Chile and Easter Island Travel Information

Shintia M

Chile and Easter Island Travel Information

This is one of the countries of South America where the Police can be trusted.  Good thing to know if you run into trouble.  Santiago City has a good underground rail system which can take you to all the main tourist things you wish to see.  The surrounding area of Santiago and north of here is very dry and desert like. South is more beautiful and inviting.  Chileans, I think, speak the fastest Spanish in the world. The fact that one of my Mexican friends finds them hard to understand is testament enough for me.  Chile boasts the Largest Swimming Pool in the world.  La Serena is worth a visit and from here you can do a night trip to view the stars from an observatory.

San Pedro de Atacama is a delightful village up in the Andes and from here you can go to a thermal region and see the sun come up while floating in a hot pool. Nice but boy do you freeze when you get out. There are tours to small villages that consist of about 5 homes and a church and then there is the salt lakes you can take a quick dip. These ones are cold and a half minute in there is about all you can stand but there’s no chance of drowning because of the salt concentration.

Chile Travel Tips

  • If you fly into Santiago try to also book a shuttle which will take you right to your accommodation. You will be given a number via email and this can be taken to a kiosk before exiting the baggage pick-up area. Its great and you don’t have to deal with taxi drivers who will likely cost you twice the price and means you don’t have to try working out the buses into the city.
  • Airline of Chile is LAN CHILE and I like them, but they are notorious for overbooking flights, so always get there early to check in. If you miss out they do compensate you quite generously but do take a long time to pay up. They finally paid me 6 months later and then a month after that decided they made a mistake and took money off me, needless to say the email they got was not nice.
  • Buses are going frequently to all destinations and are cheap and a comfortable enough way to travel through-out the country.
  • Go to an observatory. Take your camera as you can photograph Saturn and its rings through the telescope.
  • From La Serena you can see a huge cross on a hill. Catch the bus and see the amazing view from the inside of it, including one of the soccer stadiums that hosted world cup games.
  • Bus is more or less the way to get to San Pedro de Atacama. Lots of accommodation in this little town and normally no need to book ahead.
  • From here you can do an early morning visit high up in the mountains to see the sun come up and swim in the hot pools.
  • Don’t forget to try sandboarding. Yes they have huge sand hills at San Pedro, and for my first time trying it, it was such fun. Also got to the salt lake for a swim. This is more a photo opportunity as the water is so cold. No chance of drowning here.

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Shintia M

With a sharp eye for detail and a passion for compelling storytelling, Shintia leads the editorial team. She has over a decade of experience in leading content creation across various platforms.