Transport & Accommodation 3 – Chile

This post is part of a series called Traveltips South America
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🇨🇱 Chile  🇨🇱

Info about Transport and Accommodation

 

Accommodation 🏨

In Chile i stayed in a mix og Hotels, Hosteria, Room without breakfast and in Santiago I had an apartment in an complex that was very central placed and priced very reasonable. Like most other places, there are differences in quality and price through out the country. The best Hosterias can be much  better than a hotel.

I made my choices primarily with a combination of price and location and had some very different but beautiful stays in Chile. Sometimes the price difference between a private room in a hostel and a hosteria or hotel was very small, in which case I prioritized  to pay a small extra amount to get a room with my own  bathroom.

Transport

Flight, Bus, Metro, Train, Taxi

Flight ✈

Domestic airline is often LatAm, but there are many other options

Tickets can be found through different providers or search channels like: Momondo, Kayak. TravelMarket, Skyscanner

 

 

I did not use any flights in Chile, so I do not have any personal experiences..

However, I do recommend flying, if going to the southern Patagonia or do as I did, take a boat trip between Puerto Natales and Puerto Montt. There are no direct buses in Chile going to the cities in the south: Punta Arena and Puerto Natales. It can be done through Argentina, but it’s a long trip so flying is recommended. Another recommendation is the trip between Puerto Varas and Bariloche in Argentina via Peula. It can be done both ways with Cruise Andino on a combined transport and excursion trip with buses and boats. This tour is allowed to cross the border on a road that is otherwise only used by cyclists.

Bus 🚌

As in Argentina there are a lot of bus companies. Each region has its own big company, and it depends on the destination which company has the best offer .

I only had a single trip on a sleeper bus from Valdivia to Santiago. It was a trip for about 10 hours on very good roads and with very few stops during the night.

My day trips were from El Calafate to Puerto Natales and then to Torres del Pines, Pucon to Valdivia, Santiago to and from Valparaiso, Santiago to Mendoza and Salta to San Pedro de Atacma

Both day and night buses were of good quality and they were always on time. Most day buses  have many stops along the roadside. I experienced a lot of stops both between Pucon and Valdivia and between Puerto Varas and Frutillar. Between Santiago and Valparaiso with Pullmann it was non-stop buses.

 

– Seat Reservation 💺

As in Argentina, the buses are typical doubledecker buses and to make the correct seat reservation can be a bit difficult and confusing as the type of seats available have different names. When I bought my only ticket on a sleeper bus, I did it directly at the bus company Jac in Pucon, so I received personal guidance to get a good seat.

An example of seat type is:

  1. Salon Cama
  2. Cama
  3. Semi Cama
  4. Standard

For more information about  buses in Chile, I will recommend to read  here

– Meals ☕🍴🥫🍪

My longer trips both day and night included  meals. When leaving in the morning we got a breakfast and lunch with water and coffee and when leaving in the evening we were served dinner with coffee and water. As in Argentina, the meals are not great, so it can be a good idea to bring something more healthy for the trip. A good advise in that case is to make the purchase before going to the bus terminal. None of the places I traveled from, had any  kind of healthy food, but biscuits and chips etc. are always available. Do remember that if you are crossing the border to Chile, you are not allowed to bring food, so everything has to be consumed before the check in to Chile..

 

– Purchase Online 💻

I did not have any issues when buying tickets online. My first trip with a Chilean bus was from El Calafate in Argentina to Puerto Natales in Chile. The ticket was purchased through Ricorrido, and the bus company Bus-Sur. It worked very well. One surprising thing was, however, that before leaving El Calafate, an additional amount of 10 pesos had to be paid before we could get on the bus. We all had to queue up to get this extra ticket. I had also purchased a return ticket from Torres del Pines to Puerto Natales but had to cancel it, as it was more convenient to leave at a different time. I got all my money back after a few days, as mentioned during the cancellation process.

Since I had no Chilean money, I had to pay the bus ticket with US Dollars. I had checked before leaving that it was possible and also the price, but the driver was not happy about it and only accepted it because he had no alternative,

– Busterminals 🏘

There are as mentioned a lot of different bus companies in Chile, and in most cities each company has separate bus terminals. The terminals are located next to each other in the same street or in the same area, but there are usually no common bus terminal, so it is very important to know which company you are looking for.

In Santiago, also notice that there are more than one terminal.

I have only been to the Terminal Alameda and when you travel from here, it may take some extra time to find the right company as it is quite a big area. On arrival it is easy. The bus companies are placed on each side of a road from where you can get a taxi. On my departure to Mendoza I discovered a small information boot located on a corner of the roads and here I received the help I needed to find my company’s office.

Both at the small and large terminals it was possible to buy water and some snacks for the trip but do not expect to find an ATM.

– Summary about buses

All my bus tours went well whether it was day or night. The standard of the buses in Chile was a bit better than in Argentina, and on my trips with the doubledecker bus, I had a little more space. It is not necessary to buy tickets a long time in advance, but if you have a preference, it is best to buy some days before departure. My tickets to and from Valparaiso were purchased about 5 min. before the departure. There Buses leaving all day with very short intervals, so booking is unnecessary.

 

Citybus –  Metro – Train – Taxi

 

Metro Santiago.🚇 

I only used the Metro once, when I was visiting a wineyard in outskirts of the city, but it worked fine. I had to change twice, but it was easy as there were plenty of signs showing which way to go. When I got out of the Metro, I was in doubt whether I should turn left or right, but I made the right choice and ended up at a square with food and coffeeshops and there were taxis so I could easily get out to the winery Macul.

City bus i Puerto Varas 🚎

In Puerto Varas I used a kind of city bus to go to the neighboring town of Frutillar. There were many departures during the day and the ticket could be purchased on the bus. It was not a fast trip as people got on and off the bus all the time and the trip also included a stop to fill up with gasoline, but on the other hand it was cheap.

I did not use any trains 🚆 in Chile.

Taxi 🚕

It does NOT work as it should, so be careful.

My postulate. – Approx. 50% of taxi drivers cheat or try to cheat their customers. You should be aware that in many cities there is a fixed and fairly cheap fare, but drivers know that many foreign customers are not aware of that and also that, if just arrived you might not know the exact exchange rate. In Santiago and Valparaiso they use taxameter and that is the amount that applies. They are not allowed to require additional charges for freeways or whatever they mention.

Also think about the difference between Argentinian and Chilean money. When you arrive in a new country and need a different currency, it may be a good idea to think about the possible price in local currency before you you reach the stop and have to pay.

Do not expect the taxi driver to say anything, if you give them too much money and generally pay with as little notes as possible, to make it harder to cheat. Like claiming you gave a 10,000 note when it was actually a 20,000 note

In Puerto Natales it was ok to pay with Argentine pesos, but it was not possible in San Pedro de Atacama.

Roads in Chile 🚧🚦🚏

It is my experience, that the roads are a lot better than in Argentina. There are several stretches of highways and I never drove on unpaved roads. My only long trip was from Valdivia to Santiago at night and I do not remember we were stopped by any checkpoints and it did not happen on any of the day trips either.

 

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