Chile
SOUTH AMERICA · 6 PLACES
Chile is 4,300 km of extremes: the driest desert on Earth at one end, Patagonian granite towers at the other. In between sit Pacific port cities, live volcanoes and very good wine.
Santiago
Markets, museums and Maipo wineries, all on an easy metro
Valparaiso
Murals, funiculars and seafood an hour from the capital
San Pedro de Atacama
Geysers, salt flats and the clearest night sky you will see
Pucon
Volcano, hot springs and araucaria forest in the Lake District
Torres del Paine & Puerto Natales
Granite towers, hanging glaciers and guanacos, with a small corrugated-iron port town as basecamp. The scenery does the talking; the wind does the rest.
Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
One of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth, with 887 moai standing over its grass and craters. A long, costly flight, and worth every peso of it.
One month here
Markets, museums and Maipo wineries, all on an easy metro
Murals, funiculars and seafood an hour from the capital
Geysers, salt flats and the clearest night sky you will see
Volcano, hot springs and araucaria forest in the Lake District
Puerto Natales & Torres del Paine — 6 nights
The towers, Grey Glacier and Patagonia's best day hikes
Easter Island — 5 nights
Moai, craters and lava caves; the flight demands real time
Three months here
Use it as a base; day trips run in every direction
Settle into a hill flat and let the port city unfold
Santa Cruz, Colchagua Valley — 4 nights
Carmenere and Cabernet country, best explored slowly
Elqui Valley — 5 nights
Pisco distilleries and observatories in a narrow green valley
Altitude needs time; the far lagoons are full-day trips
Volcano, rafting and a different hot spring every other day
Puerto Varas — 6 nights
German-Chilean lake town under two perfect volcanoes
Chiloe — 6 nights
UNESCO wooden churches, palafitos and seriously good seafood
Carretera Austral — 12 nights
Hire a truck for fjords, marble caves and empty gravel road
Puerto Natales & Torres del Paine — 12 nights
Time to walk the full O circuit and wait out the weather
Easter Island — 7 nights
A 10-day park ticket rewards a slower, repeat-visit pace
Festivals worth flying for
Fiestas Patrias · 18-19 September
Independence days: fondas, ramadas, cueca dancing, rodeo and a nationwide week of asado
Fiesta de La Tirana · 16 July (main day)
200,000 pilgrims and masked dance troupes fill a tiny northern village for the Virgen del Carmen
Tapati Rapa Nui · Early February (dates vary)
Easter Island's two-week festival of Polynesian sport, body paint, dance and canoe racing
Vendimia harvest festivals · March, wine valleys
Grape-treading, parades and tastings as the Carmenere and Cabernet harvest comes in
In an emergency
Emergency number 131 ambulance / 132 fire / 133 police
133 reaches Carabineros, who route any emergency. Clinics expect payment up front, so travel insurance and a card matter. Carry a passport photocopy.
Language
Spanish, spoken fast with dropped s's. Limited English outside hotels and tours.
Money
Chilean peso (CLP). Cards work almost everywhere; carry cash for markets, buses and small towns.
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