Chile trip February 2026

[jek]

We are planning to do a two week trip to Chile in February 2026. I have seen may postings about Chile/Argentina trips, but as our trip can only be two weeks (leaving us only 12 days in Chile), I would like to minimise transfers and prefer not to cross the border to Argentina.

I currently look at 3 nights Santiago (Santiago, Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Maipo Valley), 3 nights Puerto Varas (Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park, Lake Llanquihue), 3 nights Puerto Natales (Torres del Paine National Park, Grey Glacier), and 2 nights Santiago.

We will try to fly via MAD on a 241: Morning flight LHR-MAD, 23:59 MAD-SCL and back 00:30 SCL-MAD, last flight MAD-LHR.

Any suggestions for my trip? (Extending past the two weeks is not possible…)

Thanks,
Jens

[GillyDee]

5 nights in Santiago seems too long. Maybe add Chiloe Island to your Puerto Vargas segment…

[JDB]

Yes, five nights in Santiago is rather a lot, it’s a big relatively ordinary modern city without the charm or setting of some other South American cities. It’s also not one of those cities to wander around soaking up some atmosphere and discovering interesting places, particularly given the current security situation.

[jek]

Just to clarify: I planned Santiago only as a base to explore Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, Maipo Valley, and Cajón del Maipo in day trips and only exploring Santiago itself on the first day.

[meta]

Those four places are two one-day trips. So it’s excessive to spend five night. Depending on departure times, three nights and half day is sufficient for Santiago.

[Matt]

I’d echo the concerns re the excessive time
in Santiago. We had 2 weeks in Chile in 2018,and went to San Pedro de Atacama, Pucon, Punta Arenas and Torres del Paine. Would highly recommend all of those places, and Chile in general. We were in Santiago at the start and end – back then it was OK, but there are many, many better bits of Chile to visit.

[cin3]

Santiago is one of the best South American cities in my opinion. While it is certainly not as good as it was a decade ago, it’s still a cultural heavyweight only perhaps beaten by Bogota, Buenos Aires and perhaps Brazil. The current security situation is not as bad as many people say especially if you’re used to Latin American cities and have basic Spanish.

If you’re remotely interested in music, theatre or food, you’ll want at least a week there. Incredibly techno and experimental scene and very good theatre and performance arts as well as some of the most underrated fine dining on the continent. Great nature options nearby too.

Natales is kinda pointless for less than a week as the travel into TDP takes a while and the best sights apart from Británico and the Torres are on the O section.

[davefl]

I agree, coming to the end of my trip and Bogota and Santiago have been my favourite cities.

[jintycat]

I would stay in vparaiso rather than a day trip. Although the day trips from santiago will be good there is much more to see further afield. I would also echo a trip to San Pedro de atacama. No where like it. We flew from Santiago and stayed 2 or 3 nights. You could then fly south from there for further exploring in the south. We also liked pucon and the lake district