Chile: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Chile feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 245 written places.
Reserved, orderly and proud of it - the un-Caribbean end of Latin America.
✓ Considered polite
- Greet with one cheek kiss socially, handshake in business
- Respect queues - Chile queues like Britain
- Plan for distance - Atacama to Patagonia is 4000 kilometres of country
- Try completos and the seafood - the coastline feeds the cuisine
✗ Better avoided
- Compare Chile loudly to its neighbours
- Expect spicy food - despite the name, aji is mild company
- Underestimate Patagonian wind - it knocks over the unprepared
- Skip the earthquakes briefing - locals are calm because buildings are ready
Worth knowing
- Cards are universal in cities
- Tipping: the 10% propina sugerida on bills is standard to accept
- Domestic flights beat buses for the huge north-south hops
- Santiago's metro is the continent's best
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.