Chile Budget Travel Guide is created to bring the South American nation of Chile to would-be visitors who are planning a trip there. In this website, I want to tell you everything that is interesting and worth visiting about Chile. We will get to know its principal cities and its many tourist destinations. I hope you will enjoy reading Chile Budget Travel Guide, and that it helps you in your visit to Chile.
About Chile
Chile is a long and narrow country in South America. It measures some 4,200 kilometers from north to south, but is never more than 180 km at its widest. It is bordered by Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage to the far south. It is just one of two countries in South America - the other being Ecuador - that does not share a border with Brazil.
The Pacific Ocean forms a 5,000-km-long coastline to the west of the country. Due to the great difference in latitude, Chile is a country where you can experience the hottest, driest deserts as well as frigid fjords and snop-capped mountains. In between, you can find a Mediterranean climate in the center, and a temperate climate to the south.
According to the 17th century Spanish chronicler Diego de Rosales, the name Chile may have been derived from the name of a Pichunche tribal chief called Tili, who ruled the area during the Incan conquest of the 15th century. That is just one of several theories as to how the country got its name.
With an urban area population of 5.6 million people, Santiago de Chile is the largest city as well as capital of Chile. Other notable cities include Concepción, Valparaíso, Antofagasta and Punta Arenas.
Fast Facts about Chile
Official Name: Republic of Chile
Capital: Santiago (6,300,000, metropolitan area)
Population of Chile: 15,980,912
Languages: Spanish
Currency: Chilean peso (CLP)
Religions: Roman Catholic (89%), Protestant (11%), others
The nationals of the following countries may visit Chile for up to 90 days without a tourist visa: Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, the United States, EU Countries except Greece, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Jamaica, Liechtenstein, Macau, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, San Marino, Slovenia, South Africa, Surinam, Switzerland, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, Vatican City, Venezuela and Serbia & Montenegro.
Nationals of the following countries may visit Chile for up to 60 days without a tourist visa: Peru and Greece
Nationals of the following countries may visit Chile for up to 30 days without a tourist visa: Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
By Plane
The main international airport for Chile is the Santiago Airport (Aeropuerto de Santiago de Chile), also known as Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL). The national flag carrier is LAN Airlines.
Budget Travel within Chile
Chile has a good public bus system enabling you to explore the country town to town. The main bus companies are Turbus and Pullman.
You can - if you are able to spend the money - take domestic flights to explore the country. Chile has good airport infrastructure (although at time of writing, May 2010, it may have been disrupted by the 2010 Earthquake) that allows you to take domestic flights to the many major cities in the country. The major domestic airlines are LAN, Sky Airline, Aerolineas del Sur and Principal Airlines.
Travel Warning
The 2010 Chilean Earthquake struck the coast of the Maule Region of Chile on 27 February, 2010. The epicenter of the magnitude 8.8 quake is 100 km from Concepción, the second largest city in Chile. The death toll of the quake stood at 521 persons as of 15 May, 2010. Verify with the local tourism authorities before making your trip to Chile.
In my listing below, the term "city" refers to the whole metropolitan area.
Santiago Capital and largest city in Chile
Concepción Second largest city in Chile.
Valparaíso Third largest city in Chile. It faces the Pacific Ocean in the central region of Chile.
La Serena Fourth biggest metropolitan area in Chile.
Antofagasta Major port city in northern Chile.
Calama City in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.
Major Tourist Destinations in Chile
Atacama Desert The driest desert in the world.
Chiloé Island The second largest island in Chile.
Cochamó Picturesque town and valley in Chile with waterfalls, rivers, granite arches and caves.
Easter Island Volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean famous for its gigantic stone statues. A UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Rapa Nui National Park.
Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?
The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!
Our Flight Checker helps travelers compare flights and get the lowest fare for their trips. If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.
Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.
