Practical Information for visiting Chile

The currency is the Chilean peso (CLP). Notes run to 20,000; there is no coin below 10 pesos, so cash totals round to the nearest ten.

Cards are accepted almost everywhere in the cities, including on transport, and contactless is standard. Carry cash for rural areas, small towns, markets and the Carretera Austral, where card acceptance thins out fast.

ATMs (cajeros) are widespread and most charge a fixed fee of around CLP 5,000-8,000 per foreign withdrawal, so take larger amounts. Some let you decline their own currency conversion, which is always the better choice.

The IVA exemption is worth knowing. Chile charges 19% VAT, but foreign tourists staying in hotels are exempt from it if the bill is paid in foreign currency by card or transfer, on presentation of a passport and the tourist entry record. Hotels know the rule; it is applied on request, not automatically, so ask when you check in.

Tipping is customary at 10%, and restaurants normally print a propina sugerida of 10% on the bill. It is not compulsory and you can decline it, but it is nearly always paid. Taxis are not tipped.

Chile has the fastest and most widely available internet in South America. Entel, Movistar, WOM and Claro all sell prepaid tourist SIMs cheaply, and eSIMs work; a passport is needed to register.

Coverage is good along the central spine and in every town of any size. It thins on the Carretera Austral, in the high altiplano, on the Patagonian steppe and in the Torres del Paine backcountry — assume no signal on a multi-day trek.

Rapa Nui is a separate case: connectivity there is slower and more expensive than on the mainland, and outages happen.

Free wifi is standard in cafés, hotels and airports, and in many town squares. Power is 220V at 50Hz on European-style round-pin plugs, which surprises visitors arriving from elsewhere in the Americas.

Chile is among the safest countries in South America and violent crime against visitors is uncommon. Property crime in the cities is the realistic risk, and it has got worse over the last few years rather than better.

• Pickpocketing and snatch theft are common in central Santiago, on the metro at rush hour, and in Valparaíso — particularly around the tourist cerros and the port. Phones taken from hands are the single most frequent incident. Keep the phone away in the street and bags in front of you.
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• Do not leave anything in a parked car, anywhere, visible or not. Break-ins at trailheads and viewpoints are routine.
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• Protests gather in central Santiago, especially around Plaza Baquedano, and can turn to tear gas quickly. They are announced; stay away rather than watching.
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• Earthquakes. Tremors are frequent and mostly harmless. Chilean buildings are built for it. Drop, cover and hold; and on the coast, if a quake is strong enough that standing is difficult, move uphill immediately without waiting for a tsunami warning.
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• Volcanoes. Several are actively monitored and access is closed when alert levels rise. Observe closures; they are not precautionary theatre.
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• Patagonian weather is the wilderness risk. Wind and cold on the Torres del Paine circuits turn serious fast, and people are caught out in summer wearing summer clothes. Register at park entrances and carry proper gear.
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• Emergency numbers: 133 police (Carabineros), 131 ambulance, 132 fire.

No vaccinations are required for entry, and Chile's health system is the best in the region. Private clinics in Santiago are excellent and expensive; insurance matters, because they will ask how you are paying before they treat anything non-urgent.

Tap water is safe in Santiago and most cities. In the far north it is heavily mineralised — in San Pedro de Atacama and the surrounding towns locals drink bottled water and visitors should too, not for pathogens but for arsenic and salts.

Altitude is a real consideration in the north. San Pedro sits at 2,400 metres, the El Tatio geysers at 4,300, and the altiplano crosses 4,500. That is high enough for genuine altitude sickness, and the classic mistake is flying to Calama and driving straight up to the geysers at dawn the next morning. Give yourself a day, drink water, go easy on alcohol the first night.

Sun. UV is extreme in the northern desert and, for different reasons, in the far south. Cover up in both.

Hantavirus is the Chile-specific one. It is rare but often fatal, carried by a wild rodent in the rural centre and south, and caught by breathing dust in enclosed spaces the mice have been in. Do not sleep in abandoned buildings, air out a closed cabin before occupying it, and camp in the open rather than in sheds. Park signage covers it.

Seafood is a highlight and occasional red tides (marea roja) close shellfish harvesting in the south. Buy from regulated sources; the closures are publicised and taken seriously.

Agricultural controls at the border are strict and enforced. Chile is free of many pests and diseases found elsewhere — which is why its vines still grow on their own roots — and the SAG inspection on arrival is not a formality. Declare or dispose of all fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, honey, meat and dairy. Undeclared items carry fines starting in the hundreds of dollars. There are also internal checkpoints between regions that stop fruit moving north.

Keep the tourist entry record you are issued on arrival. Hotels need it for the IVA exemption and you need it to leave.

Drink-driving law is strict: the limit is 0.03% and a conviction carries real penalties. Chileans take this seriously and so should a visitor with a rental car.

Smoking is banned in all enclosed public spaces and in many outdoor ones, including parks and beaches in several regions.

On etiquette, Chileans greet with one kiss on the right cheek between women, and between a man and a woman; men shake hands. Greeting everyone individually on arriving and leaving is expected, even in a group. Punctuality is loose socially and firm for business.

Two subjects to handle with care: the Pinochet years, on which families divide, and the Mapuche conflict in the Araucanía. Both are live, both are discussed openly among Chileans, and neither is small talk for a visitor to open.

On Rapa Nui, the archaeological protection rules are national law and prosecuted. Do not touch the moai, and do not remove so much as a stone.

The emergency numbers are 133 for the police (Carabineros), 131 for an ambulance (SAMU) and 132 for the fire service (Bomberos, who are volunteers throughout Chile). 130 reports a forest fire to CONAF, which matters in the dry south in summer.

At sea, 137 reaches the maritime rescue service.

Hospital care is good in the cities. Private clinics — Clínica Alemana, Clínica Las Condes and Clínica Santa María in Santiago among them — are the usual choice for foreigners and will want payment or an insurance guarantee up front. Public emergency departments (urgencias) will stabilise anyone.

Pharmacies (farmacias) are everywhere, and a rota keeps one open overnight in each area — the farmacia de turno, posted in the window of the others.

In the mountains and the Patagonian south, register your route at the park administration or with Carabineros before setting out. Rescue in Torres del Paine and on the volcanoes is organised and competent, and it starts from someone knowing you are overdue.