Chile & Easter Island

This is the Chiloé chapter from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Island guide-book.

When the early-morning fog shrouds misty-eyed and misunderstood Chiloé, it’s immediately apparent something different this way comes. Isla Grande de Chiloé is South America’s fifth-largest island and is home to a fiercely independent, seafaring people.

• genuflect in awe at Chiloé’s Unesco-listed wooden churches
• maps
• trek across Chiloé’s landscape to the mythological Dock of Souls
• transport
• take a dawn kayak trip through a misty sunken forest in Chepu
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Ancud, Monumento Natural Islotes de Puñihuil, Quemchi, Isla Mechuque, Dalcahue, Isla Quinchao, Peninsula de Rilán, Castro, Parque Nacion-al Chiloé, Parque Tantauco, Quellón.

This is the Easter Island (Rapa Nui) chapter from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Is-land guidebook.

Few areas in the world possess a more mystical pull than Easter Island, one of the most iso-lated places on Earth. Endowed with the most logic-defying statues on the planet – the strikingly familiar moai –it emanates a magnetic, mysterious vibe.

• take a lesson in archaeology at Rano Raraku, the ‘nursery’ of the moai
• maps
• watch the sun rise above a row of enigmatic statues of Ahu Tongariki
• transport
• have a snooze under the swaying palms of alluring Anakena beach
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Hanga Roa, Parque Nacional Rapa Nui, Understand Easter Island, Easter Island Today, History, Culture, Arts, Environment, Survival Guide.

This is the Middle Chile chapter from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Island guidebook.

If you love wine, fine dining, never-ending springs, street art, skiing, hiking, mountain biking, surfing or just lazying for days on wild coasts, there’s a spot in Middle Chile that was created just for you.

• get lost in the steep maze of mural-lined alleyways that spiderweb across the hills of Val-paraíso
• maps
• swirl, sniff and sip the complex and full-bodied reds of the Colchagua Valley
• transport
• follow in the footsteps of the real-life castaway who inspired the novel Robinson Crusoe on the Archipiélago Juan Fernández
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Valparaíso & the Central Coast, Valparaíso, Viña Del Mar, Casablanca Valley Wineries, Quintay, Isla Negra, Parque Nacional la Campana, Aconcagua Valley, Los Andes, Portillo, Southern Heartland, Colchagua Valley, Matanzas, Pichilemu, Curicó, Parque Nacional Radal Siete Tazas, Maule Valley, Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, Chillán, Termas de Chillán & Valle Las Trancas, Coastal Towns, Concepción, Salto Del Laja, Los Ange-les, Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja, Angol, Parque Nacional Nahuelbuta, Archipiélago Juan Fernández, San Juan Bautista, Parque Nacional Archipielago Juan Fernandez.

This is the Norte Chico chapter from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Island guide-book.

For such a small sliver of land, Chile’s Norte Chico (Little North) offers up fantastic diversity. La Serena, a coastal colonial capital and the region’s largest city, is a must-see for anybody visit-ing.

• take in captivating scenery, serene villages and historic pisco distilleries in the Elqui Val-ley
• maps
• spend the day on a pretty beach followed by a night of seafood feasting in Norte Chico’s coolest little beach town, Bahía Inglesa
• transport
• hike desert trails and find a slice of paradise on untouched sands in Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: La Serena, South of La Serena, Elqui Valley, Reserva Nacional Pingüino de Humboldt, Huasco Valley, Parque Nacional Llanos de Challe, Copiapó, Parque Nacional Nevado Tres Cruces, Ojos del Salado, Caldera, Bahía Inglesa, Parque Nacional Pan de Azúcar.

This is the Norte Grande chapter from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Island guidebook.

Dust devils zoom wantonly through sun-scorched Norte Grande with its undulating curves of rock and stone, Andean lagoons, snowcapped volcanoes, salt flats and sensuously perforated coastline. Its vast, uninhabited spaces touch the soul and the imagination.

• watch jaw-dropping sunsets, sand-board down golden dunes and photograph topaz lakes against chiseled snow-covered peaks in San Pedro de Atacama
• maps
• contemplate the world’s oldest mummies Museo Arqueológico San Miguel de Azapa
• transport
• breath in the clean (but very thin) air while visiting Andean villages and high-altitude lakes in the Parque Nacional Lauca
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: San Pedro de Atacama & Around, Reserva Nacional Los Flamencos, El Tatio Geysers, Calama, Chuquicamata, Antofagasta, South of Antofagasta, Iquique, East of Iquique, Pisagua, Arica & Around, Route 11, Putre, Parque Nacional Lauca, South of Parque Nacional Lauca.

This is the Northern Patagonia chapter from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Island guidebook.

Exuberant rainforest, scrubby steppe and unclimbed peaks crowd the Northern Patagonian horizon, but the essence of this place is water, from the clear cascading rivers to the turquoise lakes, massive glaciers and labyrinthine fjords.

• paddle the misty fjords and trek the temperate rainforests of the excellent Parque Nacional Pumalín
• maps
• admire the rural farms, rushing rivers and hanging glaciers while tracing the length of the mythic Carretera Austral
• transport
• ride on remote Andean trails with traditional cowboys
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Hornopirén, Parque Nacional Pumalín, Chaitén, Fu-taleufú, La Junta, Puyuhuapi, Parque Nacional Queulat & Around, Coyhaique, Reserva Nacion-al Río Simpson, Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo, Villa Cerro Castillo, Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez, Chile Chico, Reserva Nacional Lago Jeinimeni, Puerto Río Tranquilo, Parque Nacional Laguna San Rafael, Cruce el Maitén, Puerto Guadal, Puerto Bertrand & Río Baker, Parque Nacional Patagonia, Cochrane, Caleta Tortel, Puerto Yungay, Villa O’Higgins.

This chapter contains the Welcome to Chile, Chile’s Top 20, Need to Know, If You Like..., Month by Month, Itineraries, Chile Outdoors, Travel with Children, and Regions at a Glance chapters from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Island guidebook.

Your journey to Chile & Easter Island starts here. You’ll find the tools to plan your adventure: where to go and when, how much to budget, plus in-depth info on Chile and Easter Island’s na-tional parks and wine culture.

• tailor-made itineraries, arranged by region, themes and events
• list of highlights and best experiences
• everything you need to know about traveling with children and outdoor activities in Chile and Easter Island
• user-friendly country overview ensures you won’t miss a thing

Coverage includes: Welcome to Chile, Chile’s Top 20, Need to Know, If You Like: Urban Exploration, Hiking, Animal Encounters, Food & Nightlife, Memorable Land-scapes, Remote Getaways, Wine Country, Living History, Pure Adrenaline, Month by Month, Itin-eraries, Chile Outdoors, Travel with Children, and Regions at a Glance.

This is the Santiago chapter from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Island guide-book.

Surprising, cosmopolitan, energetic, sophisticated and worldly, Santiago is a city of synco-pated cultural currents, madhouse parties, expansive museums and top-flight restaurants. No wonder 40% of Chileans call the leafy capital city home.

• gaze out over Santiago from the breathtaking summit of Cerro San Cristóbal
• maps
• trace the roots of Chilean culture and art at the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino
• transport
• sample paila marina (seafood stew) and watch locals bargain for fresh fish at Mercado Central
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: History, Sights, Activities, Courses, Tours, Festivals & Events, Sleeping, Eating, Drinking & Nightlife, Entertainment, Shopping, Around Santiago.

This is the Southern Patagonia chapter from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Is-land guidebook.

Pounding westerlies, barren seascapes and the ragged spires of Torres del Paine – this is the distilled essence of Patagonia. It’s a place for travelers to hatch their greatest adventures, wheth-er hiking through rugged landscapes, seeing penguins by the thousands or horseback riding across the steppe.

• discover the remote backside of Parque Nacional Torres del Paine
• maps
• join the march of the penguins on Isla Magdalena
• transport
• hike under the toothy Fitz Roy Range near El Chaltén, Argentina’s trekking capital
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Magallanes Region, Punta Arenas & Around, Última Esperanza, Puerto Natales, Cueva del Milodón, Parque Nacional Bernardo O’Higgins, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Argentine Patagonia, El Calafate, Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (South), El Chaltén, Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (North).

This is the Sur Chico chapter from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Island guide-book.

The regions of La Araucanía, Los Ríos and the Lakes District jar travelers with menacing ice-topped volcanoes, glacial lakes overflowing with what looks like melted jade, roaring rivers running through forests and coastal enclaves inhabited by the indomitable Mapuche people.

• visit one of the most beautiful places in the world you’ve probably never heard of: Caleta Condor
• maps
• trek the otherworldly landscapes of La Araucanía’s volcanically altered national parks: Reserva Nacional Malalcahuello-Nalcas
• transport
• push your adrenaline limits daily in Sur Chico’s high-adventure capital, Pucón
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: La Araucanía, Temuco, Parque Nacional Conguillío, Curacautín, Reserva Nacional ­Malalcahuello-Nalcas, Melipeuco, Villarrica, Pucón, Parque Nacional Villarrica, Río Liucura & Río Caburgua Valleys, Parque Nacional Huerquehue, Cu-rarrehue, Los Ríos, Valdivia & Around, The Lakes District, Osorno, Parque Nacional Puyehue, Frutillar, Puerto Varas, Ensenada, Parque Nacional Vicente Pérez Rosales, Cochamó, Río Co-chamó Valley, Río Puelo, Puelo Valley, Puerto Montt.

This is the Tierra del Fuego chapter from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Island guidebook.

At the southern extreme of the Americas, the immense Fuegian wilderness, with its slate-gray seascapes, crimson bogs and wind-worn forests, endures as awesome and irritable as in the era of exploration. Shared by Chile and Argentina, this area is also lovely and wild.

• trek around jagged peaks and sculpted landscapes on the burly five-day circuit of Dientes de Navarino
• maps
• explore the ancient moss-bound Fuegian forests of Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego
• transport
• splurge on fresh local seafood in gourmet style in Ushuaia and race through frozen valleys on a dogsledding tour
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Chilean Tierra Del Fuego, Porvenir, Interior Tierra del Fuego, Parque Nacional Yendegaia, Isla Navarino, Cabo de Hornos & Surrounding Islands, Ar-gentine Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia, Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, Tolhuin & Lago Fagnano, Río Grande.

This chapter contains the Chile Today, History, Life in Chile, Literature & Cinema, The Natu-ral World, National Parks, Directory A–Z, Transportation, and Language chapters from Lonely Planet’s Chile & Easter Island guidebook.

All the info you need on everything from history, culture, Chilean wine and nature to flights, public transport, climate, money, the internet... you name it. Get tips for women travellers, gay and lesbian travellers, travellers with disabilities, and travellers with kids. And get the most out of your conversations with a handy language guide and glossary.

• a rundown and history of delectable Chilean wines
• info on the natural world, from the land and wildlife to current environmental issues
• full coverage of Chile’s national parks
• details on the national psyche and life in Chile

Coverage includes: Chile Today, History, Life in Chile, Literature & Cin-ema, The Natural World, National Parks, Directory A–Z, Transportation, and Language.