benoit

If anyone has any recommendations for Valparaiso or Vina del Mar in Chile, please post.

fallinasleep

Only suggestion I have is do not waste your time with Valpo unless you have business there. Even then, your best bet is to hire a driver for the 5-6 hour round trip from Santiago.

My favorite hotel in Santiago is the Hyatt. Then again, I've only stayed at the Carrera and Hyatt. Carrera is nicely situated in the downtown center.

LLZ

There is a neat hotel in Vina...Cap Ducal

http://www.capducal.cl/ingles.htm

It is shaped like a ship and sits out over the ocean....kinda cute. Lots of Chileans come to it just to eat. It's nice, with an excellent restaurant and the service is top-notch. The brochure I have left over from this past May says standard room double $80, Junior Suite $105, and Suite $150. I paid slightly less though with travel agent I use for Latin America or I can pass their number on to you.

Go to google and type in cap ducal chile you'll find all kinds of sites where you may be able to get a better rate.

benoit

thank you. Helped me a lot to find a good hotel. Sorry for off topic question.

LLZ

Glad to help. It really is a "niche" place especially if traveling with "special someone" or the wife (not to suggest that the wife is not the special someone....just covering the bases!).

All the rooms have ocean and hill views of Vina. Vina has some great museums and sites to see. The ride there from Santiago is also very pretty. I recall it was more like 4 hours rather than 5-6. You can take the bus which is clean and very cheap, or hire a private car...would be around $60.00 or so. I did both. Unfortunately, you can't fly anymore between the two cities.

The drive/area is identical to Northern California....which isn't surprising because San Fran and Santiago are equadistant from the equator....same landscape, terrain, etc.

You'll pass the wineries along the way. You can also arrange to stop at them if you like, just not on the bus.

Enjoy. The Chileans for the most part are wonderfully friendly...and a little Spanish on your part will endear them to you. Hardly any crime to worry about. Just use the same guidelines you'd use for a city here and you'll be fine if not safer.

Let us know how it goes with a trip report!

benoit

I will be travelling to Vina del mar from Valparaiso, not Santiago, because my 14 day cruise ends in Valparaiso. I wanted to see a little of the coast before heading to santiago. I read that there is a train that goes right from the port to vina del mar, so might do that. There is also supposed to be a ferry that does that route, but I can't find information about it. To go from Vina del mar to Santiago, there is supposed to be a train. Hopefully it will be acceptable to carry a suitcase on these trains.

Thanks again for the tips! I have one or two days in vina del mar, 3 or 4 in santiago, 5 in buenos aires, and a 14 day celebrity cruise going around the southern tip of south america. Stops include Montevideo (or punta del este instead), puerto madryn, punta arenas, ushuaia, puerto montt, valparaiso. Will see many penguins. I am travelling alone.

[This message has been edited by benoit (edited 11-08-2002).]

LLZ

What fun, but a long trip all by yourself.

Train between Valparaiso and Vina you can catch at Estacion Puerto. The address is Plaza Sotomayor 711.

I don't believe there is nor can I find any info on a train back into Santiago. I know there is no longer any air service so your only option is the bus. They are safe/clean and run hourly if not more up until about 9 or 10 p.m. Trip is about 2-3 hours.

Buenos Aires - Check out "Bar 6" It is a new/trendy restaurant...no tourists really, just a good mix of the hippest portenos. There are some regular tables/chairs and then some couches and armcharirs surrounding coffee tables on which you eat. Very good food, beef, seafood, pastas, salads. Address is Armenia 1676, tel 4833.6807. Reservations usually necessary but you can also eat at the bar...good place to observe locals during their thing.

Another neat place is El Palacio de las Papas Fritas. Yes, the French Fry palace....sounds cheesy but it's been open 50 years. Very popular with locals.. business people during the day and all kinds at night. Great food and huge portions. It is about two blocks west of the Obelisco on Avenida Corrientes. Sorry I don't know the exact address, but any taxista will know. Waiters all have black and white but casual attire is fine (I wouldn't wear shorts though) and the service is great but not stuffy.

Just a couple of places to get you away from the regular tourist places....

[This message has been edited by LLZ (edited 11-13-2002).]