Housing exhibits such as cloth from the Andes, anthropomorphical objects and shamans’ instruments, the Chilean Museum of Pre-Colombian Art in Santiago is home to a collection which is as vast as the continent itself! Displays relating to Meso-Ameri..

The fine neo-Classical building which can be seen in the popular Parque Forestal is home to the city’s Fine Arts Museum. Don’t miss the remarkable permanent collection of Chilean art, which consists of works created since the colonial period. Numerou..

The lower town of Valparaíso follows a geometrical layout around the port, while behind it the town extends up into the hills, a maze of colonial houses, which are accessed via an ingenious system of ascensores (lifts), 15 funiculars built from t..

Isla Negra, to the south of Valparaíso , was Pablo Neruda’s favourite house. Extended by the poet on numerous occasions, the house was confiscated after the 1973 coup d’état. Neruda died shortly after and never saw the house again. In 1993, his rema..

The highlight of the magnificent natural spectacle of the Parque Nacional Lauca is without doubt Lake Chungará, one of the highest lakes in the world at over an altitude of 4 500m. This shallow lake is overlooked by the snowy peaks of the Parinacot..

The Valle de la Luna near San Pedro de Atacama takes its name from its lunar landscape. At sunrise and sunset, the dunes and rocky formations here take on striking shapes and golden and purple hues. Magnificent colours and magical stone silhouettes..

Although this site can be dangerous, it would be a shame to miss the unique spectacle of El Tatio volcano and its “park” of geysers which spurt up in impressive jets and waterspouts. Best seen first thing in the morning, when the cold air creates imp..

The Chiloé archipelago, extremely verdant thanks to its climate, is renowned for its 150 churches and chapels, some of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The area has retained a lively traditional culture and is home to a national park whose main..

You’ll need your waterproofs if you plan on walking through the Parque Nacional Chiloé, which protects large swathes of rainforest typical of the archipelago of the same name. The fauna is typical of wet regions and includes birds, foxes, pudú (sma..

The end of the earth – or at least the far end of South America. Completely unspoilt for centuries, Patagonia still feels extremely remote today. An extreme landscape which often provided refuge for extreme men, this area comprises vast expanses of d..

Les Torres overlook the Patagonian steppe, acting as a landmark for the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine with their towering granite peaks. Here verdant rocky valleys alternate with patches of ice floating in the clear lakes. A perfect spot for climb..

This desert is said to be the driest in the world, where it rains only once every ten years! Nonetheless, the Atacama, a huge depression in the Norte Grande, is home to a surprising variety of landscapes, including oases, rocky plains, Altiplano, sa..

The Atacama salar is found in the desert of the same name, at an altitude of 2 300m. Between the lakes sandstorms have shaped folds in the ground which have been petrified by salt, creating extraordinary natural sculptures. These landscapes can be ..

The Casa Colorada (1769), one of Santiago’s fine examples of civil colonial architecture, owes its name to its red façade. The house was once home to Mateo Toro y Zambrano, president of the first revolutionary junta of Chile, and now houses the Mus..

If you’re finding the heat of Santiago too much, then head for the hills! The Parque Metropolitano on Cerro San Cristóbal, a hill overlooking the capital to the north of Bellavista , can be reached on foot, by cable car or funicular. Fresh air, pa..

The small town of Santa Cruz extends across the middle of the magnificent wine-growing Colchagua Valley, which is covered with grape varieties imported from France in the 19C. Today these vines produce a red wine which is renowned across the globe. M..

Some of the oldest mummies in the world were discovered in the Azapa valley, not far from Arica . These are now the highlights of the Museo Arqueológico San Miguel de Azapa, which is also home to a collection of petroglyphs and objects from the Chin..

Watch out for altitude sickness! In the Norte Grande, on the border with Bolivia, the Parque Nacional Lauca offers visitors the grandiose landscapes of the Altiplano, which stand at between 3 000m and 6 300m high. A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, with wil..

With its long legs similar to those of an ostrich, Darwin’s rhea is at home among the mineral expanses of the Monumento Natural Salar de Surire, a fragile ecosystem of high-altitude salt lakes (4 245m), which is fed by two salt rivers. The area is a ..

A geogylph is a huge drawing on the ground which can be seen clearly from afar thanks to its size. Around 400 abstract, human and animal figures, a kind of pre-Colombian signage system, cover the hills around Pintados, a small deserted village in the..