South American Natural Adventures

Most international flights to Chile land at Santiago, Chile's capital. Like Lima, Santiago clearly shows its European heritage, with interesting and varied classic architecture now combined with modern highrise. A number of squares, surrounding by important government and other older buildings are dotted through the downtown area, and are often used by musicians and purveyors of goods. Santiago itself is worth a day or two, and close by are the rich wine-producing Central, Maipo and Rapel Valleys, Andean ski-fields and National Parks. A short drive away is the resort town of Vina del Mar, and Valparaiso, city of hills.

Travel in Chile

Chile is long and thin, over 2,700 miles north to south. For this reason much of your travel within Chile will be by air. A number of airlines service Chile domestically, but the main one is LanChile; others often come and go. Fare structures are such that there can be a great variation on the same flight, depending on when and where you book, and how you are entering the country. Flights to Punta Arenas are especially affected by cruise ship arrivals and departures, as these may cause heavy booking of the few available flights. We can arrange all your travel to and within Chile, and are familiar with the intricacies of the airline system. Please call or email us for more information.

On arrival in Chile there is a Reciprocity Tax to be paiid. This is levied in resposne to the fee charged by other countries to process a visa for Chilean nationals. IT is paid in the airport, in US dollars or by credit card (not Discover). Currently it is:

For passengers holding a US passport, the tax is $US100
For passengers holding an Australian passport, the tax is $US56
For passengers holding a Canadian passport, the tax is $US132

Other nationalities should check with a Chilean Consulate.

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