Skiing/Snowboarding from Santiago.

Advantages: different unspoiled powder relaxed
Disadvantages: mid-priced

...About 2 hours east of Santiago are the ski resorts of La Parva, El Colorado and Valle Nevado. All 3 resorts are connected (you can ski between them if you have the right pass) and there are plenty of runs and some world-class off-piste. You can make the trip up and down from Santiago in a day but its worth taking two (at least) if you can ski or snowboard. As well as the resorts, there is a small town called Farrellones located next to the resort of El Colorado. You can walk from Farrellones to the lowest lift at el colorado, from where the lift attendants will let you on if you promise to buy a lift pass when you get off - at the resort proper. Be warned though - it's a button lift. You can hire ski and snowboard equipment at any of the resorts, but neither equipment hire nor lift passes come cheap. Ski-ing is very much for the elite...

jimh1 05.07.2005 · Read review
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Review of Santiago

The Good, the Bad and the downright Awful

Advantages: Very efficient, clean city with good seafood
Disadvantages: Concha Y Toro vineyard trip

...Santiago is the capital city of Chile We flew into Santiago Airport and the drive into the city was about half an hour. The airport was very clean and efficient. There were sniffer dogs in abundance all around the luggage carousel area, they walked ove the luggage and in amongst everybody very calmly - not sure whether it was drugs or something else they were after but they were not going to miss anything. THE GOOD: Santiago is a very modern bustling city with clean well organised streets. The fines for speeding, using the mobile phone while driving or drink driving are extremely severe as so driving is very good generally. If a driver gets 3 fines in a 3 year period he loses his licence - very strict indeed. They also stop for zebra crossings, the use of the horn is rare and traffic flows freely most of the time. There are...

catsholiday 16.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Santiago

Barcelo, Santiago

Advantages: Fantastic hotel with something for everyone
Disadvantages: Not near a sandy beach

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Julie75wool 06.03.2006 (17.03.2007) · Read review
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Review of Barcelo Santiago, Tenerife

parque santiago 111

Advantages: very good location, excellent accommodation
Disadvantages: none

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willau118 08.08.2006 · Read review
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Review of Parque Santiago III, Tenerife

Chile In Winter

Advantages: A relatively gentle introduction to South America.
Disadvantages: For such a big city it lacks a little in visitor attractions.

...Santiago is a little out of sync with the continent in finds itself in. Most South American cities are known for their bustle and ability to scare the living daylights out of freshly arrived travellers, yet Chile's capital has a somewhat restrained and openly friendly atmosphere. Just as well too, because we arrived in the city with barely a word of Spanish and nothing in the way of accommodation booked. Santiago's population of 6 million people is sprawled over a huge geographical area split into 32 districts called comunas. Paradoxically the city centre remains quite accessible by foot and you could easily avoid using the bus system (which is a little hard to fathom anyway) or the metro for your stay in the city. Santiago is dwarfed by the snow capped climes of the Andes (only 25 miles away) making for some spectacular photos...

indiecater 10.01.2003 · Read review
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Review of Santiago

Not too Chile for me

Advantages: Excellent hotel, convenient location and fabulous food
Disadvantages: probably price but it was part of a package so not sure

...Sheraton hotel and San Cristobel Tower Covention Centre - Santiago The hotel is a modern hotel just in front or behind San Cristobel Hill. It overlooks the river and we were lucky enough to have a room at the front of the hotel with views across the city with the snow capped Andes in the distance. The lobby was open and spacious with a large seated bar area in the middle. There were a number of seated areas for waiting or meeting friends with comfortable chairs and settees. The concierge desk would order taxis and organise private tours whilst the main desk offered check in and out as well as a money exchange at quite a reasonable rate. All staff were very helpful, friendly a and efficient. The bar area was in the middle of the huge lobby area with a low wall around it so that you could see everywhere in the lobby from...

catsholiday 15.01.2009 (18.03.2009) · Read review
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Review of Sheraton Santiago Hotel and Convention Center, Santiago

2 STAR HOTEL THAT SHOULD BE FAR MORE

Advantages: Excellent value for money and extremely clean and tidy
Disadvantages: Slightly to far to be able to walk to city centre

...A RISKY HOLIDAY DECISION THAT TURNED OUT TO BE REALLY GOOD * For a long time now, I have been receiving promotional e mails from Ryan Air offering cheap air travel to various destinations, and so, on a whim, I decided to book a return trip to Santiago De Compostela in Spain from London Stansted. Both myself and my wife decided to make it an adventure, so we agreed to make the costs for air travel as cheap as possible, involving taking minimal luggage, and not to book any accommodation until we got to our destination. This is something that we have never done, but it did make it exciting. * We booked the flights to cover a week end after the summer holiday season and arranged a cheap hire car to be picked up at Santiago De Compostela airport. * On arriving at Santiago de Compostela, even though it was out of the peak holiday...

JAVER1967 21.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Santa Lucia, Santiago de Compostela

from santiago to patagonia

Advantages: stunning scenery and wildlife,unspoilt,great ice cream,chocolate,beef,fish,beer,fruit,and wine (all home produced and cheap by european standards).
Disadvantages: long flying time,still not a cheap destination but good value.

...Chile is one of the best countries i have ever visited aswell and i too am very widely travelled.you must be a lover of the great outdoors and adventure though,to experience chile at its best.i can only speak for the southern part of chile that is santiago down to punta arenas,patagonia.in chile due to the thinness of the country and also due to the glaciation that still is found down south,flying is the best way around the country.one of the national carriers is lanchile (www.lanchile.com surprisingly!) and on their website you can obtain last minute offers or book super apex fares within chile-this is what i did.if i had have booked with lanchile offices in gatwick,surrey or one of the uks travel agencies my flight within chile would have cost about double what it did which is crazy!the reason is,lanchile's website is based...

theothegreek 12.01.2001 · Read review
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Review of General: Chile

Excellent location, well maintained,

Advantages: Adult friendly, right by shops, bars and many good restaurants
Disadvantages: Not child friendly

...I have stayed at PS2 3 times now, and my parents and sister probably more like 15! The complex is based on Avda de Rafael Puig, Las Americas, right by Patch centro commercial. (The same road as Las Palmeras, Los Cardonas, La Siesta) We have stayed in Apartment 380 which is a 2 bed, 1 bath duplex (2 storey) apartment overlooking the sea, and a studio in the tower over the reception. A lot of the Parque Santiago complexes are privately owned (there are 5 PSs in all) a lot are actually residential thus ensuring the complexes relaxed yet quiet outlook. Owners have yearly meetings regarding the upkeep of the properties and this shows in the cleanliness and general maintenance of the apartments and surroundings. With a large part being owners, they will not stand for noise and things that would annoy you if you actually lived there...

kforshaw 23.09.2005 (27.09.2005) · Read review
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Review of Parque Santiago II, Tenerife

FRIENDLY HOTEL

Advantages: FANTASTIC LOCATION AND FRIENDLY STAFF
Disadvantages: COULD BE CLOSER TO BEACH

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sally2911 30.01.2007 · Read review
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Review of Barcelo Santiago, Tenerife