Chile

Party_Animal

I was talking to a guy last night who travels regularly to South America, somewhere I've wanted to go since reading a book in my teens ( eons ago). he books Lufthansa flights through a company in Manchester, forgotten the name and books accomodation on the net. I'm seriously considering Chile now for November. Can anyone advise on essential places to see as well as checking out where some of my favourite wines originate. We're hoiping to have 3 weeks but might end up with about 18 days. I'll do my own research on net and Rough Guide but welcome any advice.
Many thanks

mystic_trev

Party Animal - You're talking about a very big Country - 4,500KM from top to bottom and with so much to see! Your best idea is to read through your guide books and decide on the places you'd like to go to. When I was there (last year) I went to Valparaiso (by the sea) a couple of hours from Santiago by bus. I aso took the bus (from Santiago) across the Andes to Mendoza in Argentina which I really recommend! If you want further ideas why not log on and join (it's free) https://www.virtualtourist.com and ask about travel Itineraries on the "Chile forum"

Regarding flights - I'd avoid flying via the US and people I've spoken to don't recomed Iberia via Madrid either. I booked my flight with lastminute flying with VARIG (good legroom) who were the cheapest at the time but this may have changed.

Enjoy your trip there - It's a great place!

Party_Animal

Many thanks Trev. I am consulting guide books, but you can't beat the kind of advice that you've just given me. I'd love to do the Argentina bit as well and I'll check it out.

Party_Animal

Regarding flights - I'd avoid flying via the US and people I've spoken to don't recomed Iberia via Madrid either. I booked my flight with lastminute flying with VARIG (good legroom) who were the cheapest at the time but this may have changed.

Enjoy your trip there - It's a great place![/QUOTE]
Trev, the guy I spoke to goes to South America every year and he flies Lufthansa. I'll get more details off him next week.

Party_Animal

Varig flights £700 and then I've got to get to Heathrow. Has anyone done it the other way and flown to Agentina and crossed into Chile? Is it feasable to fly into Buenos Aires, see some of Agentina, then fly/ bus into Chile and out of Santiago?
I might never get this way again so I'd love to cross 2 countries off my list.
thanks again.

pedro3gb

We did Chile, Argentina and Brazil for silver wedding last year. Planned it all ourselves but Journey Latin America in Manchester did all the booking - internal flights, taxi pick up, cross Andes trip etc. Phillipa Gough was our contact.
Route was Manchester-Paris-Santiago-Puerto Varas-Bariloche-Buenos Aires-Iguasu-Rio-Paris-Manchester. Stayed in really good hotels eg. Ritz Carlton in Santiago - best hotel I have ever stayed in and the total came to about £2100 each. That included 4 internal flights. Chile is the most fantastic country - great tour to Concha y Tora vinyard just an hour outside Santiago and incredably low cost. Meals are so good and so cheap. Argentina gets even better and would also recommend you consider the Mendoza - Santiago crossing. Our crossing was coach-boat-coach-boat-coachboat-coach - a full day through the snow covered Andes with beautiful greeny blue lakes - the cost of this (included in £2100) was around £100 - brilliant. Air France is not my favourite airline though and Charles de Gaulle is pretty ropey.
If you want more info email me on ph.lord@tesco.net

mystic_trev

It's possible to do Madrid - Buenos Aires for £420 But you'd have to get a return flight with easyjet from Liverpool to Madrid and overnight there on the way out - so not sure that's much help! LAN have flights from Heathrow to Santiago in November for £595 and they are the quickest to Chile (via Madrid) at just under 19 hours out 14 hours back.LAN have some great online offers for internal flights and flights to Argentina - but from memory you can only get them from the website two or three weeks beforehand.

It's a pity you can't get more time off work to visit South America, as once you're there it's really cheap - Your friends must have told you what a great place it is. I've travelled extensively in over 70 countries and Chile, Argentina, or really most of South America, has to be one of the best destinations.

Party_Animal

Many thanks to both of you for some sound advice. We weren't planning a long holiday this year as we're off to Aus for 4 weeks in Dec 2006, and apart from the cost factor, Mrs PA needs to carry forward as many days as poss. We were looking at Cuba. It's only cos I got talking to a guy at College who'd just come back from Argentina and he said the flights were less than £500, that I started to consider it. I've travelled a lot too, though not 70 countries and South America is high on my list of places to see. I'm fairly sure that Journey Latin America was the company he used. I'll check this out and see whether its feasable or whether we revert to the original plan.
Thanks again.