Santiago or Valparaiso?

Chairsin - Can I ask you what you did in Castro, Chiloe Island. I quite fancy touring some of these splendid wooden churches but the ship's tour seems exorbitantly priced and not very good, spending too much time for lunch and shopping. I can't find any local tour agents so plan to wing it when we get there.

We walked to the park in Castro in front of the church. There is a taxi line there. We hired a taxi to take us to some of the places where the Seabourn tours go. If I recall, we went to Achao and Delcahue. Do a little research to decide what you want to see and negotiate a price with the taxi driver. I don't recall how much it cost, but it was a lot less than the excursion.

A word of caution. There are regular taxis and other cars that look like taxis but function more like a public bus with regular routes. So, don't flag one down because it is likely the bus-like one. Go to the park to get the taxi.

And don't forget to visit the church in Castro. It has doll-house size replicas of all the wooden churches in the island along the side naves.

Thank you marazul - very helpful info.

We had planned - and still do - to start at the Ritz, but then stay the last nights at the Sheraton in Vina del Mar but have cancelled that and made other arrangements to stay in Santiago since, as was noted above, there appear to be no hotels you want to stay at in San Antonio.

Chairsin - Can I ask you what you did in Castro, Chiloe Island. I quite fancy touring some of these splendid wooden churches but the ship's tour seems exorbitantly priced and not very good, spending too much time for lunch and shopping. I can't find any local tour agents so plan to wing it when we get there.

We stayed in Castro in March. Just asked a taxi driver to take us to the places we wanted to see. The distances are not very long, so it's easy to go around.