Statistics
Days: 10. Arrived in Chile on January 3. Left Chile on January 13.
Cities: 3. Arica, La Serena, and Valparaiso.
Apartment Rentals: 0.
Hotels/Hostels: 3. We stayed at: Sunny Days in Arica, Cristobal Colon in La Serena, and Casa Ferrari 406 in Valparaiso.
Casa Ferrari hosted a party one evening while we were there to celebrate the completion of the new mural decorating the side of the building. We were lucky to have been invited for some wine and appetizers!
Modes of Transportation: 7. Bus, boat, walking, taxi, shuttle van, funicular, and trolley.
We used funiculars to get up and down the steep hills of Valparaiso.
Q&A
What was your favorite site or place that you visited?
J: The Route de Estrellas – we traveled along the Star Route to the observatory. I also liked visiting Valparaiso.
L: The beach in La Serena. It had been a while since we had been to the beach, so we spent one afternoon playing in the surf and relaxing on the sand. The beach was huge and beautiful, and there was plenty of people-watching as well!
The beach at La Serena was a favorite of ours during our time in Chile!
What was the biggest surprise you had during this time?
J: The cost of things in Chile compared to Peru. We wanted to go to San Pedro de Atacama, but we kept finding hostels, tours, and restaurants were a lot more expensive than what we had budgeted.
L: The price of things in Chile… but I need to clarify my answer since it differs from Jon’s answer. Everyone we had met along the way and all the information I read online commented on how expensive Chile is. Since we kept hearing this over and over, we only planned a little over a week in the country, thinking that we wouldn’t be able to spend much time due to the cost. While it was slightly more expensive than Peru, we were still able to find good deals in the places we went and we didn’t break the bank during our time there. In a way, it ended up being cheaper than we had expected, since our expectations of pricing were so high going into it.
Going out for a fancy cocktail overlooking the city in Valparaiso wasn’t as expensive as we had expected!
What was the lowest point for this part of the trip?
J: Crossing the border into Argentina. We took a bus over the Andes Mountains and when we got to the actual border, we had to wait for five hours just to make it through. Apparently this is common, but we didn’t know about it before we left.
L: This isn’t really much of a low point, but we bought two sets of bus tickets leaving Arica and couldn’t get refunded on one of them. Originally, we had planned to visit San Pedro de Atacama after Arica, so we purchased bus tickets. However, after doing some research, we decided to change our destination to La Serena instead. By the time we made that decision, it was past the cutoff time to get a refund on our tickets to San Pedro. This isn’t too much of a low point, but is all that I could come up with from our short time in Chile!
What was your favorite food or meal that you had?
J: Well, it’s not Chilean, but I enjoyed the German beerhouse we ate at on our first night in Valparaiso. I love German food and it was nice to have something different from what we had been eating, but yet familiar to me.
L: In La Serena, for dinner one evening, we walked around the main plaza and ate a variety of food from the different street stalls set up. It was a strolling dinner, where we would buy one item and share it before going on to the next. By having dinner this way, we got to try a lot of different Chilean foods, some of which we really liked! It was a fun evening and gave us the opportunity to try different things than what we would order for a full meal at a restaurant.
An authentic German meal in Chile? Jon was thrilled!
What would you change if you were to do it again?
J: I would have set aside some money to go to Easter Island. This was part of our original trip plan and somewhere we both really wanted to visit. However, as we got further into our travels and assessed our budget, we realized it was not the best option for us fiscally (at least at this point in time). I’d still like to travel there someday!
L: I would have planned a little further in advance for the trip to San Pedro/La Serena, so we could have gotten a refund on our tickets (or just purchase the correct tickets in the first place). I also would have added on a couple more days to our time in Chile, so that we could have added another city to our itinerary and been able to see more of the country.
What advice would you give someone doing a similar trip and route?
J: Do your research ahead of time so that you’ll be able to find the places that are more budget-friendly, rather than the places charging a ton of money. In doing so, be prepared to alter your route and be willing to skip the bigger, more expensive destinations.
L: Don’t just focus on the big cities or most popular places to visit. With a little research, you can find hidden gems like La Serena, which we had never heard of before our visit to Chile. And of course, it’s usually (although not always) better to plan and book a few days in advance rather than just a few hours ahead of time.
The coast of Chile was beautiful and looked like a postcard. We would have loved more time to explore the country!
What is the best memory that you’ll carry with you?
J: Playing in the waves in La Serena on the beach. It was fun!
L: The evening we spent at the observatory outside of La Serena. It was amazing to look through such powerful telescopes and see stars, constellations, nebulous, and other celestial beings that were so far away. It made us realize how small we are in the grand scheme of things. Plus, I know I’ve said this before, but I love being there with Jon when he gets to do something that he really loves.
Jon loved the tour of the observatory, especially getting to use the high-tech telescope to view star clusters and a nebula!
What to read more?
Read about our time in Chile…
You have such a gift for writing, Lana, which makes for very interesting reading. Not the usual dear diary stuff that bores one to tears after day one! Looking forward to the next installment:-)
Thank you Elze!! I try to keep it interesting and think of what other people might want to know about a place! My journal is where I write the boring stuff like what we had to eat for dinner and the names of the hotels we stay at. 🙂 I’m slowing getting back in the groove of writing after a little break so there will be more to come!
Keep at it. It’s always fun to read and see you guys! We think about you two often and are glad to see you having a great time.
Thanks Ian!! 🙂 I’m glad you like reading about our trip – we’re having a wonderful time!! It’s good to hear from you and we hope you’re all doing well!!