Category: Chile

Note: We are a couple travelling for 1 year and we’ve already spent half of our time and budget and time (20000€ total fir the year). The prices mentioned in this post are PER PERSON, except for the taxis and accommodation (usually private double rooms).

Food

A main course in a restaurant is about 10000/15000clp but you can find lunch for 5000clp with starter and main course.

• Chorillana + Beer 75cl: 17000clp
• Completo + Beer 75cl: 10000clp
• Sandwich in the street: 1000clp

Drinks

• Water: 1500clp 2l
• Ice: 800clp
• Juice: 1100clp in the street
• Wine: around 3500clp a bottle
• Cocktails: Pisco sour 3000clp, Terremoto 3300clp

Transportation

• Taxi: in Santiago Iber works pretty well and is cheaper than a taxi.
• Bus: I advise you to book in advance on recorrido.cl. We have been from Santiago to Valparaiso (Turbus 4000clp), to Pucon (nightbus 18000clp), to Temuco (4000clp), to Santiago (nightbus 10000clp) to Calama (55000clp) and to San Pedro de Atacama (3500clp).
  From Calama we had a bus cancelation and had to take a bus to La Serena (46000clp) and an other one to Santiago (20000clp).
  We crossed the border taking a bus Santiago – Mendoza (40000clp).

Accomodation

Country	Minimum	Maximum	Average
Chile	20.000clp	38.000clp	31.455clp
€	21€	40€	33€

Activities

We’ve spent 12% of our budget in:

• Patagonia: Ventisquero colgante 8500clp, Termas 20000clp, San Rafael glaciar 150000clp, exploradores 80000clp, Marmol 15000clp.
  > Check the detail in the dedicated post
• Atacama: Lago Tebenquiche 5000clp, Garganta del diablo 3000clp.
  > Check the detail in the dedicated post
• Santiago: Parque Aguas de Ramon 3000clp.
  > Check the detail in the dedicated post

Extras

General

• Phone: Entel chip 1000clp, and spent a total of 13000clp in data (buy it in small stores in cash and they send you a sms)
• Laundry: 7000clp full bag / 11000clp
• Withdraw fees: around 5000clp

Visit Atacama during CoVid

We are staying in this beautiful region waiting for the borders to open. As the main sites are currently closed, we found great alternatives and discovered new amazing places! I’ve already visited and described the main sites in a previous post, but I wanted to share here the info up to date.

Van trip in Patagonia

We rented a van in Pucón for 16 days to discover the amazing Chilean Patagonia and its famous Carretera Austral. I’m sharing here all the good tips and what you need to know to do the same or better than us!

Rapa Nui / Eastern Island

To celebrate my 30 years old I was on this mysterious island, one of the most isolated, with my mom. In 4 days we achieved to visit the majority of the sites. It’s one of my favorite trip and defintly my best birthday ever!

Atacama all alone

Atacama is a region situated in north of Chile, less than 2 hours flight from Santiago, I’ve been there various time and always prefered to rent a car instead of taking a tour.

What to do in Santiago

I lived almost 3 years in this city so I know it pretty well, and lived my best years there! Between Europe and Latin America, you can find everything in this modern city, but for a tourist I would just recommend few days there, as Chile is very different from its capital!

Looking back…
The van trip in Patagonia represent a huge part of our budget but has been balanced with the month spent at Tanguy’s place (our friend in Atacama: THANKS AGAIN DUDE!)

Total spent:
– Average of 40,65€ per day per person

Does it still worth it?

YES!! Definitely! Totally!

Even if the most famous places are closed because of the CoVid crisis (see the detailed list bellow), you can still enjoy this amazing region, renting a car or taking tours with Horizonte Atacama which is a new company owned by great guys I know – you can say you know me 😉

Tourism is coming back slowly, so we were mostly all alone during all those trips, perfect timing!

How many days?

You should stay at least 5 days to do everything’s mentioned in this post:

• Day 1: Vallecito, the magic bus and Valle de Arcoiris (rainbow valley)
• Day 2: Salar de Atacama with Ojos del Salar and Laguna Tebenquiche, and Piedras Rojas
• Day 3: Cactus Valley in Guatin and baths of Puripobre
• Day 4: Paso Jama, Monjes de Pacana and Salar de Tara
• Day 5: Geisers del Tatio, San Pedro and Catarpe

Valle de la Luna access is now controlled and closed, but you can take an alternative path via road 23: Vallecito. The access is officially forbidden, but we left our car before seeing any warning sign. We walked around 6km to enjoy the view on the cliffs and went to see the Magic bus. You could drive or walk more, only need is water, hat/cap and solar cream! I advise you to start the day with this trekking and keep going to Rainbow Valley the same day.

Valle Arcoiris

To find it it’s easy: after Yerbas Buenas and the Petroglyphs (still closed) the road goes down to a bridge, and you need to take the road on the left BEFORE this bridge! You will drive around 3km into the canyon, passing small rivers and arriving to the first green mountains where you will need to turn left. You can go freely in this canyon following the road (doesn’t take long but really worth it).

From San Pedro you can go south (Toconao direction) and start your trip visiting the Eyes of the desert – los Ojos del desierto (two big holes in the middle of the earth). You will pay the entrance (5000clp cash or credit card) and go to Laguna Tebenquiche. If you have time you can also go to Laguna Cejar when you can swim in a salty lake (15000clp, only in the morning as the afternoon are for groups).

It’s now a cul de sac, you will need to go back to the main road and can keep going to Piedras Rojas (Toconao, Laguna Chaxa and Lagunas altiplanicas, Miscanti, are closed).

You cannot go with your car neither walking to the Piedras Rojas (COVID) but you can still enjoy a beautiful view from the miradors by the road, and go to Laguna Toyaito and Laguna en Salar El Laco (near the argentinian border, still closed).

Note: You should prepare a sandwich as Toconao and Socaire are the only cities you will cross, and they are closed for Covid reasons.

Cactus Canyon

Before having a break in the nice baths, you should totally visit the Guatin Canyon, also known as Canyon de los Cactus and Cascadas Escondidas. When you come from San Pedro, you will find a small path right before Guatin, on your left (you will see the cactus anyway).

We walked 6km but couldn’t reach the end of this valley. We were there at the end of the day but for a better light I would recommend to go in the morning.

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Termas de Puripobre

Once you’re tired of walking you can enjoy natural baths: termes. Because of the COVID, the baths you can find in Puritama must be booked and it costs 120000clp.

You have a magical alternative you should enjoy while it’s free: Puripobre. Passing Guatin, on the way of the Geisers, you will find this amazing Quebrada Escalera full of reeds and small waterfalls. After 20min walking you can freely enjoy it as there are plenty of baths with hot water.

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Geisers of Tatio

To go to the Geisers without having 1000 tourists with you, you shall arrive before the sunrise or later. I did both and I recommend early in the morning to really appreciate the effect of those Geisers and the big smoke towers they make! I also heard that it can be cool for the sunset… Usually you can even take a bath there but it’s still closed (Covid again).

San Pedro & Catarpe

Back to the city you can visit the center, enjoy the handcraft market (on the main place), eat a nice empanada or enjoy good restaurants and bars… 

Near San Pedro you have Catarpe. It’s a private green land where you can currently see a nice church (visit actually closed) and Garganta Del Diablo. It’s a 8km trekking into a dry canyon leading to a huge point of view (need to climb a little, total 2h walk). You could also rent a bike in the city center!

The entrance fee for Catarpe is 3000clp and includes also an old mine tunnel and ruins actually closed. Pukara de Quitor and Death Valley accesses are also closed.

Places to eat & drink in San Pedro (doesn’t need your Pase de Movilidad but sometimes your ID):
– Adobe, great atacamenian food
– Emporio Andino for their empanadas
– Jardin Mareki, nice terrasse!
– Roots for a nice Sangria
– La Picá del Indio, cheap and fast

To buy supplies in San Pedro:
The only mini market is located on Camino del Inca street, called Ketal.

South:

• Valle de la Luna: CLOSED but you can visit Vallecito and the Magic Bus instead
• Salar de Atacama: OPEN except Laguna Chaxa – 5000clp for Tebenquiche + Ojos, 15000clp Laguna Cejar
• Cities of Toconao and Socaire: CLOSED
• Lagunas Altiplanicas: CLOSED
• Piedras Rojas: CLOSED but you can still go to the miradors

East:

• Salar of Tara: CLOSED
• Monjes de Pacana: OPEN
• Uyuni tours: CLOSED

North:

• Pukara de Quitor: CLOSED
• Catarpe: Only the church and Garganta del diablo are OPEN – 3000clp
• Baths of Puritama and Puripobre: OPEN
• Geisers of Tatio: OPEN (but cannot access to the baths) – 15000clp

West:

• Petroglyphs of Yerbas Buenas: CLOSED
• Valle Arcoiris: OPEN
• Valle de la Muerte: CLOSED
• Piedra del Coyote: CLOSED but you can still see the sunset on Cordillera de Sal mirador

We rented a Mini Van (N300max Chevrolet) which is the fastest and more convenient option in my opinion. Even if it’s officially forbidden, nobody will bother you if you do wild camping. We had electricity to charge our phones and camera, a kitchen all equipped with gaz and hot water with a 26l tank you can fill in the rivers or lakes as most of the water comes from glaciers. We even had a shower cabin, a very confortable bed made with 3 mats and curtains. No need any restaurant, camping or hostal. We spent a total of 41500clp per person per day for transportation + accommodation (check the budget).

You have 3 options:

1. Take the ferry with Naviera Austral from Quellon (on Chiloe island) to Chaitén – only one per week and much more expensive than the other options (purple road).
2. Take a first ferry to La Arena, and a second one from Hornopiren to Caleta Gonzalo, both with Barcazas (green road).
3. Take the road going directly to Hornopiren to Caleta Gonzalo passing through Osorno and Cochamo (yellow road).

We’ve chosen the purple road to go there, but only because the ferry from Hornopiren was full (At least it gave us the chance to discover the “Great Chiloé”). We succeeded to book the Caleta Gonzalo Ferry one week in advance and went back by the yellow road.

Note: When the borders are opened you can rent this same van for more time and cross Argentinian border instead of doing the way back as we did (in Futaleufu, Chile Chico or Villa O’Higgins).

1st day: Chaiten to Lago Las Torres

We stopped on Palena river belvedere for coffee and breakfast, La Junta where everything was closed, Puyuhuapi to get lunch and Lago Las Torres to sleep 🌜.

We thought we would get much more south but the traffic was cut from 1pm to 5pm and a rock fell down the road so it opened again around 7pm! Then you have this crazy portion of road after Queulat Fjord we called « death road » with automatic traffic lights where you will wait 20min…

2nd day: Lago Las Torres to Cerro Castillo valley

After fill in the tank at Villa Maniguales, we kept the Ruta 7 road to Coyhaique with again a complicated road where you CANNOT go fast (we preferred to take road X50 on the way back but it was very beautiful)!

We had a lunch in Coyhaique, « capital of Patagonia » (of Aysen region at least) and kept going south passing through a fantastic valley around Ibáñez river.

A bit after Mirador Cuesta del Diablo you won’t find any correct road and you really need to be careful. We found a spot to sleep in the forest, 1h30 before Puerto Rio Tranquilo 🌜.

3rd day: Puerto Rio Tranquilo to Rio los Nadis

That day we discovered the huge General Carrera lake (shared with Argentina, it’s the 2nd biggest lake in Latin America), but also Puerto Bertrand and the wonderfull Baker River (the most powerful of Chile) with Mirador Confluence, Rio del Salto right after Coyhaique, and slept close to Rio Nadis 🌜.

Close to Mirador Confluence you have the entry of Parque Patagonia where you can see lamas and if you’re lucky: Pumas!!

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4th day: Rio Nadis to Villa O’Higgins

In the morning we stopped at Cochrane for gazoline and went to Caleta Tortel to get lunch. This beautiful peatonal city is a MUST DO because of the 7km wooden paths. Right after we went to Puerto Yungay and get the free ferry to Villa O’Higgins. We went to the end of the Carretera Austral and found a spot to stay at night close to Lago Cisnes 🌜.

Ferry to O’Higgins: From Puerto Yungay to Rio Bravo (45min) free. No booking needed but the first arrives get to the boat so if you want to be sure to get there you should come at least 1h in advance (only few boats per day: check the timetable).

5th day: Villa O’Higgins to Lago Verde

We took the first ferry at 11am and went to Cochrane to enjoy the Belvedere. We almost get stuck with an other traffic interruption from 3pm to 5pm, but we managed to pass. We took the direction of Chile Chico, went to see Los Maquis Waterfall and stopped at Lago Verde Mirador for the night 🌜

6th day: Cuevas de las manos

We stopped at Chile Chico to get some supplies and went to the trek of Cuevas de las manos (7km). Here the landscape turned to a desert, dry and red mountains with a lot of wind. The road to get there is impressive, by its beauty and its danger (close to the cliff).

🌜We slept at Puerto Guadal that night.

Good tip: you also have a ferry crossing the lake from Chile Chico to Puerto Ibáñez (but we couldn’t get ticket on Barcazas).

7th day: Catedrales de Marmol

When you arrive at Puerto Rio Tranquilo Harbor you will have tour operators everywhere with the same price:
– 150000clp for the 90min tours which leads you to Marmol Sanctuary
– 30000clp for 3h tour with the sanctuary + the island Panichini
– 40000clp for the kayak tour (you will go to Puerto Marmol where you can rent directly there those same kayaks for 30000clp)
After this beautiful tour we went to sleep at Lago Bayo 🌜.

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8th day: Exploradores trekking

We booked this tour at Puerto Rio Tranquilo and met them directly in the CONAF entrance, 52km from there. We started this trekking with a group of 7 people and walked the first 1h30 through a forest and ice field. After we learnt how to walk with ice grippers, we went to various funny spots, ice tunnels and caves to take pictures. We walked 7hours (12km) and slept at the Harbour of Bahia Exploradores 🌜

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9th day: Glacier San Rafael

We also booked our tour in Puerto Rio Tranquilo and met them at the harbour. We were 19 people on this very confortable boat equipped with tables and kitchen. We passed almost all our time with the captain and arrived after 3 hours sailing on the rivers and fjord to Laguna San Rafael where we appreciated the beauty of this glaciar during 2h. We had a good breakfast and lunch on board, everything included, even the whisky with millenium ice! We found a river close to an Orange Bridge to sleep in the valley of Cerro Castillo 🌜

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10th day: Coyhaique and Puerto Aysen

We stopped at this capital of Patagonia and had lunch to the best burger restaurant and brewery Casa Tropina. Sadly the Dolbek tavern was closed but you can meet there the famous Belgium guy who appears on the bottle! We quickly passed to beautiful waterfalls before heading to Puerto Aysen. Nothing really to see there, I would advise you not to loose your time and fuel… We went back to sleep at Lago Verde 🌜

11th day: Termas del ventisquero

The plan was to go to the ventisquero colgante glaciar but when we arrived around noon it was all cloudy and the CONAF girl told us it would be better to come back tomorrow and she gave us this great tips: enjoy hot water of Termas del Ventisquero. The entrance is 20000clp and you have 2 slots possible: 10h-13h or 14h-17h. It’s kind of small with only 3 baths and 1 swimming pool but the view on the fjord really worth it, and we even had the chance to see Toninas: Chilean dolphins! We slept close to the entrance of Ventisquero Colgante 🌜

Part of the Queulat Parc, this glacier on top of a mountain has that particularity to have magnificent waterfalls! We went to the Mirador, 7km go and back through what looks like a rain forest (2-3h walking). You also have a nice view from the lake (only 1km walking total) where you can take a boat for 10000clp (don’t know if it worth it, we decided not to go).

At 3pm after the lunch we decided to go until Futaleufú. Back to a shitty road… 77km in 2 hours! It was beautiful with nice blue river, but not as much as Puerto Bertrand. But again maybe it’s because we didn’t have time to really enjoy the countryside.
We went back to Chaiten to sleep there 🌜

TIPS:
– To stay in Pucon: Casa Mario, a REAL Chilean house where you will find the most friendly and helpful family with Veronica and Luis owning it. Only 10000clp per night per person with kitchen and private rooms. Contact: +56976457893
– To rent a van: Chile-Campers owned by Vincent from Aguaventura. Contact: +56998620879
– Apps to download before your trip: iOverlander to find places to camp + MapsMe to get the map without connection (best operator is Entel but still you will only have signal close to cities)
– To book the ferry: NavieraAustral.cl and/or Barcazas.cl
– To book your entrance to the national parcs: asptickets.cl
– To get gaz: you have only gaz stations in the main cities (I advise to fill in almost each time you see one!)

BUDGET for 2persons:
Total we spent 129.000clp/day (64.500 per day per person) all included:
– Van rental for 16 days: 792.000clp total (706000 for 15days + a supplement of 1 day 52000 + supplement for our 220km extra + 6000clp for the gaz we used)
+ Gazoline: 327000clp (4220km)
+ 3 Ferrys: 13000clp (to go on Chiloe island) + 128000 (Quellon-Chaiten) + 41000 (Caleta Gonzalo-Hornopiren = 182000clp
+ Toll Pucon-Chiloe and Osorno-Pucon: 13600clp
+ Car wash: Eltit mall in Pucon 20000clp
=> 83000clp/day for the transport + accommodation as we were sleeping in our van
+ Food, drinks, supplies: 182000clp (supermarkets in Patagonia are expensive and empty, I really advise to buy everything in Pucon or Puerto Varas)
+ Activities (parc, tours, termas): 547000clp