Chile

South America · Spanish · Chilean Peso

Lunch is the big meal, dinner barely exists before nine, and 'once' at 6pm is bread and tea — not eleven of anything.

Today in Chile

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tipping
Every restaurant bill arrives with a suggested 10% 'propina' — the server asks '¿con propina?' and almost everyone says yes. It's optional in theory only.
safety
Central Santiago and Valparaíso's hills have professional phone-snatchers — keep phones off café tables and wear bags across the body, not on the shoulder.
transport
Distances are extreme: Atacama to Patagonia is thousands of kilometers — fly LATAM, Sky, or JetSmart domestically and book early for the cheap fares.
money
Santiago is largely cashless, but carry pesos once you leave the capital — small towns, rural buses, and empanada stands still run on cash.

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