Chile

Currency Time of travel Guide book Places we went to Transportation Accomodation

top	Currency | Peso Chileno(Chl.)	top
1 € = Chl. 750   ||   US$ 1 = Chl. 630

top	Time of travels	top
24.june 2004 until 29.july 2004 22.november 2004 until 10.december 2004 29.december 2004 until 13.january 2005

top	Guide book	top
The Rough Guide Chile - from 2003, written in English. Quite a good book, even if the choice of accomodation is not always for budget travellers. But we found the background information about places we went to quite interesting. And also the maps and things like that are good enough to find your way around. Sometimes directions how to get to places could be more detailed and the list of accomodation should include some cheaper options,too! But besides that we quite liked the book.

top	Places we went to		top

Santiago	It's the capital of Chile - good for partying, but bad if you need to catch some sleep being jetlagged... We found it to be quite an anonimous place and we did not like it too much.
Valparaiso	It is a city with a historic town centre (declared a World Heritage Site), situated next to the Pacific ocean. Just around the corner is its twin town - Viña del Mar - which is a summer holiday resort. Valpo (as it is refered to by Chileans) is just a 2-hour-bus-ride away from Santiago, and therefor we recommend it as a starting or finishing point for Chile, since it has a lot more atmosphere and buses run every 30 minutes from Santiago. One of the three houses of the famous Chilean writer Pablo Neruda is situated on the hills of Valpo's historic part of town. And there are so-called Ascensores (like elevators) built into the hillsides that haven't been changed for about 100 years and are still operating today.
Vicuña	This place is situated within a valley that is the main area for growing the special grapes for Pisco. There are many factories throughout the valley producing Pisco, one of which is the famous one - Capel - where you can taste this National drink. Furthermore the area is famous for its clear skies (360 days per year without clouds!) and on a nearby hill there is an observatory where you can take a tour of the sky - actually quite impressive and educating.
La Serena	This is a town with many churches along the Panamericana. The churches are pretty, but besides that we did not find much else to do around there.
Copiapo	From here you can explore the National Park Trez Cruzes, to the East, in a day trip. Towards the west there is a small beach resort with nice beaches called Bahia Iglesia, about a 2-hour-bus-ride from Copiapo.
Iquique	This is a big city with a harbour and the greatest Duty Free Zone in Chile. It is a good base to do some trips into the Atacama desert - there are geoglyphs such as the "Gigante de Atacama", some old ruins of a nitrate town with its factory, and a small and relaxing oasis-town called Pica. Or you can rent a car and drive all the way up into the Andes, where there are a couple of nice National Parks...
Pica	It is an oasis within the Atacama desert, which is quite a relief to get to after having spent a while in the dusty, brown desert! There are a lot of GREEN plants :-) and the town is also famous for its fresh fruit juices. Some of the guesthouses even have pools there - what a treat! :-)
National Park Volcan Isluga	It really is worth it to rent a car and come all the way up here! Frozen geysirs (in winter only), beautiful landscapes of the Altiplano - with Alpacas, typical churches and all that - and a really remote feel are the reward. And
Salar de Surire	This is a salt pan being home for many animals. There are vicuñas and flamingos as well as lamas and alpacas...
National Park Lauca	Here lies a kind of presentaion village named Parinacota at the foot of the volcano of the same name. Lying at the border to Bolivia, this park offers everything that the National Park Volcan Isluga had to offer, too, except for the geysirs. Another thing that makes these two parks different is their different level of remoteness: through the National Park Lauca leads a tarred road towards the border with Bolivia - therefor there is a lot more traffic, people, and even organized tours.
Arica	It is called the city of eternal spring, since it never gets really hot nor really cold there. Arica, which is the northernmost city in Chile, is also situated within the Atacama desert. From here you can visit some more geoglyphs in the surrounding mountains and check out the mummies in the archeological museum. We found these things best to do by bike. The city centre was quite inviting to have a coffee everyday...
Punta Arenas	Must be the biggest town in the Austral Chile, lying on the Straits of Magellan. Here you can take excursions to penguin colonies or just enjoy the view across its coloured roofs and the Straits of Magellan. Furthermore Punta Arenas has got the most southerly commercial airport in Chile - mind the wind...;-)
Puerto Natales	It is a fairly small town full of hikers and other tourists, who all want to explore the National Park Torres del Paine. Anyway, if you find a nice guest house it is a nice place to be, just across from the sound "La ultima esperanza". There is a harbour serving as well for the Navimag ferry that goes up to Puerto Montt.
Puerto Varas	Just 20 km away from Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas offers a far more atmospheric place to stay at the foot of the volcano Osorno. If the weather is good you can see the snow-capped cone of the volcano just behind the lake. There are other nice lakes and an impressive waterfall in the area, too, all of which can be done easily in a daytrip from Puerto Varas.
Chonchi on Chiloé	It is quite a small fishing village on this rather big island. The wooden churches in the area are part of the World Heritage and are quite interesting to see. From Chonchi you can undertake excursions to the National Park on the other side of the island, rent bicycles, go fishing, watch the dolphins in the bay, go for long walks along the fishing bays and take in the atmosphere. Salmon is the cheapest and the freshest fruit you can get in Chonchi! Keep in mind - it rains a lot and often here, so bring a good book or good company!
Valdivia	It's a nicely situated student city at the confluence of two rivers. There is a lively market every day selling fresh fish, fruits and vegetables on the river banks in town. The forts nearby - one of which is Niebla - are offering a nice introduction into Chiles history.
Villarica	This is a small town within the Lakes District of Chile. Pucon is just around the corner but it is a lot busier than Villarica. You can see the volcano Villarica from the town rising behind the lake, and you can also organize a tour to climb to the top from here.

top	Transportation	top
We basically have been using buses all the time. There are supposed to be some rail tracks towards the south from Santiago. Buses are comfortable but you haved to compare prices in every place, since companies offer different deals with sometimes great differences in price. Pullman and TourBus are the two biggest companies. For our trip to the Altiplano in the north of Chile we had rented a 4x4 pickup truck, which was not the cheapest thing to do in Chile. We did not have a limit on kilometers, which was really pleasant. Even though it was expensive, the trip was really worth doing it!

top	Accomodation		top

Santiago de Chile
Hostal Forestal	Coronel Santiago Bueras 120	Chl. 9500 p.P., Dormitory with (supposedly) breakfast, kitchen, internet etc. VERY LOUD!!! - especially at night!
Valparaiso
Casa Aventura	Paseo Galvez 11	Chl. 7000 p.P., double room, including breakfast, kitchen. Very kind and helpful hosts!
Vicuña
Residencial La Elquina	O'Higgins 65	Chl. 10,000 for both, double room with private bathroom and TV, kitchen
La Serena
Casa Maria	Near the bus terminal	Chl. 4000 p.p., private room, shared bathrooms and a small kitchen, nice backyard, friendly owners!
Copiapo
Residencial Ben Bow	Rodriguez 541	Chl. 3000 p.p., double room without bathroom, very dark room. Not very clean.
Iquique
Hostal Juan IV.	Esmeralda 938	Chl. 4000 p.p., double room with private bathroom, breakfast included, no kitchen in the hostel, very friendly people
Pica
Hostal Los Emilios	Lord Cochrane 213	Chl. 5000 p.p., double room with private bathroom and TV, swimming pool in the backyard, breakfast included
Cariquima
There are only two guesthouses in this town!	Ask the people where you can stay.	Chl. 5000 p.p., double room, shared bathroom, including all food!
Salar de Surire
CONAF Refugio	Situated directly at the edge of the salt pan!	Chl. 5500 p.p., very basic accomodation at 4200m altitude. It gets very cold at night in the house. But make sure you get enough oxygen - DO NOT close the door of the small room to keep it warmer!
Putre
Residencial La Paloma	on the main road!	Chl. 3000 p.p., simple double rooms, shared bathroom, you can get breakfast but have to pay extra for it!
Arica
Sunny Days	Tomas Aravena 161	Chl. 7000 p.p., double room with private bathroom, excellent breakfast (all you can eat!), kitchen, internet, bike rental and very helpful owner from New Zealand!
Punta Arenas
Residencial Costanera	The owner, an elderly, very friendly woman, picked us up when our bus arrived. Unfortunately we lost the adress.	Chl. 4000 p.p., double room with heating, kitchen free to use for guests, very homely atmosphere, nice people.
Puerto Natales
Residencial Danicar	Corner of Baquedano and O'Higgins	Chl. 4000/5000 p.p. , dormitory/private room, shared bathroom, kitchen, breakfast, quite annoying owner!
Mwono Hostal	Eberhard 214	Chl. 5000 p.p., double room, clean shared bathrooms, TV, commun room, good breakfast, kitchen. Very nice people!
Puerto Varas
Casa Azul	3Manzanal 66	Chl. 15,000 for both, double room with private bathroom, breakfast (costs an extra 2000 Chl.Pesos!), kitchen (in which you are not allowed to cook fish?!), you can hear every step in the whole house, strange German owner.
Casa Margouya	Santa Rosa 318	Chl. 13,500 for both, double room, clean shared bathroom, kitchen (where you may cook everything), breakfast included, nice French owner Recommended!
Chonchi / Chiloe
Esmeralda by the Sea	At the shore of the bay, next to the fish market	Chl. 5000 p.p. , double room, shared bathroom, kitchen, nice garden, terrible dogs are hanging around the beach there - take care!, friendly, but don't use their laundry service (we didn't get everything back!)
Valdivia
Hostal Perez Rosales Casa Matriz	Calle Perez Rosales 1037	Chl. 4000 p.p. , double room with private bathroom and TV, small kitchen, internet
Villarica
La Torre Suiza	Bilbao 969	Chl. 6500 p.p. , double room, shared bathroom, kitchen (very small!), breakfast included

All prices for accomodation are refering to the time when we travelled time when we travelled and are listed for 2 people.

Chile

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