Central Chile

Central Chile is a region of Chile.

Cities

Santiago 📍 — the capital city, and cultural center of the country, with many museums, events, theaters, restaurants, and bars, and you can ski in the nearby Andes and then go the beach later that day
Los Andes 📍 — a city on the route between Santiago and Chile's primary border crossing with Argentina
Pichilemu 📍 — a laid-back town with beaches and surfing
Pomaire 📍 — handicrafts, rather commercial
Melipilla 📍 — best place to drink chicha, a homemade alcoholic wine-like drink
Quintay 📍 — a seaside resort village with a whaling museum
Rancagua 📍 — a good base for exploring the region's vineyards, and smaller villages and towns
Reñaca 📍 — a small beach town popular with Santiaguinos and Argentines from Mendoza in January and February
Sewell 📍 — an old mining town
Talca 📍 — vast hiking east of it, including Descabezado Grande
Valparaíso 📍 — sea, hills and beautiful old houses
Viña del Mar 📍 — the most important beach in the country hosts a botanical garden

Other destinations

Algarrobo 📍 — home to the largest swimming pool in the world at the San Alfonso del Mar resort
El Colorado 📍 — ski area
Farellones — a small mountain village near the ski resorts of La Parva, El Colorado, and Valle Nevado
Juan Fernández Islands 📍 — remote islands 670 km offshore
Portillo 📍 — a ski area close to the Argentine border
Radal Siete Tazas National Reserve 📍 — extraordinary bucolic paradise of waterfalls and lakes
Valle Nevado 📍 — ski area
Altos de Lircay National Reserve 📍 — ac121-km² reserve in the Andean mountain skirts with hiking, horseback riding, and connecting with nature

Understand

Climate

In central valleys the climate is essentially Mediterranean. This kind of climate is characterized by warm to hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters.

Talk

The majority of the population speaks only Spanish. Just a few people, especially tourist guides, engineers and businessmen can speak fluent English. Nevertheless, many young people understand some simple English phrases and can start basic conversations since English has been more prioritized in the national curriculum in the last few years.

Get in

Aeropuerto Internacional Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez (IATA: SCL), -33.392778°, -70.785556°. 2019-02-21

Get around

See

Santiago, the country's capital and metropole, has the widest range of sites and activities. Valparaíso is a pleasant and colorful city on the coast.

Curanipe, -35.84607°, -72.63715°. A growing fishing village, where in the morning at the Playa San Pedro locals mix with tourists for the fish coming in from the sea for the best prices, and surfers and fisher boats fight (literally) for the best best space between the waves. 2018-03-29
Pelluhue, -35.8150199°, -72.5769590°. A popular surfers' town along the coast south of Santiago de Chile. 2018-03-29

Do

Swim in the largest swimming pool in the world at the San Alfonso del Mar resort.

Everything between Cobquecura 📍 and Pelluhue 📍, like Curanipe, Cardonal, Tregualemu and Buchupureo are exceptional surfing destinations and mirror the shape and conditions of the Californian coast on the northern side of the continent. This region is still a hidden gem and receiving a lot of state sponsoring for development. However, beaches and breaks are far from overrun and you can find many lone opportunities to try out your board.

To the east of Talca, an area of vast hiking opportunities exist, including Descabezado Grande (3953 m), Radal Siete Tazas National Reserve, [Altos de Lircay National Reserve]], and other reserves.

Buy

Large Supermarket, Cobquecura, -36.13307°, -72.79642°. Along to coast you mostly have the choice between small and very small mini-markets. In case you are looking for a decent supermarket with sizeable selection, try this one at the south when you enter the coastal region from Chillan. 2018-03-29

Sleep

Ecolodge Ekilibre, Cardonal, -35.8853646°, -72.6798660°, +56 984 064 596, ecolodge.ekilibre@gmail.com. Inexpensive hostel with a friendly Chilean-French couple that offers tours, regional advice and lodging. Surf in summer, and ski in winter. Also: <span style="color:#43609C; font-weight:bold">FB</span> (dead link: December 2020). Dorm: 6,000-8,000 pesos 2018-03-29

Central Chile - natural region of continental Chile