Transfers to San Antonio

[dmbasque]

We arrived at Santiago airport this morning but had plans to stay in Valparaiso for the 5 days prior to the cruise. There have been many discussions around transfers to the port so just wanted to let everyone know that we took the bus (Turbus) from the airport to Valparaiso for $8 each with no issues and nice comfortable drive. We have also booked the bus to take us from Valparaiso to San Antonio on the morning of the 9th for less than $5 each. We had no issues and it was quite easy to do. We took an Uber to our Airbnb for around $4. Everyone we met were very friendly and helpful. Google Translate was definitely my friend but met people with enough English to be able to help us. I also bought a Chilean SIM  card for 500CLP at the bus terminal and paid an extra 6000CLP for unlimited usage for 7 days. We bought an Entel SIM card that should also work in the Chilean ports we are visiting. 
 

[Bacalao]

21 hours ago, dmbasque said:

We arrived at Santiago airport this morning but had plans to stay in Valparaiso for the 5 days prior to the cruise. There have been many discussions around transfers to the port so just wanted to let everyone know that we took the bus (Turbus) from the airport to Valparaiso for $8 each with no issues and nice comfortable drive. We have also booked the bus to take us from Valparaiso to San Antonio on the morning of the 9th for less than $5 each. We had no issues and it was quite easy to do. We took an Uber to our Airbnb for around $4. Everyone we met were very friendly and helpful. Google Translate was definitely my friend but met people with enough English to be able to help us. I also bought a Chilean SIM  card for 500CLP at the bus terminal and paid an extra 6000CLP for unlimited usage for 7 days. We bought an Entel SIM card that should also work in the Chilean ports we are visiting. 
 

How much was the entel SIM card, I am looking at Gigsky, $50 for 30 days

[dmbasque]

I paid 500CLP for the SIM card and another 6000 for unlimited data for 7 days  

[pianoetudes]

Regarding the Chilean sim card, What is the name of carrier?

Sent from my Nokia 5.1 Plus using Tapatalk

[dmbasque]

We used entel. 

[TeeRick]

On 1/5/2020 at 2:04 AM, dmbasque said:

We arrived at Santiago airport this morning but had plans to stay in Valparaiso for the 5 days prior to the cruise. There have been many discussions around transfers to the port so just wanted to let everyone know that we took the bus (Turbus) from the airport to Valparaiso for $8 each with no issues and nice comfortable drive. We have also booked the bus to take us from Valparaiso to San Antonio on the morning of the 9th for less than $5 each. We had no issues and it was quite easy to do. We took an Uber to our Airbnb for around $4. Everyone we met were very friendly and helpful. Google Translate was definitely my friend but met people with enough English to be able to help us. I also bought a Chilean SIM  card for 500CLP at the bus terminal and paid an extra 6000CLP for unlimited usage for 7 days. We bought an Entel SIM card that should also work in the Chilean ports we are visiting. 
 

It is great that you had no issues and saved some money too.  From what I have experienced recently in Santiago (last week), I still think that most tourists should proceed with caution.  I personally would not recommend public transportation right now.

[Margarita Jane]

TeeRick - for those of us with upcoming trips to Santiago, would you expound a little more about your warning? I am aware of the protests in Plaza Italia, and the closed metro in that area. But do you advise against using the metro? Do you advise against using the highway bus from Santiago to San Antonio?

[TeeRick]

We just got off Eclipse today after sailing San Antonio to Buenos Aires the last two weeks.  We stayed a couple of days downtown Santiago at Hotel Plaza San Francisco.  It was covered with graffiti as was the vast majority of the Santiago downtown area.  And a lot was boarded up.  Just not attractive at all which is a real shame. There are now “organized” protests on Fridays.  Our hotel warned us to remove all jewelry and not venture too far that day.  They closed and locked the doors at 9pm.  We dined in the hotel as did most people on the cruise staying there.  One person was out until 10pm eating and felt tear gas in his eyes but he was very close to the plazas and protests.  Small fires but no violence.  So I would just avoid the central downtown.  Stay in one of the neighborhoods.  Those on the cruise who did this enjoyed it with no concerns.  Everybody avoided the Metro and public transportation- why risk it?  We took pre-arranged private transportation to the port with 4 other couples from Cruise Critic for $30 pp.  We used I Love Chile Tours.

Edited January 19, 2020 by TeeRick
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