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Chile Banner.jpg

Cuernos del Paine and Lake Pehoe
Chile in its region.svg
Flag of Chile.svg
Quick Facts
Capital Santiago
Government Republic
Currency Chilean peso (CLP)
Area 756,102km²
water: 12,290km²
land: 743,812km²
Population 17,224,200 (May 2011 estimate)
Language Spanish
Electricity 220V, 50Hz (type C & L plugs)
Country code +56
Internet TLD .cl
Time Zone UTC-4 (UTC-3 in summer)
Easter Island: UTC-6 (UTC-5 in summer)

Chile is a long, narrow country along the southern half of the west coast of South America, between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. The bordering countries are Peru to the north, Bolivia to north east and Argentina to the east. Chile has over 5,000km (3,100 miles) of coast on the South Pacific Ocean.






Although relatively free of the coups and unstable governments that characterise Latin America, Chile endured the 17-year military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990), supported by the United States, and that left between 3,000 and 5,000 people dead or disappeared, most of them being left wing thinkers, democrats, and people critical to the government. The dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet was criticised worldwide for using brutal methods to control its population, including torture and forced disappearances, but left a relatively successful and stable economic model, which is credited with providing one of the highest standards of living in all of Latin America, but also with increasing corruption and the gap between the rich and the poor.








In Chile there is no restriction on religion. Nearly 70 percent of the population which is above 14 years of age are identified as Roman Catholic, but most of them don't necessarily practice it, and nearly 15 percent is considered evangelical or protestants.


Map of Chile with regions colour coded
Visit the driest desert in the world, archaeological ruins and the Andean highlands.
The land of the Mapuches, lakes, rivers and Chiloé island.
The Western Patagonia, with its fjords, ice caps, lakes and forests.
Easter Island (Rapa Nui or Isla de Pascua)


  • Santiago, the capital and largest city of the country.
  • Concepción, Chile's second largest city.
  • Iquique, tourist centre in Northern Chile.
  • Vina del Mar, the principal tourist attraction: beaches, casino and an iconic music festival.

Other destinations[edit]

Not your average pool
Chile is home to the largest recreational pool in the world. Located at the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Algarrobo, you will want a yacht to complete its 2km length



Here are two of the most common Chilean expressions:


English is widely understood in large cities, especially in Santiago, but also to a (very much) lesser extent in Valparaíso, Concepción or La Serena. Since English is now mandatory in schools, younger people are far more likely to speak English than older people, the latter (over 40 years old) being unlikely to speak any English, unless they are tourist industry workers or in the far south where the British heritage remains stronger. (Chile currently has the largest population of British descendants in Latin America - even larger than that in neighbouring Argentina. Over 700,000 Chileans may have English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh origins, amounting to more than 4% of Chile's population.)


Some people understand some French (every high school student had 5 years of French in school until the Pinochet dictatorship eliminated this requirement), Italian and Portuguese (because of its resemblance with Spanish) and also there are some German speakers, especially in the south of the country, where a lot of German migrants arrived in the second half of the 19th century.

Get in[edit]

Santa Lucia Park in Santiago

Visa information[edit]


  4. Up to 21 days: Dominica.

However, citizens of Australia and Mexico must pay a reciprocity fee on their first entry to Chile by air. The fee is USD 95 for Australian citizens (as of January 2014) and USD23 for Mexican citizens (as of September 2012) and is payable in US dollars or by credit card at counters prior to passing through immigration. This one-time charge was valid for the life of your passport, however Customs officials as of December 2013 were correcting themselves to only 90 days. Citizens of most other countries, such as the UK or the US, do not have to pay a fee.



For consulate information, please visit the website of the Chilean Embassy to the US or the website of the Chilean Embassy to the United Kingdom.

Other restrictions[edit]

When entering Chile (by cruise, vehicle or plane), at customs, travellers will need to fill out a tourist card that allows them to stay for up to 90 days. Keep this card safe: travellers will have to present the tourist card to Customs officials when leaving the country, and you may not be allowed to leave without it. This card also exempts you from the 19% Room Tax at all hotels, making losing it quite costly.

On flights leaving Chile, there is an airport tax of USD30 or the equivalent in Chilean pesos for flights longer than 500km, but it's included in the ticket price. On domestic flights, airport tax depends on the distance with distances less than 270km costing CLP1,969 and longer distances costing CLP4,992 and will be included in the price of the ticket.





By plane[edit]

The most common entry point for overseas visitors is the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (IATA: SCL), commonly referred to simply as Santiago Airport) in the commune of Pudahuel, 15km (9.3 miles) north-west of downtown Santiago. It is the largest aviation facility in Chile and the 6th busiest of South America by passenger traffic (over 11 million in 2010). It is a major connecting point for air traffic between Oceania and Latin America. The domestic and international are the same terminal, with the international on the left and domestic on the right.

Santiago International Airport is served by several non-stop international service, mainly from Europe, the Americas and Oceania. LAN Airlines is the largest national carrier and flights from the main cities in the Americas, Sydney, Auckland, Papeete, Frankfurt and Madrid. Other airlines serving SCL are Aeromexico, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air Canada, Air France, American Airlines, Avianca, BQB Líneas Aéreas, British Airways, Copa Airlines, Delta, Gol Airlines, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, PAL Airlines, Qantas, Sky Airlines, TAM Airlines, and United Airlines.


By bus[edit]



Get around[edit]

By plane[edit]


When travelling within Chile, please consider reserving your tickets before entering the country: flight coupons are recommended and can be bought at LAN when you also purchase your flight to Chile with them. LAN offers a good online reservation service but in the others is not that good yet and mainly in Spanish, although it is possible to use them to compare fares. The reason the website is in Spanish lies in the fact fares are aimed at Chilean people or long-term residents.



By bus[edit]

The bus system is pretty sophisticated and provides a cheap and comfortable way to get from town to town. Keep in mind that local companies will usually stop at many stations along the way, however, you can always ask if there's a non-stop or directo service. Companies that cover almost the entire country include Turbus [1] and Pullman [2] (websites in Spanish only). In Santiago, you can find both terminals and more companies on Universidad de Santiago subway station. Always be on time as they are very punctual.

Keep in mind that prices vary on a daily basis, so are usually more expensive on weekends and holidays tickets than on weekdays. Don't be shy to ask for a discount if you are in a group.

The quality of service varies quite a lot. Check if the bus is "cama" (bed), "semi-cama" (heavily inclining seats) or ejecutivo (executive - slightly inclining seat). Toilets are not always available - especially if you are getting on a bus at a later stage of a long journey (i.e. Arica - Santiago).

By train[edit]

Although Chile's passenger rail network is only a shadow of what it once was, passenger trains still operate between Santiago and Chillán and Talca and Constitución. All passenger rail service is operated by Trenes Metropolitanos. Trains depart from Santiago from Estación Central (address: Ave Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins 3170). Tickets can be booked at the station or on the rail company's website (, which also displays route maps and timetables.

Las Micros[edit]






By car[edit]

  • All traffic signs are in Spanish only and their shapes and colours can be very different from both North American or European standards.
  • Usually a credit card, a valid driving licence and a passport, all three issued to the same person, are needed to rent a car.
  • Rental rates in Santiago are very similar to those in the US, but prices can be much higher in other cities.
  • It's a good idea to avoid rush hours, 07:00-09:00 and 17:00-20:00.
  • Parking spaces and street lanes are narrower than in the US, so it's a good idea to get a small vehicle.
  • Fuel prices are about double the average US price, but cheaper than in most of Western Europe.

By thumb[edit]


There are also carpooling platforms available in Chile like Rides that allow people to hitchike in an anticipated and safer way.

Buy[edit][add listing]

Chile's currency is the Chilean peso often symbolised locally as "$". To avoid ambiguity we use the international symbolisation of CLP placed before the mount with no intervening space. Other currencies are not widely accepted, but most cities have exchange bureaux with reasonable rates on euros and US dollars. The rates should be published on widely visible boards.

Never exchange money on the streets, especially if a "helper" indicates you to follow them.

It's not advisable to exchange currency in the hotel or the airport as the rates are awful. Just be patient. Banco Santander has a monopoly on the ATMs of the airport and will add a surcharge of CLP3,000 for retrieving cash - at moderate and larger amounts this results in far better exchange rates than exchangers. ATMs in Chile retain INSIDE the card during the operation and you run the risk of taking the money and forgetting the card.


Credit and debit cards are widely accepted in most of the independent commerce of major cities and in all chain stores, no matter where they are. The PIN security system has been introduced for credit cards, so you will mostly only need your personal four digit PIN as it exists in other parts of the world. For some cards you will not be asked for your PIN and they will use the four last numbers of the credit card entered manually and you will have to show a valid ID. Swipe cards still work routinely.

Be aware that Chile is still significantly a cash culture, and it is routine for residents to carry around larger volumes of cash than some other nations are used to.

When checking into major hotels, your passport and visa will be photocopied. There is a 19% tax on hotel bills which is waived with your proof of being a foreigner, however you must also pay in US dollars to ensure the exemption. If you prefer to pay in CLP cash, the 19% VAT will be added no matter what identification you have given. Credit cards will be billed in USD. Always ask a hotel's policy before finalizing your stay to make sure you fully understand all the payment implications.

As of 21 August 2014: €1 ≡ CLP773 and USD 1 ≡ CLP581. Throughout Chile, however, it is generally assumed USD1 = CLP500 for all conversions.

Eat[edit][add listing]

    • con choclo: with grains of corn.
    • con pilco or pirco: with corn thinly chopped.
    • con mazamorra: with ground corn.
    • con riendas: with thin sliced noodles.
  • Curanto: lots of seafood, beef, chicken and pork, potatoes, cheese, and potato "burgers," prepared in a hole in the ground ("en hoyo") or in a pot ("en olla"); a dish from Chiloé.
  • Chorrillana: Similar to the lomo a lo pobre above, but larger. Traditionally made with French fries topped with beef sliced into strips, either fried or scrambled eggs, fried onions and occasionally sausages. There's no fixed recipe, however: some preparations use chopped frankfurter sausages, Chilean longanizas and seasonings such as garlic or oregano. VERY large dish, often enough to feed two or three!




  • Hotdog or completo. Not similar to the North American versions. This one includes mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, tomato, mashed avocado (palta), sauerkraut (chucrut) and chili (ají). These ingredients make a full sandwich, called un completo. With mayonnaise, tomato and avocado it's un italiano with the colours of the Italian flag.

If you add sauce américaine, it's known as dinámico.







Temperate fruit is of very high quality and prices are usually much lower than in most of North America and Western Europe, while tropical fruit is rather rare and expensive, except for bananas and sometimes mangoes.

Drink[edit][add listing]


  • Wine: Chile produces some excellent wines, competing with France, California, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand for world markets. Notable are the Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenere in red, along with whites from the Casablanca valley. In fact, the Carmenere grape/wine was thought of as being extinguished in its native France and the rest of the world, but was actually rediscovered in Chile.
  • Mango Sour: Pisco mixed with mango juice.
  • Piscola: Pisco mixed with Coke.
  • Borgoña: Red wine and strawberries.
  • Terremoto: ("Earthquake"): a typical Chilean drink that consists in a mix of pineapple ice cream with pipeño (local white wine), sometimes including fermet or granadine or even rhum. A smaller version of the drink is known as Réplica ("aftershock").
  • Tsunami or Maremoto: A variation of the "Terremoto" made with pipeño, beer, pisco and ice.
  • Schop: Draught beer.
  • Fan-Schop: Beer mixed with orange Fanta or Orange Crush soft drink. A refreshing alternative on a hot summer day. Used to be stereotyped as a girl's drink.
  • Jote: wine and Coca-Cola.
  • Vino navegado: Chilean version of mulled wine. Mixes warm red wine, orange slices, sugar, spices and sometimes cloves.


Still, Chileans drink a lot of alcohol so don't be surprised to see one a litre bottle of liquor per person.

Sleep[edit][add listing]

Chile has many types of hotels in the cities: some of the most prevalent chains are Sheraton, Kempinsky, Ritz, Marriott, Hyatt, and Holiday Inn. Several hostels and little hotels of varying quality wait to be discovered. On the backpacker trail, a local hostel version can be found in every small city residencial. There is also a variety of accommodations in the mountain ski centers,such as the world-class resort Portillo, 80km (49 mi) north of Santiago; "Valle Nevado" in the mountains approximately 35km (22 mi) away from Santiago, and the "Termas de Chillan" ski resort and hot springs, which lies about 450km (280 mi) south of Santiago.

In the Central Valley (Cachapoal and Colchagua wine valleys), you have some historic sites such as Hacienda Los Lingues in the Colchagua wine valley. It dates back to 1575 (and some constructions around are from 1650, 1670, 1760), it's decorated with period antiques and is a architectural and historic patrimony of CHILE. It can be located 75 miles south of Santiago.


Along with Mexico and Argentina, Chile continues to grow as a preferred destination for studies abroad. It is not uncommon to find groups of European or North American students taking interdisciplinary studies in Spanish language or Latin American culture and history in one of its many reputed universities:

  • In Santiago
    • Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile [4] -One of the best universities in Chile with several courses taught in English.
    • Universidad de Chile [5] - Another top university in Chile
    • Universidad de Santiago de Chile [6]
    • Universidad Central de Chile [7]
  • In Valparaíso and Viña del Mar
    • Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso [8]
    • Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María [9]
    • Universidad de Viña del Mar - International Office [10]
    • Universidad Diego Portales - International Relations [11]
    • Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez [12]
    • Universidad de Valparaíso [13]
  • In Southern Chile
    • Universidad de Concepcion [14]
    • Universidad de la Frontera [15]
    • Universidad Austral de Chile
    • Universidad de Los Lagos
    • Universidad de Magallanes




Stay safe[edit]



  • CLP1000, CLP2000 and CLP5000 notes should be easily accessible. Notes of higher value should be stored in another, more secure place in your wallet so you don't accidentally pay 10000 pesos instead of 1000, for example. Chile's Central Bank is in the middle of replacing all notes and its size [16], so you can find two types of 5000, 10,000 and 20,000 notes, all of which have legal value and are to be accepted everywhere.


Regarding driving conditions: Chilean drivers tend to be not as erratic and volatile as those in neighbouring countries.





Emergency Numbers: 131 Ambulance 132 Firefighters 133 Carabineros(Police)

Stay healthy[edit]


Emergency attention is available to everyone, regardless of their legal status or nationality. However, ambulatory procedures require either a legal residence permit or having an international health insurance. If you need medical attention it is advisable you got to a private hospital because command in any foreign language is not common in public health centers.


Rabies as well as most major diseases have been eradicated from Chile.

Tap water is safe to drink.


  • Unlike other countries in Latin America, the Chilean police force is admired for its honesty and competence. Report any complaints to the police the moment you receive them, including criminal activity. Bribing is not acceptable in Chile in contrast to the rest of Latin America, and you will likely get arrested if you attempt it. Also, Chilean police's association with the military is specially strong, so some police members might react rudely if they feel threatened in any way; always attempt to be at least basically polite.
  • Do not assume that your hosts in Chile will have a low opinion of Pinochet. May be a surprise, but his government still has many supporters (especially among the upper classes who benefited from the economic achievements of his regime), so be careful when raising the issue. Even if you want to talk other political subjects than Pinochet, people still can get very opinionated and even raise their tone when it comes to politics. Depending on your opinions, they can either call you "communist" or "fascist".
  • Chile has also a 500.000-strong Palestinian community (even when it's estimated that less than 1% actually speaks Arabic), so be careful when expressing Zionist or Pro-Israel viewpoints, there might be a Palestinian-Chilean that feels offended.
  • If you are an Israeli: be aware that Israelis are not necessarily openly welcomed by a large segment of the Chilean population for the reason stated above, though tourism operators will disguise and downplay this sentiment. Former Israeli reservists in particular are widely regarded as rude and have a well founded reputation for failing to pay for use of services and for not following national park safety rules. This is not only in southern Chile (particularly in Patagonia) but throughout the country. After the enormous environmental damage from the 2011-2012 forest fire in Torres del Paine [17], the Israeli government paid millions of dollars to Chile in attempts to soften the growing anti-Israeli backlash.



  • Payphone located on streets are not common nowadays, so it's better to use a phone located inside a commerce or a station.
  • A basic prepaid cellular phone usually costs about 15000 pesos, most frequently charged with 10000 pesos worth of prepaid minutes. You will be required to show your I.D. to activate the SIM card. Of course, you can use your own device if it is unlocked while paying roaming fees.
  • Chilean phone numbering scheme is very simple and straight.
  • Since 2014 it is not necessary to use regional carrier codes to call regional Chile. Always ask for the full version of the phone number as dialing changed last year.








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