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Punta Arenas

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Punta Arenas is a port city in the Extreme South of Chile. The city has a good infrastructure, in particular an abundance of shops, such as supermarkets, pharmacies and hiking gear shops.

Punta Arenas (literally in Spanish: "Sands Point") is the largest settlement on the Strait of Magellan and the capital of Chiles Magallanes y Antártica Region. It has a population of 120,000 (2002).

It is on Brunswick Peninsula, 1418 km from the coast of Antarctica

There is an international airport on the outskirts of the city with numerous connections to Puerto Montt and Santiago. Planes are met by taxis and transfer buses making it easy to transfer to the town centre.

Buses leave daily to Puerto Natales as well as Rio Gallegos, Argentina.

Frequent buses to Ushuaia, Argentina take about 11 hours. It's a scenic and intesting drive. Punta Arenas to Ushuaia is a short flight, but ridiculously expensive because it's international.

Visiting Places:

Regional Museum, with historical artifacts and part of the Braun-Menéndez Mansion
Museo del Recuerdo, with an outstanding collection of old steam engines, horsecarts, cars, historic houses furnished in the 1875s style and farm implements.
Maggiorino Borgatello Museum, a Salesian Society museum of natural history and pre-Hispanic ethnic groups.
Punta Arenas Cemetery, dates back to 1840's, with many English and Croatian graves.
Out of town:

The penguin colony "Seno Otway" north of Punta Arenas is a place where each spring hundreds of Magellanic Penguins come home to their birth place to breed. Many travel agencies offer day trips from Punta Arenas that leave you very little time at the colony, so it's best if you have your own car.
Rey Jorge Island Natural Sea Park (whale observation).
Torres del Paine National Park, near Puerto Natales.
Seno Skyring
Puerto Hambre, an early Spanish colony which failed and under the name of Port Famine became a Royal Navy base. It was here that Captain Pringle Stokes, the captain of HMS Beagle, shot himself in his cabin due to severe depression and temporary command was given to Lieutenant W.G. Skyring.
Fauna Patagónica "Estancia Lolita". A beautiful place for watching different species of native animals and birds.

Hotels Accommodation;
Hostal Patagonico is a familiar place for lodging. It has 5 rooms with private bathrooms. It is very quiet place. Its is placed near to Hypermarket, restaurant, Zona Franca, hospitals, videoclubs. All buses and taxis are very near. The manager is very friendly with the tourist and he helps and answers questions about Punta Arenas, city.

Hostal Maria Isabel, cnr Errazuriz and Senoret, Tel 228926/228553, dorms only (doubles in Arauco 1066), central location, kitchen access, free internet, lots of warm water. A friendly, well-heated place.

Hospedaje Costanera, cnr Quillota and Rómulo Correa 1221, Tel +56-61-240175, eMail hospedajecostanera(at)hotmail.com, english spoken, breakfast included, kitchen access, free internet, lots of warm water, 10 min walk from bus station, laundy service. A very friendly, well-heated place. Dorm CLP 6000, Double CLP 7000.

Hotel Patagonia Pionera, Arauco 786 (cnr Arauco and Colon), 56-61-222045, . checkin: 13:00; checkout: 12:00. Patagonia Pionera Hotel is in a quiet and safe residential area of Punta Arenas in a privileged zone as much for its nearness to downtown as for the exclusive panoramic view of the city and also the Strait of Magellian from one of the main hill of town called Cerro de la Cruz. Our hotel has been created under the concept of Boutique Hotel, unique in its kind in Punta Arenas, with the intention of receiving the visitor in a warm and personalized way, offering comfort and privacy in an authentic and magnificent European style house, result of the pioneer effort of early 20th century. www.hotelpatagoniapionera.cl Fares SGL USD$100 DBL USD$120 TPL USD$130 SUITE USD$140

Hostal De La Patagonia, O'Higgins 730, 249970 (hostalpatagonia@entelchile.net). Quiet, clean, comfortable mid-range place. Walking distance of Straits of Magellan and handy to Buses Pacheco terminal. Free internet and abundant hot water.