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◆ Country guide · Southern Cone

Top 10s across Chile

A country shaped like a coastline: the driest desert on earth at one end, glaciers and fjords at the other, and a Pacific shore running the whole length of it. Chile is best taken in one or two regions rather than end to end.

City guides

18.5M

People

Video guide

Region

Valparaíso

Santiago

Empanada de pino

Best months

Mar · Oct · Nov

Ideal length

12–16 days

Budget / day

$70–140

Language

Spanish

Getting around

Domestic flights & buses

When to visit Chile

The seasons are upside down. Patagonia opens when the northern hemisphere is on its summer holidays.

Full month guide →

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Best, shoulder months with open roads and lighter crowds Peak, Patagonia's summer and the busiest weeks of the year Good, ski season in the Andes and clear desert nights Off, southern rain and much of Patagonia shut

Quick answer · where to go in Chile

Land in Santiago, then pick one end. North means San Pedro de Atacama: salt flats, geysers at dawn and the clearest night sky most people will ever see. South means Patagonia: fly to Punta Arenas and drive to Torres del Paine through Puerto Natales. In between, Valparaíso is ninety minutes from the capital, and the Lake District around Pucón and Puerto Varas runs volcanoes, forest and hot springs. Patagonia is a summer trip, December to February. The desert works all year.

Jump toCity guides Fun fact Stereotypes Famous Chileans Food FAQ

2 Chile city guides

Sorted by what travellers are saving this month.

Valparaíso

South America · 10 picks

Santiago

South America · 10 picks

Fun fact

One number worth knowing

Chile's parliament does not sit in its capital. The National Congress has met in Valparaíso since 11 March 1990, in a purpose-built complex in the El Almendral district, about 110 kilometres from the government palace in Santiago.

Stereotypes, sorted out

The clichés you have heard, what is actually true, and how to fit in.

"Chile is one long strip of desert"

The realityThe desert is the top third. Below it come vineyards, a Mediterranean central valley, temperate rainforest, an archipelago and the ice fields of Patagonia. Few countries change climate this often between one flight and the next.

"You can see it end to end in a week"

The realitySantiago to Punta Arenas is a flight of over three hours, and the road south runs out well before the end. Pick one region and give it the time, or fly one leg and drive the other.

"It is as cheap as the rest of South America"

The realityIt is not. Chile is the most expensive country in the region, and Patagonia in high season is priced like a European ski resort. Set lunches, buses and local wine are where the value hides.

"Chilean Spanish is a different language"

The realityThis one is half true. The final s disappears, the pace is quick and the slang is dense. Ask people to slow down and they will, and a phrasebook will still not prepare you for cachai.

"Patagonia is the only reason to come"

The realityIt is the headline, not the country. The Atacama has the clearest skies on earth, Chiloé has its own architecture and mythology, and Valparaíso is one of the great port cities of the Pacific.

The pisco sour argument with PeruThe three Neruda houses in one tripThat photograph of the towers at sunriseFuniculars and murals in ValparaísoStar-trail shots over the AtacamaAvocado on absolutely everythingA terremoto at a September fonda

Cultural notes that actually help

Greetings are physical. A kiss on the right cheek between women, and between a woman and a man, is standard even on a first meeting.
Lunch is the main meal and runs long. Dinner is late and often light, and once, the evening bread-and-tea sitting, replaces it entirely in many homes.
Punctuality is elastic socially and strict professionally. Arrive on time for a meeting and slightly late for a dinner invitation.
September 18 and the days around it stop the country. Fondas, barbecues and cueca fill the week, and offices, banks and many restaurants close.
Tremors are part of life and nobody panics. Follow whoever is in the room, and note the evacuation route once when you check in.
Do not open with a comparison to Peru or Argentina, on pisco, on wine or on football. It is not a conversation, it is a position.
Bargaining is not a thing in shops or restaurants. Craft markets and the odd taxi are the only places to try it.

Famous Chilean faces

The names behind the country's poetry, music, film, sport and science. Pick a field.

Pablo Neruda

Poet and diplomat, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971

Isabel Allende

Novelist whose The House of the Spirits made her the most widely read Chilean writer alive

Víctor Jara

Singer and theatre director of the nueva canción movement, killed days after the 1973 coup

Michelle Bachelet

Paediatrician, first woman president, later UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Claudio Arrau

Pianist from Chillán, a defining twentieth-century interpreter of Beethoven and Liszt

Alexis Sánchez

Forward from Tocopilla and the national team's all-time leading scorer

Salvador Allende

President from 1970 until the 1973 coup, Latin America's first elected Marxist leader

Gabriel Boric

Student leader from Punta Arenas, the youngest president, sworn in in March 2022

Bernardo O'Higgins

Independence commander and first head of state of the republic, from 1817 to 1823

Roberto Bolaño

Novelist behind The Savage Detectives and 2666, born in Santiago and read everywhere

Nicanor Parra

Physicist and inventor of the antipoem, who kept writing until he was 103

Pablo Neruda

Poet and diplomat, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1971

Isabel Allende

Novelist whose The House of the Spirits made her the most widely read Chilean writer alive

Víctor Jara

Singer and theatre director of the nueva canción movement, killed days after the 1973 coup

Claudio Arrau

Pianist from Chillán, a defining twentieth-century interpreter of Beethoven and Liszt

Mon Laferte

Singer and songwriter from Viña del Mar, the most streamed Chilean artist working today

Ana Tijoux

Rapper born to Chilean exiles in France, whose track 1977 carried Chilean hip-hop abroad

Sebastián Lelio

Director of A Fantastic Woman, Chile's first foreign language Oscar winner, in 2018

Pablo Larraín

Director of No, Neruda, Jackie and Spencer, and producer of Chile's Oscar-winning wave

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Filmmaker and writer from Tocopilla, whose El Topo defined the midnight movie

Marcelo Ríos

The first Latin American to reach world number one in men's tennis, in 1998

Elías Figueroa

Defender named South American Footballer of the Year three years running in the 1970s

Alexis Sánchez

Forward from Tocopilla and the national team's all-time leading scorer

Humberto Maturana

Biologist and philosopher who coined autopoiesis with Francisco Varela

Gabriela Mistral

Poet and teacher, the first Latin American Nobel laureate in Literature, in 1945

Violeta Parra

Folklorist who collected the country's rural music and wrote Gracias a la vida

Gabriela Mistral

Poet and teacher, the first Latin American Nobel laureate in Literature, in 1945

Violeta Parra

Folklorist who collected the country's rural music and wrote Gracias a la vida

Pedro Pascal

Actor born in Santiago, known worldwide for The Mandalorian and The Last of Us

Roberto Matta

Surrealist painter who worked with Le Corbusier and shaped abstract expressionism

Must-try Chilean food

Central valley home cooking, a long cold coastline and the sandwiches Santiago runs on. Pick a category.

Empanada de pino

The national baked empanada: beef, onion, hard-boiled egg, an olive and often a raisin.

Pastel de choclo

Beef and onion pino under puréed sweetcorn, baked in clay through the summer.

Cazuela

Clear broth with beef or chicken, potato, pumpkin and a length of corn on the cob.

Porotos granados

Fresh cranberry beans stewed with corn, squash and basil. A summer plate.

Pebre

The table salsa of coriander, onion, tomato and chilli, spooned onto bread.

Caldillo de congrio

Conger eel simmered with potato, tomato and wine. Neruda wrote an ode to it.

Machas a la parmesana

Razor clams baked in their shells with white wine and parmesan, by the dozen.

Curanto

Chiloé's pit feast of shellfish, meat, potato and dumplings steamed under hot stones.

Milcao

A Chiloé potato cake, half grated and half mashed, fried or cooked in the curanto pit.

Barros Luco

Grilled beef and melted cheese in a bun, named after the president who kept ordering it.

Chacarero

Sliced beef with tomato, green beans and chilli. A sandwich that holds a vegetable.

Pisco sour

Pisco, lemon and sugar. Sharper than the Peruvian version, and the argument never ends.

Mote con huesillo

Wheat berries in a cold dried-peach and cinnamon syrup, sold from summer carts.

Charquicán

Squash, potato and dried meat mashed into a soft stew, topped with a fried egg.

Humitas

Ground fresh corn steamed in its own husks, eaten with sugar or with salt.

Chupe de jaiba

Crab, bread and cheese baked in clay until browned. A meal in itself.

Erizos

Raw sea urchin with chopped onion and lemon. Strong, iodine-heavy, a rite of passage.

Cordero al palo

Whole Patagonian lamb splayed on an iron cross over embers. The Magallanes centrepiece.

Merkén

Mapuche blend of smoked cacho de cabra chilli and coriander seed. More smoke than heat.

Kuchen

Lake District fruit tarts of German origin, with murta, raspberry or rhubarb.

Completo

A hot dog under tomato, avocado and a heroic amount of mayonnaise. Order it italiano.

Chorrillana

Chips under beef, onion and fried eggs, shared over beer. Valparaíso claims it, rightly.

Sopaipillas

Fried pumpkin-dough discs, eaten with pebre or in spiced chancaca syrup on wet days.

Terremoto

Young white wine with pineapple ice cream and grenadine, at September fondas.

Carménère

Bordeaux grape thought extinct until found in Chile in 1994. Now the signature red.

Know before you go

The essentials for planning a Chile trip.

Currency

Chilean peso (CLP)

Cards work in cities, hotels and chain restaurants. Notes run from 1,000 to 20,000 pesos, and the small ones are what you want for buses, markets and anything bought from a cart.

Language

Spanish

Chilean Spanish is famously fast, drops the final s and carries a vocabulary of its own. English is common in Santiago hotels and tour offices and rare outside them.

Power

220V · Type C & L

220 volts at 50 Hz, with round-pin sockets. A European plug fits most outlets; anything from North America needs an adapter and, unless it is dual voltage, a converter.

Emergency

131 · 132 · 133

131 for an ambulance, 132 for the fire service (bomberos) and 133 for the police (carabineros). Public hospitals treat anyone in an emergency, and a visitor without local cover is billed afterwards.

Entry

Visa-free for many

Most European, North American and Australasian passports get a Permanencia Transitoria stamp for up to 90 days, extendable once. There is no airport reciprocity fee. Check your nationality first.

Getting around

Domestic flights & buses

Flying between regions buys back whole days, and nobody drives Santiago to Punta Arenas. Long-distance buses are comfortable, cheap and reach almost everything the planes skip.

City transport

Bip! card in Santiago

One contactless card covers the Santiago metro and the city buses, topped up at any station, and it is the only sensible way to move around the capital at rush hour.

Tipping

10% suggested

Restaurants add a propina sugerida of 10% to the bill. It is a suggestion, and paying it is the norm when the service was good.

Earthquakes

Built for them

Chile sits on one of the planet's most active subduction zones and builds to a strict seismic code. Tremors are ordinary. Read the evacuation notice on the hotel door once.

Chile travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Chile?+

Two weeks is the honest minimum for two regions: a few days around Santiago and Valparaíso, then either the Atacama or Patagonia. Ten days works if you pick one end and stay there. Trying for both ends in a week means spending most of it in the air.

When is the best time to visit Chile?+

March, October and November are the sweet spot: open roads, milder wind in the south and none of the January crush. December to February is Patagonian summer and the only reliable window for the far south, at peak prices. June to August is ski season in the Andes above Santiago.

Do you need a visa for Chile?+

Most European, North American and Australasian passports do not. You are stamped in on a Permanencia Transitoria permit for up to 90 days, extendable once, and the old reciprocity fee at the airport is gone. Confirm your own nationality on the Servicio Nacional de Migraciones site before booking.

Is Chile expensive?+

It is the priciest country in South America, closer to southern Europe than to its neighbours. Set lunches, buses and supermarket wine keep a day cheap. Patagonia is the exception at any budget: park fees, lodges and the flights south are what the money goes on.

How do you get around Chile?+

Fly the long legs and drive or bus the rest. Santiago connects by air to Calama for the Atacama and to Punta Arenas for Patagonia in a few hours each, against days on the road. Long-distance buses are comfortable, and a rental car earns its keep in the Lake District and around Torres del Paine.