HOW TO ARRIVE TO THE SOUTH OF CHILE

The south of Chile is one of the areas with a lot of tourist attractions; mountains, lakes between the forest, beaches and bays; is appropriate for water sports and outdoor activities. The weather is varied, for example, in Araucanía zone is template. However, the rest of the zones are rainy, mainly Puerto Montt.

The south of Chile includes the following zones:
- Bio Bio (VIII), the main cities are Concepción, Chillán, Los Ángeles.
- De La Araucanía (XI) includes Temuco, Villarrica, Pucón, Angol, Caracautín.
- De Los Lagos (X) includes Puerto Montt, Puerto Varas, Frutillar, Valdivia, Osorno, Castro and Ancud.
- Aisén (XI), it has the following cities; Coyhaique, Puerto Aisén and Cochrane.
- Magallanes (XII), the cities are Puerto Natales, Punta Arenas, Puerto Williams and Porvenir.

You can arrive at the south of Chile by Train, land, air and sea.

BY LAND

Bus stations in the cities

For travellers’ information, below we show them addresses and telephone numbers about the bus stations in the main cities within the south of Chile.

Distances

If you want to travel by car, you should consider that the distances are long, so you should have necessary precautions for your trip. For your information, we show you the approximate distances in kilometres from Santiago to the main cities in each zone.

Bio Bio Zone
- Concepción 513 Km.
- Chillán 409 Km.
Araucanía Zone
- Los Ángeles 514 Km.
- Temuco 674 Km
- Villarrica 671 Km
- Pucón 789 Km
- Angol 608 Km.
Los Lagos Zone
- Puerto Montt 1024 Km.
- Puerto Varas 1007 Km
- Valdivia 840 Km
- Osorno 922 Km
- Castro 1186 Km
- Ancud 1113 Km.
Aisén Zone
- Coyhaique 1649 Km.
Magallanes Zone
- Punta Arenas 3090 Km.

BY AIR

Local Airports

Chile has many important airports and aerodromes where operate several companies as LanChile, Aerolíneas Del Sur, that make domestic flights within the south of Chile. The following telephones correspond to the airports and aerodromes in the cities.

Airports

- Puerto Montt (Tepual) Telephone. 56-85-488203.
- Punta Arenas (Presidente Ibáñez) Telephone. 56-61-219131.
- Temuco (Maquehue) Telephone. 56-45-554801.
- Concepción (Carriel Sur) Telephone. 56-41-748879.
- Puerto Williams (Guardiamarina Zañartu) Telephone. 56- 61-621109.

Aerodromes

- Coyhaique (Coyhaique) Telephone.56-67-212746.
- Los Ángeles (Maria Dolores) Telephone. 56- 43-3214122637.
- Chillán (Bernardo O´ Higgins) Telephone. 56-42-221655.
- Valdivia (Pichoy) Telephone. 56-63-272295.
- Osorno (Canal Bajo) Telephone. 56-64-247775.
- Cochrane (Cochrane) Telephone. 56-67-522121.
- Puerto Aisén (Aisén) Telephone. 56-67-33259.
- Puerto Natales (Puerto Natales) Telephone. 56-61-491980.

BY SEA

BY TRAIN

Tourist places

There are lots tourist places in the south of Chile We suggest you visit the most known places in every zone.

Bio Bio Zone

It is a beautiful and active zone, when you visit it, you will enjoy the lovely landscapes as parks, waterfalls and forests.

One of the most known tourist attractions is the National Park “Laguna Laja”, where live a large amount of species, animals and plants, forming a wild environment near the beautiful waterfalls of Saltos de Laja.

Araucanía Zone

The Araucanía has a beautiful landscape; it has unexplored forests, and a vast quantity of attractions come together to make it a privileged area in Chile.

The most visited place in this zone is The National Park Conquilío (located at 148 Km. away from Temuco), it surrounds the gigantic Llaima volcano. The origin of the zone’s name comes from the presence of a large number of Araucanías trees.

On the way to the south you can contemplate a succession of lakes such as Colico, Caburga, and the great Villarica Lake, where you can practice fishing and water activities.

Los Lagos Zone

Los Lagos landscape has meadows, lakes, and rivers among the vegetation. One of the favourite places in this zone is: Llanquihue Lake, located in front of Osorno volcano. Shores the lake are located Puerto Varas and Frutillar (It is a small town that has many beautiful antique houses among trees and gardens).

Puerto Montt, the most visited place in Los Lagos zone offers the tourist a good opportunity to go by sea to appreciate lakes, volcanoes, and snow. You will be astonished by the landscape. Others places to visit are the National Park Chiloé and the National Park Alcerce Andino.

Aisén Zone

In this zone there are many places to visit. Surrounding the Puerto Aisén you will see Fiords, Canals and several mountains range too.

From Puerto Aisén you can go to the rest of the touristy places as The National Park “Laguna San Rafael”, an important attraction by its quantity of animal species residence and the astonishing white and blue tones. The famous Cochrane lake is 8 Km away the town, its waters may incite you to fish and sail. Shores the lake you can see the wells and bays where reside a large amount of trout.

Magallanes Zone

The most visited places are: La Cueva del Milodón, The Nacional Park “Torres del Paine” (in Puerto Natales). Inside there is a large amount of species; the lakes, flora and fauna make it the perfect place to do excursions and ecological tourism. Las Torres del Paine are natural rocks formations, due to movements of the earth millions of years ago giving origin to summits like Los Cuernos del Paine, Fortaleza, Escudo, with glaciers in some of them.

Another touristy place is The National Park “Los Glaciares”. The Perito Moreno glacier, one of the most famous in the world; it is considered the eighth wonder in the world. Its spectaculars views incite visitors to do many activities like mountaineering, excursions, trekking and horseback rides.

Other touristy attraction is “La Tierra del Fuego”,( located in the Magallanes strait), a island full of mysteries appropriated for recreational fishing.

In Punta Arenas, the Magallanes province, you can visit the Mayorino Borgatello Museum.

Recommendations

* In order to visit Chile as tourist, you need to carry your updated passport. If you are a citizen of a border country, is not necessary to have visa. However, the United States or Canada citizens require visa to travel to Chile.

* Carry your personal documents as passport, identification card.

* If you drive do it by the right way with a reasonable speed, observing the auto traffics rules. (Don’t forget to carry your updated international driver licence given by the country of origin.)

* Most of the taxis have taximeters to calculate tariffs. Although, for long distances we recommend you settle the cost with the driver before leaving. (It is not necessary to give tips).

* It is preferable to travel during the day, this manner you can see the wonderful landscape around it.

* Take into account that the winter temperatures decreases in the south of Chile. In summer, the weather is warm and rainy, so take your precautions.

* Don’t forget to carry appropriate clothes for warm and rainy days. Mainly if you visit Puerto Montt, one of the most humid zones.

* Medical examinations or vaccination are not required to enter Chile

* If you want to go camping, look for authorized places.

* Although Chile is a safe country, be prudent with your personal belongings such as wallets, bills, cameras or others valuables.

* Don’t wear very showy jewellery, it can be stolen.