Category: Chile

Things move at a slow pace in Chile’s northernmost city, just 20km from the Peruvian border. Best described as a city-cum-beach-resort, Arica enjoys summery weather year-round. It is also blessed with warm sea currents and exhilarating surfing breaks. However, there’s plenty here for landlubbers too: an iron church, a dramatically situated battleground and some of the world’s oldest known mummies, just to name a few. Arica is also a common jumping-off point for trips up to the heady heights of Parque Nacional Lauca.

Many visitors tend to skip Chile’s heartland on their way to more famous attractions further south. This is a shame as it has much to offer, including some fantastic wine country, genuine huaso (cowboys) culture with its skilful horsemen and traditional ways, excellent skiing and one of the world’s most unique coastal cities, Valparaíso. And, although few come to Chile just for the beaches, there is some lovely coastline. Pablo Neruda was inspired by the crashing waves of the Chilean Pacific; now a growing number of adrenaline-junkies are coming to ride that same surf.

Picturesque Santa Cruz has targeted the tourist dollar with uncanny accuracy and skill, quite unlike the underdeveloped tourism infrastructure in much of Chile. Fine museums, a beautiful hotel and the country’s original wine tour amply justify its popularity. The town has gained its place on the traveler’s map largely through the huge investments of Carlos Cardoen, a former arms dealer. Cardoen owns the main hotel and supplied many of the museum’s exhibits.

If there is one town that sums up all the idiosyncrasies and attractions of Chiloé, it is beautiful Castro. This bustling town somehow retains its local Chilote character side by side with a dash of modern development and comfortable tourism infrastructure. Just 90km south of Ancud, it is the capital of the province, a transportation hub and deservedly the most popular destination in Chiloé.

On a clear day, fresh after winter showers, Santiago basks in one of the most spectacular settings of any city in the world. A glance through the downtown blocks reveals a mighty circle of mountains – the snowcapped Andean peaks to the east, and a smaller coastal range to the west – that frames the Chilean capital.

An emerald umbrella on the rainy bay, the yawning outpost of Chaitén is little more than a six by eight grid of wide streets. The only town near Parque Pumalín, it’s also a major transport stop for the ultrarural Carretera Austral. If you arrive by ferry; the port is a 10-minute walk northwest of town. Around the plaza are the post office, Entel and Banco del Estado (cnr Libertad & O’Higgins), which exchanges cash at poor rates and has an ATM. The tourist kiosk (cnr Costanera & O’Higgins; 9am-9pm Jan-Feb) lists lodgings. Pumalín Information Center (O’Higgins 62) has park information and reserves cabins. A bastion of local information, Chaitur (731-429; [email protected]; O’Higgins 67) organizes excursions with bilingual guides to Pumalín, the Yelcho glacier, Termas de Amarillo and beaches with sea-lion colonies. Regional buses are based here and the agency also can provide general tour assistance, in English as well.