On a long weekend in October we hired a mid-size car in Santiago with Chile Inside.The plan was to cross Chile...obviously just from East to West!

Renting the car proceeded without any problems, the service was fast and very friendly and the car was in perfect shape.

We took off Saturday morning from Santiago heading towards the Andes. The journey was marvelous, especially driving up the highway Paso de los Libertadores. The drive was very exciting but not for people who get car sick. After 2.5 hours and 170 km, we arrived at the border offices, where you can cross to Argentina trough the tunnel. We didn’t have permission to cross the border (special insurance is required for rental cars) so we just parked the car and explored the area on foot. The deserted skiing area around the Lago de los Incas seemed desolate by the lack of snow; however, after a little while searching, we managed to find some snow at about 2.700 meters altitude.

Then, our plan to stick our feet in snow and into the Pacific Ocean in one day came into force. Looking back I can’t decide which felt more cold, they were both freezing! Driving to Valparaiso we needed 4 hours for the 200 km distance. It was very interesting to pass by the different landscapes driving down from 2.700 meters in the mountains.

In Valparaiso, driving was an awakening experience as our hostel was located on one of the numerous hills, making us drive on narrow and steep cobblestone streets.

All together it was an amazing experience and I would recommend everyone to rent a car in order to have the flexibility to visit and explore places that are difficult to reach by bus.

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