Chile travel guide : explore Atacama, Patagonia and Easter Island

What you need to know before visiting Chile

• Official name: Republic of Chile (República de Chile)
• Capital: Santiago
• Population: About 19 million people
• Official language: Spanish
• Currency: Chilean Peso (CLP/$)
• Area: 756,102 square kilometres (including Easter Island)

How Chilean history shaped its national identity

Chile's historical journey reveals remarkable adaptations to varied environments and the forging of a distinctive national character:

Indigenous peoples: chile's original cultures

Human habitation in Chile dates back at least 18,500 years, with the Monte Verde archaeological site offering some of the earliest evidence of human presence in the Americas. Diverse indigenous groups developed sophisticated cultures adapted to Chile's varied environments: the Atacameños created irrigation systems in the north's desert reaching up to 100 kilometres in length; the Mapuche successfully resisted Inca and initially Spanish conquest in the fertile central region covering 260,000 square kilometres; while the nomadic Yaghan and Kawésqar people of the far south developed unique adaptations to survive in some of Earth's harshest conditions, where temperatures can drop to -20°C.

Colonial chile: spanish settlement and mapuche resistance

Spanish colonization began with Pedro de Valdivia's founding of Santiago in 1541. Chile remained a relatively poor outpost of the Spanish Empire, with the Mapuche resistance limiting effective Spanish control to the area north of the Bío Bío River, a 380-kilometre waterway that served as a de facto border. The colonial economy developed around large haciendas (estates), some exceeding 5,000 hectares, creating a landed aristocracy whose influence would shape Chilean society for centuries.

Chilean independence: formation of the republic

Chile declared independence from Spain in 1818, following a campaign led by Bernardo O'Higgins. The 19th century saw territorial expansion through the War of the Pacific (1879-1884), which added 120,000 square kilometres to Chilean territory, including rich nitrate deposits that fueled economic growth. Unlike many Latin American nations, Chile established relatively stable democratic institutions early, though political participation remained limited to the wealthy elite. The 1891 Civil War resulted in approximately 10,000 casualties and established a parliamentary republic that lasted until 1925.

Modern chile: from dictatorship to democracy

The 20th century brought political polarization, culminating in the 1973 military coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende and established General Augusto Pinochet's 17-year dictatorship. While implementing free-market economic reforms, the regime committed severe human rights abuses against at least 28,000 victims. Since returning to democracy in 1990, Chile has achieved significant economic development and maintained democratic institutions, though addressing inequality remains a challenge. In 2019-2020, major protests involving up to 1.2 million demonstrators in Santiago alone led to the development of a constitutional reform process, reflecting Chile's ongoing evolution as it addresses both its past and future.

Chilean culture: language, food and traditions

The Chilean Voice

Chilean Spanish has distinctive characteristics that set it apart, with approximately 19 million speakers. The rapid speech (up to 7.8 syllables per second, among the fastest Spanish variants globally), frequent dropping of 's' sounds, and unique vocabulary create challenges even for other Spanish speakers. Chilean slang (chilenismos) includes thousands of unique terms, while the diminutive suffix "-ito" appears frequently, reflecting cultural emphasis on warmth and understatement. Indigenous languages have contributed numerous words, especially from Mapudungun (Mapuche language), which has provided approximately 2,400 place names across the country.

Chilean arts: literature, music and cinema

Chile has produced two Nobel Prize-winning poets: Gabriela Mistral in 1945 and Pablo Neruda in 1971, whose former home overlooking the Pacific in Isla Negra contains his collection of 9,000 seashells. Chilean literature often addresses themes of isolation and identity, reflecting the country's geographic reality. The nation's musical traditions range from folk styles like cueca (the national dance) to Nueva Canción, a movement led by artists like Víctor Jara and Violeta Parra, whose "Gracias a la Vida" has been recorded in over 300 versions. Modern Chilean cinema has gained international recognition, with films like "A Fantastic Woman" winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2018.

Chilean cuisine: what to eat and drink during your visit

Chilean cuisine combines indigenous traditions with European influences, creating distinctive regional variations:

• Empanadas de pino (meat-filled pastries, with Chileans consuming an estimated 180 million annually, averaging 9 per person)
• Curanto (seafood and meat dish from Chiloé Island, traditionally cooked in a 1-metre-deep earth oven for 3 hours)
• Pastel de choclo (corn and meat casserole, typically baked in a 20-centimetre earthenware bowl)
• Completo (Chilean hot dog topped with a minimum of 150 grams of avocado, sauerkraut, mayonnaise, and tomato)
• Asado (barbecue featuring at least 3 different cuts of meat, with annual beef consumption of 21.7 kilograms per capita)

Chile's 16 wine-producing valleys span 800 kilometres from north to south, creating diverse microclimates for viticulture. With over 137,000 hectares of vineyards, Chile ranks as the world's seventh-largest wine producer, generating 12.9 million hectolitres annually. The industry has particularly excelled with Carmenère, a grape variety once thought extinct in Europe until rediscovered in Chile in 1994, where it had been growing for 150 years, misidentified as Merlot.

Chilean lifestyle: social customs and celebrations

Chilean daily life follows distinctive patterns reflecting cultural values. The once (afternoon snack) between 17:00 and 19:00 offers a chance for conversation over tea or coffee, sweet pastries, and bread with avocado, creating a social bridge between work and evening. Families typically gather for late dinners around 21:00, with weekend asados (barbecues) often lasting 5-6 hours. Fiestas Patrias (Independence Day) celebrations on September 18-19 involve over 75,000 fondas (temporary restaurants) nationwide, serving approximately 20 million empanadas and 360,000 litres of chicha (fermented fruit drink). Chileans' love for football manifests in passionate support for clubs like Colo-Colo and Universidad de Chile, whose rivalry draws 45,000 spectators to the Estadio Monumental, while the national team has increasingly achieved success on the global stage.

Where to go in Chile: top cities and attractions

Santiago: exploring chile's capital city

Chile's capital city blends modernity with tradition against a spectacular mountain backdrop:

• Sky Costanera: At 300 metres, the tallest building in Latin America offers panoramic views of the city and surrounding mountains.
• La Moneda Palace: The 24,000-square-metre neoclassical presidential palace dates to 1805 and features a cultural center in its 3,500-square-metre underground space.
• Mercado Central: A historic market covering 16,000 square metres, selling 500+ varieties of seafood daily.
• Plaza de Armas: The 1.5-hectare historic main square, surrounded by significant buildings including the Metropolitan Cathedral with its 70-metre towers.
• Cerro San Cristóbal: A 722-hectare urban park rising 300 metres above the city, topped by a 14-metre statue of the Virgin Mary.

Valparaíso: colorful port city and cultural center

This UNESCO World Heritage port city cascades down 45 hills to the Pacific in a riot of color and creativity. The city's 16 funiculars, some dating to the 1880s, carry approximately 1.5 million passengers annually up inclines as steep as 30 degrees. The historic quarter features over 1,400 buildings of heritage value, while the city's 40+ hills are connected by 42 kilometres of staircases and labyrinthine alleys adorned with street art covering more than 20,000 square metres of walls.

Atacama desert: how to visit the driest place on earth

This 5,600-person oasis town sits at an elevation of 2,408 metres in the world's driest non-polar desert, where some weather stations have never recorded rainfall. Surrounding attractions include the Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley), featuring salt formations rising 40 metres from the valley floor; the El Tatio geyser field with 80+ active geysers erupting to heights of 6 metres; and the intensely colored Laguna Colorada, a 60-square-kilometre red-hued lake at 4,278 metres elevation housing three species of flamingos.

Torres del paine: hiking patagonia's iconic national park

Chile's most famous national park encompasses 227,298 hectares of Patagonian wilderness. The iconic granite towers that give the park its name rise 2,500 metres above sea level, with vertical faces of approximately 900 metres. The park's dramatic landscapes include 250 lakes, 4 major river systems, and the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the world's third-largest freshwater reserve, covering 12,363 square kilometres.

Easter island: discovering the mysterious moai statues

Located 3,700 kilometres west of mainland Chile, this 163-square-kilometre volcanic island remains one of Earth's most isolated inhabited places. The island's 887 iconic moai statues average 4 metres in height and 12.5 tonnes in weight, though the largest unfinished moai would have stood 21 metres tall and weighed an estimated 270 tonnes. Today, approximately 7,750 people live on Rapa Nui, a UNESCO World Heritage site that receives about 100,000 visitors annually.

Best natural destinations in Chile: deserts to glaciers

• Atacama Desert: The world's driest non-polar desert, covering 105,000 square kilometres with areas that haven't received measurable rainfall in over 400 years.
• Chilean Fjords: A labyrinthine network of 3,000+ islands and peninsulas spanning 1,600 kilometres along the Pacific coast.
• Marble Caves: A 6,000-year-old geological formation of swirling marble patterns sculpted by water on General Carrera Lake, accessible by boat through 300-metre-long tunnels.
• Volcán Villarrica: One of Chile's most active volcanoes at 2,860 metres high, featuring a 200-metre-wide crater with a permanent lava lake.
• Chiloé Archipelago: A 9,181-square-kilometre island group featuring unique wooden churches built entirely without nails, 16 of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Interesting facts about Chile you might not know

Chile has 4,270 kilometres of coastline, yet its average width is just 177 kilometres—if it were placed on a map of Europe, it would stretch from London to Baghdad.

The country experiences approximately 4,000 earthquakes annually, with an average of one earthquake above magnitude 8.0 every decade.

Chile's Atacama Desert hosts the largest ground-based astronomy project in existence, ALMA, with 66 radio telescopes at 5,000 metres elevation.

The country produces 55% of South America's copper, with reserves estimated at 200 million tonnes—approximately 29% of global reserves.

Chile has 4,270 glaciers covering 20,000 square kilometres, yet only 375 have been studied in detail, making them largely uncharted scientific territory.

Chilean innovations and global influences

• The first South American country to implement universal suffrage (1970) and establish diplomatic relations with China (1970)
• Pioneering work in earthquake-resistant construction, with building codes that mandate structures to withstand accelerations of at least 0.3g
• Development of the first synthetic skin for burn victims by Dr. Claudio Hering in the 1990s
• Innovation in salmon farming techniques, becoming the world's second-largest producer with 955,000 tonnes annually
• Astrotourism development, creating special protected dark sky reserves covering 1,000+ square kilometres to prevent light pollution