!). I liked this tour because it’s a famous vineyard and you can buy this wine all around the world. Whenever I see the wine in a store or restaurant, it brings me back to my trip to Chile!
Tip: I did this tour on the way back from La Serena to Santiago, but you could also do this tour directly from Santiago.
Location:
Viña Concha y Toro
Av. Virginia Subercaseaux 210, Pirque, Región Metropolitana, Chili
Tel: +56 2 2476 5000
Website: reserva.cyt.conchaytoro.clPrice: There are multiple tour-options, starting at 18.000 CLP per person.
3. Valparaíso and Viña del Mar
Valparaíso is a vibrant, historical harbour city east of Santiago. Valparaíso is located on a couple of hills. Because the streets are very steep and narrow, a long time ago the people built almost 30 elevators (“ascensores”). Just walk around the city and take all the old school elevators you pass and see where you end up. The view at the top of the hills over the colourful houses and colonial buildings is stunning. Definitely don’t miss the harbour-view from “Ascensor Artilleria”. Valparaíso is on the UNESCO Heritage list of “Outstanding Universal Value”.
In Viña del Mar you’ll find beach apartments, casino’s and a lot of restaurants and bars, but in the harbour city of Valparaíso it’s more fun. Visit Viña del Mar if you want to relax on the beach. Unfortunately, it wasn’t beach weather when I visited Viña del Mar.
Tip: Both cities can be dodgy at night, so always take a taxi back to your hotel. There are many taxis, busses and nowadays even a train connecting Valparaíso and Viña, so you could pick a hotel in either city.
4. La Serena and tour Pisco Elqui
La Serena is a sleepy beach town when it’s not high season (January and February), located North of Viña del Mar and Valparaíso. La Serena has a nice stretched, sandy beach, but when I visited La Serena it was too cold for the beach. Take a bus from Santiago to get here. We booked a room in Hostal Maria Casa. A very cozy hostel with a lovely garden and a small kitchen to cook your own meal, if you want to. Because of the weather, we booked a fantastic two-day tour in the Valle de Elqui in our hostel.
During our two-day tour, everything was taken care of. The scenic bus ride from La Serena to the Elqui Valley was stunning on its own! In the village Pisco Elqui we changed our mini-van for some horses. The rough mountains of the Andes make up the perfect background for a horseback riding tour in Valle de Elqui. Your horse will bring you to a very high altitude, to treat you with breathtaking views over the valley. You can see the difference between the very fertile soil in the valley and the almost desert-like land up in the mountains. The cowboys surrounding you complete the picture.
After dark we drove to Vicuña to visit the observatory Mamalluca. There’s almost no light pollution in this part of Chile, which makes the stars very bright. The moon is só close through the enormous telescope lens. You could almost touch the moon craters.
Furthermore we visited the pisco-factory Capel. The guide showed us the process of making the alcoholic drink pisco. Pisco is – besides wine – the most famous drink from Chile. Of course the tour also included some pisco tasting.
If you have some spare time in La Serena, you could shake your hips in one of the many salsa-venues with live music in the nearby town Coquimbo. I liked Coquimbo for the great salsa night, but because of the bad weather we didn’t explore Coquimbo further than that. Nonetheless, the huge cross dominating the city is very impressive.
Locations:
Hostal Maria Casa
Las Rojas las rojas, 1700000 La Serena, Coquimbo
Book via booking.com and Agoda.com.The hostel staff can advise and book the tour to Valle de Elqui for you.
Mamalluca Observatory
D-359, Vicuña, Coquimbo
Website: https://www.astronomictourism.com/mamalluca-observatory.htmlFabriek Pisco Capel
Centro Turístico Capel, Camino a Peralillo s/n, Vicuña, Valle del Elqui
Website: https://www.piscocapel.cl/centro-turistico/
Tip: In general the busses in South America are excellent. In night busses you can put your chair completely down and there’s a stewardess on board to serve you food and drinks.
KLM didn’t have direct flights to Chile in May 2006, so we had a stop-over in Atlanta, USA. That gave us some time to go shopping in one of the many malls in Atlanta on the way back home. Read my tip about a stop-over in Atlanta here.
Do you want to know which food and drinks you’ll definitely have to order in Chile? Read my blog “Pisco and Completo – Food and drinks in Chile”. For more travel inspiration for Latin America, click here.