Recos needed for Santiago, El Calafate, Ushuaia

Christine.Louie · January 2012

My husband and I are about to embark on an Antarctica expedition and we're doing pre-post activities in Santiago, El Calafate, and Ushuaia. Any recommendations on what to see/do and eat are appreciated! TIA!

KimberlyS530 · January 2012

The Big Ice Trek on Perito Moreno in El Calafate. Do the big one (8 miles total), not the small one, if you're in good enough physical shape (by which I mean you can walk / hike 8 miles).

Eat at El Cucharon in El Calafate.

In Ushuaia, if you have a day, go to the penguin colony there. Estancia Haberton - I think they're the ones who own the island so you have to book through them. Food in Ushuaia disappointed - try to find something better than the crap downtown!

misoangry · January 2012

Day 10: Ushuaia (The End of the World)
Day 11: Gable Island

KimberlyS530 · January 2012

miso - I just looked at your blog. We ate at Guy Savoy (in Paris) and really want to go to the one in Vegas. Looks like you had almost the same meal as we did - delicious, no?

Also, next time you come to SF, go up to Napa to try French Laundry. We loved it every bit as much as we enjoyed Guy Savoy.

misoangry · January 2012

Thank you for your brilliant suggestion.

emilyinchile · January 2012

What kind of stuff do you like to do, and how long will you be in Santiago?

If you want to do a good bike tour, check out La Bicicleta Verde (http://labicicletaverde.com/). If you just want to wander around by yourselves, depending on what kind of things interest you I'd suggest heading downtown to see some combination of:

- Plaza de Armas: not honestly that amazing but sort of a typical central plaza

- La Moneda: presidential palace with a cultural center underneath

- lunch at Mercado Central: fish market - stick to the restaurants on the outside rather than going in to the center square where it's a bit more touristy and expensive

- walking around the Parque Forestal neighborhood: cute cafes and shops, a park and the fine arts museum

- Cerro San Cristobal: take the funicular up this big hill which is also a park in the middle of the city...skip the zoo and go straight up to the statue of the virgin for good views

- Cerro Santa Lucia: another hill which is nice to walk up, although avoid it at night

- lunch at Boulevard Lavaud (http://www.boulevardlavaud.cl/): funky old-fashioned restaurant where they'll give you a map of the neighborhood (Barrio Yungay) for you to explore after lunch

- Museo de la Memoria: human rights museum that everyone raves about (I haven't been yet)

Providencia and Las Condes are more upscale neighborhoods great to stay in or go out to eat, but there's not much there that I'd consider a tourist destination. One exception is the Pueblito Los Dominicos (http://www.pueblitolosdominicos.com/) in Las Condes which is a little artisan compound good for buying souvenirs.

In terms of restaurants, Peruvian food is great pretty much everywhere here, and my favorite typical Chilean place is Ana Maria (ancient blog post, I've been back several times since: http://www.emilyinchile.com/2009/05/ana-maria/). It's a bit of a trek but worth it. But if you tell me where you're staying and what kind of food you like, I'm happy to give more specific suggestions in your neighborhood.

Christine.Louie · January 2012

Thanks for the great advice so far, ladies!

Kimberly - Great! My husband just booked the big ice trek earlier this week. Did you find you needed special footwear? I know they loan you cramp-ons but not sure if gym shoes will be sufficient or if we should consider renting boots in town. Also, any advice on layering? Not sure how hot/cold to expect.

Miso - Lovely photos and review!

Emily - In Santiago we are staying at the B&B Casa Bonita in La Republica. We'll have 2 days post-cruise...possibly half a day pre-cruise (we have a 12 hour layover in the airport...not sure if we can have time to explore?). We love all types of food and for sure would like to experience typical local cuisine. Also, my husband has a sweet tooth so we usually try to find at least one good dessert place for him when we travel.

ETA: Oh another question...is Vina del Mar worth going to and easily accessible by public transportation? We'll be in Santiago 2/22 - 2/24 which I understand is during the huge international music festival?

emilyinchile · January 2012

I'd definitely leave the airport with 12 hours. Security/immigration going back in usually doesn't take very long, so I'd get a taxi or the Centropuerto bus to downtown (bus drops you at metro Los Heroes) and do a couple of the sightseeing things I mentioned.

If you're staying near metro Republica, you'll actually be close to Ana Maria. You're south of the main street, which everyone calls Alameda (but on maps is Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins), and north of that street is an area called Barrio Brasil with a bunch of restaurants and bars. Los Buenos Muchachos is a place that does typical grilled meats along with a show of dancing and music from different areas of Chile - sounds painfully touristy, but Chileans actually go, and it's kind of neat. Otherwise for dinners I'd just walk around in Barrio Brasil (with a reasonable amount of caution about keeping your purse zipped under your arm, not waving an iPhone or fancy camera around) and see what looks good.

Vi?a in my opinion isn't worth the trip if you're only here for two days, especially during the Festival. Traffic will be ridiculous, and the performances are late at night and would mean you didn't have a way to get back to Santiago. Tourists usually go to Valpara?so, which is one city over from Vi?a, and just wander around the colorful houses and hills. It's easy to get to, buses go every 15 minutes during the day, but again, it's a question of personal preference as to whether or not to go - I don't love Valpo, so I say no, but other people think it's awesome and would tell you yes.

If you'd like to do something beyond just seeing Santiago, my choice would be wine tasting - Santa Carolina, Cousi?o Macul and Concha y Toro are all in/near the city and easy to get to using the metro (plus a short taxi ride for Concha y Toro).

PS. Picky detail, but you're staying in El Centro (downtown) near metro Republica. If you say La Republica people won't know where you mean, I had to google the place

KimberlyS530 · January 2012

Christine.Louie:
Thanks for the great advice so far, ladies!
Kimberly - Great! My husband just booked the big ice trek earlier this week. Did you find you needed special footwear? I know they loan you cramp-ons but not sure if gym shoes will be sufficient or if we should consider renting boots in town. Also, any advice on layering? Not sure how hot/cold to expect.

I ended up buying a (very expensive, very ugly) pair of hiking boots in El Calafate for the trip. This was partly because I had gotten my tennis shoes wet a few days prior and they didn't dry and the stunk like crazy (no idea what was in the water I got on them). You will want shoes that have very good ankle support, as you hike in along this ... path ... on a ... I wouldn't call it a mountain or anything, but it's a rocky little path on the side of this hill. That actually was much more strenuous than walking around on the glaciers (with crampons on, you can't move very fast). You do go up / down some slight embankments on the glacier so it's nice to have the ankle support (especially when you're walking down - it's like when you walk down a hill sideways, if that makes sense?). Or at least we did in 2009; I'm assuming the glacier hasn't changed much.

Definitely layer. It is cold like you can't imagine out there if it is windy (and rainy, which it was for us at times), but then you hike all the way in and you're dying. DH and I had light-weight waterproof shells that we wore, then we wore sweaters over long-sleeve shirts. We also had hats (an absolute necessity), gloves (also a good idea), and scarves. We both wore long-underwear-type pants under our jeans. Then we just took along a small backpack to put our layers in as we got warm / cold and changed what we were wearing.

Also, this will sound really odd, but make sure you bring along a water bottle of some type and fill it with glacier water when out there. It was delicious, if water can be delicious. Have fun!

Christine.Louie · January 2012

Emily - Ah thanks for the correction. I was just copying what was on the B&B's website .

I think we're going to play by ear on the leaving the airport during the layover and definitely good to know that if there's time it's fairly easy to do. We are going to have to claim our luggage, go through customs, and then re-check for our domestic leg (with Aerolineas Argentina which I hear can be a nightmare...yah).

Your recommendations sound awesome and I was reading your blog over lunch. So informative and great pictures! I'll be perusing more before we go, for sure.

I doubt we'll end up going to Vina but figured I'd get your thoughts on the idea. I hate crowds anyway! We don't actually drink wine so all those lovely looking vineyards are probably out. We'll probably just explore as much of the city as we can.

Christine.Louie · January 2012

Kimberly - Makes sense. Thank you for all the extra information. I'm excited!

emilyinchile · January 2012

Good luck with Aerolineas is all I'll say Hope you can get out of the airport though!

Thanks for the blog comments - I've got a bunch of restaurant posts under "food & drink" (http://www.emilyinchile.com/category/food-drink/), in case you're looking for more ideas.

Recos needed for Santiago, El Calafate, Ushuaia

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