Chile is South America’s sleeper hit—a 2,670-mile strip the place the world’s driest desert, tidewater glaciers, and distant Rapa Nui (Easter Island) all match inside a ribbon by no means wider than 110 miles. That inconceivable silhouette breeds inconceivable selection: ski Andean peaks earlier than lunch, eat Pacific seafood by sundown. Practicalities for American vacationers are mercifully easy, as you get 90 days within the nation visa-free. You’ll full an entry card on arrival, so maintain it helpful. Nonstops from New York, Miami, Dallas, Houston and Atlanta attain Santiago in eight to 11 hours with solely a one- to two-hour time shift, which means no jet-lag hangover.
With the peso hovering round 950 to the greenback, budgets stretch on hot-spring resorts, non-public astronomy guides, and tables at a few of Latin America’s finest eating places—typically at costs about 40 p.c beneath comparable European or premium U.S. experiences. Infrastructure helps the trigger. Santiago’s expanded airport effectively strikes tens of thousands and thousands of passengers a yr. The Ruta de los Parques hyperlinks 17 nationwide parks over 1,700 miles, changing once-epic expeditions into street journeys. Roughly a 3rd of the nation is protected parkland, with roads, customer facilities and lodges that don’t require a tent. Even the wine valleys that after demanded 4WD now join by way of paved routes. Internet consequence: this vacation spot is lengthy on latitude, low on friction. What follows are eight Chilean areas with singular payoffs. Simply decide your latitude, and the nation’s wonders will meet you there.
