Chile?

[elizann]

DH and I are in the beginning stages of planning a trip over Thanksgiving. We are looking at 10-12 days total. We plan to rent a car and like fairly outdoorsy activities but also cities and wine

Anyone with experiences, blogs, etc? We are open to other Central/South American suggestions as well.

[frlcb]

There is a poster on here who lives in Chile so she can give great feedback, but I wanted to say that I love Santiago, and we spent some time in the Atacama Desert and really enjoyed that as well. And of course Patagonia.

[SJ]

Emily will probably have more current information for you (she lives in Chile), but my father is Chilean and I think it is a wonderful country to visit!

Next time we go, I want to get down to Torres del Paine and do some hiking. The scenery there is beautiful! I also want to go to Easter Island (have never been before).

Santiago is not a far drive from Vina del Mar/Valparaiso which are on the coast. November should be good beach weather I believe. I think a lot of the wineries are within driving distance from Santiago as well.

Most of our family is in Santiago, but we also have cousins in Angol and way down south in Punta Arenas.

[SJ]

Weezermonkey also has some great blog posts about Chile. See here:

www.weezermonkey.com/p/international.html

[emilyinchile]

I live here! Blog link in sig.

There is SO much to do in Chile in terms of outdoorsy stuff that you're really going to have to choose. Santiago is a fun city that's getting more and more cosmopolitan, and it makes a good base for wine tasting as there are several different valleys that are day trip distance. I would do 4-5 days in Santiago with one of those days spent on wine tasting.

That leaves you 5-8 days to go somewhere else, which is where the choosing comes in. Pucón is an area toward the south of Chile which has a lot of outdoorsy activities like hiking, rafting, climbing a volcano, hot springs, etc. I would take an overnight bus to Pucón (there are comfy buses that are like business class on a plane), although there are flights to Temuco and then a shorter bus ride.

You could also fly to Punta Arenas and then go to Torres del Paine. My husband and I rented a car to drive ourselves from Punta Arenas to the park, which was a great way to do it - we were able to stop when we wanted on the road and look at the GORGEOUS scenery. There are some day hikes and/or you can base yourselves in Puerto Natales and take day tours to places like the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina (would be easier to do the tour than drive yourselves because of the border crossing).

Orrr the north is awesome too, with tourism centered around San Pedro de Atacama in the desert. But that's less "outdoorsy" in terms of hiking and more just kind of enjoying the scenery. Based on what I think of when I think outdoorsy, I think the south might be more your style.

Once you've got things narrowed down a bit more, I'm happy to answer questions!

Links:
Wine tasting
Pucón (old posts with crap formatting, sorry): here and here
Torres del Paine

[AmyRI]

I was in Punta Arenas for work, but there's really no reason to go there for a vacation.

Coworkers raved about Torres del Paine and if I were to go back, it would definitely be on my list.

I really liked Santiago - lots to do and see. We only went to 1 winery (Cousino Macul) because it was a metro and short taxi ride away and we didn't have to rent a car. Tour was definitely worth it. We stayed at the Vilafranca Petit Hotel in Providencia and were really happy - especially with the customer service. The owner/manager helped us deal with LAN when they lost my husband's luggage on his incoming flight. We stayed both in the hotel, and in an apartment around the block. I loved the apartment - only a little more money for a lot more space and privacy. Lots of restaurants in walking distance and close to metro stops.

Valparaiso was not as nice as all the tourbooks made it out to be. If you go, I'd suggest only a day trip. We most enjoyed riding the ascensors and a private boat tour of the bay (the private tour boats are very much open to negotiating price - we got a whole boat for 4 people for only a little more than the boats they filled with people.

We only spent a few days in Pucon and wish we had spent longer there. Lots to do outdoors, the area is just gorgeous, and it's a cute little town. We went fishing, to the hot springs, and lounged on the black sand beach. We wish we had more time so we could also climb the volcano, but weather and timing didn't work out. We took the daytime bus down to see the sights (which were nice, but you don't miss much) and the overnight on the way back. The buses are much more comfortable than any bus or plane I have been on anywhere else. We stayed at the Hostal Geronimo, which also had good breakfast and great service.

[emilyinchile]

Jul 17, 2012 12:38:46 GMT -5 AmyRI said:

I was in Punta Arenas for work, but there's really no reason to go there for a vacation.

Valparaiso was not as nice as all the tourbooks made it out to be. If you go, I'd suggest only a day trip. We most enjoyed riding the ascensors and a private boat tour of the bay (the private tour boats are very much open to negotiating price - we got a whole boat for 4 people for only a little more than the boats they filled with people.

Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting spending time in Punta Arenas (any more than I think sarajoy was suggesting OP go to Angol!). But the closest airport to Torres del Paine is there, so you kind of have to transit through there.

I agree with you that Valpo isn't as great as a lot of people say it is, but I guess it's just a question of preference. OP, I have posts on Valparaíso too, if you're considering going. I didn't mention it because based on what you say you like, I think Santiago/vineyard/somewhere in the south is going to be more to your taste.

Also forgot to say the first time that I don't think renting a car is necessary until you get to your outdoorsy stop. You won't use it in Santiago, you can get to many wineries via public transport or hire a driver (easier if you're drinking anyway), and the distances to outdoorsy places are too long to want to drive on a vacation of that length.

[elizann]

Wow--this is all so helpful! I am very very excited now and can't wait to start planning.

[Deleted]

You can check out my Chile posts but it's definately not as helpful as emilys comments
aroundtheworldwithrebecca.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Chile