I want to go travel to Chile, but I found the tour in here is rather expensive,?

Question

any good suggestion if I want to go backpacking? or should I find a local travel agency over there? will they save a lot of $? Did peoploe over there understnad basic english? the place I want to go is atacama desert, Fjord, patargoria (especailly Torres Del Paine) and Santiago. Or is there any good suggestion on local travel agency that offer cheap tour? thanks.

Answer 1

I'm in Argentina but I've been to Chile many times.

It's not easy to find people who speaks good English. If you go to an international hotel you'll find assistance in English for sure.

You'll find people with limited skills in English, be patient and you'll get to communicate. Tours for foreigners usually includes a bilingual guide.

Be aware of scams, a foreigner who doesn't speak the local language is always a good mark. Not long ago I saw a guy here selling drinks on the street offering water bottles at 3 us$ to some american tourists. That bottle is 40 cts at the stores.

Try to contact an agent in Santiago, with the current situation it shouldn't be expensive for you. Unfortunately, I don't know agents in Chile.

The tour you're talking about includes places more than 2 thousand kilometers away. Atacama is way up in the north, Santiago is in the middle and the fjords and the Patagonia are in the south.

Answer 2

Been 7 times there and most of the times I booked my tours there. Try these two agencies:

-Turismo Cocha (www.cocha.cl)

- Otsi tours (www.otsi.cl)

Their web page has an english section and you can find some info there (prices, dates, etc)

Been to Torres del Paine, it was breathtaking! However, staying there was quite expensive, as well as in Atacama, mainly because I stayed in Explora Patagonia and Explora Atacama which were fabulous hotels but not your average priced hotel. However, there are TONS of smaller places for backpackers. I recommend you contact these two travel agencies and see about prices and maybe ask them to recommend you other cheaper places to stay.