Chile

Reasons to go:

1. Atacama Desert

The easiest way to explore the Atacama Desert is to fly into Calama airport (CJC) and drive or take a pre-booked transfer to San Pedro de Atacama. The best thing in San Pedro de Atacama itself is the Meteorite Museum. It has very limited opening hours, check in advance and make sure you don’t miss it.

I think it would be best to explore the Atacama Desert independently, from San Pedro de Atacama in a rented 4x4 car, but I failed to do that. Here is a list of tours I took, listed in chronological order and numbered from most to least memorable:
6. Rainbow Valley / Valle del Arcoíris (-22.640978, -68.241002) morning tour - rock formations in many different colours.
4. Laguna Cejar afternoon tour - the tour stops at Laguna Piedra (-23.059217, -68.213681) where you can swim in incredibly salty water, Laguna Tebenquiche (-23.136368, -68.256889) and Laguna Chaxa (-23.288791, -68.176847). Expect to see flamingos. There are 3 types (Flamenco Andino, Flamenco Chileno and Flamenco de James), try to learn how to distinguish them (I failed at that).
1. Tatio Geysers / Geysers Del Tatio morning tour - car parks at (-22.33218, -68.013257) and (-22.338409, -68.016755). The tour also stops at viewpoints for wetlands (-22.532907, -68.042465) and flamingoes (-22.612212, -68.058974).
5. Moon Valley / Valle de la Luna afternoon tour - the tour takes you past the entrance (-22.914209, -68.319886) and to many photo-opportunity spots. I wish I could explore on my own instead. Don’t miss Mina Victoria (-22.932527, -68.310032) - an old mine which now makes a lot of cracking sounds as rocks heat up and cool down (you have to be really quiet for a minute). Do the hike that gets you to the top of the big dune. You must book the tickets on puntoticket.com in advance.
3. Lagunas y Piedras Rojas all day tour - the tour stops at Laguna Miscanti (-23.738427, -67.790195) and Piedras Rojas (-23.921324, -67.696401). Incredible landscapes.
2. Astronomy tour evening tour - see the southern hemisphere sky through powerful amateur telescopes.

Notes:

  • The best food I could find in San Pedro de Atacama was in Franchuteria (breakfast), Jardin Meraki (lunch/dinner) and Bubalu (ice-cream with local flavours, try rica-rica)
  • The wet season here is from December to February.
  • There are no banks in San Pedro de Atacama, so you’ll need cash for everything (including expensive tours). The ATMs charge 5-10 USD per withdrawal and there are low limits on withdrawal amounts, so arrive with loads of cash if possible.
  • San Pedro de Atacama is a starting point for amazing 3 day tours into Bolivian salt flats (one-way to Uyuni or return).

2. Santiago

Neighbourhoods:

  • Barrio Italia - a lovely neighbourhood. Ruca Bar (food mandatory) has a good selection of gins and gin-based cocktails. The Raj is the best Indian food I could find in Santiago (I didn’t like the taste, but it might be my personal preference). From Barrio Italia you can walk to Plaza Ñuñoa (featuring a branch of Heladería Emporio La Rosa and an awfully cute street Sgto. Luis Navarrete) and to Lastarria via Bustamante Park.
  • Lastarria - a small area full of good stuff. Great wine tasting at Bocanáriz wine bar, great ice cream at a branch of Heladería Emporio La Rosa, great views of the city from Cerro Santa Lucía.
  • Bellavista - particularly the area around Patio Bellavista. Vegetarian tasting menu at “Peumayén Ancestral Food” is great. Their Lapostolle XO Pisco with Rica Rica Spice is unforgettable. If you have access to a kitchen, from Bellavista you can walk to La Vega Central market to hunt for local specialities and fruits/veggies.
  • Barrios Brasil and Yungay - Plaza Libertad de Prensa is charming, unfortunately I didn’t have time to explore beyond that. Trying out “El Verde Que Te Quiero Verde” vegetarian restaurant is still on my list. From here you can walk to Quinta Normal Park (still on my list) and O’Higgins Park - a lovely green space with a lot going on.
  • For a totally different feel of Santiago, visit Sanhattan (El Golf metro station).

Other stuff:

  • Boragó offers a great tasting menu (vegetarian option available). This is the first ever tasting menu that made me laugh uncontrollably. Unlock the hidden last course by ordering a shot of alcohol when offered after the meal.
  • Sky Costanera - amazing views of Santiago from the 62nd floor. Best to arrive shortly before sunset to see the city both in daylight and at night.
  • Museo Cielo Abierto (Departamental metro station) is a sizable open-air graffiti museum with huge murals created by emerging & established artists. See buildings on both Avenida Departamental and Tristán Matta.
  • Cerro San Cristóbal - great views of the city from Funicular de Santiago and Teleférico Santiago. Visiting Observatorio Manuel Foster is a must; if it’s sunny you might get to see the sun through a telescope.
  • Templo Bahá’í de Sudamérica - a beautiful architectural structure and great views of the city.
  • CicloRecreoVia - every Sunday dozens of kilometres of Santiago’s main roads are closed between 9am and 2pm as part of a scheme to promote cycling, running and other activities in the city.
  • Still on my to-visit list are Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Palacio de Moneda and a wine tasting at Vinolia.

Notes:

  • Before you go, book a free tour of Palacio de Moneda.
  • The best place to stay is Providencia district. For example, Délices d’Alsace cafe is surrounded by a nice residential area.
  • It’s easy to get to/from the airport using TurBus or Centropuerto buses (from the first level, exit gate 4). Probably cash only.
  • In Santiago, buy Bip! Card (cash only) to use public transport. No need to buy a card for each person, one works for everyone.
  • Many bars have a licence that only allows them to sell alcohol with food, so going for a drink after dinner can be tricky.
  • If you only have a microwave, “Fork” is a good place to buy boxes of microwaveable food.

Viña del Mar

If you miss the ocean, Viña del Mar, only 2 hours by bus from Santiago, is a great place to work from home. Some great food options include Merci restaurant français (including vegan options), Otra Cozza Viña del Mar (Italian) and La Fermata (artisanal pizza, get a seat upstairs to enjoy the smoke from the wood fired oven). ÁNIMA Pastelería offers amazing pastries; the chocolate, orange and manjar pastry mind blowingly good; but the place is famous for its vegan pastries. If you like beer, HOPS (local beers), Quercus Bar (mostly foreign beers) and Barrilito (a shop selling local beers) offer great selections.

Day trips from Viña del Mar:

  • Valparaíso is just a short journey away on the picturesque L1 line (look out for numerous pelicans around the fish market just before the Portales stop). The main things to see are graffiti (including works by GIOVA), the elevators of Valparaíso (for example, El Peral and Reina Victoria) and Parque Cultural de Valparaíso. My best memories are food at Chicory and cakes at La Morada Alegre cafe.
  • Papudo - a charming tourist-free town. The main reason to go is Punta Pite with amazing rock formations, both natural and human made. It’s publicly accessible (for free), but well hidden. The access is through a door at (-32.504597, -71.467544) that leads to a narrow passage that becomes a wooden staircase; it’s near Condominio Punta Pite but there is no access through there. If in doubt, ask locals or the security guard at Condominio Punta Pite. It’s worth the trouble, I promise you. Also check out Cementerio De Zapallar - a beautiful cemetery with great views of the rugged coastline; in spring (around November) it is covered in flowers. To the left of the entrance to the cemetery (north along the coast) there is a nice coastal walk with pretty rocks. The best pizza in town is at La Mare Pizza Papudo.
  • Concon Dunes - a round trip run from Viña del Mar makes for a beautiful though not very safe half marathon (parts of the run are on a fast road lacking a walkway). If you are not running, make time to explore the dunes and to eat at FARO de los Compadres, a seafood restaurant frequented by locals, with vegan options.
  • Climbing Cerro La Campana in La Campana national park is still on my to-do list, as there is a rumor that on a clear day you can see both the Andes and the Pacific ocean.

Notes:

  • To get here from Santiago, take a bus from Pajaritos station. This route is operated by TurBus, Condor and PullmanBus. TurBus also operates direct buses between Viña del Mar and Santiago airport.
  • Renting a car is surprisingly difficult in Viña del Mar, and nearly impossible on the weekend. I had a good experience with “Dezar rent a car Viña”.

Food and drink in Chile:

  • Manjar is everyone’s favourite thing. Just don’t call it dulce de leche. Try as many deserts with manjar as possible.
  • Araucano is a herbal dark bitter liqueur. In Santiago, I found it in a chocolate ice cream (Chocolate Araucano) in Heladería Emporio La Rosa and in negroni (Negroni Nacional) in Cervecería Intrinsical. If you happen to be in Chile when it’s a bit cold and you have access to a kitchen, make sure to buy a bottle and make hot chocolate with it, it’s amazing.
  • The second best way to explore Chilean wines in Santiago (if you don’t have a chance to visit the wineries) is to go for a tasting in Bocanáriz or Vinolia. My favourite was VIK Millahue 2015.
  • Jumbo is my favourite supermarket in Chile, it has loads of vegetarian and vegan stuff. My favourite things were avellanas chilenas tostadas (which I’m sure you can find in other places, but I didn’t see them) and Wild Soul protein bars.

Notes:

  • I used an Entel sim card and it worked well. Buy a prepaid sim (el chip) from any grocery shop, it comes with a bit of data which can be used to download the Entel app, which allows you to top up and keep track of data used.
  • In Chile every mobile device has to be registered with the government, as explained here. After consulting this and this page, I found this page and registered my phone here. Later I checked this page to check that my registration worked; alternatively you can check this or this page.
  • Many companies don’t accept non-Chilean cards for online payments. This includes TurBus (buy tickets at ticket offices instead), Teleférico Santiago (join a long queue instead), OnePay and others.
  • When my plans changed I was planning to buy a new TurBus ticket for a different date, but it turned out that you can just ask for a different time and date at any ticket office and they will print out a new ticket for you for free.