How expensive is Santiago, Chile will likely be the first thing you want to know when researching a trip to this grand city. Below you’ll see detailed costs associated with our first 36 hours in Santiago, Chile, as well as our eventual, total costs of living during our trip. In a nutshell, we spent $58840 chilean pesos, CLP, which is approximately $84.53 US dollars, USD on day-to-day costs during our first 36 hours. All of our purchases were made in cash, using chilean pesos. Prior to the trip, we made a point of getting small chilean bills – $1000, $2000, $5000. You’ll see nothing fancy here, but we did grab eats and drinks often.
Before we get into the money, if you want to learn a bit about Chilean pesos, you can check out this post and video we made about using cash in Chile.
So How Expensive is Santiago, Chile?
These first costs are what we spent exploring during our first 36 hours in Chile directly after arriving at the airport. We had a budget (functional) Airbnb in the Providencia neighborhood that cost $172 USD for four nights where we stayed prior to the start of our 5 week house sit.
Transportation Costs
$0 CLP: Tourist Visa. If you are from the U.S., and have been to Chile previously, you will be pleasantly surprised to find that there is no longer a $100+ fee associated with visiting the country as a tourist. But the related change is that your single passport stamp only is good for up to 90 days. The custom agent will determine if you can stay the entire 90 days, your length of stay will be noted on the Tourist Card you receive in Immigration. P.S. You will surrender your Tourist Card when you leave, and will pay a fine if you have overstayed your welcome.
$3600 CLP: Two Public Bus Tickets. We purchased the tickets at the bus. There were several people waiting to get on our bus; they collected the money before we got on in order to speed up the boarding process. We mention this because we were warned about some potential transport issues at the airport. At several of the exits, there are men that will approach you suggesting they can help you, drive you. Often the price is very high for the service they provide. Also, we had been told about another way to overpay for a ride. You buy A Transvip ticket, which is another viable form of transit. While you are standing in the correct line, sometimes someone who looks official directs you to another location, then asks for additional money.
$10000 CLP: Two BIP Cards. BIPs are your ticket to ride public transport throughout Santiago. Each BIP card costs $1500. And when you purchase the cards, you also purchase ride money. We placed $3450 on each card so we each would have at least 4 rides on buses or on the metro system during peak hours. [This would cover more rides for students or senior citizens.] Without using English, the woman gently explained that we could use 1 card for multiple people. We had read about that, but decided to have 2 cards….just in case.
Snack and Water Costs
$4700 CLP: First Snacks. 1 fresh, unsweetened mango juice(1700) and 1 arepa(3000)….we had had no sleep in a couple days. It was hot, and we couldn’t get into our Airbnb yet so we shared a snack instead of going hog wild first thing.
$1380 CLP: Water. 2 bottles of water, at a mini-market We had already drank a bit of tap water, but thought it best to give our systems some bottled water as we acclimated to the new area’s bacterial flora & fauna. Santiago’s water is clean and drinkable. However, it’s high mineral content can cause some stomach distress before you get used to it.
$1800 CLP: Emergency Snacks. We purchased some snacks for our room at a small grocery store: 2 small 155 grams yogurt with probiotics(2 x 310), 100 grams of unsalted peanuts(690), small 40 grams of prunes(490).
$5000 CLP: Two Paletas + Tip at Los Nogales. We met Camillo, who helped us order and helped us with our Spanish, and was just a lovely person. We will return to this cafe to try some different offerings.
$5000 CLP: Two Americanos + Tip At Cafe Chilensis. We happened on this great coffee place right off Providencia Ave (NOT New Providencia Ave), hidden between Padre Mariano and Antonio Bellet. Great coffee, variety of sweet and savory snacks and very courteous, knowledgeable staff.
$2500 CLP: More Water. We purchased a large (6 liters) water from the same mini market used previously. The cashier was another nice person, patient with our broken Spanish.
$5500 CLP: Breakfast + Tip For Two. We were pretty hungry, and ate breakfast close to the airbnb. CG: scrambled eggs & cheese, bread, tea; Buck: over easy eggs, bread, heated milk with instant coffee. We ate at a very small place. Our waitress was nice enough to itemize our bill on paper so we easily could see the bill breakdown.
$6000 CLP: Lunch+tip at the Vega Market (Mercado de Vega). This is a great, bustling market!
$2380 CLP: Snack. We couldn’t pass up a vendor selling candy and dried fruit. We enjoyed some dried mango and kiwi.
$3100 CLP: More Snacks. As we rambled, our stomachs growled. On our way back to our Airbnb, we replenished our snack cache at a regular grocery store. Specifically, we bought 180 grams of unsalted peanuts(819), including a 120 CLP discount, and a large 900 grams yogurt with probiotics(2399).
$5190 CLP: Sunscreen. The 190g of spf 50 sunscreen was on a locked shelf with a glass front. So, we took a pic of the sunscreen on the shelf, took it to the counter and basically said ‘big this, please’ which yielded us what we wanted (there were two sizes).
$2690 CLP: Aspirin. This is one of those things you can pick up in any large city so we didn’t bring a big supply with us. Specifically we bought 40 tablets of 500 mg acido acetilsalicilico.
And this brought our out of pocket expenses for our first two days of exploring to about $84.53 USD. Not bad considering we ate out every time with just light snacking in between.
So, What Does It Cost To Visit Santiago, Chile?
In total, Camera Girl and I visited Santiago Chile for 6 ½ summer weeks..
Our average costs are provided in terms of Chilean Pesos (CLP) and United States Dollars (USD), at the time of the purchase.
TOTAL: Average Weekly Cost for Both of Us 267,000 CLP / $400 USD
Nope, we weren’t backpacking or trying to count pennies. Yet we also didn’t hit the bars or partake in such of the city’s considerable options for plays, music or other live performances. And if you’ve seen any of our other Santiago blogs or videos, you can see that locals teased us for paying so much for coffee or pastries. You know, everybody decides what temptations deserve their hard-earned currencies. For us, snacks, eating out, groceries – well food of every kind – that’s our soft spot.
You can find a variety of affordable lodging options online, especially if you are booking accommodations for an extended period of time. We often use AirBnB, Booking.com, or Tripadvisor when researching the cost of lodging options.
Keep in mind that lodging was not a significant expense for us since we were house sitting for a majority of the time. House sitting is a fantastic tool for travel, and it has enabled us to actually travel AND save money, which is crazy. We use TrustedHousesitters and highly recommend the site for finding the widest variety and availability of house sits. We did stay in a nice, but small, Airbnb in the Providencia neighborhood for 4 nights when we first arrived in Santiago, which cost 150,000 CLP / $172 USD.
Also, this total does not reflect our flight costs, which will vary wildly depending on things like how far you are traveling and what deals are available when you make your arrangements.
Here’s a breakdown of how we spent money during our 6 weeks in Chile:
ENTERTAINMENT: Average Weekly Cost For Two 116,000 CLP / $ 175 USD
Most of our entertainment costs included eating meals in restaurants and getting snacks and desserts in various cafes. It’s one of the perks of being older and traveling – we’re financially stable enough to listen to the whispers of our taste buds and tummies!
Our entertainment costs also include what we paid for buses and the metro, which cost 10,300 CLP / $15 USD.
GROCERIES: Average Weekly Cost For Two 69,000 CLP / $ 105 USD
How expensive is Santiago, Chile for groceries? Not too bad, but it can easily compare to what one might pay for groceries in the USA if you’re shopping at large chain grocery stores in Chile. If you make the effort to shop at neighborhood markets and street vendors, you will find much lower prices. Our grocery costs also include what we spent for sundries such as sunscreen, toilet paper, etc..
We enjoyed exploring Chilean markets and cooking at home. Have you ever heard of cochayuyo? Here’s us doing a little Chilean cooking at home and experimenting with cochayuyo, which was fun and a little freaky. Would you eat it?
TRAVEL INSURANCE: Average Weekly Cost For Two 64,000 CLP / $ 95 USD
Yep, we paid for travel insurance. It provided us peace-of-mind, and although we didn’t need to use it at all, we do not regret it! We chose a company that has a very user-friendly, on-line interface, and had great reviews in terms of its reliability, how easy it is to file claim and general customer service.
If You Get The Chance, Go Experience Chile!
We had such a wonderful visit! We want to return to Chile to enjoy Santiago again as well as explore more of the country’s rich diversity – its northern Atacama desert, western beach towns and of course, southern Patagonia. So, how expensive is Santiago, Chile? A lot of it will be up to you, but it’s worth it.
For more information regarding what we actually did during our first 36 hours in Santiago Chile, check out THIS blog.
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