A Valparaiso Photo Tour

Jocelyn
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A Valparaiso Photo Tour

Due to the fact that we were trying to fit so much into such a short period of time, we only had one day to go to Valparaiso. That day happened to be a Sunday, when many restaurants and shops were closed, but we still had a great time.

We took a 90-minute bus ride from Santiago – check out companies such as Pullman or Turbus, and wandered around the city until we found a spot open for lunch overlooking the water. Definitely recommend La Concepcion Restaurant.

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After lunch we wandered around some more, taking photos of all of the great graffiti art every few minutes.

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If you’d rather participate in an organized tour rather than doing it yourself, they do have Street Art Tours you can join.

Once we were done wandering around, we took a short train ride over to Vina del Mar and found a spot on the beach to grab a few pisco sours and watch the sun slowly start to set. Knowing we had an early wake-up call the next day, we decided we’d make our way to the bus station and hop on the next bus back to Santiago.

One thing to note is that while it was just another day of vacation for us, it was the end of the weekend for everyone living in Chile, which meant everyone else was taking the bus back from the beach to Santiago. When we arrived at the bus station the next available bus wasn’t for another 2.5 hours. We made the decision to spend some extra money, take an uber, and get some actual sleep before a long day of travel the next day. If possible, I’d recommend buying your return ticket in advance if you have the slightest idea of what time you might want to return – especially if it’s a Sunday!

Want to read more about Chile? Check out the posts below!

How to Tackle Chile in a Week

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How to Tackle Chile in a Week

When we jumped on the $200 error fare to Santiago, I’ll be honest, I had NO idea what we were going to do for a week (okay, eight days) in Chile. I assumed we’d have to stick to a bunch of day trips from Santiago (which, upon my research, really wouldn’t have been such a bad trip at all!) and that getting down to Patagonia was going to cost an arm and a leg.

Luckily, once I put my travel research hat on I realized that wouldn’t have to be the case at all.

If you’re not one for action-packed trips and like a more leisurely pace, this itinerary may not be for you, but hopefully anyone reading gets some good tips and ideas out of here anyway!

Day 1: Arrive in Santiago. It probably depends where you are flying from, but we took an 8-hour redeye flight from Mexico City. We’re both lucky enough that we sleep relatively well on planes, and always try to hit the ground running after an overnight flight. We spent the afternoon exploring Santiago – eating, drinking, and taking it all in.

Day 2: Day trip to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. We were flying out early the next morning so an overnight trip wasn’t an option for us – it made for a pretty long day but I knew we wanted to fit in a trip to the graffitied city. This happened to be on a Sunday, and if that happens to you be forewarned that many restaurants will be closed, but we found a hilltop spot and then enjoyed wandering around the streets and checking out all of the art. We also weren’t sure when we would want to head back to Santiago so did not buy a bus ticket in advance – typically not an issue but at the end of the weekend everyone else was heading back to Santiago as well – we opted to take an Uber home rather than a bus that would have gotten us in after midnight. You live and you learn, right?

Day 3: Travel to Puerto Natales in Patagonia. Be prepared for a long day. This involved a 3-hour flight south to Punta Arenas (hello, 600-miles from Antartica!) and then another 2 1/2 hour bus ride north to Puerto Natales. We opted to fly their budget airlines, SKY Airlines, which got us there safe and sound, and then Bus Sur for the comfortable bus ride. Tip: You can buy your tickets online beforehand and choose your seats. Once we arrived, we settled into our hotel and then took a taxi over to The Singular Hotel for a relaxing late afternoon bottle of Chilean wine and snacks.

Day 4: Today’s the day! You’re going to spend the entire day exploring Torres del Paine. Obviously, due to our time constraints, we did not have time to do any of the 5-day treks, so we opted for a full-day tour allowing us to check out many amazing sites along the way and go for short walks and hikes as well.

Day 5: After your full day in Torres, followed by another delicious dinner in Puerto Natales (seriously – head over to our blog about Patagonia to check out where we ate!) you’re back on the bus and headed to the airport. While another long day, we were scheduled to arrive back in Santiago around 5pm, giving us a bit of time to relax before dinner. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed for a few hours so we didn’t end up arriving in Santiago until 8pm. Luckily I had made dinner reservations a block from our hotel and they still seated us an hour after our reservation time!

Day 6: Back at the airport. Yeah, I know! But there are no direct flights from Punta Arenas to Calamia so we were stuck with an overnight in Santiago. There are a couple of flights a day to Calamia but we chose to take the earliest one to maximize our time in San Pedro de Atacama. The flight was much shorter (under 2 hours) but make sure to maximize anytime you have to nap! Once we arrived in Atacama we dropped our stuff, headed to the hot springs, and then Valle de La Luna.

Day 7: Exploring Atacama. We had rented a car which gave us the flexibility to sleep in a little bit later than if we had booked a tour. We spent the day driving around, basically following the tour route that looked the most interesting to us, while avoiding all of the tourists. Want to learn more about what we did? Read more here!

Day 8: It’s time to start the long journey home. It’s still dark out when we leave our hotel – we’re catching the earlier flight to avoid any potential delays that could force us to miss our flight back home. When we arrive in Santiago we still have about 8 hours to kill so we head to the fish market, the yarn street, the historic center, and pretty much just walk the city until we’re in need of pisco sours, Chilean wine, and snacks to get us through. The sun sets and we are on another redeye back to Mexico City.

Once I started researching Chile I realized there was so much greatness all over the country – while we saw A LOT we barely scratched the surface of mountains, lakes, and wine country to see!

Where should we go the next time we make it down to Chile?

Our Favorite Travel Websites

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Our Favorite Travel Websites

People often ask us how we get such great deals and are able to go on as many trips as we do. The truth is – there isn’t just one answer. Sometimes it’s luck when we search for a destination, other times it’s jumping on an amazing deal or error fare, and yes, there are plenty of times (like now, as we try to plan a Christmas/New Years trip to New Zealand) that we track and check flights for days, weeks, and months before deciding that we’ve gotten the best deal.

That all being said, here are some of our favorite sites!

1. Google Flights

This has become a favorite of ours for a few reasons. If you don’t have a specific location in mind, you can use their map view and see different prices for all of the world without having to input individual searches. You can even pick a general length of time and month of the year if you’re schedule is wide open. If you do know the location you’re trying to get to, Google Flights has a calendar view so you can see the cheapest days to fly. Lastly, if you’re loyal to a specific airline or group of airlines (i.e. Skyteam, Southwest) you can choose to only see pricing for those specific airlines or partners.

https://www.google.com/flights/

2. ITA Matrix

It would make sense that ITA Matrix is on our list, as it powers Google Flights. While I don’t find it as user-friendly and you can’t book a flight directly from the website, you have a lot of flexibility for more advanced searches and calendar views. Stay tuned for Toby’s upcoming blog post on how to get the most out of ITA Matrix (it saved us hundreds of dollars on Christmas flights to Vietnam in 2015!)

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

3. Secret Flying

Secret Flying became a fast favorite of mine last fall when AeroMexico had an error fare from Los Angeles, CA to Santiago, Chile for $208. The error existed on Orbitz so we had to book our flights through their website but all worked out and we had no issues – we were even given the MQD (Miles Qualification Dollars) that we would have received if we had paid $1,100 for the flight. Secret Flying is not just good for posting error fares – many times they are just posting great deals all over the world.

Tip: If you do book an error fare, I recommend waiting a bit before booking any other travel, non-refundable accommodations, etc. While we didn’t run into any issues, I have read stories of airlines not honoring the error fare which can definitely throw a wrench in your plans.

Tip: There are new deals everyday. I like to follow them on Facebook and every time I log on to my account I see the most recent deals at the top of my newsfeed.

http://www.secretflying.com/

4. Travel Pirates

This is another one I like to follow on Facebook. The deals are all over the world and not just for flights – they’ll show you deals for hotels and vacation packages as well. This and Secret Flying are great sites to follow if you’re open to booking spontaneous trips (but not necessarily a flight that’s about to leave the next day).

https://www.travelpirates.com/

5. Momondo

I’m a bit newer to using this site but they do allow you to filter by specific airlines or airline partners and have a nice calendar feature as well. It also seems like they some better deals than other sites from time to time.

http://www.momondo.com/

6. Fare Deal Alert

Another website I don’t actually check, but get a daily summary email from. These flights originate from all over the country so depending on what your home airport is, they may not be worth it to you, but they usually provide 5-7 great deals on a daily basis, both domestic and international flights. This is also another one you can follow on Facebook.

http://faredealalert.com/

7. Chase Sapphire Reserve (or Preferred)

Of course, this site wouldn’t apply to those that don’t have these cards, but I have had some good luck booking hotels and rental cars through this site. I have never transferred my points to an airline or hotel, rather I book the travel directly through the site. I have come across hotel listings where the price point on Chase is a bit higher than the hotel’s website (or a third party booking site) but other times Chase has a cheaper rate. And, in one instance, when renting a car at Logan Airport in Boston for a weekend in October was topping out around $300, I was able to book through Chase for $130. Bonus, of course, is being able to use your points, or a combination of points and cash.

https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/sapphire/reserve

While those are our top sites, I still like checking sites like Kayak, Hotels.com, Airbnb, and Skiplagged (although I have yet to actually book something there!).

What are your favorite sites?

High Altitude in Atacama

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High Altitude in Atacama

Before we booked our flight to Chile, I had honestly never heard of the Atacama Desert. It wasn’t until I started researching what there was to do outside of Santiago that I learned about this crazy, but awesome place. There are certainly a few things to know before you go!

We spent two days and two nights in Atacama and accomplished A LOT. While our itinerary was nonstop on this trip, it’s definitely proof that you CAN see it all – at least the mountains, desert, and city, all in one trip. Side note: while researching Chile I learned that there is SO much more of this beautiful country left to visit and I hope to make it back one day to continue exploring.

We took the first flight out of Santiago that morning and arrived in Calama around 8am. We opted to rent a car for this portion of the trip as most of the activities you want to do and sites you want to see really don’t require any kind of tour, or even four wheel drive. We hopped in our SUV and made it to the town of San Pedro de Atacama in under an hour.

Where to Stay

We decided to stay in the sister hotel of Altiplanico Sur – Altiplanico Atacama. It was a short, easy walk into town but at night quite dark – I highly recommend bringing a flashlight if you’re staying here and planning to head into town for dinner and drinks. The rooms were nice and we had private patios and an outdoor shower. Don’t worry – there was an indoor shower as well.

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What to Do

Valle de la Luna – probably the closest thing to town to do is visit the Valle de la Luna. We had read that sunset was the best time to go so we made the drive over just in time – we paid a few dollars and drove to an area where a decent sized group of people were parking. Due to the time we didn’t get to drive all the way around the park, but luckily we captured a pretty great sunset.

Salt Flats & Lagoons – again, one of the benefits of renting our own car meant going at our own pace (aka doing everything we could have done on a tour, but sleeping an extra hour and ending up having parts of Atacama all to ourselves. We stopped by the Atacama Salt Flat, hung out with flamingos (or desperately tried to be quiet enough to get close to them), had a delicious $7 lunch in the village of Socaire on our way to the lagoons, and then visited the Miscanti Miniques lagoons.

Termas de Puritama – when we arrived at our hotel our room wasn’t ready so we decided to head to the hot springs for the afternoon before settling in and then heading to Valle de la Luna for sunset. If you like to relax in natural hot springs I definitely recommend! You drive to a pretty high altitude, walk down into a canyon, pay a small entry fee, and relax! Tip: I don’t care how warm or cold out it is, you’re sitting in crystal clear water at 14,000 feet – wear sunscreen.

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Where to Eat

Adobe – while we didn’t have time to eat many meals in Atacama, Adobe was by far the best place we ate. Be prepared that there may be a fire going so it might get a bit smoky, but the food is delicious and the live music is a lot of fun. Definitely make sure to head here for dinner one night.

Mal de Puna – a spot we passed on the walk from our hotel into the main part of town, this place was a great spot to stop for a drink and snack of ceviche or one of their wok dishes.

La Estaka – honestly, not our favorite meal of the trip, but the ambiance was great, the location was right in the center of town, and hey, there are plenty of other dishes to try – I just didn’t find my curry bursting with taste.

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While Patagonia has a huge draw, I wouldn’t write off visiting the desert if you have some time – especially if you don’t spend much time in deserts, it feels a bit out of this world.

4 Days in Mexico City

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4 Days in Mexico City

I had never given too much thought to Mexico City. After all, I’d done the beaches in Cancun and Cabo and the border was 30 minutes from my house. But after a couple of layovers there and hearing more and more good things about it, we decided to look at flights. $115 round trip from Tijuana. Done.

Before I get into all of the things we ate and did, here are a few tips I have:

  1. We went to Mexico City in July which is part of the rainy season. (Yeah, living in San Diego I tend not to consider those things). I was a bit dismayed checking the forecast before we went but don’t let the “rainy season” stop you from traveling there. It was pleasant during the day, sometimes hot and even sunny. The rain would start between 4pm and 5pm and every day we were there it wouldn’t last too long. It also happened to rain whenever we were heading back to the hotel for a nap, shower, or watching Lucha Libre so it didn’t bother us in the slightest.
  2. If you’ve read about Mexico City at all you’ll know to expect traffic. And you should. But if you don’t mind walking and are staying in a central location you don’t always have to hop in a car or bus. We didn’t take the Metro but did take Uber every time we needed transportation – it’s ridiculously cheap and felt safer than trying to catch a cab.
  3. Mexico City sits at about 7,500 feet. Altitude affects (and doesn’t affect) everyone differently but I would just remember that you’re pretty high up there! We tried to drink as much water as possible (this also may have been because we were also drinking beer, wine, and mezcal).
  4. There is not a whole lot going on in Mexico City on Sunday night. I didn’t find Monday night to be too much better. We knew this going into our trip so planned accordingly and still had some great meals, but just something to be aware of – 90% of the bars and restaurants you might be looking to go to will not be open (if they’re open on Sundays they’ll be closing early).

Where to Stay

We opted to save a few bucks and used points at the Sheraton Maria Isabel which I’d recommend. It’s a really central location with nice rooms that you’d expect from a nice Sheraton. Apparently, there is a second tower that hasn’t been updated yet but since we didn’t stay there I can’t speak to that. If you want to splurge a bit the Four Seasons and St. Regis are down the road and really, at under $300 a night (at the time we visited) not a splurge for the fact that they are the Four Seasons and St. Regis. Or, you can find plenty of great Airbnbs for low prices if you’d rather go that route.

Where to Eat (and Drink)

La Docena – not only was this place delicious, it’s open on Sunday nights! And near the arena where you can catch a Lucha Libre match. La Docena is known for their oysters but they plenty of other seafood and meat dishes too. But…their oysters…now, I honestly don’t get what the big deal is over a raw oyster but these…these were smoked with tuna crudo on top. They were not only the best oysters I will probably ever have in my life, but just generally a really great dish. We also had some yummy mussels, a tuna special, and summer wine (whatever that is) mixed with vodka served in a penguin.

Seneri – Seneri is a contemporary Mexican restaurant that sits above Mercado Roma (which looked delicious itself). I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a nice dinner date. They took their time bringing out our food and we had a nice night with a bottle of wine from Guadalupe Valley.

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Fonda Fina – another restaurant in Roma Norte, this place was a bit more casual but still definitely delicious. We had pork belly sope, a squash blossom salad, and a flank streak. After the small plates and salads you get to pick your meat (or fish), sauce, and side. Try the mezcal ice cream to end your meal. Also…they’re open on Mondays!

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Lardo – we walked here for brunch on Sunday. Expect to wait a bit (perhaps not during the week). You can buy a coffee and pastry while you wait. We ended up sitting at the bar and had two good egg dishes and some mimosas. I thought the food was pretty good and I wasn’t feeling all that adventurous with my order so it would be worth going back to.

Parian Condesa – we checked out this food hall on Tuesday afternoon. It was pretty empty so we were able to get a seat out on the back patio and they have waiters that serve you from any of the stalls in the food hall. We ended up ordering some delicious guacamole and had a few tacos as well, but they had all kinds of varieties of food if you need a break from Mexican!

Tacos!

El Califa – located just a couple of blocks from the Sheraton – we had a variety of delicious tacos with lots of cheese, guacamole, and a few beers. The tacos definitely differentiate in price and I think there are definitely cheaper taco places out there, but this was really good!

El Farolito – located in Polanco, this was another delicious taco stop. I felt like I overate at El Califa so tried a little bit less here, but overall I think I preferred El Califa. This stop did finally bring us to the neighborhood of Polanco so we spent some time walking around after and checking things out after that.

Drinks!

Due to the fact that we arrived on Saturday and Sundays and Mondays are completely dead, we didn’t have a chance to check out as many places as I would have liked.

Felina Bar – a small, dark, hipster bar that made us feel like we were in Brooklyn or San Francisco. You could tell the bartenders put a lot of love into making their drinks (and a lot of time). We had a fun time here the drinks were yummy but if small, dark, hipster bar isn’t your scene I would probably skip it.

Licorera Limantour – we found seats at the bar here on a Saturday night and tried a couple of different signature cocktails. Delicious! I definitely recommend coming here for a drink. They also played amazing old school hip hop music the entire time we were there adding to the greatness.

La Cerveceria de Barrio Condesa – we stopped here for a drink and to take in some people watching. Located on the corner of a cute street with shops and restaurants, you can grab a beer and a variety of Mexican food (we went with some tuna which seemed to be one of the themes of the weekend). Definitely a nice stop on an afternoon walk!

To Do

Teotihuacan – these Aztec ruins are located about 45 minutes outside of the city. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there walking around and hiking up and down pyramids. We went on a Monday morning, which I’d definitely recommend — or at least, I wouldn’t recommend going on a Sunday when it’s free for Mexicans so more crowded, and by the time we were heading out a little after 1pm it had gotten a lot more crowded than when we arrived at 10:30am. Be prepared to walk! We probably walked around 5 miles when we were there and climbed A LOT of flights of stairs – but the ruins were cool and it was definitely nice to get a break from the city.

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Chapultepec Park – this huge park is in walking distance from the Sheraton. We checked out the castle which was pretty cool and just spent some time walking around the park. We also found Alas de la Ciudad (the wings of the city) which is fun for a photo op! We heard the Anthropology Museum was great as well, but didn’t make it there.

Luche Libre – so, so entertaining. We ended up going on Sunday at 5pm which was perfect because 1) it ended up raining while we were at the match 2) it was close to La Docena which is open on Sunday nights for dinner. I think we might have paid around $15 for tickets and then got cheap giant Coronas and random snacks. There were 5 matches and the entire thing lasted for 5 hours. They don’t have matches every night but if you’re in town when they do, it’s definitely an entertaining (and cheap) two hours.

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Centro Historico – the historic center of the city wasn’t my favorite but worth checking out the Zocalo and the cathedral and walking around for a bit. When you need an escape from the chaos head up La Terraza in the Gran Hotel and have a drink overlooking the square.

Walk around! La Condesa, Roma Norte, Zona Rosa, Polanco – there are so many restaurants, bars, and shops to check out and when it’s a nice day, it’s nice to just walk!

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Casa Azul (Frida Kahlo Museum) – our experience at the Frida Kahlo Museum wasn’t the best – the whole experience was completely unorganized and crowded and I’m not sure if I can recommend it (perhaps I just wasn’t appreciating it enough). But, it did bring us to the area of Coyoacan which felt like a small town worlds away from Mexico City. If you’re in the area on Saturday there is a big market – there were still a handful of stalls open when we were there on a Tuesday. Note: closed on Mondays (as most museums are).

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All in all we had a great time in Mexico City, and for the price of flights and hotels, we would definitely go back – but probably make sure to leave by Sunday evening next time. There are so many more delicious restaurants and bars to check out! In addition to where we went, we plan to go back and try out Tacqueria el Greco, Volver, Quintonil, Maximo, Pujol, Peua, and Guzina Oaxaca for food and Gin Gin, Baltra Bar, La Mascota, Bosforo, Maison Artemisa, Romita Comedor for drinks!

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