Has anyone here ever been to Easter Island? Would you say it

>>1249675
Define expensive.
If you start from Europe, I might wanna head to Santiago de Chile, usually with a stop in Madrid or Lisbon. After that there is 1-2 week a flight to Mataveri. Depending how far in advance you book I'd say EUR 1.000 for the plane to Chile and 600 (average) to the Easter island.

If you are coming from north america. Usually a stop in Dallas/Houston or Miami. From there to Santiago de Chile and so on.

Again, depending on how far in advance you book, you should probably have 1.400 USD just for the planes.

Additional is your hotel (depending on the duration) + I stringly recommend a tour on the island (more convenient and better access).

Details may vary.

>>1249680
I had read that a plane from North America to Santiago and then a hop to Rapa Nui was the best way to go, some of the rates I saw for chartering a flight to the island were about $300 at the least, but I dunno.

I'm in Oregon so I'd most likely fly out from Portland.

>>1249682
So $$$ from your hometonw to Santiago.
$$$ from Santago to the island
$$$ hotel
$$$ cigarettes
= $$$
if $$$ <= your budget you are good to go.
Do not forget to bring us some pictures

If you buy a RTW trip and you plan it right, you can go there "for free".

>>1249682
I'm from Seattle. I flew out to Lima, stopped in Cuzco then Machu Picchu Pueblo. Traced my steps back to Lima, then flew down to Santiago. Over to isla de pascua. It was worth it for the experience but machu picchu was pure magic for me. The moai underwhelmed in comparison.

File: DSC00730.jpg (2MB, 6000x4000px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 6000x4000px

>>1249675
Yeah last year OP what do you want to know?

A flight there and back from Santiago is $400-500 in low season. There's a camping place where you can camp with your own tent or rent one for I think $7,000 Chilean Pesos. You can also cook there. Everything on the island was pretty expensive but not higher than regular European/US prices. Keep in mind that Latam lets you bring two bags with 23kgs each. A bike cost me, hmm I don't remember I think $12,000 or $15,000 Chilean Pesos. It was a pretty decent mountain bike though and I had great fun exploring the island. You can pretty much drive from one side to the other by bycicle in 1 1/2 hours.
If I remember correctly they take a $50,000 COP fee for every foreigner that enters. Restaurants are pretty expensive but there are cheaper places. The theatre shows are cheap, like $15,000 COP. If you are at the camping place and don't want to drive around by car you can also ask around there will be people looking to share a car.
I recommend a full week, one day for each direction of the island (north, south, east, west), one day to chill at the beach, one day for the highest volcano, and a day or two in reserve in case it rains, which is pretty shitty.

Pic related I would say it's 1000% worth it

>>1249736
*If you want to share a car and not drive around by bycicle. Though driving around by bycicle is the coolest thing ever there. It feel like the whole island is just a big open air museum and you can do what you want. There are no guards no crowds nothing. So you can really take your time and just take it all in. If you go by bike you also don't miss many places. I was there just at the end of high season and I was alone everywhere I went, the only tourists I ever saw were at the big moai statues. The cars never stop at the small places where you see stones scattered about, maybe a small moai that is not marked etc. It's really cool.

>>1249736
>>1249739
Sounds great m8, I'm pretty big on walking/hiking and I've heard you can probably walk the whole island in a day or so.

>>1249736
Whats the local food like? Can you get around using just English, or is learning some Spanish a good idea?

File: Rano-Raraku03.jpg (56KB, 640x360px) Image search: [Google]

56KB, 640x360px

Chilean here. Went to the island on 2015.
>>1249675
I don´t think it is particularly expensive to go there. Try some prices on booking dot com or google for some "cabaña" in the island. Also, there are a few groceries stores that, while more expensive than in Santiago, is not more expensive than the average European/U.S.A. prices.
If you stay in Santiago before, then you can buy food there and take it to the island. A lot of chileans do this when going to the island.
>>1249822
Something typical there is Empanada filled with Tuna (Empanada is a typical chilean food), very nice. Also there are fruit juices and a few expensive restaurants serving sea products from the area (some fishes that i´ve never heard of, but very tasty).

Besides all that, the island is gorgeous and it has a very relaxing atmosphere. No big hotel chains or big stores, it is like a countryside town in the middle of the Pacific.
The view of the sky in the night is amazing.

>>1249820
I don't think walking around the island is great, but you can do a big hike around the end of the island to the east where there are no roads and there's a hike that leaves just North of Hanga Roa which is great to do. There's also guided hike where they take you around the volcano and show you smaller caves and stuff but I didn't do that since it rained.

>>1249822
Local food is good but nothing amazing. As the other anon said you have empanadas made from tuna or other sea food, empanadas with shrimps and cheese (GOAT) and empanadas filled with mussles (made me puke but ok). You have ceviche and lots of other seafood. There's also a cute sushi place on the main street which was surprisingly good. A dinner at a restaurant will cost you $20 but the portions I had were quite large, so ok with me.

You don't need to speak Spanish since it's a tourist place and everyone speaks English to some degree. Maybe if you want to talk to the Natives. They usually sit around on the beach and get drunk.

Ah and souvenirs are so expensive. If you plan on buying a small Easter Island statue they will charge you from $50 up for a wooden one and if you want one from wood that is native to the island you will pay $200 up. Fucking rip off but I guess they can do it.

>>1249675
They say it is one of the world's biggest tourist traps. In sum, there is only a bunch of statues there and it is all.

Easter Island has always been my number one bucket list destination. I've always been fascinated with the history of the place and just the fact that it is so isolated.

I don't think I'll ever go there though. I have had the experience numerous times of "must see" destinations being underwhelming and ruined by tourism (Grand Palace, Angkor Wat etc). Maybe Easter Island isn't that crowded but I just think when you anticipate something so much, it can never live up to your expectations.

If ever I end up filthy rich, fuck it, I'll jump on a plane to Santiago and check it out. It will most likely remain one of those mystical places that I never get to see irl, and I think I'd like to keep it that way. The history of the Moai will never stop fascinating me though

File: atacama.jpg (3MB, 2048x1366px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 2048x1366px

So /trv/ I'm going to Chile this fall. I'm spending the weekend in Santiago/wine country, then the week after I plan on heading out to the Atacama Desert or Easter Island.

Where would you recommend I go? Which is cheaper, which has better sights, which has better food etc?

Pic related

bumping for interest

File: tongariki.jpg (918KB, 3840x2160px) Image search: [Google]

918KB, 3840x2160px

I went last month, I would definitely recommend it, I stayed for 5 days though which was probably a day too long.

Booking your flights from the Chilean LATAM site will save you a lot, I got return flights for $360 (A saving of $170 vs the UK site)

I stayed in one of the cheapest places I could find which was about $55 a night. Depending on the season, you could camp for less. Last month it was quite cool at night so camping was viable, but it would be unpleasant at the height of summer.

Eating out is expensive but not outrageous. A plate of pasta with a beer will be $25 easily. I drank the tap water and I didn't get ill, but 1.5 litres of bottled water will cost you about $3.

National park ticket is now $80.

I did a decent group tour for $50.

>>1251402

Did you go anywhere else in Chile or just Easter Island?

>>1251402

What a tourist trap

Then again, I suppose importing everything to a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific is gonna cost

>>1249675
If you have the money and time, go to French Polynesia instead, it's much better.