By plane
Santiago (SCL) is the main gateway from travellers around the world. All major airline alliances include Santiago in their network, i.e. Oneworld, Star Alliance and Skyteam.
- Qantas and LAN operate a code-sharing flight from Sydney to Santiago via Auckland, New Zealand every week. It's at least 12 hours each way, with a stop in Auckland, but the cabin crew are attentive to a fault.
- Air Canada operates a daily flight from Toronto.
- American Airlines and LAN operate flights from Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Washington (D.C.) and Dallas. Some of them will have layovers in Guayaquil or Lima.
- Air France, Iberia (code-sharing with LAN), LAN and Lufthansa operate daily flights into Santiago from their hubs via Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires or directly.
- Air Madrid is the only charter airline which serves Santiago on a regular basis. Flight originate from Madrid, Barcelona and Tenerife Norte. Prices start at €500 (US$600) per round-trip.
Please note that flight times from Europe vary between 18 hours from Frankfurt to 12 hours from Madrid and is considerably tireing! Routes to Europe are used with the Airbus 340 on this night flight route. Airlines serving North America mainly opt for the Boeing 767 on their routes to Chile.
The airport in Santiago is a considerable distance from the city center. It can be an expensive taxi ride. Tur-bus is a nice alternative, you´ll find them in a kiosk in the center of the bagage claim in the airport, they charge $7 USD for door-to-door shuttle service, or $3 USD for a bus service. Had a good experience with them.
From the airport, a taxi fare may be about 15,000 Pesos ($30) and may take 30 minutes. Official blue buses are outside the arrival terminal. The ride costs 1,200 pesos (about US$2) and stops at the downtown city terminal. Car rental firms like Avis, Budget, Chilean, Hertz, Dollar are at the airport.
Subway doesn't stop at the airport, but is a good transportation method in Santiago, specially in downtown. It's is safe and modern.
By land
There is a crossing between Arica in Chile and Tacna in Peru. It provides the only land access to Peru.
In the case of Bolivia, there are road and rail connections link with Chile.
From Mendoza in Argentina it's a beautiful eight hour bus ride crossing the Andes. The border crossing is at about 4000m. Be aware that it is not allowed to bring fruit, vegetables or animal products into Chile, and all luggage will get checked at the border.
The Principals Bus Terminals in Santiago are located at:
- Terminal Alameda: Avda. B. O'Higgins 3750 (U. Santiago subway station, Line 1). Private station for Turbus and Pullman buses. National and international departures. Phone: 7762424
- Terminal Santiago: Av. B. O'Higgins 3848 (Pila del Ganso subway station, Line 1). Phone: 3761755
- Terminal Los Héroes: Tucapel Jiménez 21 (Los Heroes subway station, Line 1). Phone: 4200099
In the south of the country is located the Lakes District with buses and ferries helping to cross each country.
