Santiago, Chile to Valle Nevado?

Question

Can anyone tell me how hard it is to get from the city of Santiago, Chile, to the Valle Nevado ski area, 37 miles north of the city? I want to stay in Santiago but i dont want to have to work to hard to get there during the day. Im talking bus... shuttle, hitchhiking? What should i do? or can you recommend a good place to stay. Thatd be sweet

Answer 1

There are shuttles from any big hotel going to Valle Nevado which actually is not that far from Santiago. I have been 7 times to Santiago and I stronly recommend Hotel Kennedy which is a 5 star boutique hotel which is not that expensive. Another inexpensive hotel which is great is Holiday Inn express which is in Vitacura, near nice restaurants. However my personal best is Hyatt regency but it is quite on the expensive side although ti is worth every cent.

In these 3 hotels I have seen tours offered to Valle Nevado (for the day). You can also talk to taxi drivers (not from the street but those offered in hotels) and work on a nice fee to take you to Valle Nevado. In Valle Nevado you'll find several taxis too.

Answer 2

The road from Santiago to Valle Nevado is short, but it is an uphill winding road with very sharp turn and which operates in the direction Santiago-Valle Nevado in the morning and Valle Nevado-Santiago in the afternoon. I don't remember seeing buses heading in that direction, other than the hotel and ski-tour buses.

Your best bet is to strike a package deal with a taxi (since he won't be able to return to Santiago once he drops you 'cause of the "one-way" rule that applies in the morning) or one of the Hotel Buses.

Another possibility is to talk to the ski-rental places in Santiago. Most of them have transportation to the slopes. I remember one at the "OMNIUM" shopping center in Providencia Ave. close to the Escuela Militar metro station.

Staying in Valle Nevado during the ski season will be extremely expensive.