Santiago Travel Forum

Hello! I will arrive to Santiago at midnight but need to get to Valparaiso. Which is the best way to transport? Do you suggest staying overnight in Santiago and traveling during the day, or going directly to Valparaiso (if possible). Thanks for the advice. This is my first time in Chile. I need to be in Valparaiso by 2 pm, since i am taking a cruise.

Hi.
How do you arrive in santiago? By bus or by plane?
Best transport to Valparaiso would be the bus.
Am not 100% sure, but I don´t think that there are busses leaving directly from the airport to other cities like e.g. Valparaiso. So you would have to go to the bus terminal in the city of snatiago first what will take some time too.
I would recommend you to stay the night in Santiago and take a bus the next morning to Valparaiso. You´d have enough time to get there until your cruise starts.
buen viaje

Several bus companies operate on this route: Tur-Bus, Condor and LIT.

When in Chile, I mostly travelled with Tur-Bus, so I have just checked the timetable, and the last bus leaves Santiago at 10.30pm.

If there are no other suggestions you have to spend the night in Santiago. Perhaps you can book a hotel close to the bus terminal, and leave early in the morning. The buses leave every some minutes, and the trip takes one and half hours. So it should not be a problem to be in Valparaíso in time.

I have no experience with cruises in Chile but somewhere I read that those cruise operators often have their own shuttle service. Have you already checked this?

Sissi

You are too late for a bus and even if there were one it would put you into Valparaíso at 2.30-3.00 in the morning. Not a good time. A taxi would cost about the same as overnighting in Santiago + the bus and you would still have the question of the time you would get to Valaparaíso. There is a decent hotel in the Turbus station upstairs if you want, or stay in a downtown hotel and metro to the bus station in the morning (after 9 to avoid rush hour). If you are on a bus at 10 am you will have time to get to Valparaíso and taxi to the port.
As the other poster said, if the cruise offers a shuttle (plus hotel or getting on the ship early, I suppose) that might be an easier option.

you have plenty of time the next day to get to valparaiso. would stay the night in santiago. if you are arriving in the middle of the night, take a taxi to a prearranged hotel and in the morning, go to the bus station, which is very easy to get to from most parts of central santiago.