i would like to travel from santiago to valparaiso and vina del mar, but am not interested in driving. anybody know about train and/or bus travel between the two places (price, etc.)?

also any hotel recommendations would be welcom in either locale? this is a pleasure trip only.

Visited Santiago all too briefly in November, but not enough time to get out to the coast. My Footprint handbook indicates a variety of buses leaving from the main terminal on O'Higgins by the Central Station, which is on the main metro line. There are frequent services to the coast, at very cheap fares ($5 to $10), but price varies based on quality of buses. There is also supposed to be a train -- from the same station -- but I wasn't able to track down any details.

As for hotels in Santiago, I can recommend the Crowne Plaza as an excellent centrally-located hotel. I had an upgrade coupon for the club level and was treated very well by the helpful staff. When I mentioned to the check-in clerk that I wanted to visit Paulo Neruda's home -- it is a short walk from the hotel across the river as I was to find out -- two staff members called my room within minutes proferring directions and tips. (His other home and grave are on the coast.) The room was on the top floor and had a grand view of the mountain across the river. It is near the artisan's market and a short walk to lots of little eating spots.

For a different district, Los Condas, with lots of mid and up scale outdoor cafes and a short walk to both the metro or river (and the US Embassy), try the InterContinental. Again, friendly and helpful staff, and the usual high standard of accommodations one expects from InterConti.

Both are in the $180 a night range, which if you are on vacation may be a bit more than you want to pay. In that case, try l'Espanoles, a small property across the river but a short walk to another club and restaurant district and the metro. It is affiliated with Best Western, and runs about $80 a night for a spacious, well appointed room. That includes a typical breakfast of cold cuts, cheeses, rolls, cerial and exquisite cafe au lait.

Arrival tips: Be sure to have $50 in US cash to pay for the entry visa. Few guide books mention this factoid, and it can prove stressful trying to find enough cash to pay it. There are no ATMs accessible on this side of immigration, and they take neither Chilean money nor credit cards. I managed to scrape together just enough British, Canadian and Australian cash (left over from previous trips and kept for just such emergencies abroad) to be escorted by a guard to the Currency Exchange booth where it was all converted into American money. (Canadians and Australians must pay $60!) Avoid the choas of the arrivals terminal and go directly to the pre-paid taxi booth at the extreme left when you leave the secure area. Then take a taxi into to the city from the airport, to any of these destinations for about $20. Once you're settled into your hotel, get yourself oriented and use the metro and bus system to get almost anywhere you want to visit, in addition to plain old walking. There are very pleasant tree-lined walks between the major places you'd want to visit.

I do want to get back soon -- my visa is good for the life of my passport, which is just another year -- but I covered a lot of ground over 4 days (with a side trip to Buenos Aires splitting this up). I'll be interested in how you do get to the coast, since I will venture that same way on my next visit.

I was in Chile in 1974, at that time rail service was available between Santiago and Valpariso, but I imagine that things have changed a lot since then! At that time Chile was in a terrible economic state, I can remember seeing people walking along the railroad tracks picking up grain that had fallen from passing railroad cars that had been loaded in the port. At that time a RR ticket between Santiago and Puerto Montt (over 1000km) cost about $2 US. Prices of commodities were written on blackboards, never printed, subject to frequent changes.

My wife and I are thinking about taking a Continental reward trip to Chile in the fall, let us know how your trip goes.

There is no train service between Santiago and Vi�a. The way to get there is by bus, which is easy, cheap and safe. Buses leave from the bus terminal, adjacent to the Universidad de Santiago metro station, every 10 minutes. One way fare is about $4. The trip takes a little less than 2 hours.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with.

PS: When will you be in Chile? Maybe a mini-FT reunion is in order...

[This message has been edited by Jim_B (edited 02-02-2000).]

Didn't Rudi work in Chile for a while when he was a handsome young rover? Maybe it was Agentina.

I know he was in Columbia when I was in Chile.

Brigitte and I were in Santiago last August and enjoyed our trip very much. We did take the bus from Valparaiso to Santiago and it was very nice, comfortable and inexpensive (as Jim_B mentioned).
While in Santiago we stayed at a very nice efficiency apartment hotel in Las Condes called Vecinal Park Apartments. The apartment we were given was a 1 bedroom unit with dining room, living room and full kitchen, nicely furnished on a high floor with a great view from 2 corner balconies...all for the princely sum of $70 USD per night. If you hold a non-Chilean passport, you won't have to pay any VAT (sales tax).
Las Condes is a trendy and upscale area close to a lot of shiny new office highrise towers (Jim_B's office is just around the corner) and also features a number of bars and restaurants.
I would certainly recommend this property and area. The Metro (subway) and shopping is close-by yet the building is on a quiet residential street. We booked our stay using http://www.chile-hotels.com . They were very efficient and friendly. Our contact was Rosario Bravo.
Have fun, and don't forget to indulge in a bottle of wine or two.

Cheers,

Rick

Old Gold is correct: Medellin, Columbia it was (1977).

thanks for the info. i have been there before(july 98), but i also did not have the time to go to the coast, and i wanted to add that to the trip this time. i'm glad to hear the bus is about $4. continental vactaions wanted about $85 each way, and i knew if things were that expensive in chile, there wouldn't be a resort community.

as for accomodations, i couldn't remember the name of my hotel, but i do believe it was near one of those upscale communities. i do remember that i was one block behind one of the main drage with a big shopiing mall. also there were a couple of fast food places, and then a gleaming hotel with a couple of restaurants nearby. it was right on the red subway line about six stops from downtown. is this area providencia or las condes? in any case, i booked the hotel at the airport so i could try that again, but i figured it might be a little tougher in summer than in winter.

and as for the $45 entry fee, that threw me for a loop. i was the last person off the plan from buenos aires and clearly the only american. i was so perturbed about being shuffled off to the other line, and then being charged $45US for something that wasn't a visa...just a fee you had to pay to enter the country!!! (if it costs as much as a visa, and acts like a visa...) but obviouslly, i'm not upset enough to not ever go back again.

at this point, i think my travel dates will be the 16-21 of february. i'll definitely be interested in getting some local perspective. last time i met a guy from montreal who was born in santiago, and his family left when he was eight, and returned when he was 32. who knew there was such an extensive chilean community in montreal? god, that's why i love travel.

[This message has been edited by lonman (edited 02-03-2000).]

Just got back from a wonderful couple of weeks in Chile. If you have the points, the Hyatt (also in Las Condes) is the nicest Hyatt property of the 25 or so that I've visited. It also counts as one of their "standard" properties (cheapo points).

Have a great time, and throw down the pisco!

good tips, flyme2. I'll make a note of that property.

[This message has been edited by lonman (edited 02-03-2000).]

Several years ago, my wife met me in Santiago for a long weekend while I was working in Sao Paulo.

I must recommend the revolving restaurant downtown. Fabulous veiw, great food at the time. Sorry I can't recall the name.

I visited Vina del Mar with a business associate for lunch and had a lovely time. During this drive we sidetracked to a couple of wineries for some sampling and inexpensive prices on fine wine.

The best adventure was hiring a jeep for +-$75 to venture up to the mineral baths in the andeas. This was arranged through a local tour agency. Ours was a private drive, but there are many tour buses that cover this route. Along the way, we had lunch at a fantastice Swiss chalet with a view that was spectacular.

Sadly, I've not been back. Maybe now that CO is serving the route I'll do it all over again.

I also recommend the Hyatt in Santiago. And the revolving restaurant. I don't recall the name of the hotel I stayed at in Vina but I was unimpressed with the town. Chileans think it's wonderful but by international standards, I'd say it's nothing special. Chile on the whole though I liked very much.

When I visited in December '98 we were told it was a retaliatory charge, as the American Gov't charged Chilean citizens the same amount to visit the US. At the time I believe the charge was $40.

The situation with US citizens visiting Chile is this: when a Chilean wants to go to the US, he must apply for a US visa. There is no charge for the visa itself, but the processing of the application costs $45. Hence, Chile "retaliates", by charging US visitors the same 45 bucks. This is a one-time charge, good for the life of the passport. BTW, there are similar "reciprocity" charges for Canadian and Australian passport holders. Who says countries can't behave like children?