So I know that there are a few chileanons here so I was wondering if any of you guys have some tips for me regarding the planning of hiking trip to Chile. I've found some very decently priced tickets for October 2025.Obviously I will most likely have to rent a car though is there a possibility of using public transport? I'm planning on visiting everything south of Zona Metropolitana de Santiago, though is there any point in visiting the northernmore regions?Anyhow do you have any secret tips for me? From what I understand wild camping is allowed as long as you aren't on private property so that shouldn't be an issue with that . Are the locals dangerous if they catch you camping out in their ranching property?I speak German fluently, but my Spanish is a little rough. Hopefully that'll be enough since I've heard that everyone there speaks English as a second language. I am hoping that the old timers will speak some German if I can't communicate with them in English.I am also looking for hikes that are off the beaten path, something that isn't as touristic as Torres del Paine. So if you could help me that'd be great.
you should go to lake tittycacalul
>>2792936Ha ha ha. You are so funny anon, sadly I am not interested in hilariously named geographical features.
>>2792923Me and some friends are planning on driving the full length north to south in the next few years so I'd also love some advice
>>2792923>TransportationRenting a car is more flexible, but public transport should serve you in every city. If you're gonna spend time in the capital, get a BIP Card, which you need for public transportation (you can get it at any subway or train station and you can add cash to it in person or by app. A subway/bus trip will be about 80 cents, and one trip covers every other trip you take in the system for the next 2 hours). Inter-city buses are pretty good for getting around, especially the ones with beds if you need to catch sleep on the road; unless you're actively looking for sketchy ones, most will be very high quality and safe. There aren't many trains due to the geography, but the south-central line is available for the area you're visiting. If you're going far to the south, though, you'll either need to use ferries or take the road via Argentina, since it's all islands and fjords after Puerto Montt. For Antartica you need plane tickets and to prepare in advance, or going on one of the Antarctic cruises, but it's expensive. I'd stick to the mainland, since you can get endless expanses of ice by just going to the Northern or Southern Ice Fields in continental Chile, and penguins are easy to find along most of the country anyway.>CampingNo one will shoot you if you accidentally camp in somebody's land; worst thing that could happen is someone calling the cops on you who'll just inform you to be more careful next time, but most likely they'll just tell you it's private property if they see you.What will get you in real trouble is doing stuff like starting a fire in a national park or natural reserve outside of designated zones, or throwing trash. Tourists routinely get sent out of the country for stuff like that, and in some cases banned for life; I think some French guy got kicked out last week for precisely that. But designated zones are plenty and well-marked, so just checking beforehand should avoid you any trouble, and park guides are very helpful.
>>2793510cont>Visiting the NorthSome people love how alien it feels, hundreds of miles of nothingness between cities. Places like the Valley of the Moon and the abandoned saltpeter mines at places like Humberstone are great, but 90% of the time it's just open, monotonous desert. Skip San Pedro de Atacama, I've no idea why tourists like that crappy place at all. If you're into astronomy, though, there's some great tours, as the biggest observatories in the world are all there. Honestly, however, the south is far nicer. I'd skip the north if you don't have unlimited time. Visiting the north requires bus rides or cars, however, since hoofing it across hundreds of miles of empty highways will drive you insane.>LanguageYou should be able to find English-speakers in most places, and German speakers in some locations in the south-central region, such as Valdivia, Frutillar, and Puerto Octay. Best places to find about German-Chileans are the various German tea/cake shops that are relatively common in those areas (plus those are the best places to load up on tons of calories for long hikes. Ask for the peach kuchens and fried manjar berlins).>Less Known HikesA huge chunk of southern Chile has been turned into natural reserves; something like 30% of the country is now protected, and the south-central regions in particular are crawling with fantastic hiking trails, many of them connected and with pretty good infrastructure. This site has good guides for many of them, known as the Park Route: www.rutadelosparques.org/ The pic on the previous post has the list of all the parks along that route.I'd stick with the parks between Reloncavi Sound and Port Aysen, such as Hornopiren, Queulat, and Pumalin. These are all drop-dead gorgeous, enormous, and with good infrastructure for hikers, plus they aren't too far off. There's several routes you can take for each and, if you're feeling industrious, you can take the longer ones that go from one park to the other.
>>2793511contParks get increasingly less travelled the further you go south towards Cochrane, mainly because they're pretty hard to reach; that whole chunk you can see in the previous map between Puerto Montt and Coihaique is very sparsely populated and extremely rough, primal land; most of the travel in the area is done by boat. If you're in a kayaking mood, that is perphaps the best place in the world to do it. I've gone kayaking there thrice; the sense of absolute isolation you get is hard to describe, since you'll be moving between literal thousands of islands that have never been set foot on, let alone inhabited. It's a very surreal place, but you need to be well-prepared. While the Navy has rescue teams always at the ready, many of the fjords have zero signal, so you can get lost and nobody will ever find out.Parks like Kawesqar and Agostini are truly off the beaten path, but there's a good reason for that: they're incredibly remote (pic related is in Agostini). Fantastic places if you want to feel like you've walked into a fairy tale land away from humanity, but they're the sort of treks that you need to be well prepared for, as nobody lives within a good distance of them and it's all endless expanses of empty islands, primeval forests, and fjords. It's also the sort of places that you can't really visit in the winter unless you have a deathwish.If I had to pick a single park, I'd go to Queulat: gorgeous, relatively easy to reach, not as visited as Torres del Paine, great infrastructure, and one that truly nails that fairy tale vibe you get from southern Patagonian forests.
>>2793512contSome extras:>TipsTipping is a customary 10%, but people will not get mad at you if you don't pay it nor will be in-your-face about it, so you're safe to skip it if you don't want to give it.>GreetingsChilean women usually greet men with a (single) kiss on the cheek, but as you travel further south you might find instances of two kisses. It's far less common for men to do so, however, but in some countryside areas they do as well. Cheek kisses are for friends and strangers alike, so don't be alarmed.>CopsCops are pretty decent and friendly for the most part, especially in the south where people are more rural, but they'll throw you in jail if you try to bribe them.>DocumentationChile is very strict about papers and permits, and it's common for people on treks around the continent to end up in trouble because they forgot to sign a document when they first entered the country or stuff like that. Be very careful about checking all that's required when you're going in, since it's different if you, say, enter the country via bus from Peru or Argentina than if you landed on a plane. Not having stuff like that can end up with bus drivers refusing to take you.>CustomsSimilar thing with customs. Border customs will open up your stuff and even break your things if you bring anything that's on the no-no list, which for Chile includes basically anything biological that's not fully sealed, such as seeds, fruits, etc. They're pretty merciless, so make sure you don't forget an apple inside your backpack or carry around medicinal herbs from Cuzco or whatever.>CashMost places should accept cards and wiretransfers, but just in case bring some cash when you're visiting the more remote places. Small bills and coins can be hard to find ever since the country started moving towards reducing the amount of physical cash a few years ago, so hold onto whatever of those you can find.
>>2793510>>2793511>>2793512>>2793513Wow, thank you anon for the effort post. This is honestly more comprehensive than most guide books that I have skimmed through. I have a lot of prep work to do, but it is encouraging that I can get by with German and English. Thank you for the recommendations regarding the national parks, honestly finding information on what park is good for what has been pretty limited given that most internet articles regarding these topics are dedicated to instagram-people.Again thank you for the effort! You must be a local.
>>2792923>is there a possibility of using public transport?> I've heard that everyone there speaks English as a second language. I am hoping that the old timers will speak some German if I can't communicate with them in English.Man, reality will hit you HARD
