Life in Chile: Update 5

It's been over a month since I wrote my last update, so now feels like a good time to write a little bit about the things Claudio and I have been up to lately!

It's now the middle of winter here in Santiago, and the mountains surrounding the city are completely covered in snow, which looks incredible. Of course, everyone here wants to spend a day or weekend in the snow, and there have been big traffic jams up the mountain roads in recent weeks, so we haven't been yet. But we're hoping to go within the next couple of weeks to enjoy some time in the snowy scenery, and perhaps even try a bit of snowboarding!

In the meantime, we've been exploring some other places in and around the city. Here are a few highlights!

Cerro Calán

This park up in the hills of the Las Condes comuna is free to enter, and is our new favourite place for going running, though it's also good for dog walking and walking in general. It has a 2 kilometre circuit with amazing views of the mountains and the city, which make the workout much more entertaining!

Plaza Tailandia

We recently visited Plaza Tailandia for the first time. It's a little garden located in Parque Araucano and designed in a Thai style, with a pagoda and statues of elephants. Although it was a lot smaller than we were expecting, it was still a pretty place to look around.

Los Trapenses

One rainy weekend, we went for a coffee in the Los Trapenses neighbourhood of Lo Barnechea comuna. Its's a really attractive place with great views of the mountains.

Chicureo

We recently came back to Laguna Piedra Roja in the town of Chicureo, a short distance away from Santiago, over two years since our last visit in March 2020. It was nice to have a coffee and a walk around the lagoon, and also interesting to see how different it looks in winter compared to in summer.

A Little Bit of Snow!

On Saturday we went looking for some snow on the road that goes between Santiago and Chicureo, because Claudio had seen some videos on Instagram of that particular area covered in snow. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, there was more mud than snow! But at least we had some great views from up there.

El Mundo de Dalí

Yesterday we were back at our favourite cat café, El Mundo de Dalí. As always, the food was delicious and the cats were adorable! One cute little kitty sat on my lap for a little bit, and then on Claudio's lap for the rest of our visit!

Parque Bicentenario

After our trip to the cat café, we went to a place neither of us had been before: Bosque Santiago. This was a place that really surprised both of us, and I'll actually be writing an entire post about it, because we were so impressed by it.

Then we finished off our weekend with a little walk through Parque Bicentenario, which is one of our favourite parks in the city. It's always nice to see the flamingos and swans there, as well as some amazing views of the city and the mountains.

In other news, I'm happy to say that I've booked tickets to go back to the UK next month! Unfortunately, Claudio can't come with me because of his work, but it will still be great to spend a few weeks seeing family and friends. And hopefully I'll also do a bit of travelling while I'm there!

Travel Tips: The Best Day Trips From Santiago

I felt inspired to write this particular post today, as it won't be long until I'll be moving back to Santiago again! I'm just waiting for one more document to arrive within the next couple of days, and then I'll be able to complete the visa application. After that it will just be a matter of days or weeks before I can collect my visa and finally go!

Of course, I'm still nervous that something will go wrong, and I'm not going to lie, the recent news about the new Covid variant has been stressing me out a bit. But after so many months of waiting, I want to remain positive that things are actually going to work out at last, and that I'll be back in Santiago with Claudio within weeks. (Fingers crossed!)

Santiago is a great place to visit and live in, and I've already written about some of the best attractions in the city itself. But another thing that makes it great is its location and its transport links to other fantastic destinations. It's located pretty much right in the centre of the country, and it's easy to take a coach from there to cities across the north and south of Chile. It also has a big international airport, which offers flights to many places in South America and beyond.

But today I'm going to focus on the places that are within a couple of hours' driving distance, and which are ideal for a day trip or weekend away. My list includes beaches, areas of natural beauty, and cities, so there's plenty of variety!

Cajón del Maipo

It doesn't take much longer than an hour to get to this canyon in the Andes (but beware that the journey there is slightly terrifying, due to the narrow mountain roads!). What I like about this place is that it's an area of completely unspoilt nature, featuring mountains, rivers, and the huge reservoir Embalse el Yeso (pictured above). It's also an ideal destination for outdoor sports like hiking, skiing and rafting.

Read more here!

Pomaire

If you want to experience an authentic, traditional Chilean town, Pomaire is the perfect place to visit. This little town is famous for its pottery, in particular its little clay piggy banks, which are sold on practically every corner. You can even find the world's largest piggy bank there!

Read more here!

Chicureo

Chicureo is a small town to the north of Santiago, best known for its artificial lagoon, Laguna Piedra Roja. The lagoon is very picturesque, and is located right next to a nice shopping mall, making it a great place for a day out. Similarly to other affluent areas in and around Santiago, it has a bit of a vibe of the United States about it.

Read more here!

Vineyards of Central Chile

Chile is famous for its wine, and most of it is produced in the centre of the country, meaning that there are plenty of vineyards within driving distance of Santiago. In fact, when I was living in Santiago, my first ever trip outside of the city was to Viña Undurraga (pictured above), a vineyard in the town of Talagante. It was a really beautiful place to visit, thanks to its trees and flowers from the south of Chile, and the wine was also very tasty! Another vineyard which looks worth a visit is Viña Indómita. I've never been there but I've been past it in the car on trips to the beach. I think it intrigues me because it's a big white house located in a town called Casablanca (white house)!

Read more here!

Viña del Mar & Nearby Towns

Known as Chile's garden city, Viña del Mar is one of the most popular beach destinations in the country, and is also the location of Festival de Viña (basically the Latin American equivalent of Eurovision!). It has various sandy beaches and interesting architecture, including a French-style castle and a German-style castle. I would also recommend checking out two nearby towns as well: Reñaca (which has a really nice beach) and Concón (which has amazing sand dunes).

Read more here and here!

Algarrobo & Nearby Towns

Algarrobo has some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever visited, and what makes it even better is that it's home to lots of interesting wildlife, such as pelicans. And if you take a boat trip around Isla Pájaros Niños, you can even see penguins! Other nearby places that are interesting to see are Isla Negra (one of Pablo Neruda's houses) and Santo Domingo, which has a beach with black volcanic sand.

Read more here and here!

Valparaíso

Valparaíso has to be the ultimate day trip from Santiago, and I'd say it's a must visit destination for anyone visiting Chile. This city has been designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it's easy to see why; it's full of colourful architecture in a variety of styles, its streets and staircases are decorated with creative street art, and the whole place has a very vibrant and Bohemian atmosphere.

Read more here!

I hope this article can provide some inspiration for anyone planning on spending some time in and around Santiago! It has been really fun to compile this list and to remember the great times I had in these different places. I can't wait to be back in Chile again, revisiting some of my favourite destinations, and discovering new ones!

Check out the rest of my Travel Tips here!

A Few Highlights From Chile

So I found out that trying to start a new job abroad is quite complicated! The process of getting a visa for my job in Chile has turned out to be much longer and more complex than I imagined it would be. When I booked my flight to Santiago, my plan was to stay out there long-term, but unfortunately it was necessary for me to fly back to the UK to sort out the visa. Obviously that wasn't great for either my bank balance or the environment. Now I'm hoping I can get things sorted so I can go back and start my job as soon as possible, but it's a little unclear what's going to happen over the coming weeks and months, due to the coronavirus situation causing lots of flights to be cancelled.

Although I only had a very short amount of time in Chile, it was so nice to be there with my boyfriend again. We visited lots of places around Región Metropolitana and also managed to fit in a trip to a few places along the coast (I'll be writing about that next). I was lucky to find a great value place to stay with amazing views over the city and a really nice swimming pool.

One day, we took a trip to Chicureo, a town to the north of Santiago. Here you can find Laguna Piedra Roja, an artificial lagoon next to a shopping mall. It's a very upmarket area and looks more like the United States than Latin America. Unfortunately, swimming isn't allowed in the lagoon, but it's a really scenic place.

We stayed in the Ñuñoa commune of Santiago, a part of the city I'd never been to before, but which I liked a lot. One of the most interesting things to see there is Santiago Central Mosque. It really stands out from the other buildings in the area.

Another place I'd never visited before was Centro Cultural La Moneda, a museum inside La Moneda palace. It has many art exhibitions and shops selling interesting books and food. When we were there, an event was taking place to celebrate relations between Chile and Guatemala. There were these colourful carpets on the floor that were actually made out of sand!

On our way back to the car after visiting La Moneda, we passed through Barrio Concha y Toro, a very pretty and photogenic part of the city.

On my last day, we went to El Mundo de Dalí, Santiago's cat café! It's located in Barrio Italia, which is a great area for shops and restaurants. This was definitely one of my favourite parts of my time in Chile. The café has great vegan food and drinks, and the cats were so lovely!

Overall, I had a fantastic six days spending time with my boyfriend and his family and friends. Next I'll be blogging about our trip to Viña del Mar, Reñaca and Concón!