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Questions about South America


angeleyes27
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We are booked on the NCL for the end of January. It has been rough trying to book this trip. First problem was trying was trying to book a hotel precruise. We had to decide between Santiago or Valparisio. It seems that many people use the Ibis in Valpariso. It seemed that some people complained about crime in the neighborhood and chaotic check in. I also saw Verso which is up the hill which is more money but seems to be a bit more quiet. Anyone who has any experience with these?

Second, we want to take a tour both our arrival day and before the cruise. The things that interest us are either Cajon del Maipo or a coastal trip on one day. And then a tour of Santiago, Valparisio and Vina Del Mar on the other. We want to take the funicular up to Cerro San Cristobal, see the flower clock, the Easter Island statue and Nerudo house. Our main interests are pretty scenery and photography but also like historical areas, historic churches, and quaint villages but not into wineries, most museums, seedy areas. We even considered driving to Cajon del Maipo from airport as we don't know if our flight will be late. Any advice as to if Cajon del Maipo or coastal towns are better for us? Any advice as to a reputable tour guide or company who would be reliable and not rip us off? There are so many on here and I don't want to get stuck in a foreign country when we don't speak any Spanish. I have used Viator with success in the past. Your response is very much appreciated

 

 

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We stayed at the Ibis in Valparaiso for two night last Feb. It was perfect. We asked for a room with a sea view and they gave us one on the fifth floor. There were no line ups. We found the area to be safe. We enjoyed Valparaiso more than Santiago.

 

We also stayed at the IBIS Estacion in Santiago. It was perfect. We selected it because it was a block away from the bus depot where we arrived from Valparaiso. We went to the same bus depot to get catch the airport bus a few days later. It is also on top of the subway line which we found very convenient and easy to use.

 

We joined one of those free walking tours in Valpo. It was very good. Getting to Santiago was very straightforward. We paid $4. each for a direct bus that was very nice. We rented a car in Santiago and drove south on our own for a few days.

 

We have no Spanish and really did not have any language issues whatsoever.

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We are on NCL Sun Feb. 17, 2018. Our departure port was changed from Valparaiso to San Antonio. If your cruise is in 2018, please check your departure port. Maybe you already know this and are choosing to stay in Valparaiso. If so, disregard the advice. Either way, happy cruising!

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  • 2 weeks later...

There are some reasons why many ships change into San Antonio port. So is 1.30hours distance. They offer tours in San Antonio wich is a small town or you need to be picked up to go to Valparaiso to Santiago Chile. Is full day. A private tour is convenient so you skip lines and waiting trying to optimize the time. I got the contact of a lady who knows all southamerica and specially that issues in the port is liz2arg to yahoo dot com

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We stayed at the Ibis in Valparaiso for two night last Feb. It was perfect. We asked for a room with a sea view and they gave us one on the fifth floor. There were no line ups. We found the area to be safe. We enjoyed Valparaiso more than Santiago.

 

We also stayed at the IBIS Estacion in Santiago. It was perfect. We selected it because it was a block away from the bus depot where we arrived from Valparaiso. We went to the same bus depot to get catch the airport bus a few days later. It is also on top of the subway line which we found very convenient and easy to use.

 

We joined one of those free walking tours in Valpo. It was very good. Getting to Santiago was very straightforward. We paid $4. each for a direct bus that was very nice. We rented a car in Santiago and drove south on our own for a few days.

 

We have no Spanish and really did not have any language issues whatsoever.

 

I could have written this post. We did the EXACT same thing, and I echo the comments that the area around the IBIS in Valparaiso was perfectly safe. The IBIS Estacion in Santiago is supposedly not in the best of neighborhoods, but we saw no issues with tons of business people and students on the streets. Maybe avoid the streets after midnight, but during the day - no worries.

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Yes, I got on the roll call. I did find a hotel and I am now researching tour groups to get to the port. It takes them a while to get back to me. I did read some good and some bad about the Ibis Valparaiso. They did change us to San Antonio. We are a little nervous about using the buses as neither of us can speak Spanish. We made out fine using the subways in Hong Kong and Tokyo, but English was widely spoken. It doesn't seem like that is the case here.

 

 

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We had absolutely no issue with English during our travels in Uruguay, Argentina, or Chile. We had one B&B in Chile where the owner did not speak great English. However her English was much better than our Spanish.

 

We did not have any language issues at bus stations, car rental agencies, etc. In fact, quite the opposite. When we went to the bus depot at Valpo we just asked for tickets to Santiago. Same in Santiago when we caught the bus to the airport. We found that just about everyone in the bus information booths in all three countries spoke at least three languages, including English. Same for the Santiago subway system.

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We travel frequently. We in North America tend to be a very uneducated group when it comes to languages as compared other parts of the world. It borders on arrogance how we expect others in foreign lands to speak our language and indeed accept our currency as legal tender. My French picks up substantially after three days of immersion but that is the extent of it. No such luck in South America though. Spanish or German would have been a little more useful.

 

We had the great good fortune to meet an elderly gentleman in a small town near Da Lat, Vietnam. He (in his early eighties we suspect) had not used his French for years and this is what he tried when he asked where we were from. I am in my mid sixties with poor French. We were well matched from a language perspective and somehow it worked. Or at least my DW said it did. He was a delightful gentleman. You never know who or what you will experience when traveling. I guess that is the essence of why we travel.

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Speaking for myself, I am not arrogant. I don’t expect people to speak English but knowing if they do or not lets me know whether I can travel independently or not. In Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and most of Europe, you can always meet someone who speaks English and many signs are bilingual. So I could easily use public transport. In China, I had to take a tour since English was only spoken by a few. I can get by with my German. My husband can get by with his French. I always try to learn a couple words in each language. Because we are a large country which speaks one language, we get rusty because we don’t have any reason to use a different language.

 

 

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When I was in South Korea, I met a man from Kuwait. I asked him what language was spoken there. He said English because it is the language of business. I was surprised by that. I admire people who can speak multiple languages. I speak English, and can speak some basic German phrases and converse a lit, also a little Polish which I learned as a child but I’m rusty

 

 

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We are booked on the NCL for the end of January. It has been rough trying to book this trip. First problem was trying was trying to book a hotel precruise. We had to decide between Santiago or Valparisio. It seems that many people use the Ibis in Valpariso. It seemed that some people complained about crime in the neighborhood and chaotic check in. I also saw Verso which is up the hill which is more money but seems to be a bit more quiet. Anyone who has any experience with these?

Second, we want to take a tour both our arrival day and before the cruise. The things that interest us are either Cajon del Maipo or a coastal trip on one day. And then a tour of Santiago, Valparisio and Vina Del Mar on the other. We want to take the funicular up to Cerro San Cristobal, see the flower clock, the Easter Island statue and Nerudo house. Our main interests are pretty scenery and photography but also like historical areas, historic churches, and quaint villages but not into wineries, most museums, seedy areas. We even considered driving to Cajon del Maipo from airport as we don't know if our flight will be late. Any advice as to if Cajon del Maipo or coastal towns are better for us? Any advice as to a reputable tour guide or company who would be reliable and not rip us off? There are so many on here and I don't want to get stuck in a foreign country when we don't speak any Spanish. I have used Viator with success in the past. Your response is very much appreciated

 

Hello in Valparaiso City you can find two good hotel in downtown, the first is the Ibis Valparaiso and the second is Diego de Almagro Valparaiso,,,,,in Cerro Concepcion Hill and Cerro Alegre Hill you can find several small boutique hotels with many restaurant, pub, coffea shop ,,,and good nightlife

If you need a private driver for transfer or tour you could contact privatedriversantiago@hotmail.com,,,,,, have a nice trip ,,,best regards

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