Santiago is the capital of Chile, and it is located in the center of the country. It is a large city (roughly 6 million residents) and offers all of the typical big-city entertainment venues and amenities. While we were in Valparaíso the month before, we made some great connections to people who actually live in Santiago. It was wonderful to already have some friends to look forward to spending time with. Below is the breakdown for all of our expenses for our one month (30 nights) travel budget in Santiago, Chile.
Housing: $708
We were expecting our housing costs to be fairly high here. Chile is expensive by South American standards, and capital cities tend to be cost more. We were pleased to find a nice, modern AirBNB apartment for about $700 per month.
Our apartment was in a 22-story high-rise right in the center of the city. The complex had several amenities including a laundry room, fitness center, and a (very cold–even though it was summertime) swimming pool. Our balcony provided a great view of the New Year’s fireworks taking place all around the city.
The complex had a concierge with 24-hour staff and security. We enjoyed becoming friends with Felipe, one of the staff members who spoke excellent English. He was very helpful with providing us information about Chilean culture and the neighborhood.
Food (Groceries and Restaurants): $411
As usual, we cooked most of our meals at home, although we did spend a little more on eating out here. We had a meal out with Sam, a friend we met in Valparaíso but who lives in Santiago.
We also went out to eat with a group of people from a church we visited.
Some other friends invited us to eat several meals at their beautiful home in Santiago. They even let us spend the night at their house when we found out that the metro system had closed earlier than we expected!
Activities: $10
We didn’t do a whole lot of sightseeing or activities here, and most of the sights around town were either free or very inexpensive.
Transportation: $89
This total includes the bus from Valparaíso to Santiago and frequent trips on Santiago’s convenient metro system to get around the city.
Miscellaneous: $92
Miscellaneous items include toilet paper, laundry, paper towels, and a new jacket for Emily (spoiler alert: upcoming Patagonia is going to be cold and windy).
Total Travel Budget In Santiago, Chile: $1,310
This puts our travel budget for Santiago, Chile at a total of $1,310 for the 30-day period, or $43.67/night for two people. We were expecting our total to be a bit higher due to Chile’s higher cost of living, but our activities for Santiago were inexpensive. In addition to this amount, we pay $175 per month for a global health insurance policy that covers both of us (our coverage is better than our previous policy in the US and at a fraction of the price!) We also believe tithing is important, and we were happy to donate to two local churches that we connected with in Santiago.
The Snail Travelers 
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