Chile Turistico En Dos Idiomas

LA PORTADA AND JUAN LOPEZ BEACH

Leaving from Antofagasta towards the North and after visiting La Portada, our next must visit destination is Juan López, a small vestige of what Northern Chile used to be like.
After leaving behind the beauty of La Portada and after dozens of bends and slopes, the road invites travelers to gain enough height as to appreciate the beauty of the Pacific Ocean.Practically at the height of the salty sea waters, there appears a road sign reading: “Welcome to Juan López”. 
A simple but charming name and surname. “And who was this Juan López?” the reader might wonder. History goes that Juan López, a.k.a. “Chango” López, was the first Chilean dweller to participate in the building of the nation in these lands which used to belong to Bolivia back in thosedays. He performed such tasks from collecting guano to developing the first mining explorations for copper. Juan López began to explore this area in 1845 and it was not until years later that he settled down with all his family in the region. In 1862, he asked the Bolivian authorities to be granted a plot of land to work on it and make it productive. Fishing, as a daily need, was essential in thedevelopment of the guano exploitation as well as in the first mining exploitations.  |

ARICA
Due to its geographic location, Arica is the first or the last city in Chile, depending on the point of view. This is the northernmost city in the country a few kilometers away from neighboring Peru. In addition to being a typical city of the border, it is one of the most beautiful cities in the IRegion.

Its excellent roads are used both by tourists and locals in order to enjoy its large precious beaches, such as Chinchorro, El Laucho and La Lisera, where water sports prevail. The city is also a mandatory pass for those people who try to connect the Atacama Desert with such international destinations as Machu Pichu, in Peru, or Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia.

In the city, visitors may bedelighted by its promenades and markets, as well as by the majestic main square, which lies under the ancestral guardianship of the famous hill known as Morro de Arica, which offers a unique panoramic sight of the entire city. 

A city tour leads visitors around the historical buildings: Saint Mark’s Cathedral, the lanes or the old part of town, where the most outstanding constructions include theformer Government House, the former Customs building or the old railway station that joins the city with La Paz (Bolivia) and today houses a museum. On the way out of the city, it is possible to go on an archeological tour around the Valleys of Azapa, Lluta and Codpa, which feature geoglyphs, petroglyphs and pictograms, as well as ancient mummies that invite visitors to go on a journey acrosstime.

By getting deep into the Chilean-Bolivian altiplano, visitors can get to Putre, the Lauca National Park and the impressive Lake Chungará, passing by Las Vicuñas Natural Reserve and the Surire Salt Deposit before reaching Bolivia. 

SANTIAGO
Capital of the Republic of Chile, Santiago is the cultural, administrative and financial center, and the most important metropolis in the country.Also known by the name of Greater Santiago, it is located in the Maipo Valley, surrounded by the Coast Mountain Range to the West and by the Chacabuco and Angostura Ranges to the North and South, respectively. The Andes Mountain Range closes the frame of the city in the East.
The weather in Santiago de Chile is long season Mediterranean continental cold. Average annual temperature is 14°C.During the summer, the temperature raises to 20°C, whereas in the winter, it usually drops to 8°C. All these aspects have given shape to a modern lively city at all seasons.

This site is chosen to organize the great Latin American congresses. Santiago has an important transportation system that connects various points across the city. The metro is one of the most modern underground means of...