Hello, <BR>I will be travelling to Buenos Aires for a business trip in April and would like to extend my trip to include some vacation time in Chile. I would be grateful for information about travelling from BA to Chile and recommendations on where to visit in Chile. I will not have a car and will be travelling on my own. Would you recommend a tour? Thank you.

You might consider doing what we did. First, fly from BA to Bariloche. From there, a company called Andinas del Sur will take you over the Andes by way of the Argentine/Chilean lakes. Lake Nahuelhuapi (by catamaran), several portages by bus, winding up at Peulla on the border. Stay in the little hotel there -- wonderful. Then on via catamaran across other waters and land connections, past the volcano of Osorno, a great waterfall at Petrohue, and finally on to Puerto Montt, on the coast of Chile. From there we flew north to Santiago. Easiest to fly from Santiago to BA, but there may be other choices. It's a very comfortable trip with magnificent scenery.

Alternatively, you might skip my suggestion for something else: a trip north to the great falls at Iguazu. It's a 90-minute flight north from BA to Iguazu. We stayed at the Hotel Internacional on the Argentine side of the falls and took a tour over to the Brazilian side by minibus. Either way, the views are stupendous. Hotel is gorgeous, modern, and from it you need walk only a short distance to the falls.

Agree 100% with Al. I agree to add the falls, even tho it;s a bit out of the way--one of the great--underrated sites of the world. DO NOT MISS!

Hi! Kate, <BR>I have just returned from Bue / Santiago <BR>doing the reverse of what you wish. <BR>I agree with the two previous answers. <BR>What we did was fly from Rio to Santiago, on arrival, we took a taxi to the sheraton hotel. Next morning we <BR>ask the Bell boy for a taxi, and he got a blue car, we negotiated with the driver and did a full city tour of 3.5 hours for 28000 pesos. <BR>We continued with this driver the four days we were in Santiago, going to Valparasio etc., he was very good. <BR>If you require his details please email, as I haven't finished unpacking as yet. <BR>Regards, Jay

Jay, <BR> <BR>What was worth seeing in Santiago? I am going to be there for one day only and would appreciate any recommendations. <BR> <BR>Regards, Pauline.

Dear Al, <BR>Thank you very much for your suggestions. Do you have contact details for Andinas del Sur. <BR>Thanks, <BR>Kate

My files show the following for Andina del Sud (my earlier spelling proved how faulty my memory can be), 437 Varas, Puerto Montt, Chile. Phone in Puerto Montt 65-253252; in Santiago 2-394422. Our local travel agent had them listed in a catalog. Nowdays, I would search the Internet. Good luck!

I would like to remark that the Lakes Crossing from Bariloche to Petrohue is a MUST in the world. A really amazing trip within the nature and in very good and safe ships. <BR>Arriving to Chile you can stay at Petrohue hotel(very nice and with lot of excursions)near Esmeralda lake or enjoy Puerto Varas located near Llanquihue lake, also a lot of alternatives for excursions, hotsprings, flyfishing. You can get Chiloe archipelago at 3.5 hours from Puerto Varas for know a unique and special site in the world. An isolated archipelago during three centuries where hispaniards and natives developed a special culture. You can sail the archipelago and know churchs from the 17TH century with amazing landscapes. <BR>From Puerto Montt, at only 20 km from Puerto Varas, you can get the Austral Way for trip along one of the most unspoiled sites of the planet or take a ship to San Rafael Glacier or take a ship or a plane for enjoy Torres del Paine National Park, another MUST in the world. <BR>For specific information do not hesitate to contact me. <BR>

HI, I wish to thank Al for the great information I will use it in our next trip to Chile-Argebtina. We were in Santiago in early December and I wish to recommend the lovely hotel we were in , the Santiago Park Plaza, a five Stars much better located than the Sheraton, and much smaller than the other five stars. An European styled hotel with class and a great restaurant. <BR>A perfect location in the heart of Providencia. <BR>Someone recommended it to me in this forum and he was a 100% right. <BR>In Santiago for a day you can take a city tour or negociate with a private car, visit the cerro San Cristobal by aerocarril, the beautiful oldest colonial church and museum , have great sea food with pisco sours ...it is a lovely city and the rest of the country is indeed wonderful. Good luck <BR>

While in Santiago, we stayed at the posh <BR>Carrera Hotel. Right in the center of things, very elegant, excellent in every way. As part of the package, we went on a half-day city tour which we suppose covered most of the big city's high points of interest. If you are into jewelry, you might visit one of the shops which fashion pieces made of the local lapis lazuli, a gorgeous blue semi-precious stone. Be on guard against pickpockets; we were mugged by thugs carrying knives only two blocks from the national palace, on a busy main boulevard, at midday on a Sunday while surrounded by gawking onlookers. Police? Forget it!