Chile Easter Island Country Guide

Posted In: Chile

Kirstie Carras says...

I agree with the review above, LP Chile can be a useful resource to have for a first glimpse at a city in Chile if you travel by bus. For people who rent cars it will be less helpful.



I compared it to the Rough Guide, they seem to be almost the same - recommend same places, talk about the same stories etc. As if they're joined at the hip.



I may quibble with a few of the glowing recommendations (e.g., marked by !). In some cases, I suspect either kickbacks or royal treatment for the reviewers. A case in point - Ecole in Pucon, which while a nice place is not really like what the description says. Not to mention that the review caused the establishment to raise prices at least 5000 pesos above what its (equally good but not visited by LP) neighbors charge. So it gets a bit tricky: a good LP review will cause people to flock to the hospedaje/hotel, resulting in higher prices and/or less service.



Of course many good (and cheap) places do not get written up. Case in point:Totem in Valdivia, owned by an amateur anthropologist. Or refugio Tinquilqo in the Huerquehe national park, a pretty cool place.



Finally, the ATMs that most consistently work with US passwords belong to Santander (the ubiquitous Spanish bank). Their machines work in English and even have identical punch buttons as machines used by US banks. The exchange rate however was slightly less than the Chilean banks.

Posted on August 4, 2010

Lincoln Westman says...

Guidebooks can be very handy and this Lonely Planet is among the best. But I often prefer to travel without them. Asking fellow travelers about where they have been and stayed can be very rewarding, and I have found many great places that were not in Lonely Planet. I have met a few Lonely Planet authors while traveling, and their very tight budgets do not allow them the time for thorough research. If it's your first trip to Chile, I advise buying this book as a general guide, but keep your eyes and ears open for other alternatives, and ignore the bus schedules. The scheduleschange often, and the only accurate information comes from the actual bus companies.Dancing on the Edge of an Endangered Planet

Posted on August 4, 2010

Tammy Simoens says...

I went to Santiago with my family for a 2 week vacation break on September 2010. The Lonely Planet Guide had sufficient info so you didn't miss the most relevant landmarks. However it's a non-stop bible of words with very few pictures, no color, and few distinct or unusual places to visit. I prefer Time Out guides any time of the day. The guide content was mostly up-to-date, but there are a lot a cool places not mentioned, specially around Vitacura, La Dehesa, Providencia and Las Condes which are the modern, financial districts where everythig hip and cool takes place.



Seems to me the contributors are way on the conservative/traditionalist side. Don't get me wrong, Santiago has lots of history, but it is no Buenos Aires or Paris where you can spend days just watching ancient landmarks. I think the guide missed on the opportunity to exploit all of Santiago's new developments and attractions.



Restaurant guide is decent at best, explanations on how to move around are very basic and they do not reflect the complex Santiago Metro and Metrobus systems.



This a is big city, with hundreds of lodging accomodations, especially apartaments, and this guide misses big time on this aspect. I had to look elsewhere for hotel advice.



One crucial aspect I think this guide forgot to mention are the ski resorts near Santiago... Valle Nevado, Valle del Colorado, Farallones, etc. They are a "must visit" and the guide barely mentions this fact.



All things considered it is a Country Guide, not a City Guide, so probably it is impossible to cover every aspect of Santiago and its surroundings. If you plan to move along this vast nation then maybe the LP Guide may suit you well, BUT if Santiago is your primary destination than you are better off with a simple Tourist Map given for free at most Metro Stations... that's the only guide I carried along my 2 week stay and boy did I cover the city.

Posted on August 12, 2010