Chile stretches from basically near Antarctica to the south of Peru’s border. When we think of Chile, we think amazing wine and mountains, right? Well you wouldn’t be wrong.
Upon landing at Santiago Airport, I was absolutely mesmerized by the Andes right away. For this trip, I spent the majority of my time hiking Patagonia… so brb, daydreaming I was back there already.
How I Got There
As usual whenever I travel, I either take a United flight or search for the cheapest flight on kayak.com. I wrote an article about how I stick to flying on United as much as possible to cash out big with my miles.
For this trip, I flew to Santiago from Houston on the cheapest flight I could find on kayak.com. So that was Aeromexico.
Here were my top 3 favorite experiences in Chile.
1. Patagonia – Chile: W-Trek
Surprise! This was once in a lifetime, and I’m incredibly fortunate I had the opportunity to do this hike.
We did the W-trek and made it to Torres Del Paine on a gorgeous day.
Chile: W-Trek
Chile: Hiking Trip
Unlike some of the other hiking trips I’ve done, altitude sickness was never an issue, and we were never higher than 1200m (3900 ft).
This was really my first major hiking trip; and I was sore, delirious, and hungry hangry all the time, but the natural beauty of everything about this track made it all worth it.
2. Patagonia – Chile: Glacier Grey
We did Glacier Grey as an optional part of the W-Trek. Pisco Sour on the boat with the view of Glacier Grey around us? Um, hell yes.
This was also the New Zealand Routeburn Trek squad. PC: Neomi’s camera.
This was the ice hike! We got into our ice-hiking boots and walked around. Everything was so blue and gorgeous.
3. Santiago de Chile
Ok, city time. We went to San Cristobal Hill for the city landscape view.
San Cristobal Hill
When we came down from the lookout, we were able to make it down to Pio Nono, a lively street. On that street, we stopped by this really cool bar called Loft Restobar (Google Maps location). We also stop by Plaza de Armas and La Moneda Palace (Google Maps location) shown here:
La Moneda Palace
Where I Stayed
I stayed at an Airbnb near San Cristobal Hill. By the way, I wrote a separate article on How I Choose Where I Stay when I Travel.
If I Had More Time, I Would Have…
Visited Valparaiso during New Years. Or just for fun. I’ve heard amazing things about the coastal and beach city near Santiago.
Atacama Desert I have heard is very underrated.
I would love to do a wine tour in Chile when I make it back.
Closing Remarks
The purpose of the Chilean trip was to visit Patagonia, but after being around other Chileans and being around the city of Santiago, I have the strong urge to visit the other parts of the country.
So low key side note, when I went to Chile, I spoke zero Spanish. Now that I’ve gone through my Latin American experience… (will detail in a future post), I wonder how that will impact my experience when I return.
Because I plan on visiting the Patagonia side of Argentina. And when that day arrives, I would love to hop over to Chile and visit again.
