We’re dreaming about you, Chile.
Chile turned out to be a dream destination of ours, one we didn’t know we had until we actually went and explored this amazing country.
While traveling through Chile, we learned how many amazing things this country is known for such as the most incredible and diverse landscapes we’ve ever seen, delicious and cheap wine, and oh-so many penguins.
So in this blog post, we will think back on our trip while sharing all the great things that Chile is famous and known for. Hopefully, it’ll help convince you to buy those flight tickets towards Chile on your next trip.
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1. The narrowest country
If you look at Chile on the world map, you will notice that it’s very long and very narrow. In fact, Chile is famous for being the narrowest country in the world.
According to Guinness World Records, it is 4300 kilometres long and 175 kilometres wide, which makes it not only the narrowest country in the world, but also one of the longest countries in the world.
That’s why traveling through Chile by car or public transport can take a pretty long time, so most visitors choose to fly to the different parts of the country.
2. Wine
Chile is one of the biggest wine producers in the world. While it’s surpassed by much bigger wine countries like Italy and France, Chile has been the biggest wine producer in South America since 2021.
It was such a pleasure to go to the wine aisle in the supermarkets in Chile and pick out a top-notch wine for just a couple of dollars. We absolutely loved the Chilean wine and we think it’s one of the greater things that Chile is famous and known for.
If you want to dive deeper into the Chilean wine, we suggest you go on a tour to one of the many vineries located around Chile.
3. Penguins
While Antarctica wears the crown when it comes to its giant penguin populations, Chile comes in as a second best.
There are just SO many penguins in Chile, and while most of them live in the South, you can also spot some species along many central and northern parts of Chile’s coast. There are five species of penguins living in Chile: King, Magellanic, Rockhopper, Humboldt, and Macaroni.
During our trip, we booked a tour to Magdalena Island to see the breeding ground of the Magellanic penguins. It was honestly one of the best days we had during our trip to South America, and we cannot recommend it enough if you visit Patagonia during Chile’s Summer months.
4. Easter Island
Rapa Nui, commonly known as the Easter Island, is one of Chile’s most famous and mysterious places.
Located in the Pacific Ocean, more than 3000 kilometres away from mainland Chile, it will take you a 5-hour flight to get to the remote island from Santiago.
Because of its remote location, the fascination for Rapa Nui and its history is big. Around year 300, a Polynesian people settled on the island, built a society, and raised these unique stone sculptures known as “moai”.
Since then, Rapa Nui has been inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage, and it’s a popular destination for the 100.000 tourists who journey to the island every year to see the magnificent stone figures.
5. Pisco Sour
Looking to either unwind or get the party started? Don’t miss the opportunity to have a Pisco Sour while you’re travelling through Chile.
Pisco Sour is a Chilean (and Peruvian) cocktail that’s made from Pisco (a type of Brandy), lime juice, syrup, and egg white with Angostura bitters as garnish. The taste is sweet and silky, but it also has a dash of sour and bitter, which altogether is a great combination.
So make sure to try one of the most famous drinks while you’re in Chile. But watch out, Pisco is a strong spirit, and it won’t take many cocktails before you may find it difficult to walk. If you know what I mean.
6. Chilean Patagonia
Patagonia is a geographical region in the Southern part of the South American continent, which is governed by Chile and Argentina.
It was a dream of ours to travel to Patagonia, also known as the “End of the world”, and see what these remote nature areas of the world is like. So we booked a flight and spent 10 days traveling through the region.
We learned that Patagonia is a nature seeker’s paradise. The area is encompassed by incredible landscapes including fjords, lakes, mountains, and glaciers. On top of that, the area is full of wildlife like penguins, pumas, guanacos, and many other species!
We could honestly have spend much longer in Patagonia, but it’s not exactly a budget-friendly destination, so we’ll have to return some other time for more exploration.
7. Empanadas and completos
No guide to Chile’s greatest famous things is completed without us mentioning our favorite Chilean foods.
To be honest, we never really got the hang of the Chilean cuisine. Not that whatever we ate didn’t taste good, but while we were traveling through Chile, our focus (and budget) was on visiting the mountains, so we sadly neglected the whole food scene.
However, some cheap eats did catch our attention. I think that we ate either empanadas or completos on a daily basis… They’re so good!
Try the Empanada de Pino, which is a pastry pocket filled with meats, olives, egg, onion, and raisins. Or go for Empanada de Queso if you love something cheesy like me.
If you want a cheap and quick meal that’s a bit more filling, then go for the completo, which is Chile’s version of a hot dog. Apart from the hot dog bun and the sausage that we already know, the completo is also topped with tomato, avocado, and mayonnaise. It may sound like a weird mix to people who are used to the regular ketchup/mustard mix on the top, but honest to god, it’s amazing!
If you want to learn more about the food in Chile, then check out this blog post about Traditional Chilean Dishes from Amigo Foods.
8. Atacama Desert
We’ve established that you can find fjords, snowy mountain caps, and penguins in the southern part of the country. What’s great about Chile is the diversity of the landscapes. You can find the complete opposite terrain if you just head North towards the Atacama Desert.
The Atacama Desert is the driest place on earth. The valleys inside the desert are so incredible that it literally looks like you’ve left earth. No wonder that NASA actually use the area to do research in practice for finding life on Mars.
Biking around Valle de La Luna, sandboarding in Valle de la Muerte, road tripping through the many parts of the desert, and strolling around San Pedro de Atacama are some of our favorite memories from Chile.
We cannot recommend you enough to visit the Atacama Desert during your trip. It’s one of Chile’s most famous and out-of-this-world places for a reason.
9. Stargazing
If we didn’t convince you to visit the Atacama Desert yet, then this ought to do it.
Apart from all the incredible things you can do in this desert, it’s also famous for stargazing, and it’s one of the best places to do it – not just in Chile, but in the entire world!
The reason why stargazing is so popular here is because the desert is located at a high altitude, with low humidity, and little light pollution. So if you want to discover the beautiful stars and planets that surround our little Earth, then make sure to go stargazing in Chile’s dry desert.
Check out the Viator tour options below if you’re interested in learning more:
10. Cueca Dance
Latin America is known for its rhythm. You have the Tango in Argentina, the Samba in Brazil, and the Cueca in Chile.
The Cueca is a dance of courtship between a man and a woman, but actually it’s a parody on the courtship between a rooster and a hen. Both dancers are waving handkerchiefs above their head, which symbolises the feathers of the chicken and the rooster.
While the Cueca has been danced for many, many years, it was officially made Chile’s national dance in 1979. If you’re lucky, you may be able to see it during your trip to Chile – especially if you’re visiting during holidays or other festivities.
11. Copper
Before writing this blog post, we did some research about other things that Chile may be famous for, which we didn’t know. This is one of those. Chile’s biggest export is apparently copper and it’s one of the things the country is known for globally.
The modern world wouldn’t be able to function without copper. We use copper in our phones, radiators, televisions, computers, and many other electronic appliances because it conducts heat and electricity very well.
So being the biggest copper export in the world is a pretty great thing.
However, we’ve read that the methods for copper extraction isn’t always the best for the environment. The sad part is, we just can’t live without copper in the way we’ve created our society today.
12. Volcanoes
As we mentioned earlier, Chile has some of the most incredible landscapes we’ve ever seen!
While traveling through Chile, it’s not uncommon to see volcanoes towering above these incredible landscapes. Most are located in the Andes mountain range in between Chile and Argentina, and some are still active today.
We especially found it fascinating to see the volcanoes in the Atacama Desert, and we loved how they kept on coming into our view while driving on the bus from Atacama to Uyuni in Bolivia. It was a pretty incredible bus ride to be honest. We’ve never seen anything like it.
If you want to get closer to the volcanoes in Chile, then you can easily book a hiking tour. We’ve added some different options and locations from Viator in the box below:
13. Gran Torre Santiago
Did you know that Chile is known for having the tallest building in all of South America?
In the middle of Chile’s bustling capital, you can spot one big skyscraper that shoots into the air and towers above all other buildings. This is Gran Torre Santiago.
Gran Torre Santiago is 300 meters tall and offers some incredible views of downtown Santiago, San Cristobal Hill, and the Andes Mountains.
We visited the skyscraper on our last trip to Santiago and it was such a great experience! You get to ride the elevator to the top and explore the two floors. There is the normal observation deck named “Sky Costanera” and then there’s an open air floor. Both floors offer bird’s eye view of the whole city.
We cannot recommend you enough to go visit Gran Torre Santiago while traveling through Chile. What a beautiful piece of architecture!
14. Pablo Neruda
This list of what Chile is known for is not completed without mentioning one of the most famous Chilean people of all times: Pablo Neruda.
Pablo Neruda was one of Chile’s most important poets in the 20th century.
He began his journey of writing poetry at the age of 10 and by the age of 20 he had already published two books. He never had the support of his father and that’s why people think he used the pseudonym Pablo Neruda, even though his real name was Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto.
Even though Pablo Neruda was a great success, poetry wasn’t a steady income. So he became a diplomat and for years he worked in many different countries before returning home to Chile as a political for the communist party.
In 1971, Pablo Neruda won the Nobel Prize of Literature, just two years before his death.
15. Valparaíso
Valparaíso is one of Chile’s most vibrant cities, and it’s famous for its colourful houses, graffiti art and murals. This city is considered one of the best places to see street art in South America.
The historic quarter of Valparaíso has even been an inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003. So it’s without a doubt one of the more interesting cities you can visit on your trip to Chile.
Unfortunately, we never made it to Valparaíso, so we can’t share our experience with you. But this coastal city certainly looks like it’s worth a visit. The city is only located 1,5 hour away from Santiago, so you can easily go here on a day trip.
You can either go on a guided tour to Valparaíso or go by yourself. Just stick to the tourist areas and be mindful of yourself and your surroundings if you go by yourself as there have been increased reporting of muggings lately (2024 update).
16. Santiago
Staying on the subject of Chilean cities, we of course have to mention Chile’s capital: Santiago.
We visited Santiago some years ago and really enjoyed our time here. Landing in Santiago was the first time we set foot on the South American continent, so we didn’t know what to expect but we quickly learned that Chile’s capital has so much to offer.
You can see the magnificent views from South America’s tallest building, take the funicular up to the top of San Cristobal Hill, or visit the Central Market for some local delicacies.
Santiago is a thriving city, and we really liked it here. But be mindful of yourself and your surroundings because there have been a reporting of increased muggins lately (2024 update). We honestly never experienced anything unsafe, and we can only recommend you to go! Just keep your wits about you.
17. The Andes
The Andean Mountain Range is the longest continental mountain range in the world. Starting at Venezuela and ending at the bottom of Chile, the Andes stretch 7000 kilometres through South America.
So technically, The Andes Mountains is not something that only Chile is famous for. However, the mountain range runs through all of Chile and is dominating a lot of the landscape, it controls the weather of the country, and it forms the border between Chile and Argentina.
That’s why you can’t really visit Chile without seeing the Andes. Even when you’re in the capital of Santiago, you can see the Andes towering over the city in the distance. It’s pretty phenomenal.
18. Torres del Paine
Torres del Paine is without a doubt the national park that Chile is most famous for. So it deserves a spot on this list.
Located in the midst of the Chilean Patagonia, it’s one of the reasons why hundreds of thousands tourists flock to Patagonia every year. Yours truly included.
In just a couple of days, we experienced so much natural beauty in this park. Torres del Paine has all that you could dream of in a Patagonian adventure: Snowy mountain peaks, turquoise lakes, icy glaciers, wildlife roaming free, and amazing hiking opportunities!
We cannot recommend you enough to go visit Torres del Paine on your trip to Chile, it’s worth it.
We hope you enjoyed this guide about all the great things that Chile is famous and known for. It’s truly a dream destination when it comes to natural wonders, and we cannot wait to go back to explore more.
Did we miss something? Let us know what you think Chile is most famous for in the comment section below. We’d especially love more info on classic dishes to eat on a future visit to Chile.
Thanks for reading and happy travels!
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Hi ,
The app has a very good description of Chile with beautiful images which encourages everyone to visit Chile.