sanfrancisco said:
Hi,
has anyone here ever taken a bus to chile?
Or know when i can find information on this.
im trying to get to - Port of Valparaiso, Chile - its where the cruise ships are.
thanks in advance!
SF
If you are in Bs As, go to Retiro Bus Station. All the ticket offices are upstairs on the mezanine floor and the ticket offices for the international companies are at the end furthest from the main entrance - once you are upstairs, follow the signs. There you can check out each company's departure and arrival times, prices etc - ask any questions you want - and book to travel at a future date or to leave there and then. A Chilean operator may be able to book you straight through to Valpo but you will probably have to change buses in Santiago.
I've made this run several times and my personal preference is to busk it by catching one of the dozens of buses between Retiro and Mendoza then (after a decent meal in the city of Mendoza) catch one of the dozens of buses between Mendoza and Santiago and then one of the gazillions that shuttle between Santiago and Valpo and Viña del Mar.
If you are not familiar with Santiago, it's worth knowing that there are four main bus terminals - all along the Alameda (Av Libertador Gral Bernardo O'Higgins) and the three most popular ones are very close together. Even if you are booked all the way through with one company, ask if you will have to change buses in Santiago and ask which terminal the one bus arrives at and which terminal the other departs from. I speak as one who stood in one place muttering under his breath about the punctuality of Chilean buses while his ever-punctual Chilean bus was loading in the next bus station only 100m away. Even if you buy a ticket in one terminal, check that the bus actually leaves from that terminal. Yes, I've done that too.
