Chile reads from top to bottom. Nobody crosses it sideways because there is no sideways to cross: the Andes close it to the east and the Pacific to the west, so the trip is always a line, and the only real decision is how far down you go.
The three Chiles
The north is desert: San Pedro de Atacama, geysers at five thousand metres and skies worth staying up for. The centre is city and wine: Santiago against the mountains, Valparaíso falling down its hills. The south is water: lakes, volcanoes, the rain of Chiloé and, at the end of it, Patagonia.
How long to give it
With two weeks you pick two of the three. With three weeks all three fit, though two of the legs will be flown: Santiago–Calama and Puerto Montt–Punta Arenas are very long bus rides that a short flight settles for a little more.
What surprises people
That it is expensive. Not next to Europe, but next to the rest of South America: an ordinary lunch costs what a whole dinner costs in Peru. And that the distances on the map lie, because the map does not show the gravel.
