Chile Things to Do

As Chile is in the southern hemisphere, we enjoy winter while the northern hemisphere is deep in summer. Here, winter falls between June and August, with temperatures picking up again at the end of August. While the northern hemisphere is turning up the a/c, in Chile, we’re trading tank tops for sweaters, and holding cozy cups of tea in our hands. There’s lots to do in a Chilean winter, just remember to pack some warmer clothes for the chilly (no pun intended) climes.

Travelers headed out to or from the southern seas often either start, end or stop in Chile’s historic UNESCO heritage site of Valparaíso. The city climbs up into the hills from the port, a colorful collection of buildings perched on steep hillsides, and connected with circuitous walks, and accessed via historical funiculars.

La Tirana, in the north of Chile, some forty miles east of Iquique, is a mall hamlet of about 1300 inhabitants most of the year. But on for ten days around the 16th of July, in honor of the Virgen del Carment the population of the town swells to almost 300,000 with people coming from all over Chile and the rest of the world to watch or participate in the festivities. It’s kind of an off-season mini-carnival, and one of the most colorful festivals in the Chilean calendar.

Pucón is Chile’s adventure capital. It’s a small city in the south, about ten hours by bus from Santiago, on the shore of Lago Villarica, a large placid lake with two small beaches, along which some of Chile’s luxury hotels lie. It is about 20 misty miles from the larger (and less tourist-oriented) city of Villarica, itself worth a visit.

  Chile, a country with more than 2,500 miles of coastline just makes sense as a travel destination for people who love cruises. In Chile, you can choose from trips that start in the north, and head as far north as to (and through) the Panama Canal and up to the coast of Florida (usually [...]

Up in the Norte Chico, the part of the north of Chile that’s just six hour’s drive from the capital of Santiago, there is some outstanding landscape to explore. There’s a swimmable beach right in town, as well as protected coves just 30 minutes’ drive away in horseshoe-shaped Guanaqueros, the land making a perfect arc and carving out a very tranquil spot for swimming.