Chile intinerary advice
 

Hi. We are planning a trip to Chile and wanted to see if this itinerary seems feasible (for a couple who likes to squeeze a lot in and has a limited amount of time).

-- Thurs morning, arrive in Santiago (from 4 days in Buenos Aires). Tour around Santiago, possibly stay in Hotel Loreto.

-- Fri morning, take bus to Valparaiso. Tour around, take 3pm Tours for Tips with graffiti tour. Possibly stay at Voga Guesthouse or Zerohotel.

-- Sat morning, pick up my 16-year-old daughter who will be finishing her program in Valparaiso. Spend the afternoon in Valparaiso then take a bus to Santiago. Stay at Hotel Loreto again.

-- Sun morning, early flight to San Pedro de Atacama (via Calama). Is Sky Airlines a reputable airline to fly?

-- Sun night take an astronomy tour in Atacama

-- Mon and Tues - various tours in the Atacama desert

-- Wed- return from Calama to SCL, arriving at SCL 2:20 pm (depending on flights). Flight from SCL back to the States at 8pm. Is that cutting it too close? Is the flight from Calama to SCL usually somewhat on time? Can we check our bags and see something nearby instead of sitting in the SCL airport for 6 hours?

Yes, I know it is probably too jam-packed. But we have limited time and so trying to fit a lot in. We could make it a little easier by completely skipping Santiago and going straight to Valpo, but I feel that we should prob spend a day there.

Thank you!

I would probably just get a bus straight to Valparaiso on arrival at SCL. It only takes a couple of hours. I would then just spend the night before you homebound flight in Santiago. I always spend the night before a long haul flight in the city of departure - just in case! Esp in South America.

I have flown a couple of times with Sky, albeit a few years ago and they were fine. The biggest issue was finding the right fares on their website when I tried last year. The availability seemed to change by the hour, but tha could have been a temporary glitch.

Just a reminder - I’m looking at transport from SCL to Valparaiso as well - the bus to Valparaiso does not leave from the airport - you have to first get to the bus station in town. (Because of that and the amount of luggage we’ll have -5 weeks of travel, including 2 weeks of hiking - we’re renting a car to drive to Valparaiso. Knowing parking in Valparaiso isn’t easy, we’ve already arranged parking through our Valparaiso hotel).

To get to Valparaiso from the airport, you do not have to go into "town". You change from the shuttle to the Valpo bus in Pajaritos..which is a station along the highway between the airport and Valparaiso. The shuttle buses have luggage holds as do the main buses although you might have to wait for the next shuttle if you are not at the head of the queue and you travel with a lot of luggage . But I don't travel with a lot of luggage, basically one carryon wheelie and a duffle so it wasn't an issue for me.

BTW to the OP, I'm not a huge fan of Santiago. I might also just head out to Valparaiso. The second day you could see one of the Neruda houses (eg Isla Negra or La Sebastiana). Or if you have a flight delay, this gives you a second chance to do the 3pm Tours4Tips tour. I also liked their morning "unconventional" or cultural tour.

What month are you going btw...remember the seasons are reversed. Santiago can be uncomfortably warm in Austral summer. I would think the same for Atacama.

Thank you for your advice. Re: Sky airlines. I did not book through them, but I found that by using the Spanish-language LATAM Chile site the airfare was half of tthe price on the LATAM U.S. site!