Chile travel guides, city by city

Quick answer · where to go in Chile

Land in Santiago, then pick an end rather than trying for both. North means San Pedro de Atacama: salt flats, geysers at dawn and the clearest night sky most people will ever stand under. South means Patagonia, which in practice means flying to Punta Arenas and driving up to Torres del Paine through Puerto Natales. In between, Valparaíso is ninety minutes from the capital and the best short trip in the country, and the Lake District around Pucón and Puerto Varas runs volcanoes, forest and hot springs. Patagonia is a summer proposition (December to February); the desert works all year.

All regions Atacama & the north Elqui Valley Central Chile Lake District Chiloé Patagonia

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2 Chile city guides

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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

Gabriela Mistral

Poet and teacher, the first Latin American writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945

Isabel Allende

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

Violeta Parra

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

Víctor Jara

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

Michelle Bachelet

Paediatrician and the country's first woman president, later UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Claudio Arrau

Pianist from Chillán, one of the defining interpreters of Beethoven and Liszt in the twentieth century

Alexis Sánchez

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

Salvador Allende

President from 1970 until the coup of 11 September 1973, and the first Marxist elected to lead a country in Latin America

Gabriel Boric

Student leader from Punta Arenas who became the youngest person to take the presidency, 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