Photo: Vlebanov
1. Don’t… visit Torres del Paine during high season.
December to March within this vast national park in southern Chile is not the time and energy to find quiet solitude — especially about the trekker-happy “W” circuit.
The park fills on top of people, the concessioned campsites morph into cities, and also the “rustic” ones morph into villages.
Do… go during shoulder season.
Or much better, visit another Patagonia park, just like Queulat, where you can bursting fuchsia plants, the elusive huemúl (a stocky, endangered deer that appears on Chile’s coat of arms), in addition to a glacier-spawned waterfall.
Slightly farther north is a practically unvisited Tolhuaca National Park, stuffed with monkey-puzzle trees and red-crested woodpeckers the duration of your forearm.
2. Don’t… use the Navimag towards the Laguna San Rafael glacier.
This boat ride is dear, uncomfortable, and enables you to be feel like you’re with a floating class trip, that comes with skits and cafeteria-style eating.
You’ll spend too much money to sleep in a room with 15 other travelers, beside a ferry engine vibrating within the exact frequency that precipitates insanity, all to pay one hour numerous yards away from the glacier in a very cramped Zodiac that has a number of whiskey-glomming Chileans.
Do… hike into the El Morado Glacier.
This an example may be a lot more accessible, your place to begin being Cajón de Maipo (near Santiago).
Another options are a day trip from Puerto Natales on the Serrano and Balmaceda Glaciers through a four-hour boat trip past sea lions and cormorant colonies. Yes, you’ll see both ice blocks, plus please take a short forest hike.
Alternatively (and don’t tell any Chileans I said this), go to Argentina to your Perito Moreno Glacier, on the list of world’s only advancing glaciers.
3. Don’t… pay a visit to Concha y Toro winery or grab the Tren del Vino (Wine Train).
There’s great wine and great wine tourism in Chile, but CyT is known as a “wine for dummies” pick, and also the train can be fairly identified as the “wine for all very wanting to spend the a large amount of money” option.
Do… your own personal wine tour solo inside the Casablanca, Colchagua, or nearby valleys.
This is doable after some research. Buy Margaret Snook’s book Vinos para Todos, find your Spanish-English dictionary, and run your own personal tasting according to these and regular-folk suggestions for top Chilean wines — which, incidentally, must only run between $2 and $10.
You also can take a tour with a local independent wine expert like Karen Gilchrist from winetravelchile.com. For that luxury wine-tourist set, Liz Caskey is highly recommended.
4. Don’t… accept the Cerro San Cristobal funicular.
The surface of Santiago’s second-tallest hill is a well-liked photo spot.
But consider the funicular and you’ll be missing among the best parts: fabulous views with the mountains in route throughout.
Do… hike on the Zorro Vidal path.
This trail takes about 40 minutes at the reasonable pace as well as being accessible on the Bellavista (Pio Nono) entrance. Or rent a motorbike about the Pedro de Valdivia side and pedal up (30-40 minutes).
This way, you get your syrupy, rich mote con huesillo (a glass or two containing hyper-sweetened peach punch, reconstituted dehydrated peaches, and wheat kernels) from your vendors at the top.
Cerro San Cristobal mini-do: the Japanese Garden
Cerro San Cristobal mini-don’t: the zoo. Animal lovers will cringe.
5. Don’t… assume LAN Chile will probably be your only option.
The country’s national air carrier isn\’t last word on the subject of domestic travel.
Do… take the bus.
Overnight buses is usually downright luxurious.
Otherwise, the train is often a slow but scenic option as far south as Temuco, and Sky Airlines may often beat most of the aforementioned’s prices.
The usual warning to get in advance applies, including on buses in the summer, peak season, and long weekends.
6. Don’t… loiter downtown or near Plaza Italia after a significant soccer match.
Especially if Universidad de Chile (La U) or Colo Colo are playing.
Chilean post-game hooliganism is taking hold, plus a bus or metro trip with your screaming, chanting fans will not be in places you want to be.
Do… watch a sport at an out-of-the-way bar or restaurant.
Or you need to take the 91 minutes when the game is on as being an excuse to enjoy the streets nearly completely solo, and then go back inside prior to when the melee starts.
Word for the wise…those police water cannons? They\’re able to (and do) also spew tear gas into rowdy crowds.
7. Don’t… try to look for Chilean fashion while in the fancy malls.
That would be Alto Las Condes or Parque Arauco. Chilean-made department store units are even pricier compared to what you’d buy at your home.
Do… press upon Calle Bandera to order used clothing.
Or, along with this, head for nearby Patronato, a zany warren of blasting music and cheap clothes, made in Chile (or China) for any fraction within the price (and a few say quality) of the you’ll get in big-name stores like Falabella or Paris.
Keep your bank account close, and forestall for the falafel or some Korean food while you’re there.
8. Don’t… eat salmon for the Mercado Central.
Actually, don’t eat it around america.
Nearly all salmon in Chile is farmed, contains antibiotics and dyes banned in a good many countries, and — knowing your salmon — is virtually flavorless.
Do… order any other thing along at the central market
Head in the chaos, choose your spot, and try among the many other grilled fish dishes, or select paila marina, a brothy soup of random sea creatures including several styles of bivalves, the red sea-squirt, and — if you’re lucky — a giant barnacle.
Less adventurous stomachs might prefer pastel de jaiba, an impossibly thick cheesy crab bisque.
9. Don’t… plan to understand one word anyone says.
Even in the event you studied Spanish in school, or college, or high school and college in addition to a stint traveling around South america decade ago, you simply will NOT understand what the regular Chilean says.
They talk fast, swallow their s’s and wash them down with approximately half their d’s, and apply an impenetrable slang in addition to a special conjugation form that just exists in this sliver of South America.
Do… try anyway.
A wide range of visitors to Chile don’t speak any Spanish in any way, when you try, people will have fun here.
If you contain a “¿cachai?” (“understand?” in local slang) or two, others will grin and nod and applaud your Castellano, as locals call the word what.
10. Don’t… expect Santiago for being Buenos Aires.
The two capital cities are simply couple mountain ranges apart, but Buenos Aires is South America’s NYC, something Santiago could never approximate — even if it calls one of its upscale neighborhoods “Sanhattan.”
Do… see Santiago for which it truly is, past and give.
Years of history, miles and mountains of separation, and waves of several settlers have resulted in making Santiago the is.
The city is usually under-appreciated, under-touristed, and generally underrated. Get to know Santiago by herself terms and learn something the travel industrial complex can’t (or won’t) tell.
