Chile Travel Tips
We compiled a short list of helpful information, should you decide to jump on a plane to Santiago tomorrow. Below are the most noteworthy takeaways from our trip and some nice things to know before you go:
Water - You can drink the tap water - we filtered our water the first two days, then drank straight from the tap for three weeks with no problems. Water in Santiago didn’t taste amazing, but the mountain towns to the south had fantastic, refreshing spring water right out of the faucet.
Cell Phones - American cell phones don’t really work. We have Verizon and planned to use Travel Pass as needed during our trip (Travel Pass is a Verizon service that lets you use your existing phone plan in other countries for a fee, usually a ‘per day’ fee). We turned the service on and it worked for all of 10 minutes, then nothing. I was able to make phone calls but the data and text messages didn’t really work. If we had known it wasn’t going to work, we would have registered our phones with the government (it can take a few days as we understand) and bought a Chilean SIM card.
Cash - Always keep cash on you. A lot of established places will take cards, but if you want to buy something from a street vendor you’ll definitely need cash. Also, it’s a good idea to make sure your restaurant accepts cards before chowing down. We sat down and ordered a couple times before realizing the establishment only accepted “efectivo” (cash).
Bathrooms - You usually have to pay to use the restrooms if you’re not in a restaurant. In the States, bus stations or shopping centers have public restrooms you can use for free…not many places in Chile are so kind. The cheapest bathroom we found was 200 pesos, the most expensive, 400.
Since we’re on the topic of bathrooms, you’re not supposed to flush your toilet paper. Either the plumbing is very old or it’s designed differently, because you are expected to put your TP in the trash can. Kind of weird getting used to… *I wonder how Chileans feel when they visit places without trashcans right next to the toilets? Do they understand you can flush it, or do they carry it out with them? Hmmm..
Road Tolls - Roads are heavily tolled. If you plan on driving at all, make sure you have plenty of cash on hand for the tolls. Some exits off of the interstate were around 600 pesos for a normal-size car, and interstates were 2500-2600 pesos. We drove 9 hours form Santiago to Pucon and back and spent about 30,000 pesos on tolls. The roads within Santiago are tolled via some sort of sticker on the windshield, which we were forced to pre-pay with the rental car company.
Tipping at Restaurants - It is expected, but it’s always a flat 10%. When you pay the bill they will ask if you want to add the tip (propina). We got the vibe that the right answer is “yes”. Americans, keep in mind that the dining culture is a little different than in the U.S. They don’t check on you a million times throughout your meal (it’s actually considered rude), and you’ll more than likely have to flag someone down to get your bill. That’s because dining out is kind of like a social event. It is assumed that patrons will take their time, don’t want to be bothered, and if they need anything they’ll let the server know.
Water at restaurants - You almost always have to ask for it, and make sure you let them know you would like a glass of water (vaso de agua). If not, they’ll bring you a fancy bottle of water and charge you for it.
Greetings - It is customary to say and hello and goodbye to people; in the elevator, the doorman at your apartment, the clerk at the liquor store. Even if your Spanish isn’t amazing (like ours) and you’re scared to open your mouth, at least be polite and say hello and goodbye. If it got awkward, our go-to phrase was, “Lo siento, mi Espanol es muy malo”, which is Gringo for, “I’m sorry, my Spanish is very bad”. Most people would either smile and nod, or start practicing their broken English on us.
Staring - If you have fair skin or your hair and eye color is anything other than brown, you may get stared at. I caught a couple guys taking photos and videos of us on a bus. Of course it was an 1 1/2 hour bus ride, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. BUT, it is what it is and you just have to get used to it. Remember, you may be the first blonde hair, blue eyed person they have ever seen in real life.
Peddlers are EVERYWHERE. On the side of the road, in the middle of the road, sidewalks, parks, trains, toll booths. You can’t avoid them. You’ll have to learn to either ignore them or tell them “No”.
Stray Dogs are also in A LOT of places. We didn’t meet a dog that wasn’t super friendly and appreciated a good scratch. We enjoyed the dogs following us around and loved on them as much as we could. However, if you aren’t a dog person just ignore them and especially don’t give them food.
Have you traveled to Chile and found other things surprising? Anything you wish you had known that isn’t on this list? Leave us a comment below!