Home to the Andes Mountains, Chile is a ribbon of land with excellent beaches, snowcapped mountains and storybook villages. It doesn?t matter when you choose to visit because you will find something new in each season of the year. There are ski resorts and opportunities to swim in the warm Pacific. Easter and Christmas holidays are always times of celebration, but there are also exciting festivals throughout the year. Enjoy climbing, trekking, mountain biking or river rafting for the adventure of a lifetime.

Attractions

Every visitor to Chile has to visit the Parque Nationale Torres de Paine. Here you will see towering granite structures that rise then 6000 feet above the steppe. Along with cascading waterfalls, glaciers and dense forests, this offers you a spectacular sight.

Santiago

The capital city of Chile is an immense city of large streets, plazas, churches and beautiful parks. A statue of the Virgin Mary guards the city from the peak of Cerro San Cristobel. There are many attractions in this city, such as the Mercado Central, the historic Plazs de Armas, and many museums. Visit the Pre-Columbian Museum to see what Chile was like before the arrival of the Spanish and the Museo de Santiago where there is a diorama of the city. The pedestrian mall is the place for buskers and peddlers and the Bellavista, also known as the Paris Quarter, is one of liveliest places in the city.

Valparaiso

Walk the cobblestoned streets of this town and the stairway footpaths in the surrounding hills. The streets here are like mazes and there are many museums detailing the history of the country and its dependence on the sea. Take time to visit the Muelle Prat ? the market on the pier.

Travel to Chile

Just about all international airports in North America and Europe have flights to Santiago. You have to pay a departure tax of $12.50 US when you are leaving the country. There are very few border crossings between Chile and Peru if you wish to drive there, but there are trains that regularly travel between Chile and Bolivia as well as roads you can take to drive your own vehicle. However, every land method of travelling to Chile means crossing the Andes. You can also take a ferry to Chile from Argentina.

Travel Within Chile

It is easy to travel within Chile with fast and comfortable buses, but the train system has been neglected. There are also domestic flights to the various airports within the country.

Language

The official language is Spanish, but in the tourist areas there are many people who can speak English.

Visa

You need to have a travel visa as well as a valid passport to enter Chile. In addition, you will have to show proof of a return ticket or a ticket taking you to another destination outside the country.

Food and Drink

Lunch is the main meal of the day in Chile and is usually eaten about 1P.M. 0r 1:20 P.M. The food is well seasoned with the most common dishes being empanadas, corn pies, corn cakes, beans and curanto. There are different species of fish included in the food of Chile, such as abalones, razor clams, mussels, oysters and more because of the extensive fishery that takes place along the coastline.

The wines and fruit from Chile are very tasty, but the national drink is pisco, distilled from grapes and egg white, lemon juice and sugar can be added to make the ?pisco sour?.

Safety

You do have to be careful of your belongings when travelling through Chile. The highly frequented tourist areas are often the places where the most robberies take place and the object is often a passport. Keep your documents in the safe in the room of your hotel and try not to be alone on the city streets at night. This is basic common sense when travelling in a foreign country.

Shopping

The market is the main shopping center if you want to buy unique Chilean handicrafts. There are many supermarkets and malls, where you will find the staff very friendly and helpful. In Santiago, for example, shopping at the Parque Arauco is a true shopping experience. This mall has a car service that will bring you to the mall and back to your hotel afterwards. Tourists get a 10% discount at the stores on the three levels of this mall. This is just one of many shopping centers you can choose and the same variety exists in most of the larger towns and cities of the country.

Entertainment

Enjoy the quiet scene of a pub where you can sit and chat or take in a nightclub where you can dance to different forms of music. There are concerts and plays if you don?t like the pub scene. Chile has many different forms of nightly entertainment that will completely satisfy you while you are on holiday.