Chile is one most remote countries in the world to visit. It is far from Europe. It is far from Asia. It is far from North America as well.
And the country is deceivingly large. Unlike the USA, Canada, or Brazil, Chile looks small because of its appearance as a narrow strip on the map. Except it is long. The length of Chile is the same as the distance from San Francisco to New York. So, it is hard to visit all of Chile in a few days.
The major areas that you have to choose from are
- Santiago - in the middle of the country
- Atacama Desert - in the north
- Torres Del Paine National Park - in the Punta Arenas region in the south
For our first trip to Chile, we decided to focus on the Santiago region.
Day 1 - Santiago City
Getting from the airport to the city is easy. An 1800 CLP bus runs regularly between the city center and the airport.
In the city, start with a walking tour to learn the history of Chile.
If you have traveled in Latin America, you will notice that, unlike a typical Latin American capital, Santiago is gorgeous. Tall buildings. Clean roads. People bike and skate to commute.
After the walking tour, explore the central square known as “Plaza de Las Armas”.
Then climb uphill to Cerro Santa Lucia to get a full view of the city.
In the evening, visit Parque Forestal, that’s where locals gather in the evening. Another famous neighborhood worth visiting is Lastarria.
Day 2 - Valparaíso
Valparaiso is a beautiful coastal hilly city. Rather than booking a tour from Santiago, take a bus to Valparaiso and do a walking tour there. The buses are nice and cheap. We paid 8500 CLP for the onward journey and 4500 CLP for the return journey.
The city is full of artists, their art, and their Instagram handles.
We did a funicular ride as a part of our walking tour for 100 Chilean Pesos.
And finally spotted an artist whose Instagram handles are pasted all over the city walls.
One day is more than sufficient to visit this city.
Day 3 - Maipo Canyon (Cajón De Maipo)
We did an early morning tour of Maipo Canyon which goes to the scenic El Yeso water reserve.
We spotted a waterfall on our way back.
While returning, we covered a few other spots like the Tinoco tunnel. Our guide claimed that it was used by Pinochet to murder and dump bodies right into the river. The claim does not seem to have any backing online though.
Then we stopped at an abandoned train that was used for moving gold mined in San José Del Maipo to Santiago.
Our final stop was a chocolate shop
In the afternoon, we visited the central market, La Vega Chica. It is great for seeing the wide varieties of food that are available in Chile at very reasonable prices. They had vegan dishes to try as well.
Day 4 - Santiago City
We visited the Museum of Memory and Human Rights which focuses on the human rights abuses during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Carry your earphones for the audio tour and expect to spend about 2-3 hours here.
In the afternoon, we visited the San Cristobal Hills. You can either hike or take the funicular/cable car to the top of the hill. The hike is intense as well as scenic.
