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Chile
Chilean
Peso
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San Pedro de Atacama
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Puerto Natales
Santiago
Coyhaique
Puerto Rio Tranquilo
Santiago
Chilean Patagonia
San Pedro de Atacama
Getting Around
Extra Recommendations
Santiago
Santiago is the capital of Chile and its largest city. There is a rich history here, best explored through a free walking tour which I did with Free Tour Santiago. With this company, you do not have to book in advance, you just show up to the meeting place in Plaza de Armas de Santiago at 10am or 3pm and find the guide with a red FREE TOUR shirt. We visited historical and cultural landmarks and were given great local recommendations by our guide. Compared to other walking tours, this one was longer and takes you to more places including the impressive 61m flag pole where a giant flag of Chile blows in the wind. During this tour, we also used the metro which was easy to navigate and is a cheaper way to get around the city and avoid the traffic. Chile is known for its wine and Santiago is close to many vineyards for day tours. There are also lots of vinotecas around the city where you can taste different Chilean wines.
Hostel
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Ventana Sur Hostel - Cannot recommend this hostel enough! It is a small hostel with a home-like feel with 2 dorm rooms and 2 private rooms. The owner Ivan is an absolute LEGEND, who gets to know his guests, prepares breakfast for us in the morning and provides great recommendations for your stay in Santiago. The hostel has a kitchen and a pool and its very easy to meet other travellers as we would eat meals or drink wine together on the terrace.
Veggie Food
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Kambo (Vegan) - AMAZING vegan sushi restaurant with the biggest menu I have ever seen!
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El Completo Feliz - A food truck that sells vegan versions of the Chilean hot dog dish completo.
Other
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You can hike 45 minutes up San Cristobal Hill and enjoy the views of the city and catch the sunset.
San Pedro de Atacama
San Pedro de Atacama (San Pedro) was an incredible find along the way that quickly became one of my trip highlights. It's a small town in the Andes Mountains at an altitude of 2,407m surrounded by desert, salt flats, geysers and volcanoes which means there is A LOT to do here. The hostel had an entire book of excursions and activities you could do and I easily spent 5 days here. I visited the Moon Valley where we walked around desert and salt plains, admired the rock formations and watched the sunset from a viewpoint with a spread of snacks and pisco sours. The daytime temperatures can reach 25+ degrees celsius so a trip to the Baltinache Lagoon was a great way to cool off as we floated effortlessly in the water due to its high salinity. Sandboarding became my new favourite activity as you have the choice to slide down the dunes on a bodyboard, sand board (like a snowboard) or skis. As someone who has never snowboarded, I was told the sand version was easier and safer and it was so fun I did it again later on in my trip. Another must-do activity is the Astronomical Tour where you get to visit the Meteorite Museum and use the telescope to take pictures of and admire the starry sky. The Atacama Desert is known as the 'driest place on earth'; ironically, it rained every evening that I was there making the sky too cloudy at night for me to enjoy the astronomical tour so hopefully you won't experience the same bad luck Brian! Apparently the last time they had rain there was 12 years ago...
Hostel
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Backpackers San Pedro - I LOVE this hostel and Fabiola who runs it is the best! It's a small hostel with a kitchen for guests to use and an outside communal area in the middle of all the dorm rooms. It was so easy to meet people here and in the evenings we would hang out together as there was always something on at the hostel. I was here for 4 nights and in that time, they put on a free red wine night, beer and bonfire night and a pisco sour making class which led to a hostel night out at the local bar/restaurant and me missing the 4am geyser tour the next morning as you are advised not to drink because they take you straight up to 5000m elevation.
Veggie Food
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Estrella Negra (Vegan) - Big varied menu, who also serve veganised versions of popular South American dishes such as empanadas, ceviche and the Chilean dish 'pastel de choclo'.
Other
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To get to San Pedro, you can fly into El Loa Calama Airport (CJC) and book a return or one-way transport from the airport to San Pedro and hop on a collectivo which takes you there. If you want to save money, you can take an 18 hour bus journey from Santiago to Antofagasta and take a bus from here to San Pedro. Alternatively, the 3-day Uyuni Salt Flats Tour in Bolivia goes from San Pedro up to Uyuni and visa versa, with the option to take you back to your starting point or drop you off on the opposite end. This makes San Pedro a popular spot for travellers to cross the border between Chile and Bolivia.
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I booked all my activities through my hostel but there are many tour operators in town so you can walk down the main road and price match for better deals. Walking around, it is very dusty due to its arid climate and the wind or movement of people and cars on the road will stir up the dust so you will constantly be covered in it. Here's a tip, don’t walk and eat an ice cream because within seconds you're going to be licking a layer of dust off it.
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A note for safety, as San Pedro is a small town in the middle of a desert, there are wild dogs on the outskirts of town and I was advised by the hostel manager not to go running here because of them.
Chilean Patagonia
Chilean Patagonia differs from Argentinian Patagonia as the terrain results in more remote locations making it difficult to travel within the area, but this can be a benefit for travellers looking for a quieter, less touristy route. Its less frequented paths boast some of the most picturesque natural views of glaciers, fjords and pristine lakes. In the winter months here (June - September) the temperature can drop to 0 degrees celsius and rise to around 20 degrees celsius in the summer (December - February).
Puerto Natales
Puerto Natales was the busiest place I visited in Chilean Patagonia in terms of tourists. Many people use this city as a base before heading to Torres del Paine National Park for day trips or multi-day treks such as the W and O Trek. The W Trek lasts 4-5 days whereas the O Trek lasts 8-9 days. Both can be quite expensive with many people opting to go with organised tour groups as they plan the route and accommodation for you. The type of accommodation you choose can greatly impact your budget with the most expensive option being to stay in refugios in dorm or private style rooms. The cheapest option is to bring your own tent and pitch it yourself, the price of this includes use of the bathrooms and kitchen at the campsite, however for an extra price, you can book a pre-pitched tent to stay in so you have less equipment to carry. If you are doing a long backpacking trip like I was, the hostel I stayed in let guests rent gear they needed for the treks including tents and sleeping bags and there are also stores in the town that will let you rent equipment. I however, did not do either of these treks, in fact I completely missed Torres del Paine due to my poor planning. For context, I was able to do a lot of the Argentinian Patagonia hikes in one day and in the interest of time, I wanted to do the Torres del Paine day hike (8 hours), then head to Puerto Montt to catch my flight the next morning. The last bus to Puerto Montt left at 8pm, and all Torres del Paine buses arrive after that and even taking the earliest bus to the National Park would not get me back in time as I did not realise it took 2-3 hours to get to the park. So in order to make my flight, I sacrificed doing the hike and just spent a day in the town. Give yourself at least 2 nights here! (As close as I got to Torres del Paine (see image))
Hostel
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El Patagonico, very kind staff who help you plan your trip to Torres del Paine. The hostel is clean, cosy and warm with comfortable beds and a kitchen for guest use.
Veggie Food
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Hablemos Coco Restaurant (Vegan) - Hearty dishes and sandwiches and the best vegan hot chocolate I've ever had!
Coyhaique
Coyhaique is a city that is known for being connected to remote parts of Chilean Patagonia. To get here, you have to fly into Balmaceda Airport (BBA) and take a collectivo or private taxi from the airport to Coyhaique which takes about an hour. I chose not to stay in a hostel here as I wasn't feeling well, although that was a costly choice, it was worth it. I stayed at Huellas y Senderos Hotel which is a 5 minute walk from the Plaza de Armas Coyhaique which is a small park surrounded by a plaza of restaurants and little shops. There are also market style stores here selling souvenirs and warm traditional clothing such as ponchos. There is a lot of beautiful scenery and great hikes and walking trails around here, such as in the Coyhaique National Reserve. A little further north, just a three hour drive away is the Queulat National Park which is a tourist attraction due to its natural wildlife, glaciers and mountains. In terms of veggie food, Mama Gaucha was a good pizza place that also had vegan options. Silvestre Food Truck Vegano, was a hidden gem and is a vegan food truck with indoor and outdoor seating.
Puerto Rio Tranquilo
The real reason I went out of my way to go to Coyhaique was to get to the remote town of Puerto Rio Tranquilo for the sole purpose of seeing The Marble Caves. This was a niche attraction someone I knew had been to 2 years prior, and other than him, no one else I met had ever heard of it. I was so fixated on seeing it for myself, going as far as flying from Puerto Montt to Balmaceda, staying in Coyhaique to catch the 8am bus the next day to travel 4 hours to Puerto Rio Tranquilo. It was here with ChileAndes where I unintentionally ended up on my own private tour due to it being slow season, which was great because I hate kayaking with a passion so I could channel my frustration whilst admiring the incredible views of the river and caves. We paddled through and around a few times until larger tour groups showed up, some of which were on a boat trip to the caves, however, as much as I HATE kayaking, it's the best way to see the caves as the boat trip does not allow you to go inside or get as close. Other tours you can do in Puerto Rio Tranquilo include exploring glaciers and longer kayaking tours along different lakes. I stayed at Alma Patagona Hostel Puerto Rio Tranquilo (they have one in Coyhaique too) which included breakfast. Veggie food was a bit difficult to find here and it took some walking around until I found something I could eat.
Getting Around
Chile is long. With different terrains and conditions from the heat of the Atacama Desert in the north, to the frozen glaciers in the south, it was difficult to avoid having to take domestic fights. I flew from Punta Arenas (near Puerto Natales) to Balmaceda (near Coyhaique), then to Santiago and finally to Calama (near San Pedro de Atacama), all with LATAM, the largest South American airline, and I had no problems with them.
I took the bus from El Calafate (Argentina) to Puerto Natales (Chile) with Marga Taqsa which took about 6 hours (booked on the Busbud app). The staff were helpful with letting us know which documents and online forms needed to be filled out in order to cross the border and would instruct us when to get on and off the bus at the checkpoints. There's lots of travellers on this route so if you don't understand Spanish, someone may be able to help you out. I also took a 4 hour local bus from Coyhaique to Puerto Rio Tranquilo with Sao Paulo Buses. The bus stations were easy to use with people happy to help you find your way.
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Chile was very safe. I used Uber and InDrive in Santiago but local taxis and collectivo services in Patagonian Chile and San Pedro de Atacama; the towns in these areas are quite small so it is easy to find local transport, or you can ask your hostel or hotel to recommend a service. Driving is the best way to explore Patagonian Chile and there are many car rental companies around to help you with that. The drives are long which is why, due to time constraints, I opted to take flights.
I had to pack with all climates in mind as I needed lots of layers in the south where it can get very cold and windy, and needed less in the north where temperatures can reach 30 degrees celsius in the day.
I mainly used my card in Santiago (although you need cash to tip for walking tours) and in most places in Patagonia and San Pedro de Atacama, but required cash for taxis and some shops.
Extra Recommendations
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I hear Torres del Paine is nice...
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Easter Island - I wasn't able to make it here but Rapa Nui is famous for its stone carvings of giant human heads.
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Valparaíso - Port city famous for its UNESCO protected architecture.
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Pucon - Town by Lake Villarrica, great for outdoor activities such as climbing Villarrica volcano, visiting the National Resreve, waterfalls and hot springs.
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Arrope de Chañar - Syrup from the fruit of the chañar tree mostly found in the Atacama region, locals take a spoonful to help with coughs and it is said to have health benefits helping with asthma. During one of my Atacama tours, this syrup was poured on top of type of soft cheese and served on a cracker and it was DELISH *chefs kiss*.
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Completo - Chilean hot dogs with a variety of different toppings and combinations, vegan alternatives can be found in Santiago.
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Pastel de Choclo - Usually a meat heavy dish but some vegan restaurants do an alternative version.​​
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Pisco sour - The drink of Chile, made with Chilean Pisco and not to be confused with the Peruvian Pisco Sour (unless you're looking for a fight). This cocktail is made with pisco, powdered sugar, ice cubes and the juice of a lime from the town of Pica in the Atacama Desert. Piscola is a popular varient of the drink which adds in a cola drink.
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Mote con Huesillo - Non-alcoholic Chilean summertime drink made with dried peaches, water, sugar, cinnamon and hulled wheat.
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